“Great player. Not sure he fits with Wilder’s style though”
“He was the best long-range passer of the ball at OUFC for some time, and in the top half dozen of that type in Div 3 last season. He shared some of the normal demerits of such a player: no pace, weak under pressure but he well out-stripped players of his type in defence, mostly.
Very good Div 3 passing midfielder, I wouldn’t have thought that would automatically translate to Div 2 but Wilder has an astute football brain (A. Knill prop.) and may well want Lundstram as a defensive midfielder who can turn defense into attack. We’ll see.
Anyway, thanks and good luck to the lad. Hopefully he’ll have time to meet up with Appleton when he leaves the Blades and resume learning the game.”“I like Lunny. I like his attitude, I think he grew into last season, he’s always hunting for the ball. It’s just a matter of where we are now vs. where we were a year ago. That Barnet clip is a good example – they were crap and Lunny had a field day. We don’t play that kind of crap anymore. .A 3 man midfield would certainly benefit Lunny.”
“Anyone can see he’s a wonderful passer of the ball. That was enough for L2 and even the lower reaches of L1. He can clearly do a job for us. But I don’t think he’s good enough for the Championship/promotion chasing L1. Why?
– The key issue is mobility. He is just SO slow. Defensively he is a liability – he can only play if someone like Ledson cleans up. The LS/JL partnership was ended by MApp because he saw that we were leaking goals through the middle of the pitch, against good teams who broke quickly. Useless in the air doesn’t help either.
– Lack of pace in an attacking sense – the other issue is when JL has the ball if he is closed down, he can’t evade the pressure. He doesn’t have a trick, he has no pace. Compare and contrast to Rothwell – he welcomes pressure as he backs himself to beat the man, which ultimately creates more space for himself.
– Other teams have figuring him out – the notes on Lunny are all the same – will hurt you if given space, when closed down, totally ineffective. Because of his defensive limitations, his only role is playmaker. If he can’t do that, he’s a passenger.
– Has one role – which is static, long ball playmaker, which is very good at, I’ll admit. But positionally he’s most comfortable receiving a few yards from the back 4, which isn’t that helpful is you need penetration. I’d want my main playmaker to be able to do what Lunny does, but also run at people too.
Ultimately, it’s about a step up in class. We need a championship level playmaker at the heart of our team. I don’t think Lunny is, or could ever be, that. I don’t know why Shef Utd think he’ll do well in the Championship, where players get even less time and space. That’s why I’d be happy to sell.”“The only thing I would say to combat those saying he is not championship standard is that he is still young and developing. He isn’t suddenly going to be blessed with extreme pace, but that aside he can improve in most areas that have been identified as weaknesses. He is, by all accounts, very vested in the structure and ethos that we operate in and so there are other benefits in having him in the squad/team”
“For a man who insisted that Northampton were the best team in League Two a couple of years back, Wilder seems strangely intent on signing players from Oxford’s team that year: Wright, Baldock and now Lunstram.
I think Lunny would be huge loss for us because our style of play revolves around him. It would also be shame for him because I don’t think Wilder, with the way he likes to play football, will start a cultured midfield playmaker very often. ““This proves MAPP was right we were tje best team in L2 he’s signed 2 of our best players from that season for Sheff UTD.Hope we get them in the cup and see Ledson snap Wilder in half going for a 50 50 out wide completely miss the ball and ends Wilder for a couple of weeks. That’ll was teach him to stay away from Oxford.
Seriously though hope Lundstram has a good career and if he doesnt want to sign a contract then get him gone. He is the best passer i have seen at this club for a while.”“Passionate but calm and level headed on the ball. Leadership qualities evolved last year (stepped up). Selfless. 500k = bargain.”
“loved Lundstram, a pleasure to watch”
“Don’t really get all this criticism of lundstram. Yes, he had an indifferent start to last season, but he is always the one player demanding the ball and never hiding. His work rate is also second to none”
“Not too upset. It appears that he did not want to extend his stay, which is disappointing as a young 1st year club captain. So best gone and not a massive loss as we have better or equal options in there and when he had a howler, he had a howler.
The big miss will be his long range passing, however too often went for the unnecessary glory pass and offered not much more than long passes. You would expect more goals, assists, etc and why was he no good at set pieces? You would think it would be his strong point.”“Don’t care what anyone says, Lundstram gonna be a massive loss for us. No one else in the team wants the ball & has his passing range”
“He’s a bit one paced but easily good enough to be a Championship player.”
“was sensational when he first came in to the side and despite a poor start to last season he finished it strongly, definitely has the potential to play at that level but do think his lack of pace and need for time on the ball will trouble him”
“People who are saying lunny was average must have been watching a different player for two seasons. He was a class above anyone else in our promotion season in league 2 (roofe might disagree) and then took on the burden of club captain at 23 years old. Yes, he may have struggle to adapt for a few games but he was still very very good most of the time.”
“A fabulous passer, a good engine and a model pro. Wish him nothing but good luck and good seeing him given the chance at a big club in the Championship.”
“Gutted. We can say he wasn’t pacy enough or he wasn’t this or that…but the fact is that he has been a fantastic player for us and one of the real statement signings from MApp, as a young, hungry, talented player who we could build a team around and who would really kick us on.
Really sad to see him go, but we move on.”“Actually not bothered about john lundstram passed to no one 9/10 times and didn’t turn up as captain till the back end of the season”
“He can’t tackle and quite often goes for the ‘Hollywood’ ball instead of knitting the play together neatly and keeping possession.”
“If I was Lunny I would do at least one more year as a captain of a side going for promotion in league 1. That will give him more of a chance to move to a bigger club next summer than Sheffield United.”
“I do have this latent resentment that these “big” teams can nick players off lower league teams for ridiculously little money.”
“I like Christopher John Wilder less than I ever have, I never liked him very much at all.”
“working under Wilder is a challenge for any player. He’s not exactly Mr Personality”
