| Sheffield United Reflection 18:02 - Mar 1 with 6351 views | bluenwhite10 |
Poor 1st goal to concede as the ball into the box had no real pace on and 2 defenders did not deal with or neither did the keeper come out and claim it. Morgan although a wonderful talent looked off it and I would say after 30mins he needed to be replaced by Saito with Chair going more central, that change was done but in my opinion too late. The second goal should have been dealt by Edwards earlier but it was a quality finish by Campbell. I thought we gave it a good go but just fell short, but United where a very good side packed with lots of quality attacking players and a 10 million player on the bench (Cannon) and let’s not forget Moore too.
So fallen just short I suppose against a team like that with us in the bottom half of budgets in the championship is I guess no reason to be to disheartened.
Cook looks a little off it maybe Morrison needs to come in.
One player i thought was outstanding Varanne.
No complaints today and gave it go against possibly the best side I have seen at HQ this season.
Final word officials very poor today the linesman in the 1st half missed a couple of offsides and in the second half balls going out of player and the referee was generally poor too. Lots of tough games ahead in the coming weeks so a call for patience with this young squad. |  | | |  |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 08:47 - Mar 2 with 1569 views | qprmeath21 |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 08:00 - Mar 2 by Paddyhoops |
I’m as frustrated as you are especially with Fat Franks endeavours at Coventry . Their net spend was 17 million this season and it’s bearing fruit . Our main outlay was on a now injured striker and Madsen . Says it all . It late November I would have taken this all day long . |
Coventry have attacking options miles ahead of ours. Were always going rise up the table when the injuries cleared up. Was a good choice by Lampard. |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 09:59 - Mar 2 with 1390 views | nix |
Honestly I despair sometimes.
We lost narrowly against a team that is top of the away form table, only lost points in two of the last ten matches and spent £25 million this summer, and people are questioning the manager/building over time strategy.
I actually thought we had a decent game, restricted them to few decent chances and had a few of our own. On another day the Campbell effort goes into row Z and Saito scores that header. They were clapped off.
Not a time to panic. |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 12:38 - Mar 2 with 1201 views | Andybrat |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 09:59 - Mar 2 by nix |
Honestly I despair sometimes.
We lost narrowly against a team that is top of the away form table, only lost points in two of the last ten matches and spent £25 million this summer, and people are questioning the manager/building over time strategy.
I actually thought we had a decent game, restricted them to few decent chances and had a few of our own. On another day the Campbell effort goes into row Z and Saito scores that header. They were clapped off.
Not a time to panic. |
So I brought a neutral mate ( Italian so no real knowledge of the Championship). who thought we were actually the better team but they were obviously the killer team. Interesting.y he thought Illias not fast enough to play on the wing. When I explained one of their subs cost about the same as our entire team he said either they have bought badly or we have bought well. Those who think we are going to need a total refresh of players can’t understand the obvious journey we are going on. I thought we missed Sam Field as Colback presses better than Morgan ( who really had an off game and can’t believe he didn’t even get the shot on target of pass). So agree definitely not the time to despair, it’s all about next season with Vale, Kolli, JCS, Celar all fit enough to contend. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 12:46 - Mar 2 with 1178 views | baz_qpr |
I thought Sheff Utd were easily the best team we've come up against this season, I don't see one of our players starting for them bar maybe Jimmy. They have the best keeper in the league the best midfield, a ridiculous bench.
I thought the 1st Nardi has to come for and punch. The 2nd Colback has to do better after Edwards header but is a bit of a worldy.
We were competitive should have been level at half time and had a right go at them. But we are not at that level, and probably deserved a point, and would have had it if Morgan had passed rather than shot at the end of 1st half.
Officials were very poor, never a pen and Shef Utd should have been. down to 10 |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:19 - Mar 2 with 1103 views | Northernr |
Have to say I'm surprised at the Varane love again, waaaay too deep, and constantly going backwards when a forward pass or a turn and run into space was on. Just open your body up slightly. |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:35 - Mar 2 with 1053 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:19 - Mar 2 by Northernr |
Have to say I'm surprised at the Varane love again, waaaay too deep, and constantly going backwards when a forward pass or a turn and run into space was on. Just open your body up slightly. |
Thank God, I thought it was just me. Second half we were crying out for him to pick a forward pass and he either turned back or just to took the wrong option. He was so deep my son said he thought Varane would make a decent centre back.
