View From Chelsea

July 11, 2020 / Roy / 1 Comment

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“Just been humiliated by Sheffield United.”
“They embarrassed us”
“just forget about top 4. Congrats to Sheffield United
“sheffield looked like Bayern”
“They are a great team”
“Can’t argue with the result .. take nothing away from a good sheff Utd side”
“Well Done Sheff Utd”

“What’s scary is that Sheffield could easily have scored 5! Easily.”
“Well deserved sheff Utd win I saw them at Stamford bridge & they looked good we were embarrassed today”
“SU embarrassed us from start to finish”
“Can we buy the Sheff Utd defence?”
“It’s like we had less players, Sheff Utd players seemed to be everywhere “
“Didnt win a single personal battle across the field.
Barely laid a glove on them.”

“Sheff Utd are a very average side on paper but boy, they play as a TEAM. Everyone playing for each other – no stars or prima-dona’s and they and their coach gave us a lesson. They played to their strengths, exploited our weaknesses and were runaway winners and deservedly so. We could do with some of their defenders and their attitude and mentality.”
“This was like watching a precession of league winners facing Sheffield United, going through the motions
If I don’t launch my fist through a wall tonight it will be a miracle.”
“Why do I put myself through this nonsense of football on my vacation. I should be enjoying my time off from work with my family.
Why do I instead sit and watch, for almost 2 hours, this shameful Chelsea. Never experienced such a horrendous defensive performance, shame on you!!!”
“ready to put the keyboard through the PC”.
“Thanks for the Depression. Cheers.”
“Absolutely pathetic performance, worst of the season bar none.”

“They cut us open every time they attacked. Just toying with us.”
“Man shredded like cheese.”
“Rudiger is a slasher flick”
“Chelsea could not stretch a lump of jelly ,never mind sheff utd back line”
“The frustration is of course is that game we have watched 10 times this year. Want to beat Chelsea? Let them have the ball and pass around you. Defend in two banks of four across the edge of your 6 yard box, hit them on the counter and with crosses.”
” 76% possession in this match but lost 3-0 – since 2003-04, when full possession data is available, this is the biggest margin of defeat for a team to hold as much as 76% possession in a Premier League game. Countered.”
“Possession doesn’t mean anything when it’s all spent passing in front of your own net”

” Completely and utterly outplayed, we are a team with many inherent structural flaws that we have been lucky enough to get away with against other average (on paper) opposition. Let us make no mistake – we had this coming.
Up until now we have been lucky enough to have scraped into the CL places in what is possibly the worst top four battle in two decades. Lampard was completely shown up today”
“trashed by a team that has no stars, but play as a unit under a better manager tactically than Frank….we love Frank but he doesnt look ready for such a job.”
“they are a better team than us. I’m gutted to say it but our management team are currently tactically not good enough and I have now watched them be taught a tactical lesson by Chris Wilder, Woy, and David Fking Moves.”
“Sheffield were very well drilled excellent manager wilder”
“Lampard totally out-foxed today. Players absolutely gutless, spiritless, and abysmal.”
“Free tactical Lesson from Chris Wilder to Lampard tody.”
“Wilder has absolutely schooled Lampard”
“I am interesting in hearing Lampards assessment after having his pants well and truly pulled down completely outclassed tactically here.”
“I think Lampard should have given Sheffield United more respect from the start today and looked to have found a way to combat their style and system as opposed to expecting us to try and beat them with our own usual game. If we don’t get top 4 now this season his inexperience at certain times this season will have gone against us no doubt.”
“Frank picked a team like we were playing Brighton at home for Sheffield United away and then changed the formation three times without really addressing the problem”

” if CW can build SU with those players, are you telling me that Lampard has worse options at Chelsea?
Answer is simple: he is not up to the job, same mistakes all seasons is down to the manager.”
“Sheffield face Leicester next. Even though I am so sick of having to rely on other teams, they better perform and be deadly again against the Foxes.”
“Jorginho schooled by Mcgoldrick”
“David McGoldrick has scored his very first Premier League goal; it took him 42 shots and 1615 minutes to do so.”
“David McGoldrick
zero goals in his EPL career
Chelsea:
we can sort that”
“Mcgoldrick looking world class against us, we are so shit that we make shit players look like world beaters.”
“It takes time.. SU have been running this system for 3 years”
” if we play like SU (who have not beaten any top 6 apart from today) i dont think our owner will be very happy.. Plus the players CW has have been playing this system for 2-3 years”
” We want to attack and win. We don’t want to sit back. It is a very demanding style. Today we lose but in a year or two we might be something else. Sheffield is sitting back. We are not.”
” Teams that sit back are the ones we struggle the most against and Sheff are the dons at it.”
“Think the players are just fed up with all these sterile matches and want to go off on their holidays.”

