'I certainly wouldn’t doubt the manager' - what former Liverpool man had to say about Sheffield United's defeat to Leeds United

The Blades have lost their opening three games of the league season and, more worryingly, have failed to find the back of the net in those against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa and Leeds.

So, are United as bad as the fledgling league table may suggest or have they been unlucky?

Let’s take a look at what some of the games’ pundits have said about Chris Wilder’s side following their latest setback.

Jermaine Jenas – ex-Spurs and England midfielder and Match of the Day pundit

“Sheffield United were very impressive on the day and they didn’t probably deserve to lose the game. When you looked at the game in the way it was developing, I just felt that (Patrick) Bamford had the edge when it came to that aerial battle.

"I think defensively, Sheffield United with (Ethan) Ampadu and the left-back (Jack) Robinson just lacked a little bit in the air and you could see even with the ones he wasn’t winning cleanly, he was always the one almost commanding that situation.

"They’re obviously always going to miss (Jack) O’Connell and (John) Egan but when the ball comes out wide (in the lead up to the goal) you can already see that Bamford’s eyes are lighting up. He’s thinking ‘let me get round the back’ because in fairness to Robinson and in fairness to Ampadu it’s not their strongest point in the air, and whether it comes off his nose, his chin, his face or his forehead it’s ended up in the back of the net. It’s something he saw as a weakness in Sheffield United (with O’Connell and Egan missing).”

Ben Haines – 90 Min creative director and BBC Football Daily podcast contributor

“It feels like maybe they’ve just been worked out and all that energy that comes from playing in front of a passionate home crowd (at Bramall Lane) has suddenly gone away. It’s just left them found wanting a bit. Three games, no points on the board and sitting bottom of the table is not an ideal start for them.”

Perry Groves – ex-Arsenal striker and talkSPORT pundit

“They created chances today but they didn’t take them. Their top goalscorer last season was (Oli) McBurnie with six and (Lys) Mousset with six, so (scoring goals) is going to be their problem.”

Andy Cole – ex-Manchester United striker and talkSPORT pundit

“They’re going to have to generate goals from the midfield and wide areas. I have said this quite a bit since the season started, any team in the Premier League has to have an individual who can give them 15 to 20 goals – especially as a centre forward. If you can’t find a centre forward who can give you that you’re going to have to get goals from wide areas who can cash in and try and help the centre forward out. Ultimately, you have to score goals in whatever division you’re playing in. That gives your team a better opportunity moving forward.”

Stephen Warnock, ex-Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit

"I worry about them. I worry about them going forward. I think defensively, they are solid and hard to play against but creativity wise – I know Chris Wilder’s disappointed because he said they created opportunities – but it’s ok creating them, scoring them is a different matter.

"They don’t have that 20 goals a season man up front. Last season six goals was the top goalscorer – that for me isn’t enough to finish where they finished last year and I think this season is going to be really difficult for them.”

Danny Murphy – former Liverpool midfielder and talkSPORT pundit

“If you look at the start of this season in isolation, the (John Egan) sending off (at Villa) was harsh and changed the game. So you can write that one off a little bit. (In) the opening day (defeat) against a really, really good Wolves side on the day, they actually had a good go in the second half and maybe could have got something out of the game.

"So maybe it’s only this Leeds performance where (Chris Wilder) is probably thinking ‘you know what, we’ve got to pick ourselves up now because that’s three on the spin’. But even then, the Leeds ‘keeper made one of the saves of the season.

"You sometimes need things to go for you in games and the momentum changes. They had a lot of players injured against Leeds and still looked ok defensively to be honest. But when they get everyone back, everyone fit, I don’t see them having a problem in getting enough points to stay up.

"The only thing I would say, there maybe needs to be a plan B for Sheffield United because the formation they played last year, which surprised a lot of people, worked tremendously well because good players rotated their positions so comfortably and knew their jobs.

"I think teams are setting up differently against Sheffield United now because they have seen it and become wiser. But I certainly wouldn’t doubt the manager or what he’s doing there.”

"There’s always going to be a blip in the Premier League and 10 games in I think they’ll be fine.”

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