Sheffield United...

[Dancfc]

Disagree. Top 4 is easier than to win it. Granted the top sides when Leicester won it were poor.
They still got 80+ points though.

Not this season, given the quality - think it's a shit league this season.

Leicester had to win the games and cope with the runin pressure... biggest achievement (imo) since Clough/Forest did promotion, champions, European champions (which still ranks as my no.1)

Of course it isn’t. If Leicester got relegated that season nobody would have batted an eyelid.

As amazing as the Leicester achievement was they had Kante, Vardy and Mahrez on breakthrough world class season's.

If you compare both sides Sheffield don't have anyone on the level of that season's Drinkwater let alone those three.

Would be absolutely mental if Wilder pulls this off, weak season or no.

 

[Blades1889]

Pub team you’d think we are a team full of grafters that pump the ball to a beefy target man and park the bus I think the football that we are playing is fantastic, in a system that is solid. Everyone is comfortable on the ball, they have to be when two of the three centre backs are bombing forward and contributing to attacks. I get the impression that because we are competitive we are getting these cliche labels. We could very well get relegated next season but we don’t play crap football by any means. I’ve heard all of this before though, by fans of league 1 teams and championship teams. Wilder and Knill continue to push us further and further and I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

 

[Rozay]

As amazing as the Leicester achievement was they had Kante, Vardy and Mahrez on breakthrough world class season's.

If you compare both sides Sheffield don't have anyone on the level of that season's Drinkwater let alone those three.

Would be absolutely mental if Wilder pulls this off, weak season or no.

Obviously - they won the league, they would have had to have had some players having World Class seasons. But it was far from what was expected of those players, you’re saying this now after the fact. What Vardy did was akin to McBurnie getting 20 goals for Sheffield. No more shocking, he hadn’t previously demonstrated he was a top PL striker.

 

[Blades1889]

The defense is alright. I think they need better strikers. They barely score any goals. 3-5-2 is at the core very defensive though.

3-5-2 usually is a defensive shape but it depends how it is applied. In Wilder’s case it’s progressive football rather than pragmatic, shown by overlapping cbs. The goals come from other areas rather than relying on strikers but I would agree that we need improvements up front. Mousset will be great once his fitness is sorted out though.

 

[Offside]

Hope they get the CL.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

As amazing as the Leicester achievement was they had Kante, Vardy and Mahrez on breakthrough world class season's.

If you compare both sides Sheffield don't have anyone on the level of that season's Drinkwater let alone those three.

Would be absolutely mental if Wilder pulls this off, weak season or no.

Easy to say that now. If Henderson turn out to be the best goalkeeper in the world we could say they had a super keeper etc.
That Leicester side was mainly dross and championship talent.
Kante was a steal though. A bit strange they could pick him up so easily.
I guess what Leicester show is you can improve as a team and players can improve a lot more than people think.
Few saw Mahrez and Vardy as top players before that season. I guess here people just remembered Vardy for the 5-3 game against us with the dive I think before that season.

 

[Rozay]

Hope they get the CL.

Instead of who? Not Manchester United, surely?

 

[giorno]

They're a side with PL levels of fitness and physicality and the tactical organization and drilling of an italian side, playing by memory

If they had Udinese's Alexis up top they'd have finished 4th

 

[BeforeKeanetherewasRobson]

Pub team you’d think we are a team full of grafters that pump the ball to a beefy target man and park the bus I think the football that we are playing is fantastic, in a system that is solid. Everyone is comfortable on the ball, they have to be when two of the three centre backs are bombing forward and contributing to attacks. I get the impression that because we are competitive we are getting these cliche labels. We could very well get relegated next season but we don’t play crap football by any means. I’ve heard all of this before though, by fans of league 1 teams and championship teams. Wilder and Knill continue to push us further and further and I’ll enjoy every minute of it.

I think you're a decent team ... in terms of deserving your place and to watch.

There was a comparison earlier in the thread about Wolves... I'd much rather watch you than Wolves, hope they get relegated (next season)

 

[Nou_Camp99]

Guna be pretty embarrassing when the newly promoted club we loaned our 3rd choice keeper to finish above us. Looking at the remaining fixtures of both clubs I'd say there's a good chance we won't finish above them too. Rashford a huge miss for us.

Can't finish below Sheff Utd and expect to keep your job.

 

[Rozay]

Guna be pretty embarrassing when the newly promoted club we loaned our 3rd choice keeper to finish above us. Looking at the remaining fixtures of both clubs I'd say there's a good chance we won't finish above them too. Rashford a huge miss for us.

Can't finish below Sheff Utd and expect to keep your job.