If you also have an entire stadium shouting 'turn' or 'forward' at a professional footballer then that kind of highlights it is a big problem.
A number 6 needs to be creative, pick a pass to split a defence from deep, but he can't do it. How many times has a ball been slipped through for our striker to run onto one on one and score? I think it might of been Celars goal against Cardiff!
We have become predictable over the past 5 or 6 weeks as teams know we have no threat centrally. We've even become a little boring to watch, trying to do the same thing again and again using width. It's very frustrating. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:42 - Mar 2 with 1037 views | francisbowles |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:35 - Mar 2 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
Thank God, I thought it was just me. Second half we were crying out for him to pick a forward pass and he either turned back or just to took the wrong option. He was so deep my son said he thought Varane would make a decent centre back.
If you also have an entire stadium shouting 'turn' or 'forward' at a professional footballer then that kind of highlights it is a big problem.
A number 6 needs to be creative, pick a pass to split a defence from deep, but he can't do it. How many times has a ball been slipped through for our striker to run onto one on one and score? I think it might of been Celars goal against Cardiff!
We have become predictable over the past 5 or 6 weeks as teams know we have no threat centrally. We've even become a little boring to watch, trying to do the same thing again and again using width. It's very frustrating. |
I thought Varane played well. Much improved on the last game. Yes, he still has a way to go with passing forward and be quicker moving the ball, but a lot of the time there was no one free to pass too. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:51 - Mar 2 with 1000 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:19 - Mar 2 by Northernr |
Have to say I'm surprised at the Varane love again, waaaay too deep, and constantly going backwards when a forward pass or a turn and run into space was on. Just open your body up slightly. |
Totally agreed: he’s the last player you want on the ball when you’re chasing a game as he’s so averse to look for a forward pass when a defender is free for a simple backwards pass.
Hopefully this can be coached out of him as he does other things well. |  | | |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:51 - Mar 2 with 997 views | Wilkinswatercarrier |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:42 - Mar 2 by francisbowles |
I thought Varane played well. Much improved on the last game. Yes, he still has a way to go with passing forward and be quicker moving the ball, but a lot of the time there was no one free to pass too. |
There were options for him, but his body shape is completely wrong when receiving the ball. So it either goes straight back where it came from, or by the time he turns he is either under pressure or the passing lanes have been blocked.
A good central midfielder has already made his mind up where the ball is going before he has received it. Therefore the pass is quicker and players are free to receive.
Varane (and Field) can't do it hence we are slow and predictable.
Anyone else notice that we have become much more of a counterattack team with the ball bypassing the central midfield, rather than dominating teams? Because we have no one in central midfield good enough to control a game. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:09 - Mar 2 with 946 views | mart_Goblin |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:51 - Mar 2 by Wilkinswatercarrier |
There were options for him, but his body shape is completely wrong when receiving the ball. So it either goes straight back where it came from, or by the time he turns he is either under pressure or the passing lanes have been blocked.
A good central midfielder has already made his mind up where the ball is going before he has received it. Therefore the pass is quicker and players are free to receive.
Varane (and Field) can't do it hence we are slow and predictable.
Anyone else notice that we have become much more of a counterattack team with the ball bypassing the central midfield, rather than dominating teams? Because we have no one in central midfield good enough to control a game. |
It’s a strange one because I agree with all the criticisms of Varane here.
But I still think he did enough other things well to be one of our better players .
So imagine if he can be improved on his ability to move forward and play forward or incisive quicker?
I think that can certainly happen .
He’s still better on the ball than Field and he still turned on the ball more than Colback did. In fact, at one point I said to my son that Colback should be called ‘pass back’ as he always always passes the ball back to where it came from .
