View From The Neutrals

A selection of quotes from neutral fans on the victory over Arsenal

Norwich Fans

“Impressive from the blades”

“They look very solid at the back unfortunately.”

“Blades have been very good, wont be troubling the rele spots unfortunately”

“They really aren’t very good though. They are exceptionally well drilled and good at defending but Arsenal were pathetic in the last third (had their final ball not been a joke they would have won that) and I will still be disappointed if we finish below Shef U.”

“They’re only 6 or 7 injuries away from being in the shoite.”

“Hate the feckers”

Aston Villa Fans

“I’m still amazed Enda Stevens is a regular for them. Was s*** for us. “

“Sheff United are a championship team that massively over achieved last season and have manage to continue it in to this season with hard work and team spirit. It won’t last and they’ll go down.”

“Solid defensively but they are nothing special.”

“The few times I’ve seen them play they actually quite remind of the way Wolves play, sit deep and are very hard working, but are comfortable on the ball as well and dangerous on the break.”

“Have to say whenever I catch a TV game of theirs I enjoy watching Sheffield United. Like us they will stay up as they’re decent at both ends. Respect Wilder plenty and he really makes that 3-5-2 work. Of course they can knock it long when required but they are also very capable of playing quick 1-2s out wide quickly which means with their overloads their wide players get plenty of space to get crosses in. They build up plenty of corners from that tactic and eventually they score from one. We’ve also struggled defending against them in last two seasons. At the other end they also have more grit than Norwich who are simply too easy to score against. I said in August they were most likely of the promoted trio to go back down and haven’t seen anything to change my mind.”

Bournemouth Fans

“Mousset scores. Mings plays for England. Bit Weird. They obviously fit in square holes”

“Part of my frustration with Solanke is we lost Lys… who I thought was a better player. We also never gave him the run of games we have afforded Solanke.”

“Whatever you think of Solanke I think you’re looking at Lys with Rose tinted spectacles. Average player.”

“Even Solanke wouldn’t have missed that tonight.
Solanke has looked far more effective than Mousset ever did. “

“Leaving Solanke aside and just talking about Lys I always thought he had so much potential. Blistering pace and shot and good awareness of team mates. Funny how we all see the same players in different ways!!”

“I liked Lys but he put on weight every year, not in a good way and never really took his chances when given them.”

Brighton Fans

“ Fair play to SU but dear me Arsenal are shocking”

“Blades brilliant tonight. This is a tough division, no shit sides. Pundits saying division is weak because Lpool so far ahead. Bollox. Most competitive top flight ever.”

“It’s easy to write Sheffield United off (and all the lazy pundits have) because they’re a small and unfashionable club but if you actually watch their games you’ll know they’re a fantastically managed side with an effective style of play. “

“We certainly have better players but they look so much more solid than us.”

“Wilder is doing a great job on that budget imho.”

“They are like a better version of a hughton team very very impressive every time I’ve seen them this season. I can’t help but think their style will get them more points than us even though we are nice to watch
Olly Norwood as well. Excellent. Mistake to get rid in hindsight.”

“They have some Hughton traits but overall I disagree with that. I think they’re a much more energetic and dynamic team than we have been in the last two seasons. I think they play with no fear, regardless of the opposition, which is great to see. I also think they have a far more ambitious and occasionally expansive style than we had. All on a minuscule budget. As long as it’s not at our expense, I hope they stay up as I think they’re a great example of what can be done if every man buys into the manager’s plan.As for who will get more points, I’m not sure. I’d probably just about back us. But as I said, I don’t think either team will go down. “ “Should beat these two any day of the week”

“Arsenal are a joke team away from home. Every single team in the division would expect to beat them at home. “

Watford Fans

“Another record signing misses an open goal v Sheff United.”

“Many ‘experts’ say Arsenal are going to finish in the top 4. Why do they think that? “

Newcastle Fans

“I honestly think Sheffield United will finish bottom of the league.  They are hopeless. The Toon are crap yet I wouldn’t have one player from Sheff Und.   Billy Sharp is their star player ffs. ”

“ Sheff Utd are hopeless? 9th in the league and unbeaten away from home I think. Billy Sharp is not their star player, he doesn’t even start for them.They don’t really have any star players but play so well together as a team”

“Mad, I don’t think Sheff Utd are in any real danger of going down.”

“Strange post saying they will finish bottom”

“They don’t have Steve Bruce in charge, as an organised unit they look easily better than us.”