To be fair, just about everything is an embarrassment to you.

 

[Deery]

I wish our manager would stand on the sidelines offering boys on... bet Roy Keane would.

 

[Chairman Steve]

I’m very happy for them to be doing well. It blows this ridiculous notion at Utd that we‘ve got shitty players and OGS has been dealt a bad hand and is therefore absolved of any blame for our underperformance in the league. Man for man on paper we’re much better than Sheff Utd but they’re ahead of us in reality.

 

[Snow]

I’m very happy for them to be doing well. It blows this ridiculous notion at Utd that we‘ve got shitty players and OGS has been dealt a bad hand and is therefore absolved of any blame for our underperformance in the league. Man for man on paper we’re much better than Sheff Utd but they’re ahead of us in reality.

Goalkeepers:
De Gea vs Henderson: De Gea is 29 and hasn't been our best player for 18 months. He's clearly done at the professional level. Henderson is younger and home grown. Henderson clearly better.

Defenders:
AWB vs Baldock: AWB cost 45m and hasn't scored a goal. Baldock did not cost 45m and has scored 2. Need I say more? Fine. AWB went outside London for the first time. He's basically a fledling that hasn't learned to fly yet. Baldock went on a loan in Iceland. That's an island so he had to fly to get there. Not only that he played for ÍBV which is in the Westman Islands so he had to fly to an island twice. That's twice as much as AWB (0x2=twice).

Shaw vs Stevens: Enda Stevens went straight from the Irish PL to the English PL and then down to L2 and then up to L1, Championship and back to the PL again. What does that remind you of? You are correct, the Rocky movies. Rocky is great,
Stevens is Rocky: Shaw is Rocky's uncle Paulie. His aspirations are to have sex with a robot. We need focused players. Stevens is clearly better.

Maguire vs O'Connell: O'Connell was born in Liverpool (best team in the country) and played for Blackburn (best in 1992), Brentford (best in Championship) and then Sheffield United (best in 2021). Maguire was born and bred at Sheffield United and they are better without him. Enough said.

Lindelöf vs Basham or Egan: Take your pick, Lindelöf won't be better. Shaped by Benfica which are infamous for never producing talent. No change there. Whilst Lindelöf escaped the Swedish climate for Benfica Basham (a born Geordie) decided to leave Newcastle to work at McDonald's to gain experience that professional footballers usually don't have. You can see the result on the pitch. Egan is a total mystery. There are hospital records of him being born in Cork but that's it. His opponents also can't figure him out which is why he dominates everyone on the pitch. Only a madman would pick Lindelöf over the mystery box.

Chemistry: Spain in goal, England-Sweden-England-England vs England in goal England-England-England-Ireland-Ireland. Everyone that has played ultimate team can see which team has the better chemistry. Solskjær even has Jones on the bench to fix the broken chemistry but decided on a Swede who doesn't even speak the language (Sweden has a notoriously poor public school system).

Midfield:
Fred vs Norwood: Norwood was HG at United. Fred wasn't so Norwood wins this one.
Pogba vs Ludstram: Pogba was HG at United, Ludstram wasn't. Always Pogba.
Lingard vs Fleck: This is a tough one. Lingard was HG at United but Fleck was a massive FM legend. FM legends are generally the best players in the world and we've all seen that Fleck is well on his way but Lingard stil edges it for me.

Chemistry: Again, what is Ole thinking? A Frenchman, Brazilian and Englishman? Wine drinker, coffee drinker and tea drinker. Thankfully Pogba did grow up here with Lingard and both of them have gotten a dance in Fifa which only the top players can but the chemistry still suffers. Meanwhile over at Sheffield there's a Scotsman, N-Irishman and Englishman. They were united in Brexit and they are Sheffield United on the pitch. Link well with the high chemistry defense. Superb managing there.

Attack:
Rashford vs McBurnie: Rashfors is United HG.
Martial vs Mousset: Martial is the choice here. Mousset is a record signing but he's not showing it on the pitch. Although he's an France U21 legend that's not his world anymore. It might have something to do with his nationality because he's the only reason why it's not a 100. Martial on the other hand is so god damn likeable. Even if he wasn't simply better you'd pick him because his jovial nature lightens the mood for everyone around him. He negates his chemistry deficient with his happy-go-lucky nature.
James vs Fleck: Fleck again? He's an FM legend. I can't have him lose. Besides I've already done 11 Sheffield players. James meanwhile was born in Hull but plays for Wales? How's that legal? Fleck is also 0.3cm taller.

Chemistry: Would have been about the same but for some reason James is Welsh. Mousset makes the whole team chemistry worse, maybe that's the reason Sheffield are 5th and not 3rd?