The criticisms are justified for sure but he is young enough to improve a lot so although I agree they seem slightly harsh. |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:21 - Mar 2 with 927 views | slmrstid |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 09:59 - Mar 2 by nix |
Honestly I despair sometimes.
We lost narrowly against a team that is top of the away form table, only lost points in two of the last ten matches and spent £25 million this summer, and people are questioning the manager/building over time strategy.
I actually thought we had a decent game, restricted them to few decent chances and had a few of our own. On another day the Campbell effort goes into row Z and Saito scores that header. They were clapped off.
Not a time to panic. |
I was getting downvoted by Blades fans on Reddit yesterday for pointing out its incredibly hard for teams like us to compete long term with them when they're bringing players off the bench most of the rest of the league cannot hope to afford. They didn't seem to like it very much, buying into the idea Wilder is just an incredibly astute manager!
(I mean, in fairness he is a good manager and has proved that over the years, but their current W-D-L record shows for the rest of us its the knife to a gunfight scenario described by Northern in the preview). |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:39 - Mar 2 with 874 views | Rsole |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 20:32 - Mar 1 by bosh67 |
I agree Morrison should come back in but Cook is far from finished. The foot injury he had is a killer one and it takes a long time (I've had the same injury and it did me for 4 months). I think he needs a rest and possibly build up strength again. I feel he has come back too soon but he's far from finished. That said, as you say I would bring Morrison in. |
Morrison was on the bench but Fox came on (and did ok) so something probably isn’t 100% yet because his record earlier this season was excellent.
He’s also a possibility for midfield as I understood it, which would probably make him a potential stand in for Field. Given where we are and what we have left to play, we should be finding room for him ahead of loanees if fit, or he probably shouldn’t be on the bench.
Which leads me to ask - why start loanees and out of contract (not going to renew/sign) players anymore ? Happy for them to replace as subs and rotate contracted players that need resting to avoid injuries but I’m not sure why we start them ahead of our own at this stage of the season.
I know we can’t afford to do that wholesale because we’d lose most of the defence but we should really be more forward thinking about selection. Right now It’s not rewarding the players that have signed and committed already, which is a shame and it raises some questions about the clubs direction of travel. |  |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:54 - Mar 2 with 835 views | slmrstid |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:39 - Mar 2 by Rsole |
Morrison was on the bench but Fox came on (and did ok) so something probably isn’t 100% yet because his record earlier this season was excellent.
He’s also a possibility for midfield as I understood it, which would probably make him a potential stand in for Field. Given where we are and what we have left to play, we should be finding room for him ahead of loanees if fit, or he probably shouldn’t be on the bench.
Which leads me to ask - why start loanees and out of contract (not going to renew/sign) players anymore ? Happy for them to replace as subs and rotate contracted players that need resting to avoid injuries but I’m not sure why we start them ahead of our own at this stage of the season.
I know we can’t afford to do that wholesale because we’d lose most of the defence but we should really be more forward thinking about selection. Right now It’s not rewarding the players that have signed and committed already, which is a shame and it raises some questions about the clubs direction of travel. |
This might be me being overly pessimistic / traumatised from the last few years, but whilst I agree with you in principle I'd like us to be doing it whilst we're on more than 44 points and definitely not getting relegated  | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 15:16 - Mar 2 with 770 views | Rsole |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:54 - Mar 2 by slmrstid |
This might be me being overly pessimistic / traumatised from the last few years, but whilst I agree with you in principle I'd like us to be doing it whilst we're on more than 44 points and definitely not getting relegated |
I know the feelings well and share the same concerns but we’ll be right back in the relegation mix again next year if we continue starting loan players just to stay up. | |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 15:17 - Mar 2 with 757 views | Rsole |
And it’s not like we’ve picked up loads of points with them recently either. | |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 15:18 - Mar 2 with 752 views | JamesB1979 |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 13:19 - Mar 2 by Northernr |
Have to say I'm surprised at the Varane love again, waaaay too deep, and constantly going backwards when a forward pass or a turn and run into space was on. Just open your body up slightly. |
I think you need to have a player like that in the side. I think we need to look for the players round to him to bring more to our attacking play. Varane’s job is to be the defensive shield. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 15:30 - Mar 2 with 717 views | Northernr |
If you don’t start the loanees or the out of contract players your back four is currently Liam Morrison standing there with his dick in his hand.
