Deadbat
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2019/20 SUFC SEASON REVIEW / SCHOOL REPORT
Rest of week will be posted as below
Thursday – Part 4 Defence
Friday – Part 5 Midfield
Saturday – Part 6 Attack
Sunday – Part 7 Final awards / Conclusions
Playing Squad
I will now go through each department – I will show the contract situations (some of these might not be correct so tell me!) and include young professional separately. I will then discuss the outlook for next year. We do have 12 (although Lundstram and Morrison have club options) out of 32 out of contract though so going to be some changes no matter what and 5 on loan.
We will begin with the Goalkeepers….then the Defence and so on….
Goalkeepers
Dean Henderson It seemed for a lot of last summer that Henderson may not return but eventually after much ‘to’ing and fro’ing’ – he did come back and seemed delighted to return. It has been clear he always wants to be Man Utd number one but once it was made clear that De Gea was that pick and remaining for the present; then he was desperate to come back to us.
He started the season solidly enough but then a few shots went past him at power for Leicester and the made a bit of an error against Chelsea. He played well in subsequent games but then an almighty rick v Liverpool saw Wilder really come out and call him out saying he has to do better. Wilder clearly knew what he was made of and that he would respond the right way. He made some great saves at Watford as part of 3 clean sheets in 4 and we saw that missed him when we played Man. Utd. He maybe could have been a bit more switched on with the goal against Newcastle but again a week later he made a great save at Norwich to preserve us the three points He continued is excellent form in the weeks after this and I cannot recall many mistakes he made of significance. We kept keeping clean sheets and had a series of narrow wins, where he and the defence were excellent. Before the lock down he made a superb double/triple save v Norwich yet again. This was an incredible save/reaction and agility. De Gea continued to be quite erratic and all season there was talk of whether he should be the Man Utd keeper. He got England recognition and his stock continued to grow. He kept a number of clean sheets and had some outstanding performances. Sure, there were odd errors and at times even his form was a bit jittery after lockdown (pushing a few shouts out centrally/letting a few in near post) but overall he was a huge part of what we did. He does get beat a bit at his near post but felt he was exposed too much post lock down as teams got through us when they had not done before this.
He clearly has lots of belief in his own ability (saying he believes he will be Man Utd and England number one and feels those things should happen sooner rather than later) and his confidence is great but noticed he is not as active on social media etc and seems to have toned things down on the pitch too. He seems more focused and professional all around.
His goal celebrations, full time antics and his behaviour on social media has divided opinion but even he seems to have cut that down a lot. Maybe the difficulties of what happened with the unfair criticism and vile abuse he received after some social media stuff a few years ago has seen him reign it in a bit.
I said this time last season I would not be shocked if he was the England keeper in 3 years. A year on and he has been in quite a few squads and to me it is a matter of time before he becomes the main man. I certainly have seen no English keeper as good as him. The only thing you can say is he is not playing in a pressure environment at the Lane compared to say if he was playing for Man Utd every week or England. Till he gets the chance though in this situation, it is hard to say he can’t rise to the occasion. He is that good. He will have dips but he has everything you would want to be the best keeper in the UK and the World. That may seem a stretch but he is tall, athletic, good shot stopper, great reactions, reads the game well and can command (does need to do a bit more than that and take more crosses). The main knock is at times he does make the odd mistake (all keepers does) and his concentration can waver a bit but that is nit picking. He admits himself his kicking needs to hugely improve – that is a feature that other England hopefuls have over him at the moment and in today’s game it is an important part of the goalkeeping armoury.
Man Utd know what they have but have seemingly settled on De Gea who is tied down on a big contract and they cannot really even have him rotating with ‘Deano.’ I think they would prefer to keep him though for in a few years so would probably prefer for him to keep coming back on loan. If they sell him that would be my biggest fear as teams like Spurs, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have been linked with him. They would blow us out of the water in fee/wages. Man Utd may not want to sell him to a rival, certainly domestically though. That might play into our hands. An ideal situation would be we bought him (take silly money – like 20-30 million) with a buy back maybe for Man Utd. This would suit all parties, I think. Not sure whether Wilder would want that but no different to keep having him on loan only we could get our money back we spend. He has been a huge part of what we do and the best keeper we have had since Kelly/Tracey days and maybe in our my life time if I had to really say. He is that good.
