Hard done by or got what we deserved?

[Camden Blade]

Coming away from Wembley I felt we were hard done by and that we should have won. Better team, better players, at least on paper, their goalie two worldies, VAR. I watched the extended highlights last night and have had time to think. And now I feel Sunderland deserved the victory and we got what we deserved. The team, not the fans. Sunderland kept at it, showed grit, never gave up and most of all were physically and mentally tougher. We were dropping like nine pins.

You need a hero. And none of ours stepped up. The hero was the Sunderland sub Watson. A local hero. As if it was written in the stars. Someone else said after Sunderland's last kick winner in the semi you had a feeling it might be them. The footballing gods etc which is superstition but they kept their belief. As the game wore on you could see our belief draining away. How do you deal with that? Weak players? Bad management? There must be a reason other than 'we're cursed'. Fact is although most/all of us are gutted we're also not shocked or surprised. It felt inevitable.

 

[Crabstick]

Reasons to feel hard done to:
Burrows goal being ruled offside

Why we got what we deserved:
Several missed opportunities
Sitting back at 1-0 up
Mistake by Moore

Either or:
Fitness/injury

We could have been atleast 3-0 up even with having Burrows’ goal chalked off. Sunderland were never really threatening in possession but it was a great strike to put them in front.

Simply put, we fucked up and bottled it.

 

[Camden Blade]

The collapse when we were top of the league and then lost the next three on the trot with abysmal performances was the writing on the wall. This is a weak side. Despite all the victories over the course of the season. They can't handle pressure. And CW doesn't seem to handle it well either.

 

[MayorOJC]

Got what we deserved.

Rocked up to a play-off final with a squad that cost 4 times more than Sunderland's, but resorted to long balling it up to Keiffer Moore like we're 2006 Stoke.

 

[Crabstick]

We’ve been in a false position all season. Clogging our way through with 1-0 wins whereas Leeds were completely dismantling teams.

 

[skegblade]

Coming away from Wembley I felt we were hard done by and that we should have won. Better team, better players, at least on paper, their goalie two worldies, VAR. I watched the extended highlights last night and have had time to think. And now I feel Sunderland deserved the victory and we got what we deserved. The team, not the fans. Sunderland kept at it, showed grit, never gave up and most of all were physically and mentally tougher. We were dropping like nine pins.

You need a hero. And none of ours stepped up. The hero was the Sunderland sub Watson. A local hero. As if it was written in the stars. Someone else said after Sunderland's last kick winner in the semi you had a feeling it might be them. The footballing gods etc which is superstition but they kept their belief. As the game wore on you could see our belief draining away. How do you deal with that? Weak players? Bad management? There must be a reason other than 'we're cursed'. Fact is although most/all of us are gutted we're also not shocked or surprised. It felt inevitable.

Thats the issue with highlights they show it from a winners perspective # everty game not just us
But perspectively it was 1 half each,where overall we should have won imo

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

Having two CBs that conceded 100 goals the season before may not have been the best idea as they are clearly weak mentally- that mentality then carries through to the rest of the team.

 

[ekke287]

We used the second half to see if there’s any validity to the “fuck about and find out” theory. For some reason the previous validations of this theory being sound were ignored.

We also used the second half to test our back fours ability to pass it between them for extended periods.

The game could’ve been well over by half time, so we’re not hard done by. Its on us.

 

[Uganda Blade]

Got what we deserved with the substitutions and change of formation on 65 minutes.
As others have said, Sunderland were pushing but not threatening, so why fix what ain't broken?
Maybe Brewster should have been moved up alongside Moore, or if he was knackered, put Cannon up with Moore?

 

[Gin&Juice]

bottled it.

down to one man. you know who you are.

fuck off back to being the richest man in your local boozer.

 

[LS16Blade]

The collapse when we were top of the league and then lost the next three on the trot with abysmal performances was the writing on the wall. This is a weak side. Despite all the victories over the course of the season. They can't handle pressure. And CW doesn't seem to handle it well either.

I agree.

On the way into the ground, I said I wasn’t confident on the basis that too many of our team have shown on numerous occasions that they can’t be trusted/relied upon.

We still have a number of players who were part of a team that last season repeatedly did what I never thought I would ever see a Sheffield United team do - they literally gave up in games and did the absolute minimum whilst wishing for the final whistle.

And, this season, whenever the opportunity opened up for us to take a stranglehold on promotion and heap pressure on Burnley and Leeds when they were dropping points - Burnley (home), Hull (home), Bristol City (home) and Oxford (away) - they shrank.