Pre-Match View From Chelsea

July 9, 2020 / Roy / 2 Comments

“As everyone will note, this match has the potential to be difficult. Back in March, I looked at this one as a real tough place to get three points. The lack of home fans in attendance is a help.”
“Sheffield United suddenly becomes a much harder game after they’ve turned over Spurs and Wolves in consecutive games. They have a real good chance of European football next season.”
“They are still fighting for Europe so definitely will be up for it.”
“The blades will know they have to beat us to maintain the hope they have for the CL spots. They have the foxes after us too. So know back to back wins could seem them cut the gap significantly.
Really dangerous game this. If we are not bang at it we will be punished.”
“This is a very tough game. Sheff Utd are ahead of Arsenal and Spurs so we need to treat this like we’re playing one of the best teams. I’m seeing odds floating about at 6/1 for a Sheff Utd win, which I think is pretty crazy given their form and our shaky defence.”

“Perhaps we should treat them like City and press not so far up the pitch so they need to come out a bit and then try and hit them on the break.”
“If there was ever a potential banana skin, this game is it.”
“I forgot Sheffield United were in the PL. They’re even above Arsenal and Tottenham, which is great but shows we shouldn’t take them lightly.”
“I really, really hope Kova can get fit for this. It’s going to be another battling opponent.”
“This game is going to be very tough. They have one of the best defense records in the league currently. And have have done well at home against bigger sides (beat spurs 3-1 drew to United 3-3, beat arsenal 1-0) so I’m pretty worried about this one. They are very good at aerial duels. Which seems to be a problem for us.”
“Blades have shown their quality and fantastic work ethic. They also have a really mean defence and are good on set plays..”.

“You have to respect the Blades – well organised, great work ethic, teamwork, solid tactics, setup works for their squad 3-5-2 and they go right to the end. We have to be on it and match their commitment and work rate and of course manage their set pieces.”
“Just finished watching the Sheff Utd game. We are going to have to ensure we do not let them get any set pieces or corners, they were dominating Wolves tonight in the air. I hate to think what they’ll do to us”
“We are the top 3 of goals conceded from set pieces sooooo”
“They are very good on set plays.Long day ahead for us in our game against them.”
“this is a very scary game, our own set piece defending can really hurt us. But I already feel it will be a great day.”
“I have watched their last two games and they were causing Wolves and Burnley trouble in the air. God knows what they are going to do to us.”

“They are a physical, in your face side. Chris Wilder will have his team extremely well prepared on our weaknesses.
We need our most physical players for this one. It’ll be a battle. Hopefully their exertions against Wolves will take a bit out of them”
“We will need to play much better than we did yesterday. Jorginho will be crucial to bring structure in the game, as their style is to cause anarchy.
I dont think they will knackered. This is like a new season in fitness terms, you get fresher by playing more.
Its somewhat amazing how they are in front of teams with three times more valuable squads. tbf i had not heard of a single one of their starters before. Their average age is 28 thats ancient compared to ours. Based on individual quality alone we should walk this so its important we dont get sucked in their messy game and simply stick to our gameplan, dont give them any space to breathe.”
“I think this game will be a lot easier than the Palace game, we dominated the first half in the fixture at the Bridge and ran out of steam in the 2nd half. Seems like we are far stronger now in comparison to back then whereas Sheffield appear a little more wobbly in comparison to the standards they set at the start of the season.”
“They won’t have faced a Pulisic in full flight, so we could get an early penalty.”
“Interesting to see that they only have 34 goals in 33 games. I’m sure we’ll find a way to help them out with that…”
“whoever has heart problems, refrain from watching this.”
“I’m putting a TV in my bathroom so I can watch this from the safety of my toilet.”

View From Wolves

July 8, 2020 / Roy / 3 Comments

“That’s generous to us ! “
“I think they deserved that”
“They pressed us big time and I lost count the amount of times we passed it sideways, and sideways, then shorter sideways, then hoofed it. Good job Coady had a good game. Shocking football”
“Fair play to Sheffield United, they outplayed us at Molineux and executed the smash and grab perfectly tonight.”
“Fair play Sheff Utd. They beat us at our own game!”
“Dean Henderson will never have an easier game.”

