So why hasn't it worked out for Woodburn?

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

It seems inevitable that he is due back at Liverpool from January, but injury aside why didn't it work out for him here?

The majority, like me, were pissed off at the Brooks sale. This was somewhat pacified by the excitement of the arrival of Woodburn who could so easily have gone on to play in the vein of form of Mount and Wilson at Derby, but just hasn't.

The comparisons with Brooks won't have helped expectations, but alone won't have been at fault. The wonderkid tag certainly adds to the challenge, after a largely unproven start to professional life. The form of Duffy needs taking into consideration, but that doesn't stop the lad being in the squad and to come on for Duffy as needed. Is he just not as good as that first goal for Wales led people to believe?

Just where has it fallen down?

Here's hoping Dowell works out much better, I personally think our style will be much better suited to him.

 

[Rusty view]

He's an arrogant twat apparently. Thinks he's above us and has a righ t to be in 1st team on name alone.

This is just what i heard.

 

[Ricky]

Probably because he's a nesh little billy big bollocks who couldn't be arsed to apply himself properly.

 

[Fanny magnet]

In the game time he had early season he looked awful continually giving the ball away and no effort or conviction from him

 

[Carlton Blade]

I genuinely think he's nowhere near a Championship Standard professional footballer. Attitude issues or not hed have been given game time if he was

 

[nicksufc]

You can only guess a large part of it has to do with his attitude, which possibly surfaced after falling out of contention by September. Word about his injury problems have only started to surface this month, so I don't think you can put it down to that.

Obviously the team have been playing very well and often there simply hasn't been space for him in the team (why change a winning XI?), but even when we had a dip in form Wilder wouldn't put him on the bench.

It's unfair to compare him to Mount or Wilson because them two already had significantly more first-team experience than Woodburn. He's obviously got something about him, but for a first loan move I think this was maybe a level too high for him - apparently our training sessions are very high intensity too which is always going to be a difficult environment to come into for a teenager.

 

[Carlton Blade]

Also Mount and Wilson are older and have proved themselves

 

[Lane Ender]

CW soon sorts out the disruptive fuckers no prima donnas in his squads

 

[DronnieBlade]

Attitude is one thing. I know nothing of this, good or bad.

Ability and commitment to the cause is another I can pass comment on. He is not ready !

GLTTL in the future.

UTB

 

[BigBed]

It seems inevitable that he is due back at Liverpool from January, but injury aside why didn't it work out for him here?

The majority, like me, were pissed off at the Brooks sale. This was somewhat pacified by the excitement of the arrival of Woodburn who could so easily have gone on to play in the vein of form of Mount and Wilson at Derby, but just hasn't.

The comparisons with Brooks won't have helped expectations, but alone won't have been at fault. The wonderkid tag certainly adds to the challenge, after a largely unproven start to professional life. The form of Duffy needs taking into consideration, but that doesn't stop the lad being in the squad and to come on for Duffy as needed. Is he just not as good as that first goal for Wales led people to believe?

Just where has it fallen down?

Here's hoping Dowell works out much better, I personally think our style will be much better suited to him.

Was it because he isn't good enough?

 

[Rodley]

GLTTL

He looks a player who needs to work out what his best position is and pronto.

I’m sure he’ll have a good career in the game if he applies himself.

 

[BritishSteel]

More interested in Carver Street than carving defences open.

 

[McGrath]

He isn't good enough to play at this level, it's as simple as that.

If he's actually got the talent , then maybe failing at United will be a kick up the backside he needs and he'll knuckle down and work is proverbials off to succeed. But Liverpool are probably already paying him more than most of our first team, so I doubt at his age there's that much incentive to really bust a gut until it's too late.

 

[itsinyerblood]

In previous posts about Dowell the point has been made that he already has Championship experience under his belt. Whether this is the difference, Wilder and Knill are canny observers where talent is concerned. I can imagine that Wilder will have felt mightily deflated once it was clear that Woodburn simply couldn't hack it at the Blades, but you live, learn, and move on in the knowledge that you try and avoid the same mistakes in future. Making your mark at a club like Liverpool isn't easy, a good example is Solanke. I've seen enough of him to appreciate that he's not without talent, but that's clearly not, on it's own, enough to guarantee a place in the starting line-up of the first team.

Club's do of course make mistakes. Chelsea are probably the leading candidates when it comes to releasing players only to see them blossom elsewhere. So there's possibly a chance that Woodburn will make his mark at a club other than Liverpool.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

GLTTL

He looks a player who needs to work out what his best position is and pronto.

This seems to be key. He's not got the pace to be a winger, but hasn't shown the intelligence to be a number 10, he isn't a striker or a versatile forward and doesn't yet have the discipline to be a centre mid.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Wilder’s always gone to efforts to highlight in interviews that his attitude has been good, but it just hasn’t worked for him, so I’m not sure if attitude issue rumours have just been regurgitated without any basis. His injury in training came about after Wilder had spoken glowingly about Woodburn’s performance and sharpness for the Liverpool U23s.

I assumed that his loan would be cancelled with the arrival of Dowell. With Wilder’s comments about nobody from the group leaving, and no news on Woodburn following return to Liverpool for treatment on his injury, you wonder whether he will actually be recalled.

In fairness, getting game time off Duffy was always going to be a challenge. Duffy’s made that position his own, and had a fine season. He also successfully defended that position from Brooks last season. And Carruthers, Holmes, Thomas etc. He’d have probably played more than he has had Duffy and the strikers not played well, but they consistently have done so.

