Stevens, Lundstram, Evans, Basham

[JayGreen17]

Completely agree with the original poster, Basham was gash all last season, I remember at Middlesbro last year thinkumg his time was up but beacause he’s a likeable bloke and gives his all people seem to forgive his weaknesses, he’s not top half champ quality, I’m disappointed Wilder hasn’t sorted out the midfield, we can pay 20mil for a striker it’s not going to make any difference if the wing backs and midfield can’t be quick and decisive.

 

[bonnet de douche]

Or alternatively, we might have been a lot more positive if we had had Duffy in there playing as an attacking midfielder, got them on the back foot, and murdered them in midfield.

I know which way I think it would probably have gone. A mistake by CW today and I love the guy. But I'm not blind enough to think that he doesn't make mistakes.

Big mistake in team selection ...agreed

 

[JayGreen17]

They are the kind of players you'd find in a relegated team. Slow, clumsy, wasteful, scared

They were not good enough in the second half of last season, and they aren't now.

Stevens - Lethargic, so slow when he has the call. Needs 5 second before he can decide what to do next, goes for the obvious, won't take a risk, slow at getting back and forward, won;t push to the byline, crossing is poor, marking is poor, closing down is poor, passing is always safe.Gives away stupid fouls.

Lundstram - slow and cumbersome. Players run round him like he wasn't there, can't shoot, no composure, poor passer and will pass the responsibility to play a brave forward pass, marking and tracking is poor.

Evans - Mr sideways. Fuck me, that lad loves going sideways and backwards, again, painfully slow in thougt and dead. Needs far too much time to make a decision, crossing is poor, Corners are poor.

Basham - While Bash has been a 150% his ability to do that has been slowly wearing off. Tragic at times with the ball. You can see the panic when he makes a run forward. Passing in abject. Defending is rash. His reactions are sooo slow. turning arc of a lorry. position in dire. Marking is poor.

This is not a snap judgement based on one game. This is almost every game since January.

We have no hope of getting into the play-offs unless we replace all these players.

You’ve summed this up perfectly.

 

[bonnet de douche]

Not really, but it's also the first game of the season - It's very difficult to play a relegated or promoted team straight away, as there's no real way of knowing what to expect from them. But I do think if Duffy had started, they would have murdered us through the middle. Also I think signing someone like Waghorn could drastically change the way we play, and change the options available to us.

Why would Waghorn make a massive difference to our style ...elaborate ?

 

[bonnet de douche]

Completely agree with the original poster, Basham was gash all last season, I remember at Middlesbro last year thinkumg his time was up but beacause he’s a likeable bloke and gives his all people seem to forgive his weaknesses, he’s not top half champ quality, I’m disappointed Wilder hasn’t sorted out the midfield, we can pay 20mil for a striker it’s not going to make any difference if the wing backs and midfield can’t be quick and decisive.

If you think Bash was gash all last season you really know fuck all ....

 

[Carlton Blade]

Bash got skinned at least 4 times today. He really played well towards the end of last year but he looked way of the pace today - I'd be annoyed if I was Stearman watching that.

Lundstram and Evans try to play the same role. Carroll showed them both how to do it well today, absolutely miles better than them. I do think there's a player in Evans but he needs work tactically and with decision making. Lundstram isn't good enough - had all the chances but he's overweight and no better than this time last year.

I can't be objective about Stevens. I've thought he should have been replaced in October to be honest. He has 2 or 3 decent touches a game but apart from that the best we can hope for is anonymous and not actively hurting us.

Rant over. UTB

 

[bonnet de douche]

Totally agree we won’t get in the top 6 but this was never my belief anyway.

Basham is a favourite of mine for the 100% effort and I think he has a place to play. With ability he would be a top end player as his athleticism and reading of the game, to me is excellent. But he makes a run and gets clear and it all becomes a bit, well, unpredictable let’s say.

Lundstram and Evans are the same player, who are also similar to Fleck but far inferior. Never going to work all 3 together.

Stevens I’ve said my opinion on him. Not an adequate LWB for the Championship and in our team, how we play it is a crucial role, arguably as crucial as a striker.

None of this will change but I think we’ll be ok this year. 12th to 18th I predict.

