Middlesbrough vs Sheffield United

EFL Championship Matchweek 11 - Wednesday 23rd October 2024 - 20:00 - Riverside Stadium
Please keep all discussion related to the match within this thread.

Player Ratings:
Matchday Stats/Player Ratings - https://www.s24su.com/forum/match-day/match/middlesbrough-vs-sheffield-united.708/

Officials:

Referee: Andy Davies
Assistants: Graham Kane and Darren Williams
Fourth Official: Josh Smith

Coverage:

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[Houston_Blade]

Where was the midfield? why not play some possession to take the wind out of Middlesboro's sail?

In fairness to Wilder he probably didn’t want a starting midfield of Peck and Arblaster.

 

[Working Class Hero]

I’m 32 and when I looked back, football peaked for me in the mid 2000s when players were taking risks, taking people on and shooting from anywhere (Ronaldo, drogba, lampard, gerrard etc)

All teams care about now is keeping the ball and passing for the sake of it. It’s shite to watch now

The few times we got around the area, instead of driving in or trying to get the the byline to pull it back, we just pissed about on the edge

100% this. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, that period was where my love for football peaked, and the game is almost unrecognisable to the one that was played back then.

It's what a lot of fans wished for though, possession based football, video refereeing etc.

 

[Montymagic]

There were some on here wanting to give him a new contract after 6 games this season !

I was ready for his manbabies.

Not now, I'm getting my anus stitched up.

 

[jt64]

So on Saturday, it needs:

Cooper - RND, Souttar, Anel, Seriki - Blaster, Souza, Peck - Brewster, JRS - Campbell

Stiffen up the central midfield. Play two full backs who are happy to attack. RND was adventurous tonight and Seriki always has been in mostly cameos - may seem harsh on Gilchrist, who was fine today, but it's a system change. Have three central midfielders who can receive from defense and look to distribute, and have wide options where we can double team the hell out of their full backs. Moore and O'Hare need a break, and if Campbell can't bag against his old club then who knows. Look for Brooks on for Brewdog at the half and then O'Hare on 60-65 for whichever CM is tiring the most. It at least offers an attacking plan, get ahead then flip on Gilchrist to shore the defense up and Moore to hold up

 

[Sean Thornton]

He doesn’t even look as if he believes what he’s saying.

Let’s hope he can turn things around for the weekend so his haunted look doesn’t return.

Why so many players underperforming at the same time though?

 

[HackeyBlade]

I’m 32 and when I looked back, football peaked for me in the mid 2000s when players were taking risks, taking people on and shooting from anywhere (Ronaldo, drogba, lampard, gerrard etc)

All teams care about now is keeping the ball and passing for the sake of it. It’s shite to watch now

The few times we got around the area, instead of driving in or trying to get the the byline to pull it back, we just pissed about on the edge

I'm 33 and feel the exact same. It's not just us, most teams do it these days. Pep got results with it now it's become the de facto for most teams no matter how shit they are. You see it all the way down to junior football, kids being taught to not try something creative that might not work because keeping possession is the absolute priority

 

[Bell4]

A couple of losses and this place is in meltdown
L666s was extremely disappointing will give you that one. A couple of weeks ago most people were talking about top 2 now its slit your wrist time

Slit wrists ?

What comments warrens that statement ?

 

[robbiez666]

Poor tonight outside of the defence (minus mcCallum). I thought Gilchrist was excellent, as was RND when he came on. Cooper and CBs were good.

The problem is the depth of squad. It's clear that Moore needs competition and this isn't working without someone to push or replace him. Why we signed Campbell is beyond me. Doesn't fit. Can't replace Moore.

