Postives and Negatives

[Lawrence]

Agree with most of that - Samir also looked good in the first half.

Ched looks way off the pace. It's blindingly obvious we need a centre forward and an injection of pace. It's also really important to keep Brooks - as he has a spark no other player has in the squad. I don't trust our board enough though - especially if we get some million plus bid on deadline day.

The board have NO legitimate reason to sell Brooks, we already have money to burn, so what would we do with another 10 million? CW's strange interview this week about bringing in players, seemed to indicate we have to clear a bit of expenditure before we bring anyone in? Very strange.
I am getting very dismayed at them in charge, many on here say don't worry we still have 8 days until the window closes? I'm not so sure, come on Mcabe and Princy prove me wrong!

 

[loyalblade95]

Disagree about Lundstram. Thought it was his best game for us (not hard admittedly), showed plenty of determination and worked hard. This Hammond thing is already becoming a bit tedious.

The Hammond thing is harsh and disrespectful to Lundstram he's only played two games for us and from his brief cameo at Brentford can tackle well Edwards actually praised him a bit tonight saying he's getting better

 

[Lawrence]

As soon as Coutts came on things opened up.for us . He looked very comfortable indeed .

And slowed down!

 

[Steve Mackan]

For me

Positives:

Baldock: Excellent considering it was his first game after injury. Really looks the part and Freeman will have to be at his best to keep him out

Eastwood: Might have been a bit slow on the 2nd goal but he certainly looks a keeper we can rely on if anything happens to Blackman

Brooks: Excellent. We have to find a place for him while we have got him (probably less than a week)

Coutts: Just thought when he came on he he showed how important he is to us

Couldn't agree more. Think Baldock will be a really good option once fitness levels are there.

Panic stations if anything happens to Coutts or Sharp for that matter. Though people are being harsh on Lundstram, massive step up to play the 'Coutts role' in a brand new midfield against a fast and strong prem team.

Need 4 in for me.

 

[Antonb]

at least Lundstram kept trying , Samir went missing most of the second half

 

[Digger]

Thought we competed well first half before the obvious gulf in class shone through.
Baldock did well for his first game and Curuthers put a lot of effort in.
Pace and speed of thought are what we are lacking in both areas.
If we are to avoid a relaxation scrap then we have to do some very good business in the next week or so.
Not too downbeat tonight as I was expecting what we got.

 

[Champagneblade]

For me:

Good test on real ability tonight against a Leicester 2nd XI who on paper (and on the pitch) are obviously better than us before the kick off

Eastwood 6.5/10: Good learning curve. Completely exposed for all goals. Good save from Gray
Freeman 7.5/10: Typical Freemanesque, grafting performance. Put tackles in and got stuck in. More of an option out wide when CW changed it
Wright 5/10: Not really at the game. Pedestrian and watching the forwards rather than closing them off.
O'Connell 6.5/10: Our best option at the back, but he can't do it all by himself
Baldock 7/10: Impressive for a first time out, if sometimes wasteful
Lundstram 5/10: Didn't see much to make me think he is a good addition to the midfield
Carruthers 3/10: Invisible. Really not my kind of player. He's clearly overwhelmed by more agile and skilful midfields and then disappears. Their midfield just crossed him out tonight.
Brooks 8/10: Fucking majestic. He is like a young Tony Currie. He watches his marker and then exploits their faults and then he's gone. Please don't sell him McCabe
Evans 4/10: Never anywhere near the bloke we once had up front
Lavery 5/10: Marginally better than Evans

Basham 3/10: Sorry people. He is yesterday's utility man and like Bambi on ice in the box. Three minutes after coming on, he was done for pace by a bloke who'd been on an hour and for the goals looked like a beleaguered squaddie in the trenches
Sharp 3/10: Again, not because of his performance, but because he got nowt.
Coutts 7/10: Suddenly when he came on, the midfield calmed down

No shame from tonight. An expected result for a newly promoted former L1 side against former PL Champions and many who are internationals. Just glad Shakespeare spared us Mahrez and Vardy, who would have left our penalty area on fire.

Positives: Good general attacking mentality and a somewhat 'never-give-up' attitude. Baldock looks okay, Brooks ... well, fucking hell.