“Sheff United were awarded at the end for trying to win the game with their subs.”
“Sheffield United are a smart team and Wolves handled them well apart from the crucial moment”
“Not much in it but only one side went for the win in those last ten”
“The Blades are a good team, the table doesn’t lie, they’ve got great results all season, they’re big and physical and not lacking in skill either.”
“2 sides that had respect & were wary of each other – a game that needed a bit of inspiration or a mistake which we didn’t really get.”
“We were marginally the better side in the first half. Second half was pretty even before the sub”
“Doc got a bit of a doing from Stevens.”

“If it was that easy to get 6th in the PL using only 12 players the likes of Utd, Spurs and Arsenal would have been doing it for years and saving on the wage bill. Who could we have brought on to rest legs or effect change? Nuno seemingly doesn’t trust Podence or MGW much and Kilman, Burr, Jordao and Campano are really just squad fodder? Even Sheff Utd can cope without Fleck, Lundstrom and McGoldrick, we look stretched even with pretty much a full squad!”
“I am worried about next season already. There is a reason pundits keep harping on about the number of games having an impact – because they do. Despite a Covid break we have come back looking tired and our play has been sloppy. If we do get past Okympiacos we will have a short or very short break and I think it will massively impact on next season’s performances. As said above we need to start using more than 12 players. Arsenal’s subs upped the tempo against us so they ran out comfortable winners and tonight the two forwards SU brought on added impetus to their play.”
“Poor performance against a good team and ****e conditions for both.”
“no-one could run with the ball on that pudding of a pitch in the second half.”
“Wilder did a job on us with head tennis for starters then lobbing balls to nick corners as a main. Was a foul night to play football ,the pitch seemed like a skating rink for Jota and Adama both slipping at vital points in the game but credit to the blades for getting into every wolves player for 90 mins plus. We never had control going forward and this was down to the Sheff Utd players doing everything they could to block , tackle and disrupt our play.”

“They are obviously great at set pieces, why try to give away silly free kicks corners. “
“Sheff Utd looked very average yet we looked worse”
“Sheff Utd simply wanted it more and never stopped competing and in the end, got their spoils. We had more quality, they had more desire.”
“Sheff Utd hardly played well, but there was only one team making an effort tonight.”
“Can’t beat Sheffield United in two games. Crap”
“tbf they looked much better when McBurnie went off.”
“They were **** now one can say otherwise if that’s the top teams in England now wonder we struggle. Like spurs Everton it was ****ing dire football”
“**** off you Burnley mk2 ****s”
“I hate Sheffield United the plucky little club who are punching above their weight but they thoroughly deserved to nick it tonight and thats a travesty”
“They’ll be bottom 7 next season. May Find goals difficult. Will do well to stay up without major strengthening”

Pre-Match View From Wolves

July 6, 2020 / Roy / 1 Comment

“It’s a huge game for our season, that’s for sure.”
“can’t wait for Wednesday when we regroup, get back into shape and compete against a team of hardworking players”
“We are better away than at home . They are better away than at home. This is a game we really must try not to lose. A point is fine but 3 is better.”
“I think the lack of crowd renders any comparison of their home and away form meaningless”
“I fancy us to do it. Spurs gave them the game in midweek.”

“They have improved their form since their first few games back but a good performance from us and I back us to win in what’s an important game.”
“We went 3-4-3 in the game at Molineux. Think we were the better team on the day then, wouldn’t be surprised to see us revert back to that.”
“We were all over this lot at the Mol but really struggled to break them down after their early goal.”
“We are a better team than them and I want us to have a real go.”
“PPG would have seen Sheffield United finish above us. Shows how shambolic it would have been”

“Funnily the way the Blades play means we will have more space for wide players to utilise, I just hope he doesn’t drop Traore buy have a feeling he will. Go 3 up front and hit them early as their CH’s go on their forrays up front”
“it’s obvious our defenders are going to have to be prepared to hit with lots of highballs, it’s the one thing Saiss abd Coady concern me with”
“Simply have to beat Sheffield to keep our top 4 hopes alive and that’s probably one of the toughest games to play right now”
“Tough game for sure. They are a tough side” “This will be a really tough game.”
“Sheff U will be very, very tough Wednesday, we’ve got to be better”

“Not looking forward to it. Will be very tight and arkward”
“A massive game on Wednesday. Sheff Utd showed what they’re capable of against Spurs. Think it’ll be a draw”
“try and convince me that VAR isn’t in place to help out the ‘Big 6’, we’ve had some shocking decisions this season, as have Wolves and Sheff Utd”
“Two unfashionable teams disturbing the old boys club that is the top six”
“I really like Wilder and I have a lot of time for Sheffield United and how they’re playing this season. Clubs like ours need to stick together and continue upsetting those at the top with our fresh, new and exciting way of playing. Change is coming!”

