John Lundstram: An apology

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LoughboroBlade said:
I think a regular problem in our fanbase is not necessarily calling crap performances crap, but more:
  • confirmation bias, where because people think Player X is crap they notice their mistakes relatively more than others
  • inability to consider the potential for players to improve substantially

The latter leads to people overrating declining popular players over those with the potential to grow. At some point towards the end of last season I suggested that Lundstram was a better option for the bench than Coutts, and then that Lundstram should be kept while Coutts released. This did not appear to be widely shared. Many in fact thought we should have done the reverse. Don’t get me wrong, I in no way whatsoever expected this sort of prominent role for Lundstram, but I did think he had the potential to improve.

Lundstram is currently the same age Stevens was when he was binned by Villa for not being good enough. Sometimes it takes players till their mid-20s to really kick on.
Click to expand...

A more succinct analysis of the ‘regular problem in our fan base’ would be ‘fucking thick’.
 



LoughboroBlade said:
I think a regular problem in our fanbase is not necessarily calling crap performances crap, but more:
  • confirmation bias, where because people think Player X is crap they notice their mistakes relatively more than others
  • inability to consider the potential for players to improve substantially

The latter leads to people overrating declining popular players over those with the potential to grow. At some point towards the end of last season I suggested that Lundstram was a better option for the bench than Coutts, and then that Lundstram should be kept while Coutts released. This did not appear to be widely shared. Many in fact thought we should have done the reverse. Don’t get me wrong, I in no way whatsoever expected this sort of prominent role for Lundstram, but I did think he had the potential to improve.

Lundstram is currently the same age Stevens was when he was binned by Villa for not being good enough. Sometimes it takes players till their mid-20s to really kick on.
Click to expand...

All this and then some.

We get posters defending themselves constantly with lines such as "but he was shit at the time, and I was just calling him out on it." Yep, fair enough, but more often than not that's not the content of the posts.

Instead it's posts such as (and we even saw them when Wilder selected JL vs. Bournemouth): "He's not good enough and we should have sold him." or "He's shit" (note, not "he's playing shit" - "he IS shit").

It's a great position to be in of course. If he ends up doing fuck all for us and is sold, then you have the comforting smug blanket of being right. If he ends up being a Lundstram, a Coutts, an Egan, a Bash (and so on and so on), you can be chuffed you got it wrong as we now have a great player on our hands.

I seem to bang this drum every week, but we still have players like Robinson and McBurnie who have been widely written off as not being good for the Prem.
 
Houso said:
All this and then some.

We get posters defending themselves constantly with lines such as "but he was shit at the time, and I was just calling him out on it." Yep, fair enough, but more often than not that's not the content of the posts.

Instead it's posts such as (and we even saw them when Wilder selected JL vs. Bournemouth): "He's not good enough and we should have sold him." or "He's shit" (note, not "he's playing shit" - "he IS shit").

It's a great position to be in of course. If he ends up doing fuck all for us and is sold, then you have the comforting smug blanket of being right. If he ends up being a Lundstram, a Coutts, an Egan, a Bash (and so on and so on), you can be chuffed you got it wrong as we now have a great player on our hands.

I seem to bang this drum every week, but we still have players like Robinson and McBurnie who have been widely written off as not being good for the Prem.
Click to expand...

Labelling players as crap, or immediately wishing to sideline them is such a tiresome message board trick. McBurnie and Robinson are in the exact same position to Lundstram when he arrived. Both relatively young and new to a higher league.

Neither are consistently performing, but so what? It’s clear we’ve gone with 5 very different strikers to rotate when each is best suited. It’s bloody hard to get into our XI, never mind look an accomplished Premier League striker straight out the Championship.

It might be next season when we see them looking comfortable at this level (assuming we survive). It may never happen. But it’s obvious there’s potential there that needs nurturing, and that’s exactly how our club needs to operate.
 
