Sheff Utd Post-Match Thread

[Spencer]

Yes he gave us the v's right infront of my face. ****.

I'm guessing it was more the fact he'd scored two goals, which is why he held up two fingers?..

[Thracian]

Few thoughts on tonight.

I agree with everyone that we looked bright early and had we carried on in that vain we would have run out comfortable winners.

Sheffield United look poor and will be a bottom half team unless new management/investment is introduced, it was 2 points dropped.

Some credit to Speed for doing his homework and setting his side up fairly effectively to spoil our system.

Vassell will never be a success stuck out on the wide right of a three. Lloyd Dyer has been our best player this season and when he came on he showed the attacking flair we had been missing. Vassell should not play in front of Dyer in my opinion, and if you are going to play Vassell it must be in a central attacking role.

Waghorn was ineffective tonight and there maybe an argument for swapping him for Vassell at the weekend whilst selecting Dyer wide.

Jack Hobbs is a liability and most probably needs a spell out on loan to regain some confidence. Morrison is no better in the middle so with a loan pairing of Vitor and Davies as first choice something must be done in January to ensure we dont revert back to players who will cost us soppy goals.

King was far too eager to go rushing off and join Waghorn in attack before the development of the attack had been formulated. He must not forget he is the attacking creative driving force in the middle, his job primarily is to create not just to finish things off.

I still dont get Yuki Abe, and why people were giving his abject performance a standing ovation was beyond me. The first time he stuck in a decent couple of tackles he looked fooked. I'm not saying he will never be of any use but right now humoring him for me is a waste.

Wellens was superb once again, and as I equally dont get Abe I also equally dont get how people fail to see that this fella is the engine of our team. Thank fook he does his job so well, if I was him last night I would have been less than impressed with King's constant wanderings leaving him often isolated and exposed to doing two players job alone.

Cunningham is nothing special and I would much prefer to see Berner at left back. I'm not really sure what Bruno did wrong? Much more accomplished player in my opinion.

All in all we looked a little too much like a Sousa team last night apart from the first 20 or so minutes. Sven will need to ensure they play much better for the entire game on Saturday or it could be a little embarrassing.

There's a lot in what you say although it seems clear to me that King was asked to continue his support attacker role last night and that only changed when Abe got injured and King was left in what seemed to me like a kind of No Man's Land, unsure of where exactly he could best be of use. Once Howard and Dyer came on King and the side in general seemed more organised and more effective.

[The Doctor]

two points dropped no doubt.

Sheffield were shit, other than their two goals they offered the root of fook all up front. Still need to stop fannying about with it and trying to pass it into the net - the over-egging of the pudding and near refusal to shoot cost us in our relegation season, cost us under sousa and unless were sort it out, will cost us under sven.

[Ric Flair]

two points dropped no doubt.

Sheffield were shit, other than their two goals they offered the root of fook all up front. Still need to stop fannying about with it and trying to pass it into the net - the over-egging of the pudding and near refusal to shoot cost us in our relegation season, cost us under sousa and unless were sort it out, will cost us under sven.

Haha, are you mucking about? Check out how many chances we are wasting? It's not the refusal to shoot, it's the sheer lack of composure and quality in front of goal. This passing from the back has come from Sousa and to be honest, it works if it's done properly but if it's not then you give the ball away in much more dangerous positions than you do if you hoof it, but heaven forbid if we start going route one again with Waghorn and Vassell up front. Sven's comments about us fannying about in defence has some truth but he needs to get our side to have better movement in midfield and attack to get the ball to them, on the deck and to open up the opposition.

[marbelladave]

Jesus, what a nonsense, where to start?…

For twenty odd minutes we were different class, a fluent 4-3-3 pressured United in forward positions, we had tons of possession, scored a decent free kick but failed to make any real clearcut chances. Gallagher, King and Waghorn all had a go from half chances but despite the pressure we really did not look like scoring a second.

We were so on top and getting so many men forward the goal was virtually a sucker punch, Naughton was well forward, as was Davis, Reid got down the left, outpaced his marker (Davis, Naughton?) drew Hobbs and crossed to Yeates to score easily. Hobbs will probably get the blame but he was left hopelessly exposed.

