John Fleck and my all time United XI dilemma

[Sean Thornton]

His old man comparing Wilder to hitler?

To be fair that’s caught on with some of our fans.

 

[Sean Thornton]

For any credible XI that you have watched surely there must be a minimum games threshold of at least a seaons worth of Utd appearances to weed out the flash in the pans?! And surely you have to weight top tier appearances and performances more highly than those in the lower rungs of the ladder.
FWIW (been watching since 92 ish):
Formation 4-4-2 Kelly; Gage; Stevens; Tonge; O'Connell; Jagielka; Bradshaw; Whitehouse; Deane; Flo; Hodges. Subs: Agana, Fleck, Egan, Henderson, Baldock, Brown, Sharp
Thoughts/Rationale:
No defensive midfielders were selected so I could crowbar Tongey; Dane and Hodges in, if in an actual match you would probably want Fleck or Brown in there.
Henderson will probably end up being a better keeper than Kelly based on ability but was never truly 'our' player so has to settle for a place on the bench due to a lack of bladey bladeness and not being quite as consistent as Kelly. Sharp misses out based on top tier goal output which is very low - Jostein Flo was more prolific than him in the top flight and actually had a physical characteristic/ability which posed problems for elite defenders. We've really only had one decent top tier striker in the last 40 years (Deane). The cupboard truly has been bare in that department. Its probably why we cant ever stay in the top league for any length of time. Looking forward maybe we should try and put more effort into keeping good young strikers like DCL and Jebbison then.
At RB or RWB hard to choose between Gage or Baldock (Gage more composed going forward+POTY awards swing it).
Left backs not great for last 30 years, Stevens a fairly meh selection, Nilsen has lots of top flight appearances in the Bassett era but was awful going forward (proper old school defensive left back), don't recall Armstrong being that brilliant, quite liked Jon Harley but he was championship era fodder as was Wayne Quinn.
Some good midfielders, probably had most depth and good players in there in recent years.

For full backs alone it makes you glad you saw Len and Ted in earlier years.

 

[1973Blade]

For any credible XI that you have watched surely there must be a minimum games threshold of at least a seaons worth of Utd appearances to weed out the flash in the pans?! And surely you have to weight top tier appearances and performances more highly than those in the lower rungs of the ladder.
FWIW (been watching since 92 ish):
Formation 4-4-2 Kelly; Gage; Stevens; Tonge; O'Connell; Jagielka; Bradshaw; Whitehouse; Deane; Flo; Hodges. Subs: Agana, Fleck, Egan, Henderson, Baldock, Brown, Sharp
Thoughts/Rationale:
No defensive midfielders were selected so I could crowbar Tongey; Dane and Hodges in, if in an actual match you would probably want Fleck or Brown in there.
Henderson will probably end up being a better keeper than Kelly based on ability but was never truly 'our' player so has to settle for a place on the bench due to a lack of bladey bladeness and not being quite as consistent as Kelly. Sharp misses out based on top tier goal output which is very low - Jostein Flo was more prolific than him in the top flight and actually had a physical characteristic/ability which posed problems for elite defenders. We've really only had one decent top tier striker in the last 40 years (Deane). The cupboard truly has been bare in that department. Its probably why we cant ever stay in the top league for any length of time. Looking forward maybe we should try and put more effort into keeping good young strikers like DCL and Jebbison then.
At RB or RWB hard to choose between Gage or Baldock (Gage more composed going forward+POTY awards swing it).
Left backs not great for last 30 years, Stevens a fairly meh selection, Nilsen has lots of top flight appearances in the Bassett era but was awful going forward (proper old school defensive left back), don't recall Armstrong being that brilliant, quite liked Jon Harley but he was championship era fodder as was Wayne Quinn.
Some good midfielders, probably had most depth and good players in there in recent years.

Not a bad team, although I wouldn't consider Flo. I go on how good the players were in the league they played in. So of I was a Man City fan Paul Dickov would be in with a chance of being selected!

 

[Booker4]

For me a player to be in my favourite eleven need to be more than just a good player, I look for bond with the fans and personality. For me as good as Fleck has been for us until the last year, I wouldn't say he's a character with the fans or established a special bond with the fans personality wise, nor has Norwood in my view. Some may disagree on that. So even before last seasons debacle neither was Fleck or Norwood slipped out of my favourite eleven, because they were never in it in the first place but Fleck would get in my best eleven for centre mid alongside Brown. So my favourite return is - it's got to be done!

1 Alan Kelly
2 Bad Borbokis
3 Ends Stevens
4 David Holdsworth
5 John Egan
6 Mark Patterson
7 Paul Devlin
8 Bob Booker
9 Billy Sharp
10 Brian Deane
11 Dane Whitehouse

On Enda, in fairness to Fleck and Norwood I dont think that Enda has formed a stronger bond with the fans than they have but I don't think we've ever had a plethora of quality or characters in that position to be honest, not in my time, I've found it a tough position to choose from because of that. I never rated hospital pass Nilsen, and Quinn only played well for half a season. I did have David unsworth in there but he was instantly deleted after relegating us and that celebration!

 

[Booker4]

Not a bad team, although I wouldn't consider Flo. I go on how good the players were in the league they played in. So of I was a Man City fan Paul Dickov would be in with a chance of being selected!

Just read this, Flo over Agana?! In fact I wouldnt have Flo in my top 30 Blades centre forwards or as a favourite but all about opinions. From that era, post Deane and before Fjortoft, Blake by far the best, shame he hates us now!

 

[I should coco]

When you came the other day did you take my teapot full of money from under the sink? Again?

The one under the pile of foil hats?

It was full of old ten bob notes, so I left it there with your 'hidden' stock of Penthouse.

 

[ISZA ⚔️]

Can’t you just put him on the bench for a few weeks?

 

[Ridgeway Blade]

Hi Stegosaurus here

Last season and this season has exposed Fleck & Co of being lower championship and League 1 players.

Wilder blundered his way onto an excellent tactic which made them look better than they were. We all saw what happened to them once the tactic was found out.

The loss of O'Connell had major impact on the form of Stevens and Fleck. He was Mr Reliable, a great athlete and made the others look and play better than they ever have shown since he dropped out - he was that good down tahtleft side.

 

[Rudders]

Just read this, Flo over Agana?! In fact I wouldnt have Flo in my top 30 Blades centre forwards or as a favourite but all about opinions. From that era, post Deane and before Fjortoft, Blake by far the best, shame he hates us now!

Yeah soz I liked Agana but we sold him after like 1 game in the top league didnt we? Or did he get injured, I can't quite remember. That was my first full season of going to games so I missed most of the rise up the leagues under Bassett and the Deane and Agana partnership. Stupid greedy owners we had then for getting rid of both of them. I guess this choice makes me Herr Ober fuhrer of the Hoofwaffe!