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[eddy779h34]

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.

Fair assessment
If you was an ambitious player and saw that shambles last night, would you want any part of that
I think we are 6 players short , O how we lack any pace up front and strength in midfield
Sheff Utd learnt absolutely nothing off that game. I felt a bit sorry for their manager

[Ram59]

We lack creativity going forward in midfield, could Rooney be pushed forward and using his vision create chances for the forward players but also be far enough forward to have a pop himself?

His scoring opportunities now, tend to be solely from free kicks from about 25 yards, what would happen if he had more possession of the ball at around 25 yards?

[MadAmster]

We lack creativity going forward in midfield, could Rooney be pushed forward and using his vision create chances for the forward players but also be far enough forward to have a pop himself?

His scoring opportunities now, tend to be solely from free kicks from about 25 yards, what would happen if he had more possession of the ball at around 25 yards?

Is it a lack of creativity from the midfielder in possession or a total lack of movement into space by the forward players who are failing to give the man in possession a good outlet?

[Geoff Parkstone]

Is it a lack of creativity from the midfielder in possession or a total lack of movement into space by the forward players who are failing to give the man in possession a good outlet?

Both

[MadAmster]

BTW - I was actually not unhappy when they got their 2nd last night. It prevented Ben Bloody Osborn being the only scorer in a 2nd 0-1 defeat...........