“ Christ if Sheffield United are hopeless what the hell are we? “

Southampton Fans

“had that been us instead of Sheff Utd, then we would almost certainly have still found a way to lose to them.”

“Sheff Utd have fight and endeavor along with playing some very decent football, which IMO will keep them up. “

“4 points behind Sheff Utd and Burnley at this stage of this season tells you everything you need to know about us. Average teams on paper but they have fantastic workrate and organisation. Something we’ve lacked for years. We currently dont have any identity in the way we play”

“We got quite lucky against them. Our defence was all over the place and we got a letoff with a disallowed goal, a non-penalty that should have been given to them, and a pretty harsh red card.
They worked hard all game (harder than we did) and were unlucky to lose it really.”

“Watched a different game sunshine. They were sh1t and got fck all”

“Sheff Utd have a really, really low quality squad. But they’re organised and put in a lot of effort. It just shows there’s really only 2 great sides in this league.”

West Ham Fans

“Every time I see them they are very well drilled, energetic and combative.”

“This lot don’t have much quality imho although what they have is a system that they’re comfortable with and players giving their all to the cause.”

“They did a proper park the bus job against Arsenal.Could be a frustrating afternoon for us.”

“We play quite similar to Arsenal, so that was a bit of a wake up call. But can they raise their game twice in a week?”

“Actually feel better about this Saturday after the pigs beat Gooners tbh.”

Crystal Palace Fans

“Watching Arsenal tonight they look very fragile with Blades not afraid to take the game to them. Watch us barely lay a glove on them until they score”

“They don’t like it up em but are a different side at the library”

“Arsenal were dog awful tonight,keep thinking if Sheffield had a Zaha they would have won by more.”

Leicester Fans

“Remember when a lot on here were expecting us to go to Brammall lane and play them off the park in a 6-0 win?  Doesn’t quite work like that. Great result and performance from SUFC. Decent result for us too.”

“we’ve scored 2 of the 7 goals Sheff Utd have conceded this season. Pretty neat isn’t it?”

“On paper their side is Championship standard but Wilder’s management brings the best out of them, as we’ve seen so far this season he expects a lot out of them, even in the games they’ve lost and played well in, Liverpool for example, their performance got praised but he was having none of it, he was pissed that they didn’t get a result. He is obviously a manager who sets high standards, his team matched those standards tonight. I can see many sides having difficulty against them this season. Hopefully Wilder can keep them up.”

“Wilder says it how it is. Really struggling to pick any fault with him.”

“They aren’t going anywhere.  As I said after their match with us – where they flat-out deserved a draw – Wilder has them so well-organized and full of belief that they’re going to stay up for sure.  They’re limited technically but not punchless – for a lower-table side they have enough industry and flair to get by.  And they aren’t afraid of possession, either, when the moment calls for it.  Good manager, serviceable squad.”

“Eddie Howe came up with Bournemouth with a bunch of lower league players (many of them still there) and he has stayed up comfortably ever since whilst playing much better football than Sheffield United. I like Wilder but they are hard to watch. I hope he doesn’t become another Sean Dyche in this league.”

“You see plenty of players/coaches come up from the championship and do alright in the short-term but struggle to stay at the top. I personally rate Dean Smith as a better manager but that’s just me.”

“There’s an art to man management and he has done well everywhere he’s been but he’s also had little expectation on him and not had to win people over that much. I’d love him to replace Southgate but could envisage he’d be hounded out eventually.”

Wolves Fans

“Sheff Utd prove that organisation and a game plan are plenty good enough to be a decent PL side. They’ll be fine. We’ll struggle against them, organised, strong at the back and bullish up top”

“No doubt we will beat arsenal away as we will have chances, still cant break down utter shit”

Everton Fans

“ Nothing against Wilder, it’s good the game(in this country) has some English coaches doing well. Please though no more flavour of the months.”

“said before this fella is a modern day Mike Walker.
Hes doing a great job with the blades under a lot less pressure than others (or so it seems).
Hes maybe happy at his club.
Nothing wrong with being ambitious, if he were to leave,while his stock is high.”

“Sheff U were very poor against us at Goodison, one shot on target and won 2-0. They were abject, we were poor. They got lucky”

“Wilder the modern day Sam Allardyce, Sean Dyche. He is doing well getting points on board but the football is horrendous. Could you really watch Everton play like that week in week out? It is football that can only take you so far in the PL”

“Man who doesn’t want much football. They were great to watch last season”

“chris wilder doesn’t play anything like fat sam or dyche tbf, think they play decent football”

“They’ve played some great stuff moving up twice in three years.
He’s had to tighten things up because he’s taking on some of the top teams in Europe with some players who were in League one a couple of years ago.
Look at how thorough and innovative his tactical planning is.”

