Sunderland's lack of quality was certainly frustrating for fans in those defeats to Leicester and Norwich, but not as much as the apparent lack of effort by the side. In both games (but especially the latter), Patrick van Aanholt drifted out of position far too many times, making astonishingly little effort to get back in time to repel an attack. Simple one-twos were played around the lacklustre van Aanholt so much it became the norm, but even players such as Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson looked off the boil. Distressingly, Sunderland fans often pride their team on being a hard-working outfit, despite their regular lack of star quality - yet this determination may be falling rapidly by the wayside. The past few seasons have seen the Black Cats get off to incredibly slow stars, only dragging themselves out of their haze when things look drastic (or for the occasional derby). The players can't keep riding their luck year after year. Sooner or later Sunderland will get relegated - unless they make hard work the norm, rather than a late season trend.
