00:00 We all knew Sheffield United were going to have a tough start to primarily the problems in the
00:03 transfer market so far. Those problems were at large when Paul Heckenbottom's first team sheet
00:08 of the Premier League season was handed in and showed an 11 that was worse than the side that
00:13 won the promotion from the Championship. Plenty of work to do on and off the pitch but hey,
00:18 at least football's back and so too is the Starblades podcast Monday Review.
00:24 I'm Chris Holt and with me is Danny Hall to go back over Saturday's return to action for Sheffield
00:31 United and of course the Premier League. Not a winning return, not the best of starts for
00:39 different reasons, although it wasn't the greatest performance, wasn't the greatest result. However,
00:48 the biggest story from the day was essentially the team that started, Danny,
00:54 which if we're entirely honest is not a Premier League team, is it?
00:59 No, no, I don't think that's being unfair to say.
01:04 I'm glad you say that because I thought it was going to be an overly hard year.
01:08 No, I don't think that's unfair to say. I think Paul Heckenbottom kind of admitted to that
01:14 afterwards, didn't he? He said that we are lacking the quality. One thing you can never
01:19 sort of level at this team and this squad and these players is a lack of effort, a lack of
01:23 commitment, a lack of buying into the whole club ethos and everything like that. But in terms of
01:29 the quality to unpick Crystal Palace's defence on Saturday, I think one shot on target and that was
01:37 a pretty comfortable save for Sam Johnson at the end of the first half. I think that kind of tells
01:43 its own story, doesn't it? There were moments where they sort of huffed and puffed. I think
01:47 Willa Sula had a few moments that he will have dreamed about when he put his head on the pillow
01:53 the night before the game, when he flashed that shot just wide that looked like it was going in
01:58 for what for him will have seemed like an eternity. It seemed long enough for us, we were just watching
02:03 on. The way he sort of dropped to his knees afterwards, I think, suggested that he thought
02:08 that was going in and he hit the side net, of course, in the second half. But apart from that,
02:12 Norwood shot at the end of the first half. Johnstone had a pretty comfortable afternoon,
02:19 didn't he? United never really looked like they were threatening a great deal. But to be fair,
02:25 at the other end, for much of the game, the first half especially, I think they competed very well
02:29 at the other end, didn't they? It's only when Palace's quality, I think, kind of started to
02:35 tell in the second half when they got ahead. I think everyone on the ground then realised that
02:39 that was going to be a huge mountain to climb from there. I think United really needed to get that.
02:45 That's going to sound like the most obvious cliché ever, isn't it? But they needed to get that first
02:50 goal, I think, to give them something to hold on to. Because once you go behind in this league,
02:53 you know, we all know how difficult it is to get back in. So, yeah, as you say, the story of the
03:06 game was really written from 2pm when the team sheet came out, really, wasn't it? It wasn't even
03:10 just the start of XI. The bench, of course, was so light in terms of Premier League quality. I
03:17 think there were two Premier League games for United on there amongst the nine subs. And that
03:22 was obviously Femi Sarri and Antoine Haquefort, who both played short cameo appearances off the
03:27 bench before. So, it's not even like, you know, you're giving the lads a go and then you can turn
03:33 behind you and sort of see where you can really change it. Personally, I wondered if Anis Slemani
03:40 would start after he sort of impressed me in pre-season. I thought he was the...
03:44 Yeah, I think out of everybody, probably given that he was there a little bit earlier than most,
03:49 I think everybody thought, well, he's potentially going to be ready. And if any of the new players
03:55 are going to come in, then he would be the one. Yeah, that's what I certainly thought. I thought
04:00 he was the most impressive in pre-season before Stuttgart. I think we can kind of put that to one
04:05 side because nobody really impressed there. But I understand as well against Palace's threats on
04:10 the counter and stuff, a more sort of, not defensive midfield, but a more solid, is that the right
04:16 word? You know, Norwood, obviously, Basham and Osborne, you get a lot of protection going that
04:22 way as well, don't you? Rather than just getting the benefits going one way. So, I'm not saying I
04:28 don't understand the selection, but that was one that I thought maybe he would play. I understand
04:34 Souza having had virtually no pre-season and probably about a day to get used to his teammates
04:39 and everyone. I understand him maybe starting on the bench. Yeah, it was just the lack of options
04:46 as well. Paul alluded to that afterwards. He's made no secret of the fact that he thinks they're
04:50 miles off where they need to be now, really. Not even looking towards the end of the transfer
04:56 window. They needed to be stronger for now. He saw this as a real missed opportunity to have a
05:03 go at Palace and really try and put a marker down. First game of the season at home in front of a big
05:09 crowd and that expectation, that momentum from last season. Try and sort of protect that. Instead,
05:14 that momentum's disappeared, hasn't it really, almost, in terms of the players leaving the
05:19 building. The squad now is completely different to how it was at the end of last season. And even
05:24 last week, he admitted to us that he might even have to change the way he plays because he hasn't
05:28 got the players to mould to United's style. He might have to compromise that identity a little
05:35 bit, which is obviously a concern because this squad has played this way for such a long time.
05:40 Last season, they got promoted comfortably playing this style of football. So, ideally,
05:46 as a manager, you'd want to carry on that, wouldn't you, into the new season. So, the fact
05:49 that he's even considering having to rip that up a little bit and adapt it, I think that's another
05:56 concern that will need to be addressed by... There's only one way to do it. Spend some money and
06:01 sign some players.
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