2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland’s Slump Continues At Bournemouth

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2 Up, 2 Down: Sunderland’s Slump Continues At Bournemouth

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 18: Bournemouth's Ben Gannon-Doak (right) under pressure from Sunderland's Granit Xhaka (left) and Reinildo Mandava (Centre) during the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland at Vitality Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. (Photo by David Horton - CameraSport via Getty Images) | CameraSport via Getty Images

Calum Mills · SB Nation

Mon, Oct 19, 2026 ·

10 min read

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Calum Mills says…

Reliable Robin Roefs

Roefs made some good saves and without him, it could've been a cricket score.

Sunderland fall apart — what was that?

Based off that, we are in trouble. I've tried to stay positive, to take the small wins from every defeat and maintain the "glass half-full" stance…but that was crap.

A head coach under pressure

It could honestly be the worst performance I've seen under Régis Le Bris.

We're in for a long, long season. There's a serious case of the story of Icarus about us at the moment.

Still a little too early to panic?

Do I think we can turn it around? Possibly.

Leeds is the biggest game of the season and if we don't get through that with anything apart from a win, I am indeed very very worried.

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 18: Head Coaches Régis Le Bris and Marco Rose of Bournemouth during the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland at Vitality Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images) | AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images

David Elliott says…

A strong Sunderland goalkeeping display

It was good for Robin Roefs to show that he hasn't become a poor keeper overnight.

He wasn't given the protection he should expect and kept the score down with some good saves.

Vital game time for the youngsters

I'm trying to stay positive about the whole picture, so it was another bonus for the younger lads to get some experience, hopefully not too traumatic for them.

Timur Tutierov did what he could, Chris Rigg was fine and Jules Ahoka did well.

Sunderland prove their own worst enemies

Yet again, we were the architects of our own downfall and the decision-making at the centre of the defence was dreadful.

I know the modern way is to play out yet there are times when you simply have to get rid of the ball.

A lack of purpose from the Lads

The lack of intensity is a big worry.

Like last week, we were second to the loose ball, our press was disorganised and we didn't inject any sort of urgency or pace to put the opposition under pressure

John Wilson says…

Robin Roefs stands tall

I'm not one to go along with the claims that Roefs has had a bad start to the season.

Stats can be twisted any which way but whatever your view, he had a good game and stopped it from becoming a cricket score.

A good lesson in the long term?

Clutching at straws, perhaps, but maybe that awful display can act as a huge kick in the pants going forward?

I'm not as confident in that theory as I might've been, as I thought there'd be a reaction after the Brighton debacle, but looking for positives, I'm hoping this can galvanise minds and attitudes — not just for midweek, but for the visit of Leeds.

We certainly need it!

A dreadful start for Sunderland

What an atrocious opening to the game.

It had the feel of a lower league ground and atmosphere, which certainly resulted in us performing like a lower league team. Disjointed, we couldn't string any passes together and we played like rabbits in headlights.

I couldn't believe what I was watching — especially in that first half

A bad day for Omar Alderete

Shouldn't dig individuals out, but what an absolute nightmare of a game Alderete had.

Partially at fault for their first goal and totally at fault for their second…what on earth has happened to him this season? He's just not the same player.

In all, a totally depressing and forgettable spectacle.

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 18: Luke O'Nien of Sunderland applauds the fans after the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland at Vitality Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Lars Knutsen says…

Robin Roefs performs brilliantly

Our Dutch keeper, who's had to pick up the ball from inside the net too often this season, put in a great performance, with several excellent saves.

He was frustrated at having no chance with the first Bournemouth goal and being exposed by Omar Alderete for the second, but overall he inspired a lot of confidence in his depleted team mates.

To concede just two goals when twenty nine attempts were made by the home side was creditable.

Sunderland stick at it

It was a tough day, starting with a rookie striker as Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor were unavailable and the players in midfield we normally rely on — such as Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki and Enzo Le Fée — were overrun for long periods after we went down to ten men.

Still, our team still showed determination to stay in the game, despite giving away two silly goals. To be fair, Bournemouth played well, while we lacked sparkle after a busy week.

A dubious defensive showing

This was the first time that Kevin Danso and Omar Alderete had played together, and it showed.

They were indecisive in their tackling for the first goal, as neither of them took control to tackle Evanilson before Danso's clumsy attempt to win the ball led to his red card in the seventeenth minute — why wasn't Nordi Mukiele featured in the centre of defence?

Alderete did make some incisive tackles, but he's been off colour recently and his terrible misplaced pass soon after the break led directly to Bournemouth's second. Both goals were avoidable, emerging from defensive errors.

Another loss and setback

We've experienced a lot of injuries, which is difficult at any level, and our demanding programme of the next nine games will test our squad further.

