Some Sheffield United fans need to take a breath as negative narrative overshadows clear signs of progress
Sheffield United have plenty of problems to solve but at this stage of the Championship season, there is a huge difference between recognising those issues and deciding they are terminal, argues Danny Hall...
Can we all just take a breath?
Sheffield United have got problems. Quite a few of them, to be fair. Their transfer window was messy. Their player of the year left on deadline day without being replaced. The summer has been dominated by questions about money, ownership and what exactly the plan is.
The manager is still searching for the best formation, having admitted recently his side don’t have an “unbelievably clear identity” about them just yet. They have looked rather ordinary in some games and so far haven’t dominated any from start to finish.
And yet, six Championship games into the season, United have lost once. They have nine points, and are only two off the early pace. So maybe, just maybe, we don’t need to decide what this United team is, or isn't, just yet.
Because there’s a difference between acknowledging United’s issues, and deciding that those issues are terminal. We have played 13 per cent of the league season so far. Test matches are not decided after two sessions on the first day; golfers don't pack their clubs away after five holes. (Although, cards on the table, I’ve often considered it.)
Beating Blackburn in midweek doesn’t prove that the Blades are suddenly brilliant, but it demonstrated the precise thing all managers, deep down, want to see about their team: that they can win football matches without the perfect display.
Give me a side still searching for rhythm but giving everything over the nothingness of last season any day. A 2025/26 group that had almost £20m spent on permanent players alone took until the end of October to reach the nine-point mark this United iteration hit six weeks earlier on Tuesday night.
By whichever metric you use, that is surely progress? And all against a backdrop that is well known by now - three key players sold, a stuttered summer of recruitment, new players still getting up to speed after signing later than United would have liked.
Losing O’Hare hurt, especially with the timing and lack of replacement. But failing to replace him is not the same as not being able to function without him. And although they have inevitably missed the creativity their reigning player of the year offered, United have never been a team built around one player.
The way forward, at least until the next chance to strengthen in January, may be a back three, or a midfield three. It probably means Brereton Diaz playing from the left, and certainly means Romelle Donovan being asked to play more football than he ordinarily would have at 19.
It might mean something completely different by October. And that is the point, really - we don't know yet. Neither, I suspect, does Wilder, entirely. It’s asking a lot around these parts at the minute but maybe, instead of the doom and gloom, that uncertainty is a reason to wait and see how it actually goes?
Several players are still scratching around for form but many have also started well. Michael Cooper looks back to his best, while Tom Cannon and Patrick Bamford have started the season well at the other end of the pitch with three goals apiece already.
Kalvin Phillips has shown some signs to back up the feeling that he could become one of the best in the division once he reaches top gear once more. And look at the options still to return from injury, in Femi Seriki, Harrison Burrows, Tahith Chong and Ryan One.
Add in the wildcard of recent World Cup skipper Jordan Ayew, effectively swapped for the enigma that is Ehije Ukaki, the calmness and balance Liam Kitching brings to the heart of defence and the X-factor Romelle Donovan has shown he can offer.
This isn't a finished United team. That much is obvious. But perhaps that is being mistaken for something it isn't. There is a temptation, particularly around a club as expectant as this one, to look at an incomplete picture and start filling in the blanks with the worst-case scenario.
The formation isn't settled, so all the tactics must be wrong. O'Hare wasn't replaced, so they can't replace his creativity. The recruitment was messy, so the squad must be poor. They haven't yet dominated a game, so they aren't good enough to challenge.
Maybe they will, and maybe they won’t. And that’s not to say there aren’t perfectly legitimate reasons for concern. United need to create more, they need to defend better than they did in the period which saw them ship seven goals in three games.
But what if - and hear me out here - that is just part of the normal process of rebuilding a team? Look across the division. Paul Heckingbottom spent more than United in the summer in the market, which admittedly wasn’t difficult, and his Preston North End are bottom of the table. Burnley are a place above them and are yet to win. Derby, who were challenging for the play-offs on the final day of last season, make up the bottom three.
Yes, at this stage the league table means little, but 14 clubs are currently looking up at United in it. Still, on a rare scroll of social media earlier, I saw the suggestion earlier that there isn’t currently a worse team in the division than United.
Seriously?
Again, this isn’t an attempt to convince folk that all is rosy at Bramall Lane. But there is a big difference between United not being where they want to be and not being good enough at all, even if the furious social media age has blurred the lines completely.
We’ve seen United win when not playing particularly well. We’ve seen their big players step up and make a difference. We’ve seen a manager acknowledging that he is still searching to get it completely right, and trying solutions to get them there.
None of those things are guarantees of a successful season, or proof that everything is suddenly fine. But it is hardly evidence of a team falling apart either, ahead of their toughest test of the season so far at home to Wolves on Sunday.
They might win, they might lose. They could even draw, and whichever outcome will prompt another wave of reaction. But maybe that’s all it should be? Another game, another piece of the puzzle, rather than a verdict on the entire season, a player’s existence or the very future of the football club.
So yes, ask questions. Expect more from the team. Be annoyed when United play badly. Wonder why the hell O'Hare wasn't replaced. Debate the formation until you're blue in the face or six pints deep on matchday.
Just maybe don't start the post-mortem while the patient is still breathing. There are 40 more Championship games to play, 120 points up for grabs. Plenty of time to pick over what went wrong, if indeed it does. But also plenty of time for this United team to show us what it actually is.