3rd hardest start....

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Foquita said:
So arsenal have had the 15th hardest season so far and have the 17th easiest games still to play, and they're still rubbish!
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Also how can Everton have had the easiest start? They had to play us!

Utb
 
We really need a decent December. There's so many genuinely winnable games I'd have expected us to have a good go at in June when the fixtures came out let alone now sitting 5th in table.

COYRAWW
 
BiggerBladeThanThou said:
We really need a decent December. There's so many genuinely winnable games I'd have expected us to have a good go at in June when the fixtures came out let alone now sitting 5th in table.

COYRAWW
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December really is a critical month, loads of mid table games will be important, followed by a couple of toughies...
 
Don’t tell the pigs, I’m sure they said we have the easiest fixtures in any league we’re in...
 
GymClassHero said:
Genuinely don't want us in Europe. I'd love us to finish that high up the league but not have to enter the Europa league. Both Wolves and Burnley suffered for it.
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But we need to play in Europe . My Wendy mates are always coming up with the shitty comment of "But have you ever played in Europe?". Then there's the comment of "Who were the last Sheffield team to win a trophy?" So it's the F,A Cup and Europe this season.............

tenor (10).gif
 
derfblade.3 said:
But we need to play in Europe . My Wendy mates are always coming up with the shitty comment of "But have you ever played in Europe?". Then there's the comment of "Who were the last Sheffield team to win a trophy?" So it's the F,A Cup and Europe this season.............

View attachment 64532
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IF we spent £100m and just use the Europa league to blood in our newly assembled B team full of the most exciting youth players from the lower leagues, i might keen on this... however we would probably only end up with 5 players 😂
 
GymClassHero said:
Genuinely don't want us in Europe. I'd love us to finish that high up the league but not have to enter the Europa league. Both Wolves and Burnley suffered for it.
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Oh dear! :rolleyes:

What do you want from your football club mate, eh? Maybe you were one of these who didn't want us to get to the Prem either because you were happy with the Championship?

I tell you what I want. I want Sheffield United Football Club to go as high as it possibly can and win as much as it possibly can. That includes Europe, the Champion's League, the Premiership title, The FA Cup, The League Cup, the whole lot actually. I want commentators to refer to us like they once used to, "a powerhouse of English football". Yes, I want us to get back to being one of this country's finest football clubs and stay there for some time.

That inevitably includes competing in Europe. I absolutely cannot wait for that to happen. It's something I've never witnessed in my lifetime and it's something I want to see my club do before I die.

I don't know what you mean by Wolves and Burnley suffering for it, but I note they are both in the Prem currently. If we qualify for Europe and the additional fixtures take their toll on some players - so be it. That's a squad thing and I'm absolutely certain Wilder and Knill will prepare the team for that.

This is a money driven business whether we like it or not. Competing in a major European competition is a major boost for the club and puts us on the world stage. It makes the club more marketable and attracts commerce in the form of sponsorships, merchandise, TV money. It also makes the club a magnet for the world's best players.
There is no logical reason for not wanting us to compete at the highest levels of the game - and that includes Europe. There are only parochial reasons, the same ones that would have us still back in the Championship or League 1, if the ambition of the club and the manager hadn't overtaken them.
 

Cerberus Blade said:
Oh dear! :rolleyes:

What do you want from your football club mate, eh? Maybe you were one of these who didn't want us to get to the Prem either because you were happy with the Championship?

I tell you what I want. I want Sheffield United Football Club to go as high as it possibly can and win as much as it possibly can. That includes Europe, the Champion's League, the Premiership title, The FA Cup, The League Cup, the whole lot actually. I want commentators to refer to us like they once used to, "a powerhouse of English football". Yes, I want us to get back to being one of this country's finest football clubs and stay there for some time.

That inevitably includes competing in Europe. I absolutely cannot wait for that to happen. It's something I've never witnessed in my lifetime and it's something I want to see my club do before I die.