I’m usually the biggest advocate, but it’s not very practical atm. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:11 - Mar 2 with 635 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 14:09 - Mar 2 by mart_Goblin |
It’s a strange one because I agree with all the criticisms of Varane here.
But I still think he did enough other things well to be one of our better players .
So imagine if he can be improved on his ability to move forward and play forward or incisive quicker?
I think that can certainly happen .
He’s still better on the ball than Field and he still turned on the ball more than Colback did. In fact, at one point I said to my son that Colback should be called ‘pass back’ as he always always passes the ball back to where it came from .
The criticisms are justified for sure but he is young enough to improve a lot so although I agree they seem slightly harsh. |
I think Varane is a very promising player who has potential to get much better, particularly if Marti can get him going forwards more. The weird thing is we've seen glimpses against Bristol City and Leicester of that side of his game but his instinct is to be risk averse. | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:16 - Mar 2 with 631 views | Rsole |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 15:30 - Mar 2 by Northernr |
If you don’t start the loanees or the out of contract players your back four is currently Liam Morrison standing there with his dick in his hand.
I’m usually the biggest advocate, but it’s not very practical atm. |
Clive - I think I said the same thing about the defence in my last paragraph but we can’t be starting 7 out of 11 players that probably won’t be here next year, especially when there is some cover from players that have renewed or still have some committed time to run next year.
Let’s take Smyth. He’s been slated for a while, came good (got better) eventually. Probably needed a rest, Yang bought in for cover - no problem, sensible management. Last thing we need is a long term injury. But now he’s not starting and Yang is.
Yang contributed to a goal against, Smith contributed to a goal for. Argue about quality all day long but the maths and the contract situation should be in favour of Smyth and if he’s shit as a starter, bring Yang on and give him 30+mins.
We have Morrison on the bench - no minutes. Fine if he’s not fit but if he’s fit and he’s all that’s left next year, ‘kin get him some minutes.
If Frey isn’t here next year - then maybe give him less time and rotate. We have an alternative and he’s just signed a contract - reward him for that and give him a chance in relative safety to get some more experience.
Different situation I know but I’d also give Walsh some time based on Nardi’s recent performances. Give him a break and he’ll most likely come back stronger for the competition. | |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:23 - Mar 2 with 613 views | Rsole |
As for the situation we placed ourselves in with defenders, especially LB and possibly RB, WTF did we just sign/loan more minions ?
I dare say we thought we didn’t need them and could probably push for a play off position and therefore went for luxury/utility over practicality and now we even change formation to fit Stuart, Kevin and Bob in the team. | |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:45 - Mar 2 with 561 views | NorthantsHoop |
Thought we missed Smyth from the off on the right yesterday. Saito should have started on the left, Marti needs to persevere with getting Chair in a more central attacking midfield role, especially at home, which is where he feels more comfortable I suspect. Yang should have been an option from the bench and agree on the points about Morrison he should be starting to get match fit and is ours, either give Cook a rest or rotate with Edwards, who I like but is not our player. Varane is much improved from early in the season but his tendency to turn back rather than pass forward is really risky and slows momentum going forward, thought he had overcome this, back again yesterday. Morgan who is a great prospect looked exactly like a player that has been left out for a few weeks and thought he struggled a bit. The main thing I took away from yesterday was we don't convert our chances, better teams like Sheffield United do and that is the difference. Also if we go a goal down feel it is going to be a slog to get back into it. |  | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:55 - Mar 2 with 519 views | Rsole |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:45 - Mar 2 by NorthantsHoop |
Thought we missed Smyth from the off on the right yesterday. Saito should have started on the left, Marti needs to persevere with getting Chair in a more central attacking midfield role, especially at home, which is where he feels more comfortable I suspect. Yang should have been an option from the bench and agree on the points about Morrison he should be starting to get match fit and is ours, either give Cook a rest or rotate with Edwards, who I like but is not our player. Varane is much improved from early in the season but his tendency to turn back rather than pass forward is really risky and slows momentum going forward, thought he had overcome this, back again yesterday. Morgan who is a great prospect looked exactly like a player that has been left out for a few weeks and thought he struggled a bit. The main thing I took away from yesterday was we don't convert our chances, better teams like Sheffield United do and that is the difference. Also if we go a goal down feel it is going to be a slog to get back into it. |
We certainly need to become more clinical and that comes with coaching, experience and practice.