“this seasons Wolves”

“They’ll go on a run of about 10 games without a win at some point this season.”

Man Utd Fans

“Have to say I really enjoy watching Sheffield United play.
It’s not passing around for passing around sake (unlike their opposition tonight who wanted to get their possession stats up in last 20 minutes). They can knock it long when they want to but they are also capable of playing good quick touch football when that is required and they don’t get enough credit for that. It won them several corners tonight and eventually they scored from one.
Reason 3-5-2 is effective is they actually make it work overloading in corners of the pitch and play quick 1-2s that give their wide players space.
A very nice team to watch and think I’ve said consistantly this season they’ll stay up as to me they have more grit than Norwich who are too easy to score against.”

“Very good performance last night. They restricted Arsenal to bits and bobs and always looked more likely to score even though they didn’t have that much possession.
So much to be said for both defending and attacking in numbers, and mixing it up. Stevens is a real threat down the left and the two centre halves wide of the middle man get involved in the attack too. “

“They are a good side and aren’t bad to watch at all. The “pundits” who keep lazily calling them basic and long ball clearly aren’t doing their jobs. “

“It’s the first time in a really long time that a newly promoted team have come up and introduced a tactical innovation to the league.”

“They’re actually sitting 9th in the table. Not too shabby.”

“Considering their team is mede up of lower league journeymen, it’s absolutely amazing how well they’re doing. Wilder is doing a fantastic job.”

“One of the best managers in the league, no doubt about it in my mind. ”

“Got a very British team who put the work in but also have a bit of quality here and there. Wilder has done an absolutely fantastic job thus far, and even if they finish 17th he deserves the manager of the year award.”

Chelsea Fans

“I like Wilder to be honest, blends traditional and modern approaches to football together perfectly. Not looking forward to our visit there. “

“Love seeing English managers doing well
he is streets ahead of trash like Javi Gracia. most Spanish managers are SO overrated”

“Chris Wilder seems to be a lot better than the more mundane English/British managers like Pardew, Allardyce, Hughes, Moyes, Pulis, Bruce etc.”

“overlapping centre backs FTW!”

“defensive masterclass”

Spurs Fans

“Even Sheffield united play with more intensity than us!”

“Probably helps that there players want to be there.”

“Sheff fought for everything (just like Poch’s Spurs before the players decided they were above that…) “

“The passion they showed to get a goal kick at the end of the game is something we can only dream of”

“The amount of times SU get down the left and waste the good position is incredible!”

“wilder doing a great job.what’s sad though is that he’ll never get a top job because of where he’s from and how he looks. give him a spanish passport, a nice tan and a designer coat and he’d be well in there.”

Man City Fans

“best defence in league so far Sheff.Hats off to them.”

“I’ve been really impressed with Sheffield United this season. The play good football, but show fight.In fact I’d say a lot of these new English managers are doing a good job. Lampard, wilder and potter” “Always amazes me how they bottle games like this and that’s not being disrespectful to Sheffield Utd who deserved the win,but you can bet when we roll up at the emirates or they come to us they will throw everything into it as if their lives depended on it … “

“Sheffield are rough. Theyve even got a player called Basham, expect a lot of that when City go there. “

“It’s going to be absolutely horrible. They will be allowed to kick and rough us up all game with impunity, hostile crowd, biased ref you just know it.”

“Have to say it will be a tough game for us going on how arsenal tonight and even the scousers about 3-4 weeks ago who got lucky with the keeper”

“That whole game seemed to be played in slow motion, no tempo to it at all”

Liverpool Fans

“Shows how brilliant we are that we came away from Bramall Lane with the win, very tough place to go now but we found a way to win, Arsenal get beat, says it all.Fair play to Sheffield United, they are giving it a right go.”

“If they keep this up, a lot of teams will struggle there. Really tough to beat.” “Arsenal are dog muck, but tonight shows just how hard earned our win at Bramall Lane was.”

“A Yorkshire football crowd is pretty vocal, difficult places to go, these southerners look shellshocked.”

“The atmosphere is deafening, Id hate to be an away side going there in the middle of February when it’s freezing”

“fair play to united they done well so far.. only gets harder from here on in though.. lets see how they are in about 10 games.”