I don't know what you mean by Wolves and Burnley suffering for it, but I note they are both in the Prem currently. If we qualify for Europe and the additional fixtures take their toll on some players - so be it. That's a squad thing and I'm absolutely certain Wilder and Knill will prepare the team for that.

This is a money driven business whether we like it or not. Competing in a major European competition is a major boost for the club and puts us on the world stage. It makes the club more marketable and attracts commerce in the form of sponsorships, merchandise, TV money. It also makes the club a magnet for the world's best players.
There is no logical reason for not wanting us to compete at the highest levels of the game - and that includes Europe. There are only parochial reasons, the same ones that would have us still back in the Championship or League 1, if the ambition of the club and the manager hadn't overtaken them.
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Go to Tenby after that lot's happened and half the kids on the beach will have Blades shirts on.
 
I do wonder if we get 12-15 points from the next 7, whether we’ll see a hive of activity in January. That’s based on the assumption we’d still be very close to 6th/7th with that return.
 
What’s this based on? Perceived difficulty?

Ie Arsenal, Man Utd and Spurs ranked on past achievements rather than current form? If that’s the case then we would be considered 19th most difficult opponent and not the true reflection of top 6?

Either way plug this type of shit right into my veins
 
Regarding this thread and "3rd hardest start" - it's really not possible to say which of the teams have the hardest start. You could roughly expect 3 or 4 teams from last season to be the most difficult opponents, but there are so many unknowns and variables that it's impossible to predict that. But, it's an interesting exercise if you take it as a bit of fun and with a big pinch of salt. And it does show us in a very good light - but we always knew that - because we were everyone's favourites for relegation.

If we can just turn a few more draws into wins, it will be even better.

Of the teams in the top 6, we've got the highest number of drawn games, along with Arsenal. The team above us, Man City, have lost as many games as us, i.e. 3. But they've won twice as many, i.e. 8 compared to our 4. Same for Leicester and Chelsea - 8 wins compared to our 4.

I think we will increase our win to draw ratio. I think it's something to do with us starting out a bit cagey and feeling our way with teams. I think there's a real belief now throughout the squad that we can compete with anyone at this level - and I'm expecting us to go for it much more from the off, like we have done in the last 2 games v Burnley and Spurs, and be more on the front foot.

I'm fully expecting us to go for the jugular from the first minute v Man United and I reckon that's going to be one hell of a game.
 
Cerberus Blade said:
Oh dear! :rolleyes:

What do you want from your football club mate, eh? Maybe you were one of these who didn't want us to get to the Prem either because you were happy with the Championship?

I tell you what I want. I want Sheffield United Football Club to go as high as it possibly can and win as much as it possibly can. That includes Europe, the Champion's League, the Premiership title, The FA Cup, The League Cup, the whole lot actually. I want commentators to refer to us like they once used to, "a powerhouse of English football". Yes, I want us to get back to being one of this country's finest football clubs and stay there for some time.

That inevitably includes competing in Europe. I absolutely cannot wait for that to happen. It's something I've never witnessed in my lifetime and it's something I want to see my club do before I die.

I don't know what you mean by Wolves and Burnley suffering for it, but I note they are both in the Prem currently. If we qualify for Europe and the additional fixtures take their toll on some players - so be it. That's a squad thing and I'm absolutely certain Wilder and Knill will prepare the team for that.

This is a money driven business whether we like it or not. Competing in a major European competition is a major boost for the club and puts us on the world stage. It makes the club more marketable and attracts commerce in the form of sponsorships, merchandise, TV money. It also makes the club a magnet for the world's best players.
There is no logical reason for not wanting us to compete at the highest levels of the game - and that includes Europe. There are only parochial reasons, the same ones that would have us still back in the Championship or League 1, if the ambition of the club and the manager hadn't overtaken them.
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Hasn't once said I don't ever want us in Europe. I don't want us there based on the current squad which frankly isn't big enough. I'd like to see the blades go as high as possible but am tempering my hopes with realism because i would sooner we us in the pram every season than dropping down into the doldrums of English football again after one heroic galavant in Europe.