One can forgive the defeats to Arsenal, Manchester City and Brighton, who scored another five goals on Sunday, but this result to a lowly team was a real blow. Luckily we have European games to keep the the team's spirits up, but losing in the world's best league can become a habit, despite last season's heroics.

We do really need to sign a top striker in the upcoming transfer window to stay competitive.

Malc Dugdale says…

Robin Roefs to the rescue

If it wasn't for the big Dutch stopper that would have been five or six.

He took some flack early this season but kept it respectable on a tough day. Well done.

Minor damage to our goal difference

As that wasn't six or so, we may well benefit from the wastefulness by the hosts.

This was always going to be a tough season and small margins could make a big difference come May.

Defensive dipsticks

The two goals were very avoidable and I'd like to know what happened to the defensive masterclasses we gave last season? Has the defensive coach moved on? If not, maybe he should.

I know we have injuries but they are mainly up front, and players who looked like Rolls Royces last season are now rolling along like rusty Citroen 2cvs.

We look slow, disjointed, confused, and lack good decision making, communication and common sense. Kevin Danso has gone from being touted as buy of the summer, to competing at who can be the biggest liability with Omar Alderete.

We need to have a good hard look in the mirror, pull our socks up and get some pride back into the side.

Pressure for Régis Le Bris

I don't think this will be the case but the longer this run lasts the more the pressure will mount on the French professor, and with the rumours the club may be flirting with the sales market, the owners won't want us to drop off too much.

My uncle has already messaged me saying his mates reckon Le Bris is away. The socials are going to be full of it and rumours will be rife for a while based on this league run.

I personally think Le Bris is the best man to sort this, but Premier League football is fickle.

We go again against Poznan, sort our shit out and get back on track at Leeds. As fans, we give the Lads our all every game, and pray they can start to turn this season around very soon.

BOURNEMOUTH, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 18: Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris during the Premier League 2026/27 match between AFC Bournemouth and Sunderland at Vitality Stadium on October 18, 2026 in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. (Photo by David Horton - CameraSport via Getty Images) | CameraSport via Getty Images

Mark Ryan says…

Thank God for Robin Roefs!

Basic stats will still say he gave up two goals on only six shots, but the reality is he's the reason Sunderland stayed in the match as long as it did.

Nothing he could do on the first goal, and Omar Alderete hung him out to dry on the second.

A chance to get it right on Thursday

The minutes the Europa League matches are putting on legs is a problem, but at least there was a win between Brighton and Bournmouth or we'd really be despondent right now.

Thursday night gives a quick opportunity to get right again.

Kevin Danso endures a rough ride

I was really impressed by Danso's first couple of matches, but in the last three, he's been worse game by game.

He started badly, was really poor on the goal and then the red card. It's fine that he'll be suspended because you can't play him right now.

Apparently we should have paid the money for Tarik Muharemovic this summer — Danso's going downhill fast, Alderete hasn't played a good game yet and Dan Ballard is hurt…because Ballard gets hurt.

Sunderland's wingless wonders misfire again

It's hard to say too much in this one because of the red card, but it seems whoever is on the wing, nothing good is coming from there.

Either the players are all bad or Régis Le Bris is putting them in bad situations, but something's got to give there — and it's telling that none of the substitutes was a true winger.

Tom Albrighton says…

System failure — same story, different week

Whatever this system is and whatever Régis Le Bris thinks it could be, it isn't — it's slow, ponderous and ridiculous. We're continuing with a system that plays to neither an individual's strengths or the benefit of the collective.

Thursday should have signalled the end of this ridiculous experiment — the fact that three days later, we started with seven defensive players is frightening

Mistake after mistake

This this week it was Omar Alderete's turn and he will rightly be eviscerated for a defensive performance that would have Tom Flanagan wincing, but it's a running theme and that should worry us all.

All of these players haven't turned into bomb scares in one summer, so why is it?

For my money, the insistence on defenders being forced to play out from the back with very few options, putting them under constant pressure, might be a starting point.

Slow, slower, slowest

We have two ways of playing, and neither are any good.

Last season, we scored most of our goals with quick breaks, sharp vertical play and tons of running. Now we've changed our ways to play sideways and into the congestion our slow build up creates. We then have to get higher up the pitch and over-commit, leaving us vulnerable to anything over the top as was exposed again today.

I can't fathom why we've left behind the style that served us so well both in defence and attack to play in a way that makes us worse in all areas.

It also worries me that Le Bris seems uninterested in moving away from this, which should have been the case here.

Where are the points coming from?

You can spend hours dissecting whatever yesterday was but I think the biggest concern on recent showings — where Sunderland have been outplayed, out-fought and out-thought — is where our next points are coming from.

Even at this early stage, I think Le Bris is now fighting to keep his job over the next few games and anything less than four points in the next three may leave an owner who hasn't been afraid to make the big calls finding his trigger finger getting rather itchy.

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