View From Burnley

July 5, 2020 / Roy / 6 Comments

“Feels like a loss”
“I’d have taken a point before the game, but feel we should’ve won that.
Not pretty but effective”
“A typical Burnley side would have got all 3 points today, in the end a well earned point. “
“They press quickly on the counter and overload the middle which is really hard to defend against. Second half was odd as they really didn’t look like scoring.
They were much better than us for the first 20 then after that we coped easily enough with them. Even without key spine players”
“2 missed chances cost us in the end but otherwise a fair result”
“A fair scoreline”

“1-1 about right over the piece, we had some good chances, but so did they”
“So frustrating, sometimes…
Well earned by the Blades, though.”
“It’s a good point but we missed two sitters that should have been buried. It was a poor game compared to the Palace game and we didn’t look quite at it. Maybe too many games too quickly.”
“Despite us creating the chances to win it, we were been poor today. Sheffield United probably deserved all 3”
“I thought we played well in first half and dug in 2nd half. We could have won it with Vyrda and McNeil’s sitters but overall a fair result. Hard earned point against a well organised team very similar to ourselves”
“Thought we did really well to get a point today. Very impressed with Sheff Utd. Lots of big mobile units who are decent footballers too. McGoldrick has done really well to reinvent himself in the role he played today. Always available and able to play the incisive ball to get attacks moving. We defended well but if you get enough balls into the box, which they did, then there is always the chance that you will create an opening. Shame about the missed chances but a win would have flattered us. That is not a criticism as with such a patched up side we did well to compete with a top half team, who were not as depleted as us.”

“before today Sheff Utd had only lost 3 away games, Liverpool, City, and Newcastle when they went down to 10 men, they’re clearly no mugs, hence why they sit 8th in the league”
“For all their posession they didn’t look like scoring many. I can see why some teams find Sheff Utd hard to play against though.
Not a great game imo”
“A strange game really that Sheffield United controlled, but yet we scored the same number of goals as them and missed two glorious chances that really should have been buried.”
“Awful, awful performance
Lucky to get a point
Dyche sat and watched us getting overwhelmed all through the 2nd half.
Dire”
“Result not a great deal of help to either team in their European chase but a fair enough result. Thought the Vydra chance early doors was difficult because Henderson narrowed the angle well but McNeil should have done better after J Rod’s strike.
Has to be said, Egan’s strike was superb.”
“The Egan has landed.”

“Just a mention to the apparent future England number 1 Henderson, thought he was very poor and he patted to 25 yard efforts right back into the danger zone which should have led to goals.
Our longest rest we’ve had and we looked tired and sloppy, I put it down to the re shuffle and the amount of partnerships broken.
Another point on the board, but a game to forget really.”
“no what you want from a potential England Keeper”
“The more sides we have in the PL like Sheff Utd and ourselves, the better it is for English football. Proves money cannot guarantee success. This top 6 that everyone talks about is thankfully starting to be dismantled. I think Wolves have been immense and who knows how good Leeds might prove to be”
“So it is possible for two teams to play a PL game without feigning injury, rolling around and trying to get players sent off?! Total respect for Sheffield United
and Chris Wilder.”

“Gets his side playing decent football while h a lot of people don’t believe is possible on these finances.”
“wilder comes over as a nice, genuine and knowledgeable bloke to me; down to earth and not up his on backside like many are.”
“He is a genuinely nice guy. I know him from his time at Halifax, when my old man was poorly Chris was round at the house regularly”
“TV after match analysis: 2 mins
…can’t wait to move onto their premier darlings!”

