Deadbat
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Watched in on erm....a feed. I will not do a full report but offer a few thoughts.
I will say I am glad I did not pay to travel/watch that. Kudos to the 3,800 Blades that did travel. I felt for them behind the goal in freezing conditions not seeing us have a single decent effort on goal all game....maybe a Clarke effort early on but after that we had a heade drift over and a Basham shot blocked in first 15 minutes. after his we did nothing and lost the game comfortably. It was a sloppy goal but in truth it was coming and the pressure meant they were always likely to get one. Moore made a few good saves; they missed two one on ones and had all of the ball.
United have been praised a lot this season and rightly so. Today we were abject. It was the worst performance of the season by a long way. The Millwall performance that was poor was miles better than that. It was as comfortable a 1-0 as you could imagine.
We started the game ok and first 15 were the better side. Clarke had a shot blocked and O'Connell headed over but then after this other then a few corners we did not create anything really. They then had 2 good efforts with Moore tipping over, they hit the bar and started to take control and we were glad to get to half time as they were starting to dominate. Second half they carried this on and completely took the game too us. They had a chance when Moore saved from a one on one and then drove another one on one wide. Moore saved another effort. We sat back deeper and deeper. He had to make a change and it was a bizarre one but they still seemed to be organsing themselves when a routine cross was allowed to come in without pressure and Stevens and O'Connell lost the lad between themselves and he scored easily giving Moore no chance.
After this I thought we might give it a go but they were still the better wide. We made changes but it made no difference. We did not even have a proper attack until the last 10 minutes and the most we kept the ball was maybe 2 passes. It was really poor with no penetration, no width and no pace and we resorted to a long ball game which was something I have not seen. Felt a bit sorry for Clarke who did try and had a few half chances but we still not have a shot or effort on goal of note all second half. They saw it out easily. The only bright spark was the young lad Slater who did more in 10 minutes than Carruthers did in 80.
We looked slow, weak and a soft touch. We were so sloppy in possession and resorted to long ball quite a lot. Our attack was ineffective and did not work hard enough to hold the ball up, the midfield were dominated on and off the ball and gave it away constantly and created nothing. The defence got pulled about and let the strikers run at them or impose themselves. We were well beaten and looked a side miles off a promotion contender.
Wilder accepts we are in a rut but he has said he is not chaning the formation. Duffy and Brooks will play next week; I am sure of that and that will help but the midfield behind them is not Championship standard. They are players that have played their whol career pretty much in League One and expecting them to step up to the pace and ability at this level is asking too much. Wilder needs to think about next week and consider what he does as at the moment it is not working and we will continue to slide but not sure any of the back ups to the backs ups offer us anything. He has just got to get through mext 4 games and hope we can scrap maybe odd win somehow (Sunderland/Bolton) but we have two really hard games at Villa and Derby. Anything we get from those would be a bonus.
Worryingly teams above have shown to spend 5-15 million on players (Wolves, Derby, Bristol City, Villa - only Cardiff haven't spend this kind of money) and may do so again. We are scrambling around to sign a Southend player for a few hundred grand and haggling over that. That is where we are at then so be it and if McCabe and the Prince don't want / or cannot find funds to properly upgrade the side then we have to accept that.
However, we cannot criticise Wilder. He has done a superb job but cannot keep getting lower league players who have rarey played at this level to keep up level of performance they did or to come in for those injured and keep up levels of those going out. However regardless of the players who have come in for those missing, too many others levels have dropped. Sharp, O'Connell, Stevens and even Baldock have dropped standards in recent games. Today other than Moore can anyone say they played well or won their individual battle. Preston won easily.
Moore 7.5/10 - Our best player. Saved a good shot first half; tipping over and then saw numerous other shots sail over but then second half made a good low save as he spread himself. Then saw a few other efforts miss and had no chance on the goal given no protection at all.