Negatives: Back three woefully underpowered with O'Connell left doing the major share of the centre back work. Midfield at times disorganised. Carruthers given a shirt and to be honest, not worthy. And there seems to be a fucking HUGE gap between the midfield and front two with no one able to take the ball to their final third and find the attackers. And really, we have no pace, anywhere.

pommpey

Can't deny the team would greatly benefit from a forward with pace, a midfield general and a decent centre back option this week or so.

Ledley would be a good addition to this team in my opinion.

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Weird performance from Carruthers. Top class for lots of the first-half, some sublime pieces of skill and positive & aggressive too.

Then, totally disappeared second-half. His confidence seemed to evaporate.

Baldock looked really good. And thought Lundstram was a big improvement compared to his last outing.

 

[Bladesman]

The Hammond thing is harsh and disrespectful to Lundstram he's only played two games for us and from his brief cameo at Brentford can tackle well Edwards actually praised him a bit tonight saying he's getting better

He made a great tacklet tonight which he got booked for due to that tosser of a ref.

Once again one or two very odd decisions and I was surprised Slimani stayed on the pitch.

 

[Davalon]

Go along with it but lets not forget who we were playing.

More pressing for me was the complete and utter lack of movement from our forwards when the midfielders had the ball.

We get wing backs to dangerous positions but lack that cutting edge in the box against these better teams. Need to invest up front but this costs £££

Real good point imho.

We have to take the opposition into account tonight but I thought Evans, Lavery, Lundstram, and Carrurhers all left a lot to be desired tonight with their off the ball work.

 

[PokerBlade]

Thought there were an awful lot of positives tonight. Largely in that Wilder made all those changes but we were still willing to get players forward. Unfortunately, as the game went on, that was playing into Leicester's hands and they started to exploit the gaps we left and hit us hard with pace and quality.

The only player I was disappointed with was Ched. Thought he was way off being sharp enough and he's not reacting quickly. The game passed him by for the most part. That's hardly surprising though given how long he's had out and I'm still a long way from passing judgement.

I feel like losing 4-1 makes us look for a lot more problems than there really were. Shortly before their first, O'Connel had made a run forward and stayed forward. Being brave enough to play the way we do means sometimes you're going to get caught out by a side with as much pace and quality as Leicester.

It was a very disjointed United side but in terms of individuals we showed we have a lot of ability with the ball at our feet and in neat passing play. Brooks, Lavery, Baldock, all looked very promising to me. Eastwood hesitated a bit on the second goal but otherwise not at fault and made one outstanding save.

 

[Deadbat]

I thought O'Connell was particularly slow. He seems slower than last season (granted, he may just be playing against quicker strikers)?

The 3 CBs were ripped apart again.

On a positive, I thought Carruthers looked much better in a deeper role. He was one of our best players.

I felt defence was badly exposed as no pressure on the ball at all tonight from midfield or strikers.

 

[SUFC Guy]

At the minute we shouldn't disrupt Fleck/Coutts/Duffy. I know Brookes is a midfielder but it would be great if he played close to but just behind the main striker or give him a run out up top ???
United will do very well indeed to keep hold of Brookes this window. I would be amazed if there were no bids and it's obvious that any winning bid would have to be substantial as we do not need to sell him if it's only 1 or 2 million.

As already touched upon, it would be a greater loss if Fleck or Coutts left us.

Stay strong Blades and knock back any bids for our main players.

UTMB

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Positives : I thought we played well against a premier league outfit, given the number of changes we'd made.

Negatives : I live in Leicester. Tomorrow I'll get the piss ripped out of me.

 

[Ricky]

If Coutts started it would've been a much closer scoreline.

 

[GrayBlade]

[QUOTE="thehet, post: 1426264, member: 16163"]Go along with it but lets not forget who we were playing.

More pressing for me was the complete and utter lack of movement from our forwards when the midfielders had the ball.

We get wing backs to dangerous positions but lack that cutting edge in the box against these better teams. Need to invest up front but this costs £££[/QUOTE]

That's just it. At lot of our fans don't ever take into consideration who we're playing because we're Sheffield United and even our second string should be good enough to beat a Premier team's assembled squad who will be lightning quick compared to many in the Championship.

Maybe we should all think back to the days when we played ourselves on Sunday morning and we drew the team from a couple of divisions higher in the cup, and it felt like our legs had been been weighed down with 5lbs of lead and some invisible twat was pouring sand in front of us.