Vini is out only CM who can tackle. None of the rest are particularly suited for that position. Peck and Arblaster are too lightweight and inexperienced. Get pulled out of position too easily. Both talented lads but Peck needs to grow into the role and Arblaster shouldn't be relied on every single game. He aslo shouldn't be captain because there's no benefit placing that extra responsibility on him. He seems to have the role, like Sharp did, because he's a Blade. Not an inspirer or talker. Fine when it's going well, not when it isn't. Both these players have futures at this level or higher but we need to bring in competition/cover for Vini. I'd have played those two and Shackleton in a 3 and played Rak-Saki and Brooks as wide forwards, but it's far from ideal.

O'Hare is such a luxury plater and we don't have the luxury. He needs to be benched for a couple of games.

I was disappointed in the defensive attitude of Rak-Saki and Brewster. Neither offered any cover. The former let a man run twice in 5 minutes through sheer laziness.

Our shape was a complete mess. I had no idea what the plan was. We had 4 attacking players on from the start and seemingly no system/plan of how to create chances.

Another bad day at the office for Wilder. I'm not too concerned about losing to two very good home teams, who will bother end up in the top 8/9.

We need for players though in the right positions. We have 3 LB/LWBs no. If there's no money in January, sell McCallum and use the fund to loan a defensive CM and a b big CF.

We also need to mix it up. Playing out the back isn't working against good teams. We need to nix this up with moving the ball forward quickly. Moore ahs 10 touches in their half. 10!

We now have Stoke without Harmer as another player got booked for being stupid. That has to be stopped.

 

[Keen Blade]

This group of players don't look like they are being coached

There is just no cohesive plan for transition into attack so goodness knows what if any coaching is being done.
Every time we get possession we revert to 5 minutes of backwards/sideways before then trying to pass through 10 defenders.
The players have no intuition about where the runners are going to be so hardly ever look for a quick pass behind the oppo FBs or through ball to strikers.
You can't create chances with an attack as ponderous as ours.
Wilder & Knill were both defenders so it's down to Jack Lester to put in some sort of plan of attack.
Then again , if Wilder keeps changing the setup or picking blunt forwards ...

 

[The Fox]

Tonight's summary
Keeper - Did well saved everything he could
Defence- resilient despite no protection in front of them
Midfield- Absent
Forwards - Feeding of scraps

 

[Pedro Verde]

Slit wrists ?

What comments warrens that statement ?

Have a read its quite funny

 

[Iffy Onuora's Shiny Head]

They got doak on the ball at every opportunity. For some reason we only passed to JRS about once every 20 minutes. He was the only forward thinking player out there.

That performance had annoyed me more than Leeds as no one stood up and played with any ambition. Arbs and Peck tried to turn occasionally but the 4 ahead (especially Moore, Brewster and Ohare) either didn't show or lost it immediately.

Full backs brought absolutely nothing going forward to the game either

 

[HackeyBlade]

After not particularly wanting him back in the first place I'm firmly in the Wilder out camp now. Archaic manager with no plan B, absolutely baffling subs and team selection. Just look at his record since he left us and the general feeling of the fans of the teams he managed. Thanks for the memories Chris but you can't keep living off what you did 5 years ago. Now I'm off to piss the bed

 

[Bell4]

Have a read its quite funny

I have

I don’t see what you see

At all

 

[Pedro Verde]

I have

I don’t see what you see

At all

If you cant see the over reaction we will leave it there

 

[Hillsboro Blade]

Watching The Exorcist on Sky. Less frightening than the thought of Kieffer Moore and Callum O’Hare being our striking pair for the season.

 

[Bell4]

If you cant see the over reaction we will leave it there

Yup

No problem

 

[ATL Recs]

Thats an over reaction...playoffs still look highly likely.

We clearly have one of the best defences....if not THE BEST defence in the league.
Thats a great starting point.....the issue all season though has been scoring goals or even creating clear chances.

Mid table mate we are an average side in this division

 

[jt64]

Mid table mate we are an average side in this division

I wouldn't necessarily say average, but it is telling just how far we have been off things in back to back games when we run into good sides for the first time this season

 

[Keen Blade]

Brooks was good for the few minutes he got, almost like he'd been playing left wing all his life.