Grade A- (Last season B+)
Simon Moore The days when he was a regular in League One seem a long time ago. Since Henderson came, he has only played when Henderson has been unavailable or in cup ties. It seems Henderson keeps himself fit and thus his chances have been very limited. He played in two cup games and two defeats in the Championship season and this past year, he played against Blackburn and Sunderland in the League Cup and Man Utd home and away in the league. He was not even selected in the FA Cup but around this time he had an injury and was not even on the bench for a few months due to this with Verres being number 2 and also starting v Fylde when he would have probably played.
He made a penalty save v Blackburn and had no chance with the goal in this game or the one against Sunderland although being picky, it was the type that historically, often beats him with a long ranger hit with power. Seemed to go through him a bit. I always feel more concerned when he plays but then he normally plays in front of a changed defence too. The games v Man Utd was the case with Egan out. His handling was fine and did ok and we were looking nailed on to win but then they got one back which he had no chance with. He then seemed less than convincing with poor positioning on the two other goals and went walkabout on the third a bit. The return game, fate had it he played again and 3 goals flew past him but he did not look comfortable. The biggest criticism I could make it he does not make many saves – kind of key for a keeper. I heard some saying he never lets us down but he does not make those great saves you need your keeper to make. You could sense the difference without Henderson’s command presence which is odd when Moore is maybe taller and older of course.
Whatever happens with Henderson, you sense either he or another keeper will be the number one and Moore will remain as a back-up but even that might be a stretch now with Foderingham coming in. At 30 he is not a kid and seems happy to be here and supporting Henderson and playing when he can than moving on to be a number one at lower Championship or League One level. He seems a top bloke who always praises Henderson and the hugs between them both when we went up showed what he is all about. He never moans and just a great pro and for that you have to praise him. Be interesting to see what happens with Henderson as if he does not return, as I still feel we would look for a new number one and with a new keeper and Foderingham and Verrips around, you wonder with his age if he might depart this summer.
Grade D+ (Last season D+)
Michael Verrips Came in from KV Mechelen but I was surprised to see that at 23 he has been at six clubs already. He began in his native Holland but has bounced about quite a bit- he has only been a regular for two clubs. Mechelen was the most recent where he did well and the team won the cup but they were found guilty of match fixing – they actually did not get relegated but were stripped of playing in the UEFA Cup/Belgian league. He wanted no part of the fall out and moved on. The club tried to say he could not walk out of his contract but he stated he had no contract and left signing with us. They tried to take matters up with FIFA initially to stop the transfer but this all went quiet and I have heard nothing for some time. He has been in and around the first team squads and had a spell on the bench mid-season when Moore was injured. He eventually got his debut when he played v Fylde but picked up an unfortunate injury early on so had to come off after this. I have not seen him play for the u23’s so cannot really say what my opinion of him. Seems a big lad with a decent presence but needs competitive games. I think it is telling Wilder still preferred Moore. If he is behind a 30 year old who is barely Championship standard and now a 29 year old from the Scottish League, then you worry if Wilder fancies him at all and wonder if Van Winckel had a hand in this with his links. I wonder whether there is scope to loan him out to get games in say League 1 or 2 just to properly sharpen him up. At Premier League level squads have to carry 3 names so that makes it hard really to know what to do but he will need to get some experience somehow in this country in first team games to see if he has any chance of developing with us. Foderingham’s arrival also makes his status seem a bit uncertain. If he was showing enough in training, you would think we would not sign another keeper.
Grade D (Last season NA)
Wes Foderingham
Saw the links with him for a while but was surprised we signed him. He is 29 and was only back up at Rangers having lost his place to an ageing Allan McGregor. He has played 112 games for Rangers but he has mixed reviews from fans and you worry if he does not stand out up there, then is he going to be good enough for a Premier League. Most United fans remember him from his days at Swindon and some of his final games for them came in the playoffs (let in 5 in that crazy draw) before they lost the Playoff final to Preston. He actually looked decent whenever I saw him and seemed a decent all-around keeper but the knock on him from Rangers fans is he struggles with long shots – something Moore has been criticised for. We will wait to see what happens – you sense it will be him and Moore or Verrips as back ups though with Henderson or another as number one. Seems an odd signing on the face of t but clearly the current back ups have not impressed Wilder and he wanted to improve in this area.
