Goalkeeper reflects on defeat, admits Sunderland must fix defensive lapses and insists survival complacency is not creeping in
Robin Roefs admitted Sunderland must urgently address their set-piece issues after a 3-1 defeat left frustration lingering at the Stadium of Light.
The Dutch goalkeeper cut a disappointed figure at full-time and pointed to costly moments from dead-ball situations as the defining factor in the game.
Speaking at the Stadium of Light after the game Roefs said: “As you say, it's disappointing, especially at home. But every game we wanted to get the three points and I think it was there to grab today, but we just weren't there in key moments.”
Despite conceding three times, Roefs felt Sunderland had not been overwhelmed in open play. “No, I think we defended pretty well,” he said. “Obviously, I think it's just the set-pieces today. We give it away in key moments, the set-pieces where we give a penalty away, we give a goal away, so that's it today.”
Recent weeks have seen Sunderland struggle from similar situations something Roefs acknowledged must improve. “I think, especially with the length we have and the good headers we have, we shouldn't be in this kind of trouble on set-pieces. So we need to do better on that.” Pressed on what needs to change, he added: “I don't know. We have to find out because we need to do better on this and we have to find out where the problem is.”
There were also spells in the game where Sunderland lacked their usual sharpness and tempo, particularly in possession. “I think it's also when we have the ball, we just didn't manage to keep it long enough and then when you have to run after the ball all the time, it's just difficult and we can't do it for 90 minutes. We just need to step everything up, also the intensity.”
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Roefs accepted that difficult patches are inevitable in the Premier League, particularly in a first season at this level. “It's a really hard league and you see when we aren't on our best, we have seen it a few times this season, when we aren't on our best, everything can hurt us. This shows the level of the league, but also if we are on our best, we show that we can make it difficult for every opponent. We just need to find our rhythm back and I'm sure we will.”
While Sunderland remain on 36 points, Roefs insisted there is no complacency within the dressing room. “We're not satisfied with just staying up. We want to be better, we want to do more. We don't want to think we have 36 points, maybe we're safe, which we are not sure of. We don't have that in our heads. We need to play ourselves into safety, we just want to win every game. For that, we need to step up.”
The goalkeeper also addressed the mood inside the stadium, where expectations have grown after an impressive start to the campaign. “Obviously, the fans have been maybe little bit spoiled with all the results we had and the great way of playing from us. But I think it's also up to us. We need to bring the intensity, we need to bring the fighting spirit. If we lack that, maybe the supporters feel it. It can also be the other way around. If they see us lacking intensity, they can help us. Nine out of ten times they do, but sometimes it just doesn't go.”
Asked about the penalty decision involving Brian Brobbey and Calvin Bassey in the build-up to Fulham’s second goal, Roefs admitted he had little clarity on the incident. “No, I have no idea what happened.”
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