Absolutely spot on

 

[bonnet de douche]

They are the kind of players you'd find in a relegated team. Slow, clumsy, wasteful, scared

They were not good enough in the second half of last season, and they aren't now.

Stevens - Lethargic, so slow when he has the call. Needs 5 second before he can decide what to do next, goes for the obvious, won't take a risk, slow at getting back and forward, won;t push to the byline, crossing is poor, marking is poor, closing down is poor, passing is always safe.Gives away stupid fouls.

Lundstram - slow and cumbersome. Players run round him like he wasn't there, can't shoot, no composure, poor passer and will pass the responsibility to play a brave forward pass, marking and tracking is poor.

Evans - Mr sideways. Fuck me, that lad loves going sideways and backwards, again, painfully slow in thougt and dead. Needs far too much time to make a decision, crossing is poor, Corners are poor.

Basham - While Bash has been a 150% his ability to do that has been slowly wearing off. Tragic at times with the ball. You can see the panic when he makes a run forward. Passing in abject. Defending is rash. His reactions are sooo slow. turning arc of a lorry. position in dire. Marking is poor.

This is not a snap judgement based on one game. This is almost every game since January.

We have no hope of getting into the play-offs unless we replace all these players.

We ain't gonna replace em ..and we ain't gonna play offs ...just accept it ..and enjoy the season ...it's better than league 1 pal

 

[KiwiBlabe]

Today was poor. I really dont think any player was particularly outstanding either positively or negatively.. The team was unbalanced and lacked pace. Me and my mate both immediately said we were worried when Duffys name was not on the teamsheet. He did more in the 5 minutes he wa on than the 3 in midfield did for the whole 90.
We need pace desperately.
More worrying was that a poor team were first to the ball all game and looked more up for it.

 

[BigBed]

I like stearman ..but Egan did ok

Unfortunately "OK", won't cut it though.

 

[bonnet de douche]

Unfortunately "OK", won't cut it though.

Ok let's sign Stones or Maguire ....get a grip Holmes ...

 

[tincan]

Problem is Evans and Fleck play the same game so reduce our options when together. Swansea are a possession team and so could easily double up on the midfield and their sharper passing found the gaps.
Both their goals looked so familiar, 4 defenders one-sided on the goal. Agreed wrong line up, but I think we've got a real coaching weakness with that wrong siding of the defense.

 

[BigBed]

Ok let's sign Stones or Maguire ....get a grip Holmes ...

Neather will being facetious.....

 

[zablade]

Stearman for Egan

£5m record signing. Let’s drop him.

Egan was our best defender today. Much better than £15m man O’Conell

 

[Ricky]

Said all pre season we'll regret not replacing Stevens. It's an inexplicable blind spot of Wilder's, presumably based on stats.

Just need to pray Kean Bryan can be the LWB upgrade we need. Or Norrington-Davies.

As for Lundstram and Evans, they're OK, but simply not top end Championship quality. And shouldn't play together.

 

[Ricky]

Oh I almost forgot, it's good to see robbiez666 hitting his usual 3 thread minimum after a defeat.

 

[Sean Thornton]

I'd add Lundstrum to that list, and I don't think Clarke did anything great today either.
Wilder picked the wrong starting line up for me.
Duffy in for Lundstrum.
Sharp in for Mcgoldrick.
Stearman for Egan.
More attacking, and more suited to our style of play, and God, we miss Coutts and Brooks!!!

And still no pace whatsoever. Which won Swansea the game. Waghorn won't solve that and all the central midfield options currently available don't have any either.

 

[sitwell]

They are the kind of players you'd find in a relegated team. Slow, clumsy, wasteful, scared

They were not good enough in the second half of last season, and they aren't now.

Stevens - Lethargic, so slow when he has the call. Needs 5 second before he can decide what to do next, goes for the obvious, won't take a risk, slow at getting back and forward, won;t push to the byline, crossing is poor, marking is poor, closing down is poor, passing is always safe.Gives away stupid fouls.

Lundstram - slow and cumbersome. Players run round him like he wasn't there, can't shoot, no composure, poor passer and will pass the responsibility to play a brave forward pass, marking and tracking is poor.