Sunderland looked abysmal. Every inch a team that has been losing week in week out for the last 2 months. From the kick-off, they looked terrified of the occasion. Goalkeeper and defenders were mis-controlling the ball and slicing it out of play. They were there for the taking and we should have buried them with 3 or more goals by half-time. In fact, Sunderland’s defenders looked shaky for the entire game, and the failure to keep playing on them was inexplicable.

 

[Slugger]

No doubt we were the better team.
No doubt that until they equalized they posed very little threat.
No doubt we would've won had their keeper not made a poxy save from Brooks after diving the wrong way.
No doubt we would have won had Hamer and Anel not got injured.

BUT

from the 75th minute onwards we were weak. Physically weak but more importantly very very mentally weak.
Where were the leaders to dig in and protect the gaping hole left by Anel's absence?
One woeful pass (Moore's) should not open up a defence like a ring-pull tin of tuna.
Who was in Sunderland faces when Hume went through BBD?
The body language of the players after they equalized was weak. Heads down like beaten men.
A side that has been comfortable for 75 minutes shouldn't contemplate defeat at that stage. Our lads looked shook.
Every 50/50 ball after that was Sunderland's.

 

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

A bit of both for me.

Unlucky because their keeper decided to have a worldie game a’la THAT Seaman save. He won’t make a better save in his career. I think Cooper usually makes their second goal a save 9 times out of 10, he didn’t sort his feet out and was slightly blinded when he took the shot. Annoying. Then the Burrows goal which stands in any other championship game this season.

Got what we deserved because of….Wilder. Negative tactics, shit second half, sat back when we should’ve gone for it.

This analysis has been done to death.

 

[Stretch]

If the EFL didn't feel the need to inject controversy into every use of VAR, we are 2-0 at HT.

If Kieffer Moore had half of a footballing brain, we would have been 4-0 by 65 minutes.

If, if ,if.......but nothing excuses the way we sat off them and looked like terrified bunny rabbits as soon as they equalised.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Hard Done By :

Disallowed goal that stands in the previous 48 games in that season , did you notice not one Sunderland player appeals ?

Architects Of Our Own Downfall :

We had more than enough chances to put that game to bed , unbelievable save from Moores header , Moore not playing the unmarked Campbell in on the break & Brookes tame effort when clean through .
Second half tactics … why oh fkg why did we resort to sitting that deep we have done it before this season & got punished for it , you see the momentum shift & once we conceded the equaliser we were in trouble , I’ll be honest & say I wouldn’t have fancied us in extra time had we got there .

Luck ..or lack of it

As soon as Hamer gets injured what lost any creativity that was left in the midfield . The timing of the Anel injury & their equaliser .


Away from the above Campbell was a big miss after he ran out of steam , we couldn’t get the ball on the deck to O’Hare to get him involved . BBD looked miles off it in his brief introduction JRS on a wide pitch like Wembley would have been a better option .

Typical Blades & too many coulda , woulda , shoulda … we had the best opportunity of them all on Saturday & we fkg blew it

 

[Cheets]

I felt Sunderland finished far stronger and if Watson's shot had not gone in then I'd have fancied them in extra-time or pens, although of course we'll never know.

 

[RichSAFC]

If you'd kept the same intensity throughout the game as you had after the 1st goal it would have finished 4-0 to you lot. Our CDM and captain, Sleepy Dan Neil, was atrocious. You should have had a field day with him. Hamer nutmegged him for the goal.

But you just seemed to fall asleep after the VAR decision. It became a 50/50 game. Then after HT a 60/40 in our favour. We dominated possession, corners, tackles... etc, without really trying, because you just seemed to drift off.

I feel bad for your club and fans. You deserved better from the players and manager.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

I think CW should have matched us up with Sunderland half way through the second half.

At that time there was too much space in midfield for them to exploit, and we were unable to close them down quickly when they got possession.

An extra body in midfield at that time, leaving one up front, would have enabled us to see the game out.

 

[moody1889]

Got what we deserved in the end because we should have been comfortable at the break should have been at least 2 up.

We didn't take our chances and sat back in the second half.

We can only blame ourselves for playing into Sunderlands hands.

They play counter attacking football and we played straight into their hands and we reaped what we sowed.

 

[true99blade]

The fans are hard done by, yet again.

The players and that manager got what they deserved completely.