The good thing with younger players is they learn almost every game if they are going to progress. If you coach them the right way, then the more you play them, the better they get. The really good ones learn from mistakes and then prove their point by fixing them. I think we have several of those on our books now - let’s give them more minutes when we can, when there’s limited jeopardy.
Some others will hit a level quite early - Sincs for example. Good time to sell him when we did. | |
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| Sheffield United Reflection on 17:27 - Mar 2 with 466 views | mart_Goblin |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:11 - Mar 2 by Wegerles_Stairs |
I think Varane is a very promising player who has potential to get much better, particularly if Marti can get him going forwards more. The weird thing is we've seen glimpses against Bristol City and Leicester of that side of his game but his instinct is to be risk averse. |
Absolutely fair comment . Agree with that | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 17:38 - Mar 2 with 455 views | mart_Goblin |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 16:16 - Mar 2 by Rsole |
Clive - I think I said the same thing about the defence in my last paragraph but we can’t be starting 7 out of 11 players that probably won’t be here next year, especially when there is some cover from players that have renewed or still have some committed time to run next year.
Let’s take Smyth. He’s been slated for a while, came good (got better) eventually. Probably needed a rest, Yang bought in for cover - no problem, sensible management. Last thing we need is a long term injury. But now he’s not starting and Yang is.
Yang contributed to a goal against, Smith contributed to a goal for. Argue about quality all day long but the maths and the contract situation should be in favour of Smyth and if he’s shit as a starter, bring Yang on and give him 30+mins.
We have Morrison on the bench - no minutes. Fine if he’s not fit but if he’s fit and he’s all that’s left next year, ‘kin get him some minutes.
If Frey isn’t here next year - then maybe give him less time and rotate. We have an alternative and he’s just signed a contract - reward him for that and give him a chance in relative safety to get some more experience.
Different situation I know but I’d also give Walsh some time based on Nardi’s recent performances. Give him a break and he’ll most likely come back stronger for the competition. |
A lot to agree with here but ultimately you want us to run before we can walk regarding playing players just because they are here for next season .
Let us get safe first . As I said previously , remember it’s THIS season that we went 2 wins in 17. We go on a similar run between now and May and we’ll be real close . That’s pessimistic for sure and unlikely , but it would total mismanagement to just say “f*ck it” and play Bennie , Lloyd, Morgan , Morrison and drop Cook, Dunne, Edwards, Paal and Frey just because they might not be here . And at present that is still a ‘might not’. I’d say nothing has been totally decided yet .
I agree Morrison needs and deserves game time .
But a lot of this is hindsight again.
This time last week plenty of people on here were saying Yang must start instead of Smyth.
1 week later it’s Smyth must start .
That’s always going to happen when the quality of players is not top level . One week they will be good , next week poor . | | | |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 17:57 - Mar 2 with 398 views | stevec |
| Sheffield United Reflection on 15:18 - Mar 2 by JamesB1979 |
I think you need to have a player like that in the side. I think we need to look for the players round to him to bring more to our attacking play. Varane’s job is to be the defensive shield. |
Exactly. He was very good at the role he’s been told to play.
Most of the time there was no one moving ahead looking for a forward pass. Morgan had a stinker, the Korean lad not much better and to try and cut back in when two Sheffield had blocked his path gifted a crossing opportunity and goal they should never have had. Changed the entire game as they are very good at sitting back and passing opportunities disappeared.
To pick on Varane is bizarre when there’s four midfielders ahead of him who created next to nothing. |  | | |
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