Baldock 5/5/10 - Thought he was a bit sloppy today and never really handled a tricky winger. He like Stevens, gave the winger too much time and allowed too many balls to come in. Going forward he had a few runs early on but nor sure he got one good cross in or affected any attack in a meaningful way.
Stevens 5/10 - He has been excellent this season but last 4 or 5 games his standards have declined sharply. Attacking wise his threat has been non existent and he barely got over half way today. When he did he hits the first man or gives it away. Defensively he has been sloppy and givign his man way too much room. They put in so many unopposed crosses from his side.
Stearman 6.5/10 - I actually thought he was our best defender today and he was onyl average. He got a few blocks in, read a few interceptions and best he has played since he came back in. He still is not most secure on the ball and his passing is mixed but he gave it away less than the others.
O'Connell 5/10 - Poor and continued his recent spell where he has been bang out of form. Sloppy on the ball and not picking up or getting close enough to men; as shown on the goal. He was slow to react to dangerous situations and the forward nipped in front of him a few times. Needs to get back to his standards he has set. Ridiculous 35 yard shot over the bar at the end summed up his day.
Carruthers 3/10 - Awful. He made one threaded ball and won a corner with one run. Outside of that I think I counted 8 or 9 other times he had the ball first half and he gave it to them or got tackled every time. He jogged about and looked disinterested after the break also. I did not even know he was playing. He is not good enough and needs moving on. Takes forever to realise danger or sense where he ball it and when he has it he tosses it away often. Not sure what he offers at all. Shame as I thought he would be a good signing and showed flashes but in League One. The championship is faster and has better players and his little tricks/skills do not work. He is so slow both in mind and with feet to do things. Indeed our midfield were painfully slow, weak and lacking in heart and abilty today.
Lundstram 4.5/10 - He has been ok recent games and not deserved criticism some have given him but fact remains we have not won since he started playing and only got 1 point. It is a major drop off from Coutts. Today he was dire. He like Carruthers did not tackle, compete nor did they show any mobility. He gave it away time and time again both short and long with stupid balls that went nowhere. He also got brused off physically. He nearly cost us 2 goals but giving it away right in the middle of the field. He has no pace or movement and seemed to want to do everything around a 5 yard square. Not seen him carry the ball forward more than 2 or 3 yards yet. He is obsessed with going sideways and backwards. Not blaming him for decline as others have dropped standards but he looks a way off standards of a side aspiring for a top 6 finish.
Basham 5.5/10 - He has been reallly consistent this season but was nearly as bad as those 2 above today. Our midfield were totally dominated. Bash did not even get in and win tackles or loose balls. When he had it he gave it away or played balls that the strikers had no chance with. When you are asking him to be our creative threat you have to be concerned.
Clarke 6.5/10 - Tried hard and chased lost causes but he had no service whatsoever. Felt he did not hold ball up aswell as he could have done. He also seemed to get frustrated with a few fouls near the end. We had no threat whatsoever up top today.
Sharp 2/10 - He was awful and the worst player on the pitch by a long way. He only escapes lower marks as he was not sent off, miss a sitter or score an own goal! His contribution today consisted of falling on the floor, looking for non existent fouls and losing out physically and skill wise. He did nothing right all day and how he stayed on the field for the full game I do not know. He has been really poor recent weeks and looks very slow and weak. He is not scoring and is not even offeriing a nuisance factor. We need to upgrade up top in Janaury with some pace. I would even give Lavery a game ahead of him at the moment.
Subs
Lafferty - Came on and they scored instatnly but seemed to be playing wide left and then ended up in midfield. He at least got on the ball a few times but put one cross over the bar and then lost it another occasion.
Donaldson - Another game where I don't think he touched the ball or I cannot remember it! After that debut v Sunderland, he has given us nothing either starting or off the bench.
Slater - Did ok. One run forward and was neat and tidy. Gave us some energy. Nice to see him get a debut but Carruthers, Basham and Lundstram should be embarrased wathing him running around and busting a guy in his short spell when they had strolled about all game.
