What happened to Enda?

[Bruce Wayne]

He was nailing it in the Prem before Covid. Now he's shocking? What happened to this guy?

 

[Stretch]

Completely lost it since the lockdown.

Maybe it's an introvert vs extrovert thing? Always felt the likes of Bash, Baldock, Egan and Billy were hugely motivated from within and didn't need any encouragement to come out firing, where as others in the squad need the energy from those around them, and are really struggling in empty stadiums.

Other than that, fuck knows.

 

[Yogi]

He was nailing it in the Prem before Covid. Now he's shocking? What happened to this guy?

He’s a weird one and hard to judge imo when he first came in it was nip and tuck between him and lafferty then he made a big jump his second season and continued that last season. The question is was that a genuine progression and then like so many others this year he’s gassed out and hit a wall? Or was he just being elevated in a superb side.

 

[Roygbiv]

Possibly the weirdest drop off of all. Norwood always lacked mobilty and has been caught out, Fleck has had injuries, really not sure what we can say about Stevens.

 

[Sam64]

Thought Burnley was him best game of the season, forced into LCB today

 

[1987]

Thought Burnley was him best game of the season, forced into LCB today

I think the question really is how can he go from consistently one of our best performing players over a number of years, into consistently one of the worst. And it was in force way before his switch to LCB in truth.

 

[PrestwichBlade]

To me he just always looks shattered, like he's running through treacle and got the weight of the world on his shoulders. I think he's very much a confidence player as well and I think it's too simple to just say he misses JOC behind him. It's a shame, cause when he was at his best, he was very good to watch.

 

[Camden Blade]

His goal against Brighton seems light years away. Imagine him doing that now. You can't. Or Fleck against Burnley. Pale shadows of their former selves. And you can include Wilder in that. It cannot be down to individual psychology. We've gone from a culture of winning to a culture of losing. There's structural or organisational problems connected to recruitment, coaching, decision making.

 

[corner_flag]

Maybe he was just one half of a brilliant duo. But turns out Stevens was Andrew Ridgeley and Jack O'Connell was George Michael

 

[Deadbat]

Stevens was going nowhere playing in the bottom division. He spent most of his career playing for Donny and Northampton on loan and the Pompey for 3 seasons.

He had a decent first season but trailed off (many wanted him replaced) and then was brilliant in the promotion year and first half of Prem.

We tend to forget the likes of him and Baldock were playing league 1/2 for most of their career and had bounced around clubs. No-one had signed them Stevens was 27 when he signed for us. Baldock 24. They were not kids.

Be interesting to see what they do with Enda this summer with RND/Lowe. He is 31 next summer and he is going to have to step out of this funk to be the automatic starter. He is only keeping his place as we have no-one else better. His form has been abject since lockdown.

The drop off of him and Fleck has been horrific. They've gone from looking comfortable at PL to me being worried they'll even be good enough for us in the Champ.

 

[Eza Blade]

Always thought Enda looked great when we had better movement around him. At the minute he has 2 options. Sideways or back

 

[Swannyblade]

I miss the megs...he was a player high on confidence and it was a joy to watch

 

[1889]

The person who is going to suffer most due to O’Connells absence is Enda Stevens. Whilst it’s widely accepted that we haven’t come close to finding a worthy replacement for JOC, the very same people are seemingly surprised that Stevens effectiveness appears to have dropped since last season

 

[JohnDenver]

We tend to forget the likes of him and Baldock were playing league 1/2 for most of their career and had bounced around clubs. No-one had signed them Stevens was 27 when he signed for us. Baldock 24. They were not kids.

Quite. His levels have been remarkable and now they’ve trended back nearer the norm. Much like our entire team.

And for all the talk of fees paid, our hopes this season were built on young unproven players stepping up to become genuine premier league performers from lower levels of football.

That things have gone horribly wrong is much less surprising under analysis than many folk seem to think.

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

Play enda @ left back then slate him if he’s Shite he’s done alright this season at LWB

We’ve got a lot of issues Enda isn’t one

 

[Deadbat]

Quite. His levels have been remarkable and now they’ve trended back nearer the norm. Much like our entire team.

And for all the talk of fees paid, our hopes this season were built on young unproven players stepping up to become genuine premier league performers from lower levels of football.

That things have gone horribly wrong is much less surprising under analysis than many folk seem to think.

Yeah. We are basically doing now what all those Pigs fans said we would do. That these players were crap and lower league that Wilder had got just playing on pashun and we could not sustain it.

People forget bulk of this side finished mid table first season in Champ...granted we had Clarke/Sharp and Coutts etc and no Egan. However half of this team were starters then.

Be interested if any of these lg 1/champ risers can go again next year or are busted flushes now.

 

[Deadbat]

Play enda @ left back then slate him if he’s Shite he’s done alright this season at LWB

We’ve got a lot of issues Enda isn’t one

Really?

I think he had been awful at LWB and LCB. Not sure hes had many even average games since lock down. Today was frightening to see him not even be able to control it or pass it in a straight line regardless of where he was picked.