Pre-Match View From Burnley

July 3, 2020 / Roy / 6 Comments

“We welcome the Blades to Turf Moor on Sunday hoping to reverse the 3-0 drubbing we received at Bramall Lane last November. A repeat of the 1-0 win we achieved against the Blades in the 2009 Play Off Final would suit for a variety of reasons. Not least of which is Nick Pope’s pursuit of the Golden Glove where he holds a narrow lead over Alisson of Liverpool, Ederson of Manchester City and of course Dean Henderson. Burnley are in great form having picked up 21 points in their last 10 League games. Sheffield United suffered two successive 3-0 defeats against Newcastle and Manchester United on the resumption before returning to winning ways with a 3-1 win over Spurs last time out. The Blades will probably stick to their tried and trusted system of three centre halves combined with overlapping fullbacks. For Burnley Jay Rod, Chris Wood, JBG and Robbie Brady have all returned to training. Of these I expect Rodriguez (if declared fit) to start up front with Vydra. The fixture may come a little too soon for the other 3 to feature. Jack Cork went off injured at Selhurst Park so Pieters may be asked to continue in the left of midfield berth.”
“Now a very big match!”
“I’m feeling optimistic for the next match. Sheffield have had an incredible season so far but it’s time for the Clarets to shine.”
“Hopefully with an extra few days recovery and they have a tiring game tonight we can get something”

“Dont worry about last night’s result
Spurs are already on the beach
We’re better”
“The blades going through a sticky patch, their boat has sailed I think for this season.”
“Blades are on verge of imploding ,if we have Jay and Cork back we’ll beat em but if we have neither it will be a fight to the death to get anything at all”
“Despite all the talk of the Blades losing their way, after that result they’ve gone back into 7th place, incredibly tight just 3 points between 7th and 11th, so anybody in that cluster who can finish the season strongly has a great chance of European footy.
Huge game on Sunday now, we need all 3 points”
“Well it’s Burnley v Burnley on Sunday. They reminded me of us on Thursday. I actually clapped McBurney off watching on my own. Impressive”
“I think Wilder will be pushing them for a strong finish”

“Sheffield Utd are a seriously good, well drilled team. Proof that money doesn’t totally dictate in the PL. You’ve got to admire them and Wilder.
If they are on their best form they will batter us.”
“it’s going to be a bloody tough game Sunday”
“I’ll predict we’ll be better than we were at their place, as we couldn’t be any worse.”
“After the disgraceful performance at their place I’m hoping we’ve done our homework this time and are prepared to make changes on the fly if needed.
We’re on a roll.”
“if Sheff Utd play as narrow as they did against Spurs then hopefully Wood will be fit and we can play McNeil out wide and maybe Jay or Vydra as a 10”
“Both teams now vying for a Europa League spot gives the game a bit of added bite.”

“They are a very hardworking side and won’t have had much of a break before Sunday,Wilder has done really well this season,should be a good game.But vying for a Europa League spot – do we really want to go down that road again? We have had enough trouble trying to put a squad together for League games.Leave that to the top 6.”
“I think that we could win this one. But I don’t really want us to go into a European competition unless we can bring another four or five decent first team players into the squad.”
“Will be good if we can beat em to get them back for last time and to show them they aren’t all everyone makes them out to be!
..but I’m not hopeful. They don’t have selection issues like we do, and we won’t have much home advantage with no crowd!
Would love to be in Europe again, if we can find the bodies. “
“It’s a question of who wants European football next season with a small squad”
“It’s a quick turnaround for the Blades, they only have 2 days to prepare for the game against us. If their not 100% on it on Sunday, then we need to be ready to take advantage.”

“it’s asking a lot for basically the same eleven players to win three on the trot, when the opposition will have five first team subs available to them.
Of course, I’ll be delighted if they do. Certainly, in the mood they seem to be in at the moment, they have a chance, but Sheff Utd are a bit better than Watford or C. Palace.”
“We aren’t likely to score more than 1”
“neither teams exactly prolific, and both have strong defences, so i wouldn’t expect a free flowing goalfest. Yes our squad is stretched, but hopefully the extra few days of preparation works in our favour, plus a couple of bodies back to bolster the bench at least.”
“OK, our lads have had a bit of a rest, but it’s still asking a lot for 11 or 12 players to win a third game on the trot against a team that will probably have five first team subs available.
Maybe our bench will be a little stronger than it has been recently, but it won’t be by much and if Corky is missing, probably not at all.”
“I predict a Michael Brown sending off after 11 minutes”

View From Spurs

July 2, 2020 / Roy / 18 Comments

“Well done tottenham.
You managed to interpret how 2020 has been for the planet as a whole into a 90minute footballing performance. Quite clever really.”
“The game today was like the one at WHL, us having the ball but being outplayed except this time Sheffield got the goals they deserved”
“I cant believe they have battered us”
“Sheffield absolutely dominated us in the second half.”
“Sheffield United have a fresh and motivated squad.”