Overall: United get 4 picks and Sheffield United 8 when we tally up the scores. Better on paper, better in reality.

Also you're happy for them? You want Saudi owners? Do you hate women?

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Well, it’s February now, they’ve made their point, yet they keep winning games and getting in the fecking way, instead of fighting for survival as their collection of rubbish footballers should be doing!

Getting in the way of who exactly? We certainly aren't marching towards top 4 as much as we are crawling about a 5 yard radius pretending to be doing things.

 

[Rozay]

So, how do people think Sheffield United will cope with the restart? I think potentially, they could be most affected of the better teams by the ‘reduced integrity’. They were always the team that stood out the most in and around the top as having the poorest group of players, and I just think the surprise package thing will be harder to just continue after such a pause. I think they many would have felt they would struggle to replicate their form next season anyway, and a 3 month break is almost like a mew start altogether.

Another small snapshot of the ‘integrity issue’ is that they come back and equalise in stoppage time against is on front of their own fans, get we don’t get a ‘real’ home game against them, in what will be such an important match. Head to head we’d basically have one away game and one neutral with them this season.

 

[georgipep]

So, how do people think Sheffield United will cope with the restart? I think potentially, they could be most affected of the better teams by the ‘reduced integrity’. They were always the team that stood out the most in and around the top as having the poorest group of players, and I just think the surprise package thing will be harder to just continue after such a pause. I think they many would have felt they would struggle to replicate their form next season anyway, and a 3 month break is almost like a mew start altogether.

Another small snapshot of the ‘integrity issue’ is that they come back and equalise in stoppage time against is on front of their own fans, get we don’t get a ‘real’ home game against them, in what will be such an important match. Head to head we’d basically have one away game and one neutral with them this season.

I think now with our improved midfield we will try and control the game, will be interesting to see if we go full out attack or adopt a more cautious approach, not leaving too much space in behind for them to counter. I expect us to beat them easily, 3:1 with a consolation goal from a cross in the second half

 

[Samid]

Think they'll get blown away in the race for Europe. They've been fortunate with injuries. They have 9 players with 2000+ minutes. Apart from Wolves no team around them are anywhere near having that amount of players with so many minutes. Games will be coming thick and fast and their squad depth is poor. Not to mention the game they have in hand and cup QF resulting in games every 3-4 days for 7 weeks.

If Wilder has any ambitions he needs to move on in the summer while the iron is hot. At some point Sheffield's bubble will burst. Showing loyalty to Sheffield would mean ending up like Dyche and Howe. Two others that were linked with bigger jobs but chose to stay instead. If they got sacked today they wouldn't be in contention for bigger jobs.

 

[georgipep]

So, how do people think Sheffield United will cope with the restart? I think potentially, they could be most affected of the better teams by the ‘reduced integrity’. They were always the team that stood out the most in and around the top as having the poorest group of players, and I just think the surprise package thing will be harder to just continue after such a pause. I think they many would have felt they would struggle to replicate their form next season anyway, and a 3 month break is almost like a mew start altogether.

Another small snapshot of the ‘integrity issue’ is that they come back and equalise in stoppage time against is on front of their own fans, get we don’t get a ‘real’ home game against them, in what will be such an important match. Head to head we’d basically have one away game and one neutral with them this season.

To be fair, Sheffield United have better away form than us and I think with no crowd Chris Wilder's voice will echo throughout the game, barking instructions. They are a side that relies on discipline and structure. If anything, the new conditions would benefit them (in the context of the "home" game we have against them) more than us.

On the other hand, if they concede, it will be very difficult for them to pick themselves up with no crowd to lift their spirits and show support. Hope we score first and then pile on the misery!

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

They can still pull of top 4. Would not rule them out, but do not think they will win enough games. Need more goals.

 

[Damien]

Have they managed to extend the loans for all of their loan players?

 

[SilentWitness]

I'd be surprised if they managed it. A lot of momentum they had will have been lost and we have seen many clubs before have an outstanding season with a European push only to be poor in the next. I know this isn't a new season but we've been on a break as extensive as the summer.

 

[Rozay]

I'd be surprised if they managed it. A lot of momentum they had will have been lost and we have seen many clubs before have an outstanding season with a European push only to be poor in the next. I know this isn't a new season but we've been on a break as extensive as the summer.

This is basically my thinking.

 

[TheReligion]

What's their record been like home/away and will the change in format go against them do we think?