 

[FallowfieldBlade]

I think he’s looked average but better than what’s been around him

When we go down a Stevens replacement should be bottom of the list

 

[essexblade73]

Thing is playing alongside JOC for years then having to play most games next to Robot Robinson is going to do anyone's head in. Whereas before he looks up and big jack is making a run to play quick 1,2's he now looks up to see Robot changing his batteries. Today at LCB he's sees norman wisdom running around like a headless chicken in the RWB role he has made his own. Its all changed and is bound to unsettle him playing with two incompetants.

 

[Danny_Blade]

Yeah. We are basically doing now what all those Pigs fans said we would do. That these players were crap and lower league that Wilder had got just playing on pashun and we could not sustain it.

People forget bulk of this side finished mid table first season in Champ...granted we had Clarke/Sharp and Coutts etc and no Egan. However half of this team were starters then.

Be interested if any of these lg 1/champ risers can go again next year or are busted flushes now.

I'm thinking (although we've not played it much this season) that the overlapping CB's tactic has turned out to be a bit of a gimmick and or a combination of what I've highlighted in bold in your post.

A bit painful to say but at the moment it does seem to be unravelling this way, what do you think?

 

[CarlMcBlade]

The person who is going to suffer most due to O’Connells absence is Enda Stevens. Whilst it’s widely accepted that we haven’t come close to finding a worthy replacement for JOC, the very same people are seemingly surprised that Stevens effectiveness appears to have dropped since last season

We built our style on having partnerships all over the pitch. Bash and Baldock, Egan and Norwood, Jack and Enda. Our front two had a much better understanding and Lunny and Fleck used to run the channels like they were on rails. Unfortunately if one of those partnerships isn’t working anymore, it’s obviously going to affect the whole dynamic of the team.

 

[Swannyblade]

There’s some bollox doing the rounds tonight!
I’ve watched some of these players for the best part of 4yrs and in that time they’ve played (genuinely) some of the best football I’ve witnessed during my lifetime following the Blades.
Granted, I’m sure that some of them were playing at the peak of their abilities last season, but there’s no way that they are as poor as we are seeing from them as a collective at present.
This has got to be more than them regressing to the mean. There seems to be a lack of confidence, urgency and belief.
I’m not buying JOC’s absence as a valid excuse for poor performances either. You can’t remove one card and have the whole deck fall at this level. If it does, that’s piss poor recruitment and squad management. And if that is the case, you’ve got to look for a system that will work with the players available...not keep pushing square pegs into round holes and hoping to keep it tight and nick a goal. We need to be more proactive than that.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Anyone who has done sport at any level, let alone a high level, knows that the link between confidence and performance is key. The link between happiness and confidence is also critical.

We don't know what is going on behind the scenes but from afar it certainly looks like there isn't the same vibe/bonhommie around the squad as previous years.

In another thread I suggested this could be chartered back to Berge's arrival. Whether this is coincidence, the wages we're paying him, Wilder's attitude to the others once he bought a £20m+ player - all/none of the above.

One thing for certain is that Wilder's ability to get a tune out of a team of £20m+ players compared to a team of hungry L1 and L2 players is woefully missing...

 

[Gavlar]

One reason is he has played too many games. Not just for blades but internationals as well. He needs a rest.

 

[robbiez666]

Enda's confidence looks shot and I think people are incorrectly thinking it's the loss of JOC. Fleck and Norwood are the bigger issues. He now knows that if he loses the ball going forward there's not necessarily cover there if the opposition break. Therefore, he looks scared when he has the ball. The fear of messing uo or trying a anything. The only time he looks comfortable is when we are building the slow overlap because strength in numbers.

 

[JackSUFC]

Signed a new contract and has been shite ever since. Funny that.

Another one you look at and think Chris Wilder made you richer than you ever thought you’d be, but now you’re repaying him with performances like these.

 

[Bladesince59]

One reason is he has played too many games. Not just for blades but internationals as well. He needs a rest.

He does. About 6 months.

 

[Gretsch Blade]

Play enda @ left back then slate him if he’s Shite he’s done alright this season at LWB

We’ve got a lot of issues Enda isn’t one

Disagree with some of this.
You're spot on when you say we've got a lot of issues.... but for me, I think Enda has been below par since the restart (following lockdown one).

We watch a game which is full of opinions, but in summation from Enda recently I've seen; Poor touch, fitness, runs down blind alleys, hasn't crossed it when it was on (in the main) and when he has crossed it, hit the first man or over hit it. Generally poor in possession unless it was a sideways or backwards pass.
As a defender he's been beaten for pace and in the air time and again.

Earlier this season CWAK gave Lowe an opportunity to take the LWB spot (so they saw a drop in Endas form too) but Lowe was sometimes naive in and out of possession, so they returned to the tried and tested Stevens - perhaps hoping he'd return to past seasons levels.

We could break left and right with an overlap previously but this has hardly happened this season - if anything Enda had been pinned back and our counter attacks have slowed down to walking pace with danger only really coming from the right side.
Enda has been one of our most important and reliable players up until July/August but as the OP says - what has happened?