friendly

[eddy779h34]

what a weedy bunch we really are

no midfield
Forsyth dire
Bogel no confidence

The only one who has anything about him is Marriott

hope 2nd half is better

[eddy779h34]

ermm
Men against boys spring to mind

[ramAnag]

The only one who has anything about him is Marriott

Well at least that’s good to hear...not something often said last season.

[mistaram]

what a weedy bunch we really are

no midfield
Forsyth dire
Bogel no confidence

The only one who has anything about him is Marriott

hope 2nd half is better

Got to agree Eddy can't believe I've just paid £5 to watch that I know only a friendly but I can't see what we are trying to do Why have all these kids who are not going to play getting more playing time than first team players Putting Te Weirk to RWB what the hell was that all about . Why are we suddenly on the eve of the season starting and were trying a back three . We look so weak in midfield . Rooney injured , Nobody will say what is wrong with Waghorn . Bogle what on earth has happened to him ! Long hard season ahead I suspect

[eddy779h34]

Got to agree Eddy can't believe I've just paid £5 to watch that I know only a friendly but I can't see what we are trying to do Why have all these kids who are not going to play getting more playing time than first team players Putting Te Weirk to RWB what the hell was that all about . Why are we suddenly on the eve of the season starting and were trying a back three . We look so weak in midfield . Rooney injured , Nobody will say what is wrong with Waghorn . Bogle what on earth has happened to him ! Long hard season ahead I suspect

I'm starting to seriously worry about the coaching

We are playing a pre season friendly and nobody has a forward thought in that team
Sheff Utd pushed the ball sideways and forward at every chance
We are just sideways and back ,we have the ball a yard ahead of the opposition player and everytime we turn back on ourselves then go back again
If anyone thinks Forsyth and Lowe make a difference I must watch a different game

Like you say I know they are kids but surely we should be playing near to a starting eleven by now

By the end of the game Te Weirk had caught the backwards bug , absolutely no one to hit though

[ramAnag]

C’mon guys. Friendlies, especially in our EFL inflicted position, are all about fitness and fact finding.
At least half a team of first choices weren’t involved and there’ll probably be a couple of new arrivals before Reading if not in time for Barrow.
Bit early, even by our standards, to start despairing.

[mistaram]

I'm starting to seriously worry about the coaching

We are playing a pre season friendly and nobody has a forward thought in that team
Sheff Utd pushed the ball sideways and forward at every chance
We are just sideways and back ,we have the ball a yard ahead of the opposition player and everytime we turn back on ourselves then go back again
If anyone thinks Forsyth and Lowe make a difference I must watch a different game

Like you say I know they are kids but surely we should be playing near to a starting eleven by now

By the end of the game Te Weirk had caught the backwards bug , absolutely no one to hit though

l

Yes the coaching ,they obviously want a possession based game . That's ok but you have to have a whole team who are comfortable in the ball . We obviously have not got that . If you play the ball between yourselves enough times in your own half eventually you make a mistake . It happened so many times last season and cost us goals and points ie at Cardiff . Liam Rosinier says he watched a thousand players during lockdown maybe he should have been watching some top coaches instead

[MadAmster]

Here's a WhatsApp message I sent to a friend who WhatsApped a sad face emoticon at full time who was very disappointed after the game.....

Fozzy too many bad passes. Evans OK. First look at Te Wierik, decent 1st half but poor header for their first however why was Osborn given all that time and space to shoot? Bogle defensively OK but too negative in possession. Buchanan good. Holmes short of minutes. Shinnie off it. Bird off it. Sibley off it. Marriott busy but isolated. 2nd half Te Wierik better. Solomon good defensively but always going backwards with his passes. Overall too slow. Not enough movement off the ball. Ball circulation too slow. Some senior players still to come back. Be interesting to see what XI we see against Barrow......

I'll expand.....

I don't know how many players the Blades had on international duty but those they had on display showed us what it is that they do that we don't.

They press and harry. We made that easy for them with our slow movement of the ball which gave them all the time they need to get into position. When we made a pass the recipient was immediately put under pressure and that led to mistakes. It made it easy for them to anticipate and intercept passes. Lack of movement off the ball made defending even easier for them.

We don't press and harry. They get all the time they need to choose what they want to do with the ball. Those without the ball move into space giving the man in possession more than 1 choice of action. We make it easy for them.

When players make forward runs, we tend to ignore them and choose the safer back pass.

They see those runs and play long passes to the player whereas we ned 4 passes to get the ball there by which time the player is tightly marked.......

Basically, our woes are exactly as they were last season. Too slow tempo of ball circulation. Lack of movement off the ball giving players little choice than the negative back pass. Failure to cut out crosses and failure to deal with them.

If we are to go with a back 3, we probably have 6 candidates for a start, Wis, te W, Clarke as my 1st choices with Evans and Fozzy close and Davies as cover.

RWB - a choice of 3 young uns. Bogle, Bateman and the 17 year old Solomon. The latter should (if he isn't already) be training with the 1st team squad.

LWB - Fozzy, Buchanan, Lowe vying for the shirt. My choice would be Buchanan. Lowe was, surprisingly, better defensively last night than he was going forward. Fozzy will probably have to settle for a spot on the bench but possibly ahead of Lowe who I can see having another loan period.

DM roles - choice between Rooney (who I expect to see less of on the park this season), Bird, Evans, Bielik, Shinnie

CM - Sibley, Lawrence. I'd much prefer Sibley to the 1 game in 10 Lawro. Having said that, the #10 role would, IMO, suit Lawro much more than the left wing spot.

Strikers - Jack and Waggy with young replacements on the bench

I am struggling to find a spot in a 1-3-5-2 formation for Holmes and Knight. Knighty could play the wing back role but with "specialists" available he'd have to wait in line. On the ground so could Holmes but I find him too small for the aerial part of the defensive responsibilities

Much was made last season of the "quarter back role" of Hudds/Rooney. With Hudds gone and Roo possibly used sparingly, who is going to make those long raking passes which were so effective for SUFC last night?

Conclusion? There is still a hell of a lot of work in progress. Based on 3 iffy highlights and the Blades game live we are probably looking at places 10 to 16 at the moment. Things should improve once the injured are back..... whenever that might be.

[Geoff Parkstone]

I can see Bielik spelling Rooney in such a lineup MA, hopefully taking over on a more full time basis as he recovers fitness as the season progresses. Rooney as an impact sub?

[AdiSalisbury]

Rooney as an impact sub?

The fat bloke always goes in goal, sub keeper I reckon.