“we had the more talented team and squad. Sheffield Utd have a clear game plan, everyone knows what to do and they scrap for everything.”
“32% possession and 3-0 up. Quite simply they wanted it more.”
“To be fair Sheffield United have almost everyone back in their box defending but then again they had four or five men in out box for their second goal.
Conclusion? They work harder and are better than us, sorry but it’s as simple as that. “
“If Jose blames this on the VAR decision he’s lost me. We got dominated in the second half.”
“Bergeroasted us today.
Our scouting completely overlooked him.
Was even in our price range.
Total failure by our scouting and player acquisition department.”
“Sheffield has WAY LESS money and we lost by three to them. today was not a financial failure.”
“I don’t know if there is a stat for time in possession near the opponent’s box without testing their keeper, but I bet we are top if there is.”

“Pretty nice passes side to side does nothing vs an organised team, you need to fight for the ball and some damn movement.”
“We had some stupid% possession and a handful of shots on goal: every team struggle against masses defence: SFU are rising high in the league take a lot of points playing like this. The fault is not ENIC, but our defenders switching off (Sanchez, Aurier, Davies especially). GLC needed to impose himself a little more.That’s why we lost. They’re international defenders: they should be able to stay goal side.”
“Once that goal was ruled out Sheffield were going to do what they do – sit in and make it exceptionally hard to score.”
“Can’t defend, can’t attack. Not an ideal situation.”
“Wilder’s plans outclassed Mourinho’s”
“Chris Wilder is better at being Jose Mourinho than Jose Mourinho is at being Jose Mourinho.”
“we went top heavy and with too many runners it meant that we were relying on space in behind, which didn’t exist cause Sheff Utd were deep. Wilder then got his team to sit even deeper knowing that we didn’t have the guile to hurt them.”
“He obviously felt Sheffield struggle when players run at them, and I’m sure that’s true and it sort of worked in the first half, but something was missing. Second half they got super organised, and that’s always difficult but we move the ball too slowly.”

“Got turned over by McBunny and Mousset.
Banter club is an understatement.”
“Worth remembering Sheff Utd missing half their team and had 3 days less rest than us. Abysmal.”
“The team we put out there today had more talent than Sheffield Utd could ever dream of. This is purely a coaching and tactical failure and nothing to do with quality of player. “
“Had over a week to prepare for this match and we get embarrassed by a Championship side.”
“Sheffield was missing first choice defenders. We essentially got beat by a championship team today.”
“Sheffield Utd team is hardly full of world beaters”
“Was a classic smash and grab. Been a problem all season!”
“Newcastle beat this load of brick 4 nil ffs”

“Every one has beaten this Sheff Utd team since the restart… yet we submit like a cheap whore on a good tip”.
“On a lighter note, Sheffield will do 3 years in the premier and toodle back to the lower league’s”
“Losing 3-1 to Sheffield United is a low point. Perhaps people need to realise that young hungry players can outplay so called stars or dross like lamela.”
“The Brighton game was much worse. We deservedly lost by 3 to a worse team than Sheffield United.
Tonight, we were better for long periods but defended in an utterly gutless and brainless way. sexy”
“what a disgrace that was..
I am honestly embarrassed right now, absolutely pathetic just like the rest of this season so far.
Mourinho is a joke too and doing as bad a job as poch, maybe worse…”
“This team is not inferior to Burnley, Norwich and Sheffield United. If it isn’t 4th, it should be 5th or 6th minimum even in a bad year.”
“Mourinho and Levy are useless as varicose veins to a wooden leg!”
“Not felt like this since I saw the exit poll last December.”
“It’s not all doom and gloom we are only 8 or 9 quality signings off challenging for the league next season!”
“Typical fudging Tottenham. Seen it a million times over the years. Show up to a tough away ground in our nice pale blue kit. Look nice and tidy on the ball and get turned over because we have fudge all backbone.
Utterly fudging shameful to lose like this because in a million years, they aren’t 3 goals better than us and on the night they haven’t been 3 goals better than us”.

