Soccer-Advocaat refuses to single out defence for Leicester loss

Aug 10 (Reuters) - Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat has refused to single out his defence and blamed the entire team for the dismal defeat in their Premier League opener to Leicester City on Saturday. Leicester blew Sunderland away 4-2 at the King Power Stadium and looked at times as if they could run through Advocaat's new-look defence at will. A brace from Riyad Mahrez and a goal each from Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton were enough to seal the win for Leicester, despite Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher pulling couple of goals back for Sunderland. Advocaat left out captain John O'Shea, opting instead to pair Sebastian Coates with new signing Younes Kaboul in central defence, but the move backfired. Both centre halves as well as fullbacks Billy Jones and Patrick van Aanholt were run ragged by Leicester's onslaught. The manager, however, refused to blame his defenders. "The majority of the players are still the same and they did really well at the end of last season, as a team and as a unit," the Dutchman was quoted as saying by the British media. "But the first half was very disappointing. It was the whole team, not only defence or midfield." Leicester were quicker, sharper and wanted to win more, Advocaat said, adding that Sunderland played too slow. "You have to show that you want to win. We were always late," the former Netherlands coach said. "It's the whole team that loses, not just one or two." (Reporting By Simon Jennings in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)