LoughboroBlade said:
I think a regular problem in our fanbase is not necessarily calling crap performances crap, but more:
  • confirmation bias, where because people think Player X is crap they notice their mistakes relatively more than others
  • inability to consider the potential for players to improve substantially

The latter leads to people overrating declining popular players over those with the potential to grow. At some point towards the end of last season I suggested that Lundstram was a better option for the bench than Coutts, and then that Lundstram should be kept while Coutts released. This did not appear to be widely shared. Many in fact thought we should have done the reverse. Don’t get me wrong, I in no way whatsoever expected this sort of prominent role for Lundstram, but I did think he had the potential to improve.

Lundstram is currently the same age Stevens was when he was binned by Villa for not being good enough. Sometimes it takes players till their mid-20s to really kick on.
Click to expand...


The point about his age is a massive one. George Long suffered similarly and look at him now, similarly Louis Reed. McBurnie is under the moaners' spotlight and he's 22. Robinson is 24 but relatively inexperienced. Give them some slack you Blades, as I've said before, Lundstram is a human being and so are the others. Lundstram was also Oxford's CAPTAIN at 22 YEARS OLD. No whipping boy for sure.

Some fans get too high and then too low. When they are low you would almost think they are infiltrating Wednesdayites, because that's what they would be doing, agitating to spread negativity.
 
Nicolaus_Copernicus said:
I've been critical in the past, probably overly so, but by god today, he's rammed those words down my throat. He doesn't need my endorsement, but I'll praise where praise is due.

It's not an exaggeration to say that he was simply outstanding today and as good a total midfield performance as i've ever seen from a united midfielder.

He's a totally different player to last season and the season before. He had it all today, engine, goals, passing, desire and awareness from the 1st to the 91st minute.

Outstanding. I'm eating a lot of humble pie tonight. All night. 🥧
Click to expand...

Looking at your signature ' Looking at the last page of a book......' Lundstram's not there yet, he's still on Chapter 3 of maybe a 15 Chapter Book!!:p
 
Reminds of Mick Speight and his performance scoring a brace against Notts County 1979.
Or was it West am?
Silent?!!
 
LoughboroBlade said:
I think a regular problem in our fanbase is not necessarily calling crap performances crap, but more:
  • confirmation bias, where because people think Player X is crap they notice their mistakes relatively more than others
  • inability to consider the potential for players to improve substantially

The latter leads to people overrating declining popular players over those with the potential to grow. At some point towards the end of last season I suggested that Lundstram was a better option for the bench than Coutts, and then that Lundstram should be kept while Coutts released. This did not appear to be widely shared. Many in fact thought we should have done the reverse. Don’t get me wrong, I in no way whatsoever expected this sort of prominent role for Lundstram, but I did think he had the potential to improve.

Lundstram is currently the same age Stevens was when he was binned by Villa for not being good enough. Sometimes it takes players till their mid-20s to really kick on.
Click to expand...
heh i remember that.. you got a bit of a kicking afair :D
 
Ricky said:
Quality box to box midfielder. It was obviously his role all along. He was going the wrong way at Oxford, trying to be a playmaker. It makes you wonder how many other players could make it to a higher level by changing their game.
Click to expand...

Shurrup 😂 don't claim it was obvious and be captain hindsight. None of us could see what type of player he was meant to be. We even had threads along the lines of:

He's not a Coutts - he doesn't hold possession well enough.
He's not a Norwood, he doesn't ping.
He's not a Duffy, he isn't quick enough with his feet, he doesn't recycle possession, he isn't attacking enough.
He's not a Fleck, he isn't box to box enough.

His transformation is really sumat, but the bigger question is - what's made the difference? He didn't look a player at either of the two previous levels...

Also, as good as he has been, as they all have, I'm still keen to think about how we could get Freeman in the side on a regular basis.
 
Houso said:
All this and then some.

We get posters defending themselves constantly with lines such as "but he was shit at the time, and I was just calling him out on it." Yep, fair enough, but more often than not that's not the content of the posts.