The rest
Jake Eastwood I recall him doing well in preseason after we got promoted when we signed Blackwell (and I think Moore was injured) and there was a discussion over who would start the season in 17-18 after he played v Stoke, I think in a pre-season friendly. He eventually was back up but played against Walsall and Leicester in the Cups but conceded 7 goals (although not really down to him). He signed a new deal to 2020 around this time (the autumn of 2017). When Moore came back; it was Moore and Blackwell vying for the spot although Eastwood did have a spell when he came on in a bad defeat at Wolves after Moore got sent off. He had a brief spell on loan at Chesterfield but struggled and came back. This season he was loaned out to Scunthorpe and started the season but then he made a few mistakes and quickly lost his place. He ended up actually being recalled to be on the bench v West Ham when we had a number of keeping injuries. He then was out of the squad and did not even play much u23 action either. He is almost 24 now – he was given an extension for the end of the Premier League but I am sure he is out of contract? You worry for him that he has not been very successful albeit in limited spells/chances right at the bottom of League Two so he may have to go into the non-leagues and work his way back up to get a chance. He seemed to have lots of potential a few years ago but not kicked on and that coupled with United’s progression means he has been left behind somewhat. Been linked with Bolton recently.
Next season
Bringing Henderson back is vitally important. If we can get him for a third season that would be fantastic but you wonder if Man Utd may see a very good chance to capitalise and make a lot of money. If he does not come back, we have to sign another first choice keeper and it is such a key position. I just hope it is Deano between the sticks but if not, we may have to look at other keepers of course. We have allegedly been linked with and watched the Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir. We of course have linked with former director Sebastian Baki being a director over there – so there may be something in that. As I have said above if Henderson does not return and we have a more untried keeper, then we would need to improve the backs ups and Foderingham’s arrival proves that Wilder thinks the same. I am not sure Wilder would be convinced playing Moore or Verrips (total unknown) at this level for any run of games other than the odd fill in game hence the new keeper already coming in whatever happens to Henderson.
Returning players;
Player / Position Years remaining (contract expires) Red this year – Orange next year - Green longer contract –
Goalkeepers
Simon Moore 1 year (2021)
Wes Foderingham 3 years (2023)
Michael Verrips 3 years (2023)
Jake Eastwood Out of contract (2020)
Return to loan club:
Dean Henderson – Back to Man Utd
Rest of week will be posted as below
Thursday – Part 4 Defence
Friday – Part 5 Midfield
Saturday – Part 6 Attack
Sunday – Part 7 Final awards / Conclusions
Playing Squad
I will now go through each department – I will show the contract situations (some of these might not be correct so tell me!) and include young professional separately. I will then discuss the outlook for next year. We do have 12 (although Lundstram and Morrison have club options) out of 32 out of contract though so going to be some changes no matter what and 5 on loan.
We will begin with the Goalkeepers….then the Defence and so on….
Goalkeepers
Dean Henderson It seemed for a lot of last summer that Henderson may not return but eventually after much ‘to’ing and fro’ing’ – he did come back and seemed delighted to return. It has been clear he always wants to be Man Utd number one but once it was made clear that De Gea was that pick and remaining for the present; then he was desperate to come back to us.
He started the season solidly enough but then a few shots went past him at power for Leicester and the made a bit of an error against Chelsea. He played well in subsequent games but then an almighty rick v Liverpool saw Wilder really come out and call him out saying he has to do better. Wilder clearly knew what he was made of and that he would respond the right way. He made some great saves at Watford as part of 3 clean sheets in 4 and we saw that missed him when we played Man. Utd. He maybe could have been a bit more switched on with the goal against Newcastle but again a week later he made a great save at Norwich to preserve us the three points He continued is excellent form in the weeks after this and I cannot recall many mistakes he made of significance. We kept keeping clean sheets and had a series of narrow wins, where he and the defence were excellent. Before the lock down he made a superb double/triple save v Norwich yet again. This was an incredible save/reaction and agility. De Gea continued to be quite erratic and all season there was talk of whether he should be the Man Utd keeper. He got England recognition and his stock continued to grow. He kept a number of clean sheets and had some outstanding performances. Sure, there were odd errors and at times even his form was a bit jittery after lockdown (pushing a few shouts out centrally/letting a few in near post) but overall he was a huge part of what we did. He does get beat a bit at his near post but felt he was exposed too much post lock down as teams got through us when they had not done before this.