I will say I am glad I did not pay to travel/watch that. Kudos to the 3,800 Blades that did travel. I felt for them behind the goal in freezing conditions not seeing us have a single decent effort on goal all game....maybe a Clarke effort early on but after that we had a heade drift over and a Basham shot blocked in first 15 minutes. after his we did nothing and lost the game comfortably. It was a sloppy goal but in truth it was coming and the pressure meant they were always likely to get one. Moore made a few good saves; they missed two one on ones and had all of the ball.
United have been praised a lot this season and rightly so. Today we were abject. It was the worst performance of the season by a long way. The Millwall performance that was poor was miles better than that. It was as comfortable a 1-0 as you could imagine.
We started the game ok and first 15 were the better side. Clarke had a shot blocked and O'Connell headed over but then after this other then a few corners we did not create anything really. They then had 2 good efforts with Moore tipping over, they hit the bar and started to take control and we were glad to get to half time as they were starting to dominate. Second half they carried this on and completely took the game too us. They had a chance when Moore saved from a one on one and then drove another one on one wide. Moore saved another effort. We sat back deeper and deeper. He had to make a change and it was a bizarre one but they still seemed to be organsing themselves when a routine cross was allowed to come in without pressure and Stevens and O'Connell lost the lad between themselves and he scored easily giving Moore no chance.
After this I thought we might give it a go but they were still the better wide. We made changes but it made no difference. We did not even have a proper attack until the last 10 minutes and the most we kept the ball was maybe 2 passes. It was really poor with no penetration, no width and no pace and we resorted to a long ball game which was something I have not seen. Felt a bit sorry for Clarke who did try and had a few half chances but we still not have a shot or effort on goal of note all second half. They saw it out easily. The only bright spark was the young lad Slater who did more in 10 minutes than Carruthers did in 80.
We looked slow, weak and a soft touch. We were so sloppy in possession and resorted to long ball quite a lot. Our attack was ineffective and did not work hard enough to hold the ball up, the midfield were dominated on and off the ball and gave it away constantly and created nothing. The defence got pulled about and let the strikers run at them or impose themselves. We were well beaten and looked a side miles off a promotion contender.
Wilder accepts we are in a rut but he has said he is not chaning the formation. Duffy and Brooks will play next week; I am sure of that and that will help but the midfield behind them is not Championship standard. They are players that have played their whol career pretty much in League One and expecting them to step up to the pace and ability at this level is asking too much. Wilder needs to think about next week and consider what he does as at the moment it is not working and we will continue to slide but not sure any of the back ups to the backs ups offer us anything. He has just got to get through mext 4 games and hope we can scrap maybe odd win somehow (Sunderland/Bolton) but we have two really hard games at Villa and Derby. Anything we get from those would be a bonus.
Worryingly teams above have shown to spend 5-15 million on players (Wolves, Derby, Bristol City, Villa - only Cardiff haven't spend this kind of money) and may do so again. We are scrambling around to sign a Southend player for a few hundred grand and haggling over that. That is where we are at then so be it and if McCabe and the Prince don't want / or cannot find funds to properly upgrade the side then we have to accept that.
However, we cannot criticise Wilder. He has done a superb job but cannot keep getting lower league players who have rarey played at this level to keep up level of performance they did or to come in for those injured and keep up levels of those going out. However regardless of the players who have come in for those missing, too many others levels have dropped. Sharp, O'Connell, Stevens and even Baldock have dropped standards in recent games. Today other than Moore can anyone say they played well or won their individual battle. Preston won easily.
Moore 7.5/10 - Our best player. Saved a good shot first half; tipping over and then saw numerous other shots sail over but then second half made a good low save as he spread himself. Then saw a few other efforts miss and had no chance on the goal given no protection at all.
