The Opposition View – Sheffield Utd

In the wake of yesterday’s 3-0 defeat at Bramall Lane, here are some views on the game from the Blades’ manager Danny Wilson and a few of their fans.

“It was a very good victory,” said Wilson.

“It was well earned and I think it was a little bit frustrating at times because of the system that Wycombe played. They got everybody behind the ball and weren’t too worried about breaking out, so you have to have a level of patience and I thought we showed that in abundance today.”

Asked what he said to his players at half time with the score at 0-0, the Blades’ boss replied: “We just had to quicken ourselves up a bit in terms of our possession and getting balls into areas that were causing them problems. We were a little bit slow, maybe one pass too slow in the first half to do that. Second half we picked the tempo up and I think that was the difference.”

“The first goal was always going to be critical, and when we got that, it was completely one-way traffic. It was one-way traffic before that in terms of possession, but certainly after that we were really in a dominant mood.”


The Blades’ fans felt Wycombe were negative, posed no real threat, and got exactly what they deserved from the game.

The following extracts are taken from S24SU, Blades Mad and Football Forums.


downtownblade wrote:
“What a poor team Wycombe are. Nearly as bad as Yeovil were. Them and Gareth Ainsworth are well suited. Thought they came for a draw. If they were playing the match until 3 o’clock tomorrow I couldn’t see them scoring, lol.’


Deadbat wrote:
“Wycombe can’t say they deserved anything despite Waddock saying how well they did. They had 5 shots to our 23 and had very little of the ball nor did they even venture into our half very much. They came for a point and from the first minute, the way they set up and the way they time wasted (ridiculously at times) showed their approach.’


zablade wrote:
“We passed the ball beautifully and sapped the energy of a team who were effectively playing a formation of 5-5-0.’


Martinho wrote:
“Wycombe went 4-5-1 pretty much all game and it was only a matter of time until we scored. Going in 0-0 at half time didn’t really bother me, as I knew we’d find a goal in front of the Kop second half.’


Nick Jansky wrote:
“We footballed them to death.’


Scrivy wrote:
“It’s so pleasing to see us be patient and break down a team who only wanted to defend with 10 men behind the ball.’


toronto_blade wrote:
“We wore them down. They just couldn’t keep it up, especially with the introduction of the subs.’


herbert wrote:
“We remained patient and didn’t panic despite a poor first half.’


grafikhaus wrote:
“We are playing very attractive football under Danny Wilson. At times it will require patience (as it did today) but teams who have got out of Div One such as Norwich, Swansea, Southampton, Brighton etc, all did so by playing the right way.’


PokerBlade wrote:
“There has to be some credit given to Wycombe in spite of their negative tactics. They did a good job of reducing the space for us to play high up the pitch and stopping us from getting in behind them. But teams keep coming and asking if we can break them down. And more and more the answer is becoming yes. For five minutes after our first goal, we kept stroking the ball about between our defenders, and you could see Wycombe just didn’t know what to do. They hadn’t planned on coming out and pressuring us on the ball, just sitting tight.’


freepaulrogers wrote:
“Wilson should sign up that Beavon from Wycombe. Quality.’


BennyandtheBlades wrote:
“Nice thought, we missed out on Phillips.’


herbert wrote:
“Yes. Beavon’s looked good the three times I’ve seen him in what is a very poor side. Good movement and a good footballing brain, flashes of skill as well. He’s one of those that a club like us needs to spot early before everyone else is interested.’


Next Game: Wycombe v Yeovil – Tue 14th Feb – 7.45pm