He clearly has lots of belief in his own ability (saying he believes he will be Man Utd and England number one and feels those things should happen sooner rather than later) and his confidence is great but noticed he is not as active on social media etc and seems to have toned things down on the pitch too. He seems more focused and professional all around.
His goal celebrations, full time antics and his behaviour on social media has divided opinion but even he seems to have cut that down a lot. Maybe the difficulties of what happened with the unfair criticism and vile abuse he received after some social media stuff a few years ago has seen him reign it in a bit.
I said this time last season I would not be shocked if he was the England keeper in 3 years. A year on and he has been in quite a few squads and to me it is a matter of time before he becomes the main man. I certainly have seen no English keeper as good as him. The only thing you can say is he is not playing in a pressure environment at the Lane compared to say if he was playing for Man Utd every week or England. Till he gets the chance though in this situation, it is hard to say he can’t rise to the occasion. He is that good. He will have dips but he has everything you would want to be the best keeper in the UK and the World. That may seem a stretch but he is tall, athletic, good shot stopper, great reactions, reads the game well and can command (does need to do a bit more than that and take more crosses). The main knock is at times he does make the odd mistake (all keepers does) and his concentration can waver a bit but that is nit picking. He admits himself his kicking needs to hugely improve – that is a feature that other England hopefuls have over him at the moment and in today’s game it is an important part of the goalkeeping armoury.
Man Utd know what they have but have seemingly settled on De Gea who is tied down on a big contract and they cannot really even have him rotating with ‘Deano.’ I think they would prefer to keep him though for in a few years so would probably prefer for him to keep coming back on loan. If they sell him that would be my biggest fear as teams like Spurs, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have been linked with him. They would blow us out of the water in fee/wages. Man Utd may not want to sell him to a rival, certainly domestically though. That might play into our hands. An ideal situation would be we bought him (take silly money – like 20-30 million) with a buy back maybe for Man Utd. This would suit all parties, I think. Not sure whether Wilder would want that but no different to keep having him on loan only we could get our money back we spend. He has been a huge part of what we do and the best keeper we have had since Kelly/Tracey days and maybe in our my life time if I had to really say. He is that good.
Grade A- (Last season B+)
Simon Moore The days when he was a regular in League One seem a long time ago. Since Henderson came, he has only played when Henderson has been unavailable or in cup ties. It seems Henderson keeps himself fit and thus his chances have been very limited. He played in two cup games and two defeats in the Championship season and this past year, he played against Blackburn and Sunderland in the League Cup and Man Utd home and away in the league. He was not even selected in the FA Cup but around this time he had an injury and was not even on the bench for a few months due to this with Verres being number 2 and also starting v Fylde when he would have probably played.
He made a penalty save v Blackburn and had no chance with the goal in this game or the one against Sunderland although being picky, it was the type that historically, often beats him with a long ranger hit with power. Seemed to go through him a bit. I always feel more concerned when he plays but then he normally plays in front of a changed defence too. The games v Man Utd was the case with Egan out. His handling was fine and did ok and we were looking nailed on to win but then they got one back which he had no chance with. He then seemed less than convincing with poor positioning on the two other goals and went walkabout on the third a bit. The return game, fate had it he played again and 3 goals flew past him but he did not look comfortable. The biggest criticism I could make it he does not make many saves – kind of key for a keeper. I heard some saying he never lets us down but he does not make those great saves you need your keeper to make. You could sense the difference without Henderson’s command presence which is odd when Moore is maybe taller and older of course.
Whatever happens with Henderson, you sense either he or another keeper will be the number one and Moore will remain as a back-up but even that might be a stretch now with Foderingham coming in. At 30 he is not a kid and seems happy to be here and supporting Henderson and playing when he can than moving on to be a number one at lower Championship or League One level. He seems a top bloke who always praises Henderson and the hugs between them both when we went up showed what he is all about. He never moans and just a great pro and for that you have to praise him. Be interesting to see what happens with Henderson as if he does not return, as I still feel we would look for a new number one and with a new keeper and Foderingham and Verrips around, you wonder with his age if he might depart this summer.
