Sunderland got their new Premier League campaign off to a nightmare start on Saturday afternoon at the King Power Stadium where they were downed 4-2 by Leicester City.
The Foxes raced into a 3-0 lead with 25 minutes played, provoking Dick Advocaat to make a change on the half hour mark that saw him remove captain for the day and fan favourite Lee Cattermole in favour of striker Steven Fletcher.
The second half saw improvements as Jermain Defoe and Fletcher both found the back of the net, but Marc Albrighton scored Leicester's fourth of the day to ensure victory for Claudio Ranieri's men.
Speaking after the game, Advocaat admitted that the team "know what [they] have to do" to improve, saying that he will "learn" from the defeat for next week. But what exactly was the Dutchman referring to and how can Sunderland ensure they stay out of the relegation battle this season?
Cattermole is not a defensive midfielder
With new loanee Yann M'Vila not yet fit enough to play for the first team and instead turning out for Sunderland's under-21s this weekend, Advocaat was forced to deploy Cattermole in that defensive midfield role again, with Sebastian Larsson and Jack Rodwell operating in front of him.
However, the tenacious style of play that the 27-year-old possesses means he struggles in this role, often finding himself booked early on in the game and thus unable to protect the defence adequately as a result.
His rash approach to defending means he gives away too many free-kicks in dangerous areas, whilst the penalty he conceded against Leicester was an exaggeration of this risk, but also a perfect example at the same time.
Whether M'Vila is an upgrade on Cattermole in this position is another question altogether. The Frenchman is undoubtedly talented and wonderful in possession, but he carries a similar lack of discipline, as seen by his red card against Norwich City for the under-21s on Sunday, which came after just over an hour.
Advocaat certainly has a real problem in this role, and maybe a 4-4-2 formation would be more suited to the team as a result, to shadow this weakness, but one thing that is clear is that Cattermole cannot operate here, especially with him possessing an offensive threat, with a fierce shot and good vision, that is best utilised in a box-to-box or attacking role, and wasting in a holding position.
Midfield in general must be strengthened
The midfield was one of the most highly criticised areas of the park for Sunderland in their 4-2 defeat yesterday, with Cattermole's 30 minute cameo just a small part of a terrible story.
Rodwell was missing for the entire first half, and a large chunk of the second, whilst Larsson, though he worked hard, did not have a positive impact on the game either. These two made up the centre of a midfield four for the final hour of the game, with Cattermole's withdrawal seeing the formation change to 4-4-2, but, still, the brightest moments came from the wings, not through the centre.
This was because Sunderland struggled to keep the ball well, with none of their central midfielders stepping up to dictate the game or even string together a few good moves, with Leicester instead being the incisive and positive team, whilst the Black Cats showed "no sharpness" and "did everything too slow," in the words of their manager.
The most worrying thing about this weakness though is the lack of options Sunderland actually have in midfield. On top of the three who played yesterday, Advocaat only really has M'Vila at his disposal. Jordi Gomez is injured, whilst the Dutch manager is known to be keen on selling Liam Bridcutt as the Ricky Alvarez case continues to be reviewed by FIFA.
If the team are to push on and improve on last season, they need more options in this area and more competition for places as well. Adnan Januzaj is believed to be on his way to the club on loan, if Manchester United secure a deal for Barcelona's Pedro, but a real physical presence in the centre of the park is still needed, as well as the youngster's creative contributions.
Advocaat must allow for competition in defence
One area of the park that has been thoroughly strengthened over the summer is the back line, particularly in central defence. Sunderland now have two right-back options and four centre-backs, as well as Patrick van Aanholt on the left.
However, one issue with this will be if Advocaat uses the options solely for rotational purposes and cover for injuries, as opposed to having the players fighting for a place.
Younes Kaboul, who arrived from Tottenham Hotspur earlier this summer, was simply horrific on his debut yesterday, with a laughable error leading to Leicester's third goal of the game, whilst the rest of his performance was far from convincing too.
Having not played a competitive match since January, he can be given the benefit of the doubt, but he should not be allowed to assume his starting berth once more next week when the Black Cats face Norwich, especially with two centre-halves out of the team looking to prove a point after receiving plenty of criticism last season - these being the former Manchester United duo, Wes Brown and John O'Shea.
Sebastian Coates was not at his best either, whilst Billy Jones was another very poor performer on the right of defence, and these two should see their starting roles come under threat as a result if Sunderland are to fix the errors that remain at the back, especially with the latter now having new signing Adam Matthews as competition.
If players are allowed to continuously under-perform in the team without feeling the need to impress to keep their place, then Sunderland cannot improve as a unit and push on up the table, away from the threat of relegation.
Another left-back required
However, despite the improvements in defence, one area that remains thinly covered is left-back, with only van Aanholt available to play in the role. Matthews can play here if required, but he is not a natural left-sided player, or even left-footed, meaning this option is likely to be a last ditch one and far from ideal.
Van Aanholt is a promising young talent, the 24-year-old a huge asset going forward and also useful getting back with his super pace and ability to time a tackle well. Yet, he can be lazy and commit to attacking without being able to carry out his defensive responsibilities too, meaning Sunderland are often exposed on his side of the pitch.
Advocaat needs to purchase another left-back to give his compatriot some competition for a place to really bring the best out of him, as it will ensure he remains focused on improving his contributions at the back to ensure more organisation and solidity in defence for the team in general.
Team looks more creative and a 4-4-2 can give them more firepower
Despite all the negatives this weekend, one positive was that the team did actually look quite creative at times.
Sunderland were not short of chances at the King Power, creating a handful of great ones inside the opening 10 minutes in fact, only for them to be denied by Kasper Schmeichel, albeit the goalkeeper was helped by poor finishing sometimes.
Jeremain Lens is a very positive outlet on the left, whilst Adam Johnson also brings a lot to the attack, and in Defoe the team have a clinical and composed striker who will put plenty of his opportunities into the back of the net - one of which he did this weekend, though he did have a couple of other chances too.
There are promising signs for the team in the final third, and the fact that Fletcher is already off the mark this season now will be a huge boost for a player who has struggled with goal-scoring in recent years, which will in turn increase his contributions to the team, but the main problem still lies in midfield where Sunderland don't have a really inventitive central player who can also add to the attack.
When this final piece of the puzzle is found and applied, perhaps in the form of Januzaj, then the Black Cats will be great going forward, even if they still have problems at the back.
Whether or not Advocaat and his team can learn these lessons and rectify their errors in time for their next game against Norwich is something only time will tell, but they certainly need to make some changes if they are to improve on their horrorshow at the King Power.