 

[Bebestation]

Sheffield United always seemed good to me because they were a very coordinated team that were drilled in to knowing very well how they should play rather than anything related too much to money and players. Obviously every clubs quality is effected by their players but Sheffield United play that crazy football dont they with the overlapping centre backs and stuff? That to me comes from the manager and his tactics more than all just relative to particular players or money.

It's hard to exactly say how the break is going to effect teams though. For example Bruno Fernandes is a great player that will positively help our team but before the virus his actual transfer in to the team seemed to give the whole club a boost aswell rather than simply his ability just as a footballer. Now its months later, it doesnt feel like a new transfer and maybe that effects the momentum in comparison to what we were seeing before - however we do have key players coming back from injuries.


Ultimately- no one really knows but Sheffield United has really strong tactics in my opinion so they will give it a good fight.

 

[Dancfc]

What's their record been like home/away and will the change in format go against them do we think?

Without checking (can't be arsed) I'm sure their away from is much better.

I think they lost 3 home games in a row pretty early on and have dropped points to the likes of Newcastle and Watford (at home) too.

Whereas away only Liverpool and City have turned them over.

 

[Offside]

They’re still in the cup with a potential route into Europe there. They are not to be taken lightly. Been absolutely brilliant since the moment Wilder walked in there.

 

[Blades1889]

Momentum has gone. We’re going down. Wilder out

 

[Harry190]

Do locals get a discount on those famous scissors?

 

[Sandikan]

Had to scroll back a few pages to find this thread.

Unlucky with the goal line tech, but did they have even one decent chance? That incident itself was a nothing cross that caught Villa's 3rd choice keeper out.

30 goals in 29 games says it all. Nowhere near the fire power to trouble higher up, and a lot of tough games left.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

So unlucky not to be ahead of us. Pure errors might ruin the chance they had for CL or more likely europa league.

 

[Sandikan]

So unlucky not to be ahead of us. Pure errors might ruin the chance they had for CL or more likely europa league.

Who is to say it'd have finished 1-0? You can't second guess it, and I'd wager that Sheff Utd will finish 8-10 points off Champs league qualification by the end.

 

[BenitoSTARR]

Had to scroll back a few pages to find this thread.

Unlucky with the goal line tech, but did they have even one decent chance? That incident itself was a nothing cross that caught Villa's 3rd choice keeper out.

30 goals in 29 games says it all. Nowhere near the fire power to trouble higher up, and a lot of tough games left.

Absolutely, solid at the back toothless up front.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

Who is to say it'd have finished 1-0? You can't second guess it, and I'd wager that Sheff Utd will finish 8-10 points off Champs league qualification by the end.

It ruined the game for them for sure. Given how good Henderson is I would put my money on 1-0 or 2-0 for them.

We will see what happens. I don't think neither us nor Chelsea will win them all. It will be close with many teams involved.

 

[Sandikan]

It ruined the game for them for sure. Given how good Henderson is I would put my money on 1-0 or 2-0 for them.

We will see what happens. I don't think neither us nor Chelsea will win them all. It will be close with many teams involved.

I'm glad they don't get that psychological edge to squeeze ahead of us, but if we can get through Tottenham with at least a draw, I'm very confident we'll comfortably see them off.

Chelsea, I'm not so sure, totally a 50-50

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

I'm glad they don't get that psychological edge to squeeze ahead of us, but if we can get through Tottenham with at least a draw, I'm very confident we'll comfortably see them off.

Chelsea, I'm not so sure, totally a 50-50

Yeah Chelsea is the main team to focus on anyway. I just have a bloody feeling they will beat Liverpool easily once they have the title. Thus the harder fixture list might not prove to matter much.
City can hopefully beat them in the next round though. Then we both have to play Leicester too.

 

[MsNuno]

There remaining fixtures are pretty tough most of their games are against the top half

 

[Sandikan]

Yeah Chelsea is the main team to focus on anyway. I just have a bloody feeling they will beat Liverpool easily once they have the title. Thus the harder fixture list might not prove to matter much.
City can hopefully beat them in the next round though. Then we both have to play Leicester too.

What does go in our favour is that the City court date decision is I believe before the end of the season? Combined with the Europa being totally separate to the league.
Meaning we don't have to mess about trying to prioritise either one.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

What does go in our favour is that the City court date decision is I believe before the end of the season? Combined with the Europa being totally separate to the league.
Meaning we don't have to mess about trying to prioritise either one.

I count on the appeal working for them. EL will be fun, but pretty hard. We should be the favorite to win it at the moment given we got 5-0 up against Lask.

 

[dbs235]

They definitely need a better striker. No idea what kind of player they could afford/attract though. Seems like they'd spend £20m on a Championship striker. (I guess they already did that with McBurnie) Ollie Watkins incoming?