Grade D+ (Last season D+)
Michael Verrips Came in from KV Mechelen but I was surprised to see that at 23 he has been at six clubs already. He began in his native Holland but has bounced about quite a bit- he has only been a regular for two clubs. Mechelen was the most recent where he did well and the team won the cup but they were found guilty of match fixing – they actually did not get relegated but were stripped of playing in the UEFA Cup/Belgian league. He wanted no part of the fall out and moved on. The club tried to say he could not walk out of his contract but he stated he had no contract and left signing with us. They tried to take matters up with FIFA initially to stop the transfer but this all went quiet and I have heard nothing for some time. He has been in and around the first team squads and had a spell on the bench mid-season when Moore was injured. He eventually got his debut when he played v Fylde but picked up an unfortunate injury early on so had to come off after this. I have not seen him play for the u23’s so cannot really say what my opinion of him. Seems a big lad with a decent presence but needs competitive games. I think it is telling Wilder still preferred Moore. If he is behind a 30 year old who is barely Championship standard and now a 29 year old from the Scottish League, then you worry if Wilder fancies him at all and wonder if Van Winckel had a hand in this with his links. I wonder whether there is scope to loan him out to get games in say League 1 or 2 just to properly sharpen him up. At Premier League level squads have to carry 3 names so that makes it hard really to know what to do but he will need to get some experience somehow in this country in first team games to see if he has any chance of developing with us. Foderingham’s arrival also makes his status seem a bit uncertain. If he was showing enough in training, you would think we would not sign another keeper.
Grade D (Last season NA)
Wes Foderingham
Saw the links with him for a while but was surprised we signed him. He is 29 and was only back up at Rangers having lost his place to an ageing Allan McGregor. He has played 112 games for Rangers but he has mixed reviews from fans and you worry if he does not stand out up there, then is he going to be good enough for a Premier League. Most United fans remember him from his days at Swindon and some of his final games for them came in the playoffs (let in 5 in that crazy draw) before they lost the Playoff final to Preston. He actually looked decent whenever I saw him and seemed a decent all-around keeper but the knock on him from Rangers fans is he struggles with long shots – something Moore has been criticised for. We will wait to see what happens – you sense it will be him and Moore or Verrips as back ups though with Henderson or another as number one. Seems an odd signing on the face of t but clearly the current back ups have not impressed Wilder and he wanted to improve in this area.
The rest
Jake Eastwood I recall him doing well in preseason after we got promoted when we signed Blackwell (and I think Moore was injured) and there was a discussion over who would start the season in 17-18 after he played v Stoke, I think in a pre-season friendly. He eventually was back up but played against Walsall and Leicester in the Cups but conceded 7 goals (although not really down to him). He signed a new deal to 2020 around this time (the autumn of 2017). When Moore came back; it was Moore and Blackwell vying for the spot although Eastwood did have a spell when he came on in a bad defeat at Wolves after Moore got sent off. He had a brief spell on loan at Chesterfield but struggled and came back. This season he was loaned out to Scunthorpe and started the season but then he made a few mistakes and quickly lost his place. He ended up actually being recalled to be on the bench v West Ham when we had a number of keeping injuries. He then was out of the squad and did not even play much u23 action either. He is almost 24 now – he was given an extension for the end of the Premier League but I am sure he is out of contract? You worry for him that he has not been very successful albeit in limited spells/chances right at the bottom of League Two so he may have to go into the non-leagues and work his way back up to get a chance. He seemed to have lots of potential a few years ago but not kicked on and that coupled with United’s progression means he has been left behind somewhat. Been linked with Bolton recently.
Next season
Bringing Henderson back is vitally important. If we can get him for a third season that would be fantastic but you wonder if Man Utd may see a very good chance to capitalise and make a lot of money. If he does not come back, we have to sign another first choice keeper and it is such a key position. I just hope it is Deano between the sticks but if not, we may have to look at other keepers of course. We have allegedly been linked with and watched the Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir. We of course have linked with former director Sebastian Baki being a director over there – so there may be something in that. As I have said above if Henderson does not return and we have a more untried keeper, then we would need to improve the backs ups and Foderingham’s arrival proves that Wilder thinks the same. I am not sure Wilder would be convinced playing Moore or Verrips (total unknown) at this level for any run of games other than the odd fill in game hence the new keeper already coming in whatever happens to Henderson.
Returning players;
Player / Position Years remaining (contract expires) Red this year – Orange next year - Green longer contract –
Goalkeepers
Simon Moore 1 year (2021)
Wes Foderingham 3 years (2023)
Michael Verrips 3 years (2023)
Jake Eastwood Out of contract (2020)
Return to loan club:
Dean Henderson – Back to Man Utd
Hoping it will lead to a job offer at the Sheffield Star for me.