With Hamer out, we surely start him there on Saturday, offers something going both ways rather than O'Hare or Brewster looking a bit lost out there and not tracking back.

Brooks must start on Saturday , he is good at both attack & defence.
And FFS Wilder don't drop JRS.
Go on , prove that JRS & Brooks can actually be on the pitch at the same time. They are both good athletes , strong & pacy and will worry defences.
Much better than O'Hare any day of the week - I really don't want to see O'Hare again except on the wing if Brooks or JRS is unavailable.

 

[ATL Recs]

Yep, we looked confident and at it in every game. They now have the haunted look of last season

No we didn’t look confident and at it we looked ok against 8 poor teams and 1 decent team

 

[ATL Recs]

I wouldn't necessarily say average, but it is telling just how far we have been off things in back to back games when we run into good sides for the first time this season

It was pretty obvious that soon as we got to decent teams we would struggle
In our 9 game run we didn’t exactly look that good just efficient

 

[Mendi]

Just them days sadly. Wilder was so bitter to the sky reporter after the game.

 

[paidsy]

He doesn’t even look as if he believes what he’s saying.

Let’s hope he can turn things around for the weekend so his haunted look doesn’t return.

Why so many players underperforming at the same time though?

Starting to see the same mood he fell into before he quit

 

[ATL Recs]

So on Saturday, it needs:

Cooper - RND, Souttar, Anel, Seriki - Blaster, Souza, Peck - Brewster, JRS - Campbell

Stiffen up the central midfield. Play two full backs who are happy to attack. RND was adventurous tonight and Seriki always has been in mostly cameos - may seem harsh on Gilchrist, who was fine today, but it's a system change. Have three central midfielders who can receive from defense and look to distribute, and have wide options where we can double team the hell out of their full backs. Moore and O'Hare need a break, and if Campbell can't bag against his old club then who knows. Look for Brooks on for Brewdog at the half and then O'Hare on 60-65 for whichever CM is tiring the most. It at least offers an attacking plan, get ahead then flip on Gilchrist to shore the defense up and Moore to hold up

I would not put RND anywhere near he’s bloody awful Burrows left back and your dropping Gilchrist Christ on a bike is your name Chris

 

[jt64]

It was pretty obvious that soon as we got to decent teams we would struggle
In our 9 game run we didn’t exactly look that good just efficient

I was saying sort of the same in the aftermath of Leeds if you go back on the end of that game thread, purely based on strength of schedule, but was leaving the jury out to some degree given that most rational observers can tell Leeds are fucking good, and it was more Leeds good than us mediocre. This just gives us another data point in the other direction unfortunately

 

[Thrice]

It looked like tonight was the first time Wilder lost patience with O'Hare. First he switched him to the left side at half time after his poor performance in the 1st, and when that didn't work either he took him off for Hamer.
Wouldn't be surprised to see O'Hare benched against Stoke.

 

[Bl4desutd]

See the bed wetters are out in force tonight

Realists

 

[Matlock Blade]

Is it Hecky's turn again yet? Seems to be doing a good job at Preston? Can't think of many other ex Blades currently available? Maybe Warnock or Adkins? (Joking, before anyone finds out that I've pissed my bed.)

 

[Keen Blade]

Much better starting line up today than against Leeds. I would drop Moore and O'Hare to the bench against Stoke, and probably drop Shackleton from the squad.

On a Moore serious note, does anyone know where I can buy a bedpan? Everywhere seems to have sold out!

If OHare starts on Saturday then something is feckin corrupt , he's been crap for a while yet Brooks who was bang in form can't get on.
Wilder needs to stop picking his favourites and start playing the guys who are in form
The Moore/O'Hare is so boring & ineffective it should never be seen again.
This is how daft Wilder is .... He has two strikers tonight but made one of them play on the left feckin wing , wtf is that all about ?
Only when he'd been told by everyone that it was ridiculous, did he change it.