Jamie Carragher has torn the Sunderland defence, and particularly Lamine Kone, to shreds during his analysis on Monday Night Football.
You might argue it’s easy to take apart the Black Cats’ defence, teams do it each week in the Premier League and Arsenal put four past Sunderland last week.
However, Carragher ran riot on the Sunderland defence during Monday Night Football to an even greater extent than Alexis Sanchez and Oliver Giroud did last Saturday.
The Sky Sports pundit reckons that Sunderland are a worse team than the Aston Villa side relegated last season, a team generally considered to be the worst to have graced the Premier League for several years.
“There’s the Sunderland team that went down 10 years ago with 15 points. This team could beat it,” Carragher said about David Moyes’ side following a defeat which left them with two points from 10 games.
“Aston Villa last season had better quality than this side, I just think there was a bad attitude going straight through that club. I don’t see a bad attitude at Sunderland I just see a group of really poor players who I think would struggle in the Championship.”
However, Carragher saved his strongest criticism for Lamine Kone. The Sunderland defender impressed last season, after signing in January from Lorient in his native France, but told Moyes that he wished to leave, and join Everton, in August.
Kone remained at the Stadium of Light, but his form has deserted him and he was particularly poor against Arsenal on Saturday.
“His attitude on the pitch this season has been nowhere near acceptable,” Carragher said.
“He was a man-mountain last season. Him and (Jermain) Defoe kept them up, Defoe at one end and Kone at the other.
“He is good enough. He showed that last season but his attitude now is becoming the main problem. As much as he was the solution last season, he’s the problem this season.”
Carragher then methodically points out the catalogue of errors “lazy” Kone made for Arsenal’s goals.
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