Instead it's posts such as (and we even saw them when Wilder selected JL vs. Bournemouth): "He's not good enough and we should have sold him." or "He's shit" (note, not "he's playing shit" - "he IS shit").

It's a great position to be in of course. If he ends up doing fuck all for us and is sold, then you have the comforting smug blanket of being right. If he ends up being a Lundstram, a Coutts, an Egan, a Bash (and so on and so on), you can be chuffed you got it wrong as we now have a great player on our hands.

I seem to bang this drum every week, but we still have players like Robinson and McBurnie who have been widely written off as not being good for the Prem.
Click to expand...
i’ll repost again
(transfer)
wilder buys unheard of player.. player x
i’ve heard player x is crap
waste of money
(plays)
crap
not as good as..
(plays a few games)
still crap
not good enough at this level
(plays well)
improving
(continues to play well)
brilliant
gets his own song
i apologise(again)
wilder is a genius

i’m as guilty as anyone.. i thought stevens was crap at first :D
i’ve learned to trust wilders judgement.. if they don’t step up he won’t mess around
 
His play reminds me of Steven Gerrard, really pleased he’s proved us wrong. He’s only 25, so should improve further. Why not Lunny for England?
 
Nicolaus_Copernicus said:
I've been critical in the past, probably overly so, but by god today, he's rammed those words down my throat. He doesn't need my endorsement, but I'll praise where praise is due.

It's not an exaggeration to say that he was simply outstanding today and as good a total midfield performance as i've ever seen from a united midfielder.

He's a totally different player to last season and the season before. He had it all today, engine, goals, passing, desire and awareness from the 1st to the 91st minute.

Outstanding. I'm eating a lot of humble pie tonight. All night. 🥧
Click to expand...
 
How many people are saying exactly same thing this season? Admit I was one.. I think BDTBL needs to serve up humble pies at their food outlets....I’d have that half time pie with lashings of Hendo’s
 
Bit worrying there is no talk of a new contract
Wonder if he's being courted elsewhere
 
Kozzy_is_my_Dad said:
Shurrup 😂 don't claim it was obvious and be captain hindsight. None of us could see what type of player he was meant to be. We even had threads along the lines of:

He's not a Coutts - he doesn't hold possession well enough.
He's not a Norwood, he doesn't ping.
He's not a Duffy, he isn't quick enough with his feet, he doesn't recycle possession, he isn't attacking enough.
He's not a Fleck, he isn't box to box enough.

His transformation is really sumat, but the bigger question is - what's made the difference? He didn't look a player at either of the two previous levels...

Also, as good as he has been, as they all have, I'm still keen to think about how we could get Freeman in the side on a regular basis.
Click to expand...

Me typing 'in hindsight' would have saved you a lot of words there. But nevertheless........

Screenshot 2019-11-03 at 10.35.49.png
 



Ricky said:
Me typing 'in hindsight' would have saved you a lot of words there. But nevertheless........

View attachment 63783
Click to expand...

I wonder how much he’s added, and how much is down to the tweaked system allowing him to show his strengths.

For certain, he’s added hugely to his fitness and concentration. But the power, passing and arrival in the box has always been there to some degree.
 
nopigfansintown said:
He's always been our best player technically since he's been at the club, with the possible exception of Coutts. The only thing in his game we are now seeing is an improvement in his fitness and mobility. The criticism in the past were baseless and should've been reserved for that fraud Lee Evans - a player Wilder mercifully fucked off sharpish. Anybody who couldn't see Lundstram's two footedness, excellent late runs in the box, and exceptional long range passing frankly know little about football.I remember people making similarly ludicrous criticisms of Coady under Weir, and Stevens under Wilder (post Coutts injury) and Maguire under various managers.
Click to expand...
He and Ross Barclay hired a personal trainer over the summer, even went on holiday with them He is fitter and more mobile Adding that to his technical ability is the difference
 
If he operates like he did yesterday for the rest of the season then he will transform the team.

There was another thread about the flat 3 not being flat anymore, up until yesterday we only really had Fleck moving forward but after yesterday, Lunny has just solved what for me was an area to consider improving in January/next season.