 

[moody1889]

I think CW should have matched us up with Sunderland half way through the second half.

At that time there was too much space in midfield for them to exploit, and we were unable to close them down quickly when they got possession.

An extra body in midfield at that time, leaving one up front, would have enabled us to see the game out.

We needed to keep playing on the front foot and keep pushing them back had we done so i reckon we would have won by 2 or 3 ask any honest Sunderland fan after the first half and they will tell you the same.

We completely threw the game away and invited them onto us, you cant invite a team like Sunderland onto like we did as we have seen they play to the final whistle.

We didn't learn this from what they did to Coventry and it cost us dearly.

 

[Mackem magic]

Sorry to reiterate what I said prior to the game, it's 50/50 someone wins someone loses, the only significant stat is the score.

 

[UddersBlade]

Having two CBs that conceded 100 goals the season before may not have been the best idea as they are clearly weak mentally- that mentality then carries through to the rest of the team.

Best comment I’ve seen for a while. Wilder has done a fantastic job rebuilding the team - but our failure after Xmas keeps coming back to our complacency to replace Souttar in January - and consequently the stupid decision to rely on Robbo & Anel together.

This needs major attention in the summer transfer window & a strong dominant leader on the pitch for next season.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

We needed to keep playing on the front foot and keep pushing them back had we done so i reckon we would have won by 2 or 3 ask any honest Sunderland fan after the first half and they will tell you the same.

We completely threw the game away and invited them onto us, you cant invite a team like Sunderland onto like we did as we have seen they play to the final whistle.

We didn't learn this from what they did to Coventry and it cost us dearly.

It was the space, and time to exploit it, that let them score both goals.

 

[bladeinspaceandtime]

As I said in a previous post, Wilder didn't deserve promotion.

 

[RichSAFC]

As I said in a previous post, Wilder didn't deserve promotion.

In one of your pre-match interviews I believe he called Sunderland "pests". He seemed arrogant and complacent, as if you just had to turn up to win. He completely underestimated the opposition.

I mean, I know you're a good team, but not THAT good.

I had a high opinion of Wilder prior to the game, but after seeing the arrogance and dismissive attitude from him, I'm just glad he isn't our manager.

And why could I see his nipples? Does he not own a suit? It's Wembley ffs show some respect and put your nipples away.

 

[VictoryBlade]

If you'd kept the same intensity throughout the game as you had after the 1st goal it would have finished 4-0 to you lot. Our CDM and captain, Sleepy Dan Neil, was atrocious. You should have had a field day with him. Hamer nutmegged him for the goal.

But you just seemed to fall asleep after the VAR decision. It became a 50/50 game. Then after HT a 60/40 in our favour. We dominated possession, corners, tackles... etc, without really trying, because you just seemed to drift off.

I feel bad for your club and fans. You deserved better from the players and manager.

That's a really kind well written comment, cheers Pal and good luck!

 

[VictoryBlade]

Best comment I’ve seen for a while. Wilder has done a fantastic job rebuilding the team - but our failure after Xmas keeps coming back to our complacency to replace Souttar in January - and consequently the stupid decision to rely on Robbo & Anel together.

This needs major attention in the summer transfer window & a strong dominant leader on the pitch for next season.

It will show what Wilders made of, if he persists with these two (together) he'll be gone!

 

[FenBlade]

The final reminded me of the Leeds match at home. Deservedly ahead at half time but went defensive too early second half, poor substitutions and lost control, allowing a fitter, faster team to overpower us in the closing stages. Lessons were evidently not learned from that experience, as the same mistakes were made on Saturday. Our fitness isn’t good enough and we lack on-field leaders, as so many have said. With such leaders we may just have held on v Sunderland. Looking more widely, SUFC are in no way ready to compete in PL and in my view won’t be under this manager. It’s a different game there to the one we are playing. Look at how Palace played in the Cup Final, or how well put together and coached the squads at other mid- table PL clubs are. We have so much development to do. The trouble is that the financial benefits of being in PL mean it’s never too soon to get there, even for just one season.

 

[Crafty Blade]

Best comment I’ve seen for a while. Wilder has done a fantastic job rebuilding the team - but our failure after Xmas keeps coming back to our complacency to replace Souttar in January - and consequently the stupid decision to rely on Robbo & Anel together.

This needs major attention in the summer transfer window & a strong dominant leader on the pitch for next season.

But we did with Holding, so the most baffling thing is not getting him up to speed and first choice alongside Anel asap.