Evans - Mr sideways. Fuck me, that lad loves going sideways and backwards, again, painfully slow in thougt and dead. Needs far too much time to make a decision, crossing is poor, Corners are poor.

Basham - While Bash has been a 150% his ability to do that has been slowly wearing off. Tragic at times with the ball. You can see the panic when he makes a run forward. Passing in abject. Defending is rash. His reactions are sooo slow. turning arc of a lorry. position in dire. Marking is poor.

This is not a snap judgement based on one game. This is almost every game since January.

We have no hope of getting into the play-offs unless we replace all these players.

Nob post

 

[BigBed]

And still no pace whatsoever. Which won Swansea the game. Waghorn won't solve that and all the central midfield options currently available don't have any either.

I agree, but, as we are Sheff Utd, you should be bloody used to that now!!

 

[BigBed]

£5m record signing. Let’s drop him.

Egan was our best defender today. Much better than £15m man O’Conell

Disagree, all our defenders were woeful today!
Stearman is more used to playing with JOC and Bash, and is also more vocal, it seems, than our record £4.1m!! Signing.

 

[sitwell]

Oh I almost forgot, it's good to see robbiez666 hitting his usual 3 thread minimum after a defeat.

He's picked up a few clones too. Might have to dig the wilder is rubbish post up again to show his real foresight.

 

[Ihadadream]

I think there is a good player waiting to escape in Lundstrum one minute looks a world beater then next minute looks like he belongs in Graves Park....Evans needs to take more risks rather than playing safe all the time but the midfield isn’t helped as we have nobody who goes in behind and stretches the play we are desperate for pace and a certain Mr Coutts, not sure what Stearman has done wrong not to start as he looks to start the play from the back 3

 

[SUFC Guy]

Attention drama queens and club knockers!

I agree on Lunny, Stevens and Evans but not Basham but let's get a little real here. This is the first game of the season and we have a long way to go.

I do see the 3 I mentioned getting replaced over the coming weeks/months - Wilder and Knill are not blind or daft. Let them sort it and try to keep your toys in the pram for at least a couple of months.

Coutts to return, imminent striker to come in. Woodburn and Duffy will get their chances to shine. RND will likely replace Stevens if he doens't improve. Freeman will get a good shout this year as well.

So give it a rest as it's only game 1 FFS - you can come back at Xmas and say I told you so if you want but that would be justified AT THAT TIME if it happened.

Up the blades as always.

 

[robbiez666]

Attention drama queens and club knockers!

I agree on Lunny, Stevens and Evans but not Basham but let's get a little real here. This is the first game of the season and we have a long way to go.

I do see the 3 I mentioned getting replaced over the coming weeks/months - Wilder and Knill are not blind or daft. Let them sort it and try to keep your toys in the pram for at least a couple of months.

Coutts to return, imminent striker to come in. Woodburn and Duffy will get their chances to shine. RND will likely replace Stevens if he doens't improve. Freeman will get a good shout this year as well.

So give it a rest as it's only game 1 FFS - you can come back at Xmas and say I told you so if you want but that would be justified AT THAT TIME if it happened.

Up the blades as always.

So, the fact he's made no mention or attempt to replace any of them means he's definitely going to replace them?

Look, there's only so much he can do with the money he has, but he's made no great attempt to make full use of the loan market.The fact we only had one struggling LWB for the second half of last season, was astonishing. Stevens clearly needed a rest and he wasn't prepared to play Lafferty there.

Coutts will return but which Coutts will that be and when will he be match fit. It took him the best part of two years to get over the last major injury.

RND has never played league football. I wish people would stop proclaiming him as the messiah and give the lad a chance to develop at his own pace.

It's not about one game. It's about all the games this year.

We'll see what happens before Friday. Hopefully, he can sort it out.

 

[MALDENBLADE]

I cannot believe what I am reading! I moaned all the way home from the Swansea match about our totally ineffective midfield, no creativity, no thrust, no thought. Even the usually reliable Fleck was sadly out of his depth against a team that flooded midfoeld and who had a number 10 willing to run from defense directly at our throats. Both Evans and Lundstram look clueless with no ambition other than to pass to one another. Where is the drive and skill?