 

[nicksufc]

Wilder’s always gone to efforts to highlight in interviews that his attitude has been good, but it just hasn’t worked for him, so I’m not sure if attitude issue rumours have just been regurgitated without any basis. His injury in training came about after Wilder had spoken glowingly about Woodburn’s performance and sharpness for the Liverpool U23s.

I assumed that his loan would be cancelled with the arrival of Dowell. With Wilder’s comments about nobody from the group leaving, and no news on Woodburn following return to Liverpool for treatment on his injury, you wonder whether he will actually be recalled.

In fairness, getting game time off Duffy was always going to be a challenge. Duffy’s made that position his own, and had a fine season. He also successfully defended that position from Brooks last season. And Carruthers, Holmes, Thomas etc. He’d have probably played more than he has had Duffy and the strikers not played well, but they consistently have done so.

I think the attitude thing has only come about because there doesn't seem like another logical explanation for his disappearance. I mean, we had a run of something like 1 win in 7 recently, and Duffy wasn't playing brilliantly, so why wasn't Woodburn ever considered?

 

[LoughboroBlade]

I think the attitude thing has only come about because there doesn't seem like another logical explanation for his disappearance. I mean, we had a run of something like 1 win in 7 recently, and Duffy wasn't playing brilliantly, so why wasn't Woodburn ever considered?

Because when he’d featured prior to that he’d looked poor, out of form, and low on confidence? I don’t think it was then an enormous surprise for him to be out of the squad.

He was injured prior to the Reading game and this was Wilder’s take at the time:

"We watched him play for their under-21's against Everton," Wilder said. "We had someone there and he was talking to us about playing for our under-21's too. Ben was looking forward to trying to get back into our team."

It is possible when a signing doesn’t work out as expected for the answer as to why that’s happened to be neither that he “is shit” or that he “has a shit attitude”.

 

[blade67]

Simply hasn't looked good enough. I have no idea about attitude, perhaps he isn't physically ready for championship yet. Perhaps he never will be. Duffy didn't have many championship games prior to coming to the lane in his early 30s.

I remember when Ross Barkley was at Wednesday. Rubbish apparently. 18 months later he was playing for England

 

[Rob86]

Not good enough, looked shite for Wales in the games I’ve seen.

Watch him tear it up somewhere now

 

[SwissBlade]

Duffy has been excellent this season

Maybe that’s the biggest reason.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

From the brief opportunities he was given he looked completely lost. I think personally he didn't fit in with the way we play and I'm not sure where his best position is. He certainly isn't a Duffy type, maybe more of a central midfielder? Not sure but Klopp rates him highly so I'm sure he will go on to do well.

 

[ChipButtyBlade]

Uncontrolable legs/feet,he has a footballers brain its just his legs/feet need to keep up with his thoughts.

 

[DaleHillBlade]

Not good enough.

 

[bromtom]

To play for Sheffield United you need to be able to do more than one thing.

If you're an attacking player you're still expected to get back and put in a couple of tackles, look at Bill against Blackburn, think McG cleared one of the line against Derby, and Leon saved a goal at Bolton I think (early in the season wearing away anyway), all this while also getting a foot in, holding it up and generally being useful.

From what I saw of Woodburn he couldn't get near the opposition let alone tackle them, and he can't clear a ball.

No doubt of his attacking qualities and we probably didn't see them because he's more of a winger and couldn't adapt, but not being able to muck in is why I feel Brooks didn't start more last season, and Brooks is better defensively than Woodburn (although he could've stopped Pogba's second yesterday but just flapped his arms at him).

The good things I saw from him were all in the last few minutes at QPR, some good game management but other than that not there yet.

Can't speak for his attitude really but he doesn't seem that bothered in social media posts I've seen, to be honest he always looks stoned haha..

More of a name than a player at the moment, needs to go further down and work his way up. Send him to Sunderland and see how he does.

 

[Guesty]

Duffy has been excellent this season

Maybe that’s the biggest reason.

He has, but he's also had periods of being less excellent.

 

[CarlMcBlade]

Maybe he should have gone to a lower mid table team. We are going for promotion and it hard enough for us competing against big budget teams. So we can’t really afford to carry any passengers. New recruits need to hit the ground running if they come to the lane.

 

[Topplayersleave]

Don't know about his attitude, don't know much about any talent that he is supposed to have. We've not seen it.
It was a perfect opportunity for him to play a good standard of football and return to Liverpool as a better player, but he hasn't taken his chance. We have been looking for someone to give Duffy a rest either coming on as a sub, or starting instead of him in some games, but he's not been ready for the challenge

Another Championship club will be reluctant to take him on now, so he'll get loaned out to a League One club and Liverpool will be watching him carefully to see if he's got something that they want to hang on to, if he has problems at that level he might just find himself released and have to start again at the bottom

 

[Bladesway]

Think as usual people are being grossly unfair on him. Your a young lad and it doesn’t click, you suffer a loss in form (there it is again) and the team around you is playing well.

He might not get on with the management style and he might just be unlucky. But let’s all line up to kick a teenager in the bollocks because it isn’t working out.

I wish him well and hope it works out for him somewhere else. Chances are we will never know for sure why it didn’t work.

 

[snootyfenooty]

A lot of suggestions as to why he hasn't played have been suggested: piss-head, billy big bollox, not good enough, unfit, injured, overpaid and no incentive etc. The guys obviously got talent otherwise Wilder wouldn't have signed him so you can also ask the question why the management failed to get the best out of him. However, irrespective of all of the above the invective being chucked his way is unnecessary as no-one knows the real reason for his failure and it doesn't make us look very clever.