 

[Deadbat]

Still not convinced with any of Wilders pre-season signings, Boldock looked ok for his first game back, Nathan Thomas can't buy a game, Lundstram the jury is out on him already. We have not really bettered any position from last season, which you would think would be a priority moving up a division. Injuries to key players like Coutts, Flecks, JOC, Sharp and we will be in for a long hard season. UTB ️

That is my concern...7 or 8 players and only Stevens has really improved us. Rest of team that played Saturday and at Cardiff was same team bar keeper as one that finished last season. We would have been better signing 2 or 3 rea quality down the spine. Something that concerned me all summer. Not sure what the point of Lundstram, Evans, Thomas is if they are not seen as better than what we had - they are no better than O'Shea, Scougall, McNulty in that sense - granted they are maybe better but yoou get my point; they are backups that dont seem ready to play regularly and improve us. We needed to improve what we had - get better than Clarke/Lavery/Hanson, better than Duffy/Caruthers, better than Wright/Basham etc and we have not done that so far. Still time I suppose.

 

[BerksBlade]

First half was fairly even I thought - we could have got in 2-3 times but the final ball was lacking. One horror moment when I thought O'Connell had been crocked.
They seemed to get through us far too easily second half - defence just melted away 2 or 3 times.
We desperately need someone quick up front to give us the option to play on the break - we're not going to dominate teams in this League so we need a plan B.

 

[Deadbat]

He made a great tacklet tonight which he got booked for due to that tosser of a ref.

Once again one or two very odd decisions and I was surprised Slimani stayed on the pitch.

He left his feet and got man and ball. These should not be bookings but are these days (see the Everton lad last night) so you risk a yellow when you go to ground.

 

[Bladesman]

He left his feet and got man and ball. These should not be bookings but are these days (see the Everton lad last night) so you risk a yellow when you go to ground.

Only one way to deal with these refs

 

[robbiez666]

I felt defence was badly exposed as no pressure on the ball at all tonight from midfield or strikers.

I agree with that. The first goal was awful in terms of backing-off.

We really need a combative midfielder.

 

[I should coco]

Wright 5/10: Not really at the game. Pedestrian and watching the forwards rather than closing them off.

Not being facetious or looking to pick a fight but I can only assume the cameras followed the ball all the time.

From the Kop with him in front of us, he read everything perfectly and had their number 19 in his pocket.

More difficult to understand how the goals were conceded but our midfield just seemed to open up and roll out a red carpet. Struggling to put too much blame on the CHs.

 

[pommpey]

Not being facetious or looking to pick a fight but I can only assume the cameras followed the ball all the time.

From the Kop with him in front of us, he read everything perfectly and had their number 19 in his pocket.

More difficult to understand how the goals were conceded but our midfield just seemed to open up and roll out a red carpet. Struggling to put too much blame on the CHs.

Fair shout and I take your view into account - no problem with that.

We did seem to not pick up and stay close to Slimani and Ulloja. They had the run at the back three with at times, no real challenge. Wright was caught out a few times with Slimani's drive and athleticism and if that was tough (i.e. it wasn't Vardy or Okazaki tonight) then against better Champ teams he is going to be an area where they will concentrate their focus. Let's not even talk about Basham. Champ managers will be watching the last few games and hoping CW stays with Basham in the back three.

pommpey

 

[LoughboroBlade]

One positive I'm surprised hasn't already been mentioned is that we were all treated to seeing the results of Michael Appleton's magnificent coaching. And 11 thousand were lucky enough to see him in the flesh!

He truly is tomorrow's (assistant) man.

 

[Fanny magnet]

We saw what we lack tonight, pace,black or foreign.

Wish people would stop posting this moronic shit
It's not funny

 

[Keen Blade]

Negatives - our squad is paper-thin and this summer we have mainly recruited players who are less viable than the ones who won promotion (Thomas, Lundstrum, Evans, Stearman).
Positive - Carruthers stupid dragback in his own box and subsequent hurried pass straight to oncoming attacker. CW ought to drop him for that alone - so he cuts out the clever flicks and get the basics right.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

I think that was a really interesting match to watch, I never had expectations of us getting owt from it, but there’s quite a bit to take from it:

Negatives:

• The lack of pace in our defence, highlighted by the real abundance of pace in theirs.
• Watching the tussle between Maguire and O’Connell all night – thinking that with slightly different fortunes they could have been lining up alongside one another – what a centre half pairing that would have been :-(
• Brooks will have well and truly put himself in the shop window with that performance. I expect a scenario whereby Hull came in for Harry after playing against him, for Harry see Brooks and for Hull see Leicester.
• We are short up top, we know we are, we’ve all said it. Lavery was busy and had some decent touches but even our main man Sharp who can often do no wrong wasn’t getting the supply again. A bit more quality is needed in the box, and in the supply.
• To have conceded a goal to that pile of toss Musa is particularly disappointing, my god he’s dire.