City reacted poorly to this setback, looked obviously disappointed and a bit dejected, seemed to have no idea how to respond. A poor tackle by Davis (I think)) gave away a free kick 25 yards out and Yeates scored with an excellent shot that left Weale for dead. In the remaining time up till half time we looked like we did not have a clue what we were doing, got forward a bit in time added but our attacks at this point were feeble.

An unchanged City side tried to start the second half in the same manner as they did the first but the pace and the snap so evident in the first 20 minutes was missing, United conceded midfield possession but we had little idea what to do with it. We were taking too many touches, dwelling on the ball then giving it away, typical City when we run out of ideas and energy.

Sven made a double switch after barely 10 minutes, Howard for Waghorn and Dyer for Vassell. The results were rather predictable, Dyer running at a packed defence to little real effect, Howard getting his head to the ball but unable to find an attacking colleague. City still had plenty of ball but did not really look capable of the equaliser and as the half wore on our midfield started giving the ball away, Wellens and Abe being the main culprits. With Naughton and Cunningham both getting well forward we were exposed on the counter a number of time with Hobbs looking particularly uncomfortable.

However we did keep going and continued to press, Fryatt replaced a largely inefective Abe with 15 minutes to go but that changed little bar leave us short in midfield, but by this stage United were not interested in exploiting this opportunity. Our balls forward became more and more frantic and in the main easier for United to defend, Dyer and King tried to attack the box but were crowded out, Gallagher tried both shots and threaded passes from the edge of the box but to no avail, our most consistent threat in the last 10 minutes or so came from our full backs.

The goal came from what looked like a soft penalty against Yeates ( I think, though he was not the man booked) and Howard scored with a firmly hit shot, the relief around the Walkers was palpable and although we briefly looked to be trying for a winner the final couple of minutes passed without real incident.

All in all a typical city performance, great start to get in front, then foot off letting the opposition back into a game they had already lost. Against Barnsley we kept them out but this time we let them score twice, the injury time equaliser was just plain lucky. We may have deserved a point on the balance of play but we were damn fortunate to get it.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

We scored, and just stopped playing. They score with their first attack then look much more hungry for the win.

Everyone around me knew Yeates' free kick was off in, he always scores against us, and Weale's positioning was questionable.

The changes Sven made were needed buy why bring Howard on only to carry on passing it along the defence getting no where? Dyer had a 5 minute spell but we soon stopped giving him the ball.

And I cant remember Fryatt barely touching the ball.

All the starting midfield had poor games especially Abe and Gallagher who after the goal never really got back into the game. King had a poor game by his standards too.

Pleased we got a point as it was deserved, just that we could have got all three if we hadnt stopped playing till we went behind.

Would like to see 4-4-2 vs Derby.

[Guy]

This is definitely the sort of game we'd have lost had Sousa still been here......well done Sven for throwing caution to the wind late on.

A point better than a kick in the knackers I suppose and hopefully any complacency will be nipped in the bud in time for Saturday against the Sheepshaggers.

[morris1234]

i havent atually been to any games this season so feel free to have a go.....but i wonder if anybody agrees with me when i say that at times,this team is too nice!? im not expecting us to kick seven shades out of the opposition, nor do i think we have the players that would so or even that it would be THE answer! but i do think we lack arrogance!!

[Thracian]

This is definitely the sort of game we'd have lost had Sousa still been here......well done Sven for throwing caution to the wind late on.

A point better than a kick in the knackers I suppose and hopefully any complacency will be nipped in the bud in time for Saturday against the Sheepshaggers.

So Sven becomes a hero for his late commitment to attack rather than a villain for not seeing that we maintained momentum in the first place? Perhaps if we'd made the changes earlier we'd have actually won. As it was we were lucky to draw and while a point is better than nothing it's a lot worse than three points which really was the aim of the exercise.

[suffolk fox]

That was a rank bad performance all round but before Sven criticises his team he should start with himself cos I saw no evidence of leadership whatsoever.

For me we suffered from over expectation at home on the back of an excellent but exhausting win and the praise that went with it.