Baldock 5/5/10 - Thought he was a bit sloppy today and never really handled a tricky winger. He like Stevens, gave the winger too much time and allowed too many balls to come in. Going forward he had a few runs early on but nor sure he got one good cross in or affected any attack in a meaningful way.
Stevens 5/10 - He has been excellent this season but last 4 or 5 games his standards have declined sharply. Attacking wise his threat has been non existent and he barely got over half way today. When he did he hits the first man or gives it away. Defensively he has been sloppy and givign his man way too much room. They put in so many unopposed crosses from his side.
Stearman 6.5/10 - I actually thought he was our best defender today and he was onyl average. He got a few blocks in, read a few interceptions and best he has played since he came back in. He still is not most secure on the ball and his passing is mixed but he gave it away less than the others.
O'Connell 5/10 - Poor and continued his recent spell where he has been bang out of form. Sloppy on the ball and not picking up or getting close enough to men; as shown on the goal. He was slow to react to dangerous situations and the forward nipped in front of him a few times. Needs to get back to his standards he has set. Ridiculous 35 yard shot over the bar at the end summed up his day.
Carruthers 3/10 - Awful. He made one threaded ball and won a corner with one run. Outside of that I think I counted 8 or 9 other times he had the ball first half and he gave it to them or got tackled every time. He jogged about and looked disinterested after the break also. I did not even know he was playing. He is not good enough and needs moving on. Takes forever to realise danger or sense where he ball it and when he has it he tosses it away often. Not sure what he offers at all. Shame as I thought he would be a good signing and showed flashes but in League One. The championship is faster and has better players and his little tricks/skills do not work. He is so slow both in mind and with feet to do things. Indeed our midfield were painfully slow, weak and lacking in heart and abilty today.
Lundstram 4.5/10 - He has been ok recent games and not deserved criticism some have given him but fact remains we have not won since he started playing and only got 1 point. It is a major drop off from Coutts. Today he was dire. He like Carruthers did not tackle, compete nor did they show any mobility. He gave it away time and time again both short and long with stupid balls that went nowhere. He also got brused off physically. He nearly cost us 2 goals but giving it away right in the middle of the field. He has no pace or movement and seemed to want to do everything around a 5 yard square. Not seen him carry the ball forward more than 2 or 3 yards yet. He is obsessed with going sideways and backwards. Not blaming him for decline as others have dropped standards but he looks a way off standards of a side aspiring for a top 6 finish.
Basham 5.5/10 - He has been reallly consistent this season but was nearly as bad as those 2 above today. Our midfield were totally dominated. Bash did not even get in and win tackles or loose balls. When he had it he gave it away or played balls that the strikers had no chance with. When you are asking him to be our creative threat you have to be concerned.
Clarke 6.5/10 - Tried hard and chased lost causes but he had no service whatsoever. Felt he did not hold ball up aswell as he could have done. He also seemed to get frustrated with a few fouls near the end. We had no threat whatsoever up top today.
Sharp 2/10 - He was awful and the worst player on the pitch by a long way. He only escapes lower marks as he was not sent off, miss a sitter or score an own goal! His contribution today consisted of falling on the floor, looking for non existent fouls and losing out physically and skill wise. He did nothing right all day and how he stayed on the field for the full game I do not know. He has been really poor recent weeks and looks very slow and weak. He is not scoring and is not even offeriing a nuisance factor. We need to upgrade up top in Janaury with some pace. I would even give Lavery a game ahead of him at the moment.
Subs
Lafferty - Came on and they scored instatnly but seemed to be playing wide left and then ended up in midfield. He at least got on the ball a few times but put one cross over the bar and then lost it another occasion.
Donaldson - Another game where I don't think he touched the ball or I cannot remember it! After that debut v Sunderland, he has given us nothing either starting or off the bench.
Slater - Did ok. One run forward and was neat and tidy. Gave us some energy. Nice to see him get a debut but Carruthers, Basham and Lundstram should be embarrased wathing him running around and busting a guy in his short spell when they had strolled about all game.