Every great team has a strong midfield to create chances for the strikers. It wouldn't have mattered if we had had Harry Kane upfront yesterday. There was just no service. People keep saying how many midfielders we have and list them, but honestly, apart from Fleck is there anyone that excites you when they are on the ball. If they are not good enough, and they weren't at the tail end of last season, ditch them and bring in new. Now. It has to be sooner than later. Our strikers will not have enough service to score the goals that matter. And without more goals we are going to be nearer the relegation zone than the top 6.

They are the kind of players you'd find in a relegated team. Slow, clumsy, wasteful, scared

They were not good enough in the second half of last season, and they aren't now.

Stevens - Lethargic, so slow when he has the call. Needs 5 second before he can decide what to do next, goes for the obvious, won't take a risk, slow at getting back and forward, won;t push to the byline, crossing is poor, marking is poor, closing down is poor, passing is always safe.Gives away stupid fouls.

Lundstram - slow and cumbersome. Players run round him like he wasn't there, can't shoot, no composure, poor passer and will pass the responsibility to play a brave forward pass, marking and tracking is poor.

Evans - Mr sideways. Fuck me, that lad loves going sideways and backwards, again, painfully slow in thougt and dead. Needs far too much time to make a decision, crossing is poor, Corners are poor.

Basham - While Bash has been a 150% his ability to do that has been slowly wearing off. Tragic at times with the ball. You can see the panic when he makes a run forward. Passing in abject. Defending is rash. His reactions are sooo slow. turning arc of a lorry. position in dire. Marking is poor.

This is not a snap judgement based on one game. This is almost every game since January.

We have no hope of getting into the play-offs unless we replace all these players.

 

[thehet]

All four of these were atrocious yesterday.

 

[brownie4583]

I was a bit surprised with the team selection yesterday tbh.
In my mind you got to play Fleck with either Evans OR Lundstram and either Duffy or Woodburn,not Evans and Lundstram together.
Those 3 do not add enough creativity and are not attacking minded enough.
I would have started with Billy alongside McGoldrick.
We still need a pacy striker adding to the squad.

 

[Eric Cartman]

Said all pre season we'll regret not replacing Stevens. It's an inexplicable blind spot of Wilder's, presumably based on stats.

Just need to pray Kean Bryan can be the LWB upgrade we need. Or Norrington-Davies.

As for Lundstram and Evans, they're OK, but simply not top end Championship quality. And shouldn't play together.

I don’t understand what we lose from giving RND a shot now.

Give him a go for the next 3 - then if he’s not quite ready you’ve got the rest of August to find him a loan.

 

[A_Blade1889]

Lundstrum is just a very poor player. Once a game he will ping a 40 yard diagonal ball, for some that’s enoigh, he does absolutely nothing else. The game passes him by without him having any impact.

Evans - passes the ball backwards or sideways often not very well.

Stevens - decent option to have as a 4th choice lwb

 

[coolhandluke]

They are the kind of players you'd find in a relegated team. Slow, clumsy, wasteful, scared

They were not good enough in the second half of last season, and they aren't now.

Stevens - Lethargic, so slow when he has the call. Needs 5 second before he can decide what to do next, goes for the obvious, won't take a risk, slow at getting back and forward, won;t push to the byline, crossing is poor, marking is poor, closing down is poor, passing is always safe.Gives away stupid fouls.

Lundstram - slow and cumbersome. Players run round him like he wasn't there, can't shoot, no composure, poor passer and will pass the responsibility to play a brave forward pass, marking and tracking is poor.

Evans - Mr sideways. Fuck me, that lad loves going sideways and backwards, again, painfully slow in thougt and dead. Needs far too much time to make a decision, crossing is poor, Corners are poor.

Basham - While Bash has been a 150% his ability to do that has been slowly wearing off. Tragic at times with the ball. You can see the panic when he makes a run forward. Passing in abject. Defending is rash. His reactions are sooo slow. turning arc of a lorry. position in dire. Marking is poor.

This is not a snap judgement based on one game. This is almost every game since January.

We have no hope of getting into the play-offs unless we replace all these players.

' Almost every game since January ' . We can all see it as it's blindingly obvious, so why can't Wilder ?