“no excuses (other than crap VAR decision). Mourinho is washed up.”
“The referee is a wanker. Looks like he pisses sitting down.”
“If the Kane goal isn’t wrongly disallowed and Norwood is sent off like he should have been, then we probably go on to win.”
“We have better individuals than a lot of the teams around us but we are non-existent as a unit.
The VAR decision was farcical but we didn’t deserve to win the game.”
“Dominated the first half but looked listless after that terrible VAR decision.”
“As much as we were poor, if that goal counts it’s a completely different game. We would have had the momentum. Instead it swung Sheff Utd’s way.”
“We have created precious little tonight and the players shouldn’t let their heads drop Like they have but I can’t really blame them: it should’ve been 1-1 and 10 vs 11 but it was neither. At elite level tiny fractions make big differences. VAR won the game tonight.”
“It was a referee game . The momentum gone the players played knowing they where get rubbed so they played distracted”

Pre-Match View From Spurs

June 30, 2020 / Roy / 3 Comments

“Huuuuuge game for champions league qualifications”
“I think it will be tight, relatively boring, and not a load of chances.
That said, I think we will win 1-0.
Classic Mourinho”
“I watched Newcastle play Sheffield utd.
Sheff utd struggled with the pace of Saint-Maximain and Almiron. Sheff don’t have any speed in their line up.
Newcastle played deep and hit them on the counter. I would be interested to see if JM does the same.”
“We need to play with speed against them. They don’t have any quick players”
“These guys are in free-fall.
Even at their best this they concentrated on being solid defensively. I think if we can go ahead we can win the game.
only this is vs West Ham we were so slow and pedestrian, that’ll play right into Sheff U’s hands. we need to be quick”

“Sheffield United have shown a real lack of offensive ability all season long but especially in their games since returning. If we allow them to sit back and congest things that is what they want, score early and they are likely done as they can’t defend well enough if forced to open it up and can’t create chances just by playing a basic game.. Score early, break what they want to do and then for once, cruise to a comfortable win.”
“They could very well be completely knackered by the time they play us”.
“They look turgid. This should be another win and a clean sheet to boot.”
“They’ve looked like utter shit in their games after the break. We should be expecting 3 points.”
“They have become rubbish, the injuries and scheduling have exposed all their limitations.
They are a championship team at this moment and we should expect to take 3 points if we play properly. I don’t see how they are going to score a goal unless we make a mistake.”

“They don’t look anywhere near the team they were before the break, which was pretty pleasing on the eye and solid defensively. Couldn’t beat struggling Aston Villa and were hammered by Newcastle. I think Henderson is a huge miss for them, arguably been the best goalkeeper in the league this season. O’Connell at centre half has also been a miss.”
“O’Connell is a more important player for them. We were after him as a LCB. he’s a good player. I think he’s got a bad injury.”
“They’ve lost 2 CB’s.
That’s the heart and soul of the way they play their system.”
“Typically they’re going to have their best defenders back to play us which will make them a different team. O’Connell has been their best defender and he’ll be back. We’ve been linked with him this season. An unglamorous option for us perhaps?”
“Three month lay off bad news for a side like Sheffield United who had played so well and above themselves for the first 7 months of the season. They’ve lost all the momentum they had”
“Need to smash them, get it dusted early and avoid knocks. Things shaping up how I thought really, the “streaky” sides – Leicester, Wolves, and Sheffield have lost momentum and look like shit…condensed schedule will bite their thin squads as well I imagine.”
“In their last game, they looked like they were back to pre 19 form in the 2nd half. Dangerous team with a solid backline. Hope we do win but but with our away record, they probably think they’re up for this”
“It’s a shame they’ve a while to sort themselves out before they play us.”

“Sheffield Utd should have won when they played us at WHL, they are organised if not spectacular, and are well capable of beating us in our current set up”
only this is vs West Ham we were so slow and pedestrian, that’ll play right into Sheff U’s hands. we need to be quick
“I’m a little concerned that we have a 10 day wait for our next game, as we don’t usually play that well after a long break. It’s a delicate balancing act between playing too much and big gaps between games.”
“This seems like one of those occasions we help a team in shit form restart their season”
“4 games for Sheffield United. 1 goal scored, 8 conceded, 0 wins and 1 point?
Step forward Tottenham Hotspur.”

