Cerberus Blade
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I came away from the King Power Stadium last night, pleased and heartened by seeing our mainly second string side, put on a respectable performance against a Premiership team and also saddened when I reflect on how time has passed our club by in recent years.
It's hard not to draw a comparison between Sheffield United and Leicester City. With the exception of the recent past, we seem to have been in the same divisions for most of the years I've been watching the Blades. We've had some real ding-dong matches with them over the years and I've seen them as a similar type of club to us, albeit on a smaller scale. For years they've been a team that's lived in the top 2 divisions mainly, often too good for the second division, but not quite good enough to sustain life at the top level for long. A lot like us in fact.
They've always been a working man's type of football club. Their old ground, Filbert Street, was falling apart at the seams, but it was raucous in there back in the day, when players like Lenny Glover were bombing down the wings and Keith Weller was doing his stuff, David Nish was "sweeping up" and Ali Brown was plundering the goals. I can still remember the "pop side" at Filbert Street and I remember being packed in behind the goal that day back in the early 1970's when Alan Woodward beat England's first choice goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, direct from a corner! I remember leaving the ground at the end and having to walk through a gauntlet of angry Leicester fans who had come to our end of the ground to give us some trouble!
I stood in the King Power Stadium last night and took a look around. It is a visually a very impressive sight in my opinion. The whole stadium is one tier - unusual for a football ground - and it gives the impression of a huge ampitheatre. It looks and feels "brand new" - which it isn't exactly, but it's a far cry from Filbert Street - and so is the atmosphere. I mean, there was no atmosphere except for the good spirits of the Blades fans. Maybe Leicester City's recent success has attracted a different type of supporter? Ones who are here for the good times whilst the club is in the Prem, but ones who will quickly lose interest if they are not?
On the pitch, Leicester City were unrecognisable from the Leicester City of old. They were technically excellent, they moved the ball quickly and their passing was crisp and precise. They looked like they were just toying with us for most of the game. The gulf in class between these two sides was massive - and that's not to take anything away from United - who I thought played it tactically right and did the best they could with limited resources.
I think that was what hurt most of all. Seeing a club, one that we've had some right royal battles with over the years - just stroke it around and toy with us. And seeing how technically superior they were to us - it just made me realise how far Sheffield United have fallen behind.
It exposed a lot of our players for what they are - enthusiastic lower division players. Lafferty, Basham, Carruthers, Stevens - these guys in particular looked like complete amateurs with their inability just to do the simple thing on the ball and pass it to one of our own players. Leicester made passing and movement look easy. And Leicester are not exactly setting the Premiership on fire this season. So, if you ever did want to know just how big the gap is between where we are now and the Premiership, this was a startling insight.
For the first time, last night, I came away thinking how torturous it would be if United do find themselves back in the Prem next season. Because, without significant investment, we can't live with teams like that, week in and week out. The gap is just too wide now to contemplate. But it's also only going to get wider.
So, if we are to ever be a major force in English football again - we need to get back to that level soon - and have considerable money behind us to even dream of staying there for more than one season.
It's hard not to draw a comparison between Sheffield United and Leicester City. With the exception of the recent past, we seem to have been in the same divisions for most of the years I've been watching the Blades. We've had some real ding-dong matches with them over the years and I've seen them as a similar type of club to us, albeit on a smaller scale. For years they've been a team that's lived in the top 2 divisions mainly, often too good for the second division, but not quite good enough to sustain life at the top level for long. A lot like us in fact.
They've always been a working man's type of football club. Their old ground, Filbert Street, was falling apart at the seams, but it was raucous in there back in the day, when players like Lenny Glover were bombing down the wings and Keith Weller was doing his stuff, David Nish was "sweeping up" and Ali Brown was plundering the goals. I can still remember the "pop side" at Filbert Street and I remember being packed in behind the goal that day back in the early 1970's when Alan Woodward beat England's first choice goalkeeper, Peter Shilton, direct from a corner! I remember leaving the ground at the end and having to walk through a gauntlet of angry Leicester fans who had come to our end of the ground to give us some trouble!
I stood in the King Power Stadium last night and took a look around. It is a visually a very impressive sight in my opinion. The whole stadium is one tier - unusual for a football ground - and it gives the impression of a huge ampitheatre. It looks and feels "brand new" - which it isn't exactly, but it's a far cry from Filbert Street - and so is the atmosphere. I mean, there was no atmosphere except for the good spirits of the Blades fans. Maybe Leicester City's recent success has attracted a different type of supporter? Ones who are here for the good times whilst the club is in the Prem, but ones who will quickly lose interest if they are not?
On the pitch, Leicester City were unrecognisable from the Leicester City of old. They were technically excellent, they moved the ball quickly and their passing was crisp and precise. They looked like they were just toying with us for most of the game. The gulf in class between these two sides was massive - and that's not to take anything away from United - who I thought played it tactically right and did the best they could with limited resources.
I think that was what hurt most of all. Seeing a club, one that we've had some right royal battles with over the years - just stroke it around and toy with us. And seeing how technically superior they were to us - it just made me realise how far Sheffield United have fallen behind.
It exposed a lot of our players for what they are - enthusiastic lower division players. Lafferty, Basham, Carruthers, Stevens - these guys in particular looked like complete amateurs with their inability just to do the simple thing on the ball and pass it to one of our own players. Leicester made passing and movement look easy. And Leicester are not exactly setting the Premiership on fire this season. So, if you ever did want to know just how big the gap is between where we are now and the Premiership, this was a startling insight.
For the first time, last night, I came away thinking how torturous it would be if United do find themselves back in the Prem next season. Because, without significant investment, we can't live with teams like that, week in and week out. The gap is just too wide now to contemplate. But it's also only going to get wider.
So, if we are to ever be a major force in English football again - we need to get back to that level soon - and have considerable money behind us to even dream of staying there for more than one season.