Yeah fuck that.
 
Cerberus Blade said:
Regarding this thread and "3rd hardest start" - it's really not possible to say which of the teams have the hardest start. You could roughly expect 3 or 4 teams from last season to be the most difficult opponents, but there are so many unknowns and variables that it's impossible to predict that. But, it's an interesting exercise if you take it as a bit of fun and with a big pinch of salt. And it does show us in a very good light - but we always knew that - because we were everyone's favourites for relegation.

If we can just turn a few more draws into wins, it will be even better.

Of the teams in the top 6, we've got the highest number of drawn games, along with Arsenal. The team above us, Man City, have lost as many games as us, i.e. 3. But they've won twice as many, i.e. 8 compared to our 4. Same for Leicester and Chelsea - 8 wins compared to our 4.

I think we will increase our win to draw ratio. I think it's something to do with us starting out a bit cagey and feeling our way with teams. I think there's a real belief now throughout the squad that we can compete with anyone at this level - and I'm expecting us to go for it much more from the off, like we have done in the last 2 games v Burnley and Spurs, and be more on the front foot.

I'm fully expecting us to go for the jugular from the first minute v Man United and I reckon that's going to be one hell of a game.
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I think it's based on league position this season rather than last.
 
Note for Carlton Blade re the measured difficulty of fixtures to date. Our recent posts on another thread refer.

Southampton hardest against clubs with average league placing of 7.4

Everton easiest with average 12th opposition.

Watford and United were at 9th and 10th respectively when we debated it.

Methodology proven.
 
Extraordinary. Definitely worth reading and thinking about the whole article and table in it. Without looking at anything else United in 5 th place would be the surprise of the season to many. Then to see that united's performance in terms of opponent form is the the most striking takeaway from current prem the top half teams is amazing. Chelsea and Leicester have had much easier starts and the only other team in the top half with difficult opponents to date is wolves though there's is 7 th to our third. If you combine prem league ranking with difficulty of start ranking for all teams which surprisingly the article didn't do you get this from the top

Blades 8
Liverpool 11
Leicester 13
Wolves 15
Newcastle 15
Man U 19
.
.
Man City 23

Just to be clear this is not a table of who has out performed taking into account pre season expectations etc but a table of absolute performance comparing teams equally in terms of points gained and quality of opponents. So we are actually not the the 5 th best but by this reckoning actually the best performing team in the prem to date.Extraordinary. No surprise to us is it. Well maybe a little.

⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔⚔
 
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Woodwardfan said:
Note for Carlton Blade re the measured difficulty of fixtures to date. Our recent posts on another thread refer.

Southampton hardest against clubs with average league placing of 7.4

Everton easiest with average 12th opposition.

Watford and United were at 9th and 10th respectively when we debated it.

Methodology proven.
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I'm not doubting that the numbers exist. I just don't personally think they are worth much. Bolton were top of the Championship after 5 games last year. Its just too early forme to put much stock in this
 
Brian Deane said:
We always play teams when there at their weakest......everyone knows that ;)
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Was thinking about whether we've played teams 'at the right time'.

Bournemouth - sure, why not. Good place to get an away start to the league.
Palace - good timing while they still thought they were in pieces and before they realised they weren't.
Leicester - sure, before they realised they were so good this season.
Chelsea - good timing, still settling in to new manager.
Southampton - no! Neither they had realised how shot they are, nor us just how good we are.
Everton - great timing. Just when they were at their lowest ebb.
Liverpool - not bad, or irrelevant. Was perfect opportunity to rock their 100% record. Point dropped?
Watford - great time to play them. Points dropped.
Arsenal - good time to play them as confidence at a low and internal problems.
West Ham - good time to play them with their comedy keeper, although looks that every week it becomes a better time to play them.
Burnley - good in that we were on a roll, though I guess that would apply whoever we were playing. but it seemed a great time to have a go at a less fancied team at home.
Spurs - struggling, and they had midweek trip to Belgrade, not the most comforting place to go.