In all the build up the talk was about what we were going to do and how we'd turned the corner. Some even talked about us going the rest of the season without defeat.

Well, tonight showed us the real world. We were lucky to get a point. And part of the reason was the team looked lost when they took the lead. They didn't know whether the stick or twist and ended up doing neither.

Part of the psychology of team preparation is ensuring the team knows how to react tactically in various situations including if we take the lead.

We just looked as if we'd no idea. We didn't sit back as has previously been our habit but we didn't maintain our tempo and get forward with any conviction either. As I've said, the whole club lives in fear. Owners for their money, managers for their job and players for their place. And everyone is scared of dropping more points. It has to stop.

It looked like a schoolkids' game out there tonight. With so many players hiding I presumed they'd chosen "hide and seek". Gary Speed did nothing of genius. He simply closed us down quickly and made sure key players like King never had time or space. It's a fundamental ploy and we didn't show the wit to combat it.

Our passing was attrocious from back to front and that includes the normally reliable passers like King. We underhit them, overhit them, misdirected them and sent far too many of the accurate passes square for no constructive reason whatsoever.

Mind you some of those passes were more out

of desperation than desire because, after the first 20 minutes, hardly anyone was moving even for themselves let alone making the selfless runs necessary to create space in an organised defence.

Once again we started taking extra touches as well, meaning the recipient was even more tightly closed down than he otherwise would have been.

Individually Abe looked a lightweight in central midfield, apart from a couple of determined intercepting tackles. He was caught in possession, his passing was poor and he failed to recover from injury, escaping to the periphery when he should have gone off. It must have been a elief to him to be substituted. In his defence, I think he was probably still recovering from his efforts against Barnsley.

King made a few early runs which weren't seen or picked out with the ball - and then he largely disappeared and didn't have much impact even when he took on a more defensive role one Abe went off. So, our marvellous midfield of Saturday looked like spent fireworks after November 5. I was suprised Vassell even got selected after what Saturday would have taken out of him but, whatever, he had precious little impact and Waghorn was no better.

But the key weakness for me, apart from Abe was Hobbs. My life he was poor to the point of looking desperate at times. He just looked as if all his confidence had gone.

I don't know how m any shots we managed for the evening but it was shameful although we did regain a little life with Dyer's introduction. But there's so much to do before Saturday. Starting with a new attitude to home matches.

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! Sven brings on three subs in the second half !! One of them changes the game by scoring a penalty so we get a draw!! How can that not be the manager seeing it is not going right and trys to change things? Sometimes I wonder.

Hobbs had a shocker shouldn,t have been on the pitch. If Vitor is not fit on Saturday I hope Morrison getgs a chance couldn'tdo much worse.

[kylestyle06]

I'm guessing it was more the fact he'd scored two goals, which is why he held up two fingers?..

No, he quite clearly stook his fingers up at us.. and then cuffed his ear.

Tosser

[maccfox]

Fryatt was on for 16 minutes?

It sounded as if he touched it twice.

Did he pull any defenders ?

I think what he does after the match should be his own business

[ajthefox]

Anyone who is criticising Weale for either of those goals is being very harsh imo.

If it was Waghorn or Fryatt where Yeates was for the first and they din't score, people would be fooking outraged at how shit they were not to put it away, any keeper that stops that goal has made a game changing save.

As for the second, well it was a quality strike, Gallagher's would have been easier to save because it comes across the face of goal.

Don't really see how the first is anything of Hobb's fault either, in his position 9/10 times the ball is going to Yeates regardless of his position then it's a simple 1-1 any pro mid/striker should be putting away.

[Karljohn]

What an odd game last night, probably the worst game in Hobbs' Leicester career and hardly any chances carved out in open play from us.

Thought the atmosphere was worse than usual, I am sat in SK2 and having joined in with the Iwan is a Welshman song I got some funny looks including one guy who looked at me like Id pi$$ed on his kids xmas presents.

As it's 3 months before we're asked to start paying for ST's again for 2011/12 I think I might hold fire and stick my money towards away-days, better atmosphere.