Having watched MOTD, he sprinted 70 yards and when the camera pointed at him afterwards he was breathing less than me when I walk up 2 flights of stairs ! Incredible athlete.

He’ll get a new deal in November I’m sure, possibly at the next international break, that’s assuming he’s not busy 😉

If he scores a few more by surging into the box and/or scoring a few from the edge of the box, I’d say he’s nailed on for a call up before the season is out.
 
Nicolaus_Copernicus said:
I've been critical in the past, probably overly so, but by god today, he's rammed those words down my throat. He doesn't need my endorsement, but I'll praise where praise is due.

It's not an exaggeration to say that he was simply outstanding today and as good a total midfield performance as i've ever seen from a united midfielder.

He's a totally different player to last season and the season before. He had it all today, engine, goals, passing, desire and awareness from the 1st to the 91st minute.

Outstanding. I'm eating a lot of humble pie tonight. All night. 🥧
Click to expand...


I beg to differ. He's not a "totally different" player to last season. The basics were always there for those who cared to see - and that clearly included CW and AK. The system has been changed and that suits him.

I wonder how much he's worth now on the transfer market? Not that I'm suggesting he is sold (unless really silly money is offered).
 
JohnDenver said:
I wonder how much he’s added, and how much is down to the tweaked system allowing him to show his strengths.

For certain, he’s added hugely to his fitness and concentration. But the power, passing and arrival in the box has always been there to some degree.
Click to expand...

It's a perfect storm. He's made improvements, mainly physical but not only physical, and the system and playing style simplifies things for him - he's not getting the ball when he shouldn't be, and the pressure isn't on him to dictate play. The standard forces him to do things quickly and it suits him.
 
Kozzy_is_my_Dad said:
Crikey, that's a bit of digging - Sunday's the day of rest, no place for manual labour.
Click to expand...

Think I just typed 'Lundstram goals' and 'Rick' into the search bar, so you know... you lose.


Nicolaus_Copernicus said:
I know that you're that not a popular poster on here, but if it's any consolation, i think that there's the odd occasion when you sometimes know your stuff ;)
Click to expand...

Not the most popular? Are you trying to hurt me?
 
Ricky said:
Quality box to box midfielder. It was obviously his role all along. He was going the wrong way at Oxford, trying to be a playmaker. It makes you wonder how many other players could make it to a higher level by changing their game.
Click to expand...

If A 20 year old Jake Wright had been playing in the Centre of a back three he may have had a very different caree.
 
Harry's Game said:
If A 20 year old Jake Wright had been playing in the Centre of a back three he may have had a very different caree.
Click to expand...

There must be a lot of technically accomplished midfielders who could move up a level or two if they worked on their fitness relentlessly. I wonder if Wilder and Knill fancy another such project...
 
I don't actually think that Lunny has reinvented himself as a vastly different player to the one who first came to the Blades, rather he was suffering from the same sort of thing that first hindered Coutts & Duffy, namely they were played in the wrong position. That, & the confidence that flows when you are playing well, have combined to help him blossom & become a better player than any of us realised he could be, though I wouldn't put it past CW/AK to have known how it would all play out in the end.
It is fascinating just how many players have been "worked on " & improved in this way, not sure I have ever seen as many "average" footballers in one club nurtured from caterpillars to butterflies before, it's like turning water into wine & is wonderful to behold!
 
Silent Blade said:
5-1 win against Notts County in April 1979.

Finnieston, Anderson 2 were the scorers against West Ham.
Click to expand...
Thanks Silent. I remember those two games in particular, as I'm sure they may have been re-arranged due to the bad winter we'd all been through.
Both proper invincible Blades Tuesday night performances. Attacking as the one and only tactic.
Dad came with me. Last time he went to see the Blades, and spent the rest of his days questioning my sanity for sticking with the RAWW.

Even after them two wins, we still managed to chuck ourselves off the bridge.
 



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