Man U - ? I thought being Man U half the squad would be away on international duty, but it doesn't seem to be that way, so maybe that's the bonus - it's one of the weakest Man U squads to exist over the past 30 years.

All the above a load of cobblers of course. International break, innit?

(If anyone wishes to misread this as meaning I think we've been lucky and/or it's a dig at the team/Wilder/anything, please take your complaint to Room 101 where it will be dealt with in good time.)
 
Carlton Blade said:
I'm not doubting that the numbers exist. I just don't personally think they are worth much. Bolton were top of the Championship after 5 games last year. Its just too early forme to put much stock in this
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Quote from article
As with any kind of data like this, it is not foolproof, but footylabs, designed to help Fantasy Premier League players, calculates the difficulty of fixtures for each team based on their current table position and the standing of their opponent.

Agree this is not scientific or can be really used with any great predictive quality but it's interesting and just another way to put into perspective and enjoy our fantastic success this season
 
BarcaBlade said:
Was thinking about whether we've played teams 'at the right time'.

Bournemouth - sure, why not. Good place to get an away start to the league.
Palace - good timing while they still thought they were in pieces and before they realised they weren't.
Leicester - sure, before they realised they were so good this season.
Chelsea - good timing, still settling in to new manager.
Southampton - no! Neither they had realised how shot they are, nor us just how good we are.
Everton - great timing. Just when they were at their lowest ebb.
Liverpool - not bad, or irrelevant. Was perfect opportunity to rock their 100% record. Point dropped?
Watford - great time to play them. Points dropped.
Arsenal - good time to play them as confidence at a low and internal problems.
West Ham - good time to play them with their comedy keeper, although looks that every week it becomes a better time to play them.
Burnley - good in that we were on a roll, though I guess that would apply whoever we were playing. but it seemed a great time to have a go at a less fancied team at home.
Spurs - struggling, and they had midweek trip to Belgrade, not the most comforting place to go.

Man U - ? I thought being Man U half the squad would be away on international duty, but it doesn't seem to be that way, so maybe that's the bonus - it's one of the weakest Man U squads to exist over the past 30 years.

All the above a load of cobblers of course. International break, innit?

(If anyone wishes to misread this as meaning I think we've been lucky and/or it's a dig at the team/Wilder/anything, please take your complaint to Room 101 where it will be dealt with in good time.)
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With that kind of reasoning though, there can't be many clubs at many times where it would be the 'bad time' to play them. If playing Liverpool after they've won their opening 6 league games of the season isn't a 'bad time', then what is?
 
BarcaBlade said:
Was thinking about whether we've played teams 'at the right time'.

Bournemouth - sure, why not. Good place to get an away start to the league.
Palace - good timing while they still thought they were in pieces and before they realised they weren't.
Leicester - sure, before they realised they were so good this season.
Chelsea - good timing, still settling in to new manager.
Southampton - no! Neither they had realised how shot they are, nor us just how good we are.
Everton - great timing. Just when they were at their lowest ebb.
Liverpool - not bad, or irrelevant. Was perfect opportunity to rock their 100% record. Point dropped?
Watford - great time to play them. Points dropped.
Arsenal - good time to play them as confidence at a low and internal problems.
West Ham - good time to play them with their comedy keeper, although looks that every week it becomes a better time to play them.
Burnley - good in that we were on a roll, though I guess that would apply whoever we were playing. but it seemed a great time to have a go at a less fancied team at home.
Spurs - struggling, and they had midweek trip to Belgrade, not the most comforting place to go.

Man U - ? I thought being Man U half the squad would be away on international duty, but it doesn't seem to be that way, so maybe that's the bonus - it's one of the weakest Man U squads to exist over the past 30 years.

All the above a load of cobblers of course. International break, innit?

(If anyone wishes to misread this as meaning I think we've been lucky and/or it's a dig at the team/Wilder/anything, please take your complaint to Room 101 where it will be dealt with in good time.)
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Well Done! I think this is contender for worst post of the year so far!
 

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