View From Arsenal

June 28, 2020 / Roy / 3 Comments

“We won back to back away games in tough grounds. I welcome playing without fans “
“Good win, away from home. Onto Semis in the Fanless Annoying Cup. A grind”
“We’ve been the better team we deserve this victory. SHU have only troubled us on set pieces”.
“Future goat manager gets a win over Chris wilder who some laughably wanted here. We made sheff utd look awful and into the semis.”
“Imagine wanting that plumber Wilder as manager ffs”
“Of course Arsenal can’t handle a straight talking Brexit manager.
Snowflakes.”

“Sheffield United didn’t out play us, they just scum bagged set pieces all game which we struggled with”
“So after this all bollocks about Sheffield United being a breath of fresh air and Wilder being some sort of hobo Guardiola are we all now willing to accept they’re actually Stoke with overlapping centre backs?”
“For all the praise Sheffield were getting this season, they’re just another Stoke City type championship-level team of ‘hard’ men aren’t they?”
“Watching Sheffield today like watching stoke”
“Sheffield Utd only looked dangerous from set pieces. We were largely in control.”
“Sheff Utd have had a mare, not sure Arteta will get so lucky in the next round!”
“Terrible goalkeeping but will take it with grateful hands.”
“Am I the only one that thinks we defended really well? Their two goals were clearly offside. We adapted a strategy of no men on the posts and a high line. On their two goals it worked and bar a Kolasanic hashed clearance we would have had a clean sheet.
The only time we looked suspect was at throw ins where ultimately we had to win the first ball which isnt always posible”

“We created a few chances and should have had more goals when we were on top.”
“We were terrible”
“Absolute crap from us”
“They’ve had more shots overall, more shots on target. Our midfield was over-run some of the first half and most of the second.”
“Totally outplayed”
“Very happy that we’re going to Wembley but the performance is staggering. We used to complain about getting dominated at the Bridge or Anfield. Now it doesn’t matter anymore. Leeds at home, we get whipped. Sheffield away, can’t string 5 passes together.”
“Fluke it FC, Arteta’s men. You love to see it.”
“the team couldn’t even string 5 passes together. We need to have the actual ball to even create a second. All we did that second half is keep giving the ball away, hoof it up only for SU to bring it straight back.”

Pre-Match View From Arsenal

June 26, 2020 / Roy / Leave a comment

“A very tricky game. After an excellent start to the season Sheffield United’s form has tailed off after the Covid-19 break. Won’t be surprised to see them turn it around against us though.”
“Sheffield look absolutely awful since the restart no goal scored 6 goals conceded.”
“I had a feeling this would happen. When a team has an unexpectedly good first season, there is always a big drop off the following season. With the covid break, this practically feels like the next season.
Still if there is one team you want to face when you’re struggling it is us. Maybe charity fc will be back after Southampton borrowed from us in the last game.”
“Do Southampton have Egan back for this? Their defence is built around its continuity, without we should be splitting them apart.”

“They’ve been shite since the “restart” so you never know”
“Sheff Utd out of form, so that guarantees they’ll knock us out of the FA Cup at the weekend”
“Sheffield United lose back to back games?? u know what that means they gonna beat us on Sunday in the fa cup quarter final”
“Sheffield utd getting tanked 2 games in a row. They must be saving themselves for the weekend”
“If we do somehow find a performance (and that’s a HUGE if), then it’s likely to be Citeh, Manure or the Chavs in the semi. That could be painful!”
“To be fair, anybody left now is a probable loss. If we beat this lot I think we will lose in the semis to presumably one of Leicester / Chelsea, City or United.”

“Remember not getting a shot on target against Phil Jagielka when he was forced to go into goal about ten or more years ago. Think they will be well up for this and not sure Arsenal will.”
“We will change all our starting 11 we got game against Norwich 3 days after Sheffield.”
“Oh for fk’s sake. Not another fg match. Hasn’t this fgseason finished yet? Probably lose. It’s a shithole ground where we’ve never really got anything apart from a win in the rain and mud in 1990-91. In fact, we’ve had some f***g shit performance up there over the last few visits.”
“The match that determins whether I’ll be watching any more footie for a while
The chance to win something and qualify for Europe………….low prize money though which is precisely why we’ll rock up with half the side missing……albeit its very hard to work out what our ‘first team’ is anymore.
Lose this and just sling yer hook and fuck off. Win and go all the way and you’ve given yourself a shot at redemption – simple as”
“Beat an out of form Sheffield United and you might just convince me our season is salvageable.”
” if we beat Sheffield Utd the dream is alive again! If we lose it’s over”