Positives:

• We keep hearing a lot about our lack of depth – I’d actually go so far as to say that last night highlighted good depth in places. Wilder has a clear starting 11, but there are ample deputies to step in where needed. Yes that side didn’t gel, but many of them could step in for a member of the first team if needed. Freeman and Baldock, Lafferty and Stevens, centre midfield…
• Their squad depth is impressive too – the majority of that side can’t get a look-in in the premier league but they looked decent last night. Ndidi was particularly good to watch IMO. They do look quite a good outfit, but then…
• …at times, we more than held our own with passing football and on occasion played some lovely stuff.
• Baldock really made a claim for a start IMO and Freeman will have to be on his game to keep him out. I’ve always been a Brayford fan and have never knocked him, nor do I agree with the bile he gets on here at times, but on that showing – we do not need him and we can free the finances up for use elsewhere – as much as I want it to work for Brayford here.
• Carruthers looked busy and sharp again and when Coutts and Basham came on they both looked class and showed just how important they are to us.
• The quality of our academy – as evidenced by the class of Harry on show and the latest promising crop; Brooks and Eastwood.
• Harry deserves every success and it is very pleasing to see. Often when star players move on there’s a tinge of frustration, unhappiness, a want for them to have stuck around. He continues to go from strength to strength and it’s very pleasing to see. He is a class act and deserves an international call up. It’s hard to believe he is still only 24 and he absolutely has gone about building his career the right way; play games at league one level, step up, play games at championship level, step up, prove yourself at premier league level, earn your move. He’s an absolute bargain at £15m in today’s transfer market of ridiculous fees. Many, many young footballers could learn from his level-headed, down-to-earth approach and manner.
• I felt assured in Eastwood, he has the potential to be a very solid keeper but after lessons learned from Long, without the expectation – he’s just quietly going about his business but looks the part and what a save that was! His distribution looks fairly OK too.
• The lad Brooks is something special. He gets 90 minutes under his belt and every time he gets the ball something happens. He’s exciting, he’s fearless and he tracked back better than I’d ever seen him yesterday. I’d still keep him as an impact sub for Saturday though, for when Derby are tiring. We simply HAVE to keep hold of him. He’s in the right place here to learn, with a side playing the right way, at a club where there’s a buzz about the place, with the right manager and chance to grow and play regular football.
• Jake Wright Senior remains a very handsome man. I will not introduce him to my wife.
• Some of our last ditch tackles and blocks were good to see, a real commitment to the cause. Brooks, Freeman, Baldock, Carruthers – a number of them put in great challenges.
• With every passing game, we are starting to look like a championship standard side now and I do think we will be alright this season. We have championship quality support, a championship quality ground inside and out, championship quality training and academy facilities, a cracking pitch and are in time we will be a quality side – built the right way – with sensible and effective investment, and the odd bit of spending a bit where needed.

 

[sufcboy95]

Thought carruthers and brooks were excellent and played themselves into Saturdays team. Ched was poor and is clearly no where near match fit. Lavery was alright but not sure if he did enough to force himself into team Saturday

 

[A_Blade1889]

Positives
Brooks - he needs more starts, what an exciting player
Baldock - looks quality
Carruthers - did ok for me
We played quite well first half and held our own, at times we played some really nice stuff.

Negatives
We lack pace and physical presence, other than Fleck none of our midfielders can tackle.
Lundstrum - he may need more time but nothing I have seen so far suggests he's good enough. Far too slow in everything he does.
Lavery & Ched were awful. Against good defenders yes, but failed to do the basics.

 

[Northyorksblade]

One thing I noticed. Last season we were the fittest team in league one and it usually showed in the second half, when the opposition faded. Premier league teams, well certainly Leicester, are fitter than us and I suspect, most championship sides will be too.