[Lillehamring]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDnUKWfZzGU

cheers davieG

2 great free kicks that equalled wach other out - some shocking defending from us, tho i can't see how it is possible to blame hobbs, 3 other defenders and the midfield abandoned him.

[Webbo]

cheers davieG

2 great free kicks that equalled wach other out - some shocking defending from us, tho i can't see how it is possible to blame hobbs, 3 other defenders and the midfield abandoned him.

It wasn't just the goal, his distribution was terrible, kicking the ball out of play when under no pressure. He looked like he was bricking it to me.

[jamesmilner]

vassell was rubbish ! ran round as tho his contract was hanging out his back pocket !!! needs to do a lot more , gave away too many passes !

[Jacnah]

Hobbs sounded awful. Really can't understand what's happened to him.

actually Hobbs was pretty good...honest

[Lillehamring]

It wasn't just the goal, his distribution was terrible, kicking the ball out of play when under no pressure. He looked like he was bricking it to me.

yeah. i was just talking about the goal...

[tartanowl]

Great to see your last minute heroics and the Blunts throw it away again. Genuine relegation candidates IMO. They're not scoring many, are totally skint (they have more debt than us), and they can't seem to win.

[Thracian]

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! Sven brings on three subs in the second half !! One of them changes the game by scoring a penalty so we get a draw!! How can that not be the manager seeing it is not going right and trys to change things? Sometimes I wonder.

Hobbs had a shocker shouldn,t have been on the pitch. If Vitor is not fit on Saturday I hope Morrison getgs a chance couldn'tdo much worse.

If your aim is to get a home draw, yes, he managed that.

If your aim is to win a home game against ordinary opposition the manager would have made sure his players knew how they should react to going a goal ahead - and I don't see how slipping into a kind of unadventurous cruise control was acceptable.

I had no argument about the substitutions, except that they should have been made much earlier were we to have any chance of winning. In fact, five minutes into the second half when it was clear that whatever Sven said during the interval - presumably about dramatically improving our performance - didn't work at all.

Waghorn was totally ineffective by then, Vassell a damp squib, there was no pace and no movement and we were being mauled in midfield. Why Sven needed to wait so long before finally making changes and begging a lucky equaliser - but having no chance of anything more - I don't know. We need to do all we can to win games if we're going to challenge for promotion. And that means sooner or later we will have to show some conviction and proper commitment to scoring goals.

You're right about Hobbs but I don't see Morrison as the answer, unfortunately.

[Thracian]

vassell was rubbish ! ran round as tho his contract was hanging out his back pocket !!! needs to do a lot more , gave away too many passes !

I'd imagine he was still recovering from Saturday's effort given how long he's been out of serious action. I was surprised he started but shouldn't have been given how often we played Abe before he was ready.

[okie fox]

If your aim is to get a home draw, yes, he managed that.

If your aim is to win a home game against ordinary opposition the manager would have made sure his players knew how they should react to going a goal ahead - and I don't see how slipping into a kind of unadventurous cruise control was acceptable.

I had no argument about the substitutions, except that they should have been made much earlier were we to have any chance of winning. In fact, five minutes into the second half when it was clear that whatever Sven said during the interval - presumably about dramatically improving our performance - didn't work at all.

Waghorn was totally ineffective by then, Vassell a damp squib, there was no pace and no movement and we were being mauled in midfield. Why Sven needed to wait so long before finally making changes and begging a lucky equaliser - but having no chance of anything more - I don't know. We need to do all we can to win games if we're going to challenge for promotion. And that means sooner or later we will have to show some conviction and proper commitment to scoring goals.

You're right about Hobbs but I don't see Morrison as the answer, unfortunately.

I don't blame the manager, I blame the players. The right half of the defence went missing for their first goal. Then the team couldn't deal with Sheffield U's pressing and started misplacing many passes. The first two subs came on after 55 min, which is reasonable (give 10 minutes to see if team responded to pep talk). City wasted time by passing the ball around the back four when one down and time was running out. Speed must have loved that, SGE did not based on his comments after game. When we finally did start pumping the ball in the box, we got lucky. At the moment our strikers are all damp squibs.