Brian Deane on Sheffield United & Leeds United: A Tale of Two Cities
It is not unfair to say that this season Sheffield United and Leeds are experiencing rather different fortunes.
For Leeds, their return to the top has been described as a breath of fresh air by seemingly every pundit under the sun, and not without good reason, with the odds on their games finishing nil-all rather astronomical.
Down the M1 however it’s a different story. Chris Wilder’s men have failed to recapture their impressive form of the last campaign, which saw them finish a very respectable ninth, and now seem destined for the drop.
One man who has had the privilege of turning out for both clubs, over a career spanning two decades, three continents and over 200 goals is Brian Deane.
Deane in action for Sheffield United against bitter rivals Sheffield Wednesday back in 1991
So, is Deane holding out hopes for his old teammate Wilder to pull off a historic great escape?
“No chance,” says Deane with a sorry shake of the head. But the Blades have had their backs against the wall before, as Deane knows only too well.
“When I was there, we had four points at Christmas. But things were different back then. In those days nobody was doing strength conditioning and sports science was a bolt onto your football training.
“We employed a guy and suddenly we got results very quickly, and we got fitter than the teams around us and were beating teams in the last 10-15 minutes of games, and we managed to finish 12th that year. But the difference you have now is that everyone is doing that.”
But if it’s not in a lack of fitness and training, what is the root cause of Sheffield’s slump? For Deane the answer is clear.
“If you look at the recruitment at Sheffield United, I don’t think it’s been good enough or extensive enough. When you’re at that level you can’t compete with getting the best players, so you have to be creative.
“You need to be looking at finding and developing the best young talent and then moving them on for more money, and that’s where you can build your foundation.
“What we’ve seen at Sheffield is they’ve gambled on players who know the league, who know the championship, and tried to develop them. But they’ve just fallen short,” admits Deane.
On the other hand, smart summer dealings coupled with the gung-ho attacking philosophy installed in the team by coach Marcelo Bielsa have long since banished any fears of relegation from the minds of Leeds fans.
A typically subdued Marcelo Bielsa in the dugout against Southampton in February
“He’s good for Leeds, because before him Leeds didn’t have an identity, and Leeds is a big place and it needs that kind of identity to go to the next level, so it’s great for the city,” remarks Deane on the Argentinean manager.
“But whilst they’re good to watch there’s a certain naivety about the way they play. If you just throw players forward, that’s all well and good in the Championship and you can overrun teams.
“However, if you do that in the Premier League you come up against players who are bigger, stronger, faster and technically better than what you’ve got. Where they’ve won games it’s against teams who can’t cope, and where they’ve lost it’s when the opposition have got too much that can hurt them,” said Deane.
“So, they’ll always either end up winning or losing, never really drawing. They’ll get beat 5-2 by Manchester United one week and then 5-4 by Liverpool the next.”
Deane, like many other pundits, is not wholly convinced by the longevity of ‘Bielsa-ball’.
“He likes working with a small squad and he trusts that group, but he’s trying to get 90% out of your squad for like 42 weeks of the year and the human body can only take so much, players are going to break down.”
Indeed, for Deane the real test for Leeds is still yet to come, just like his beloved Blades, that second season back in the topflight can be even tougher than the first. If Leeds don’t get their summer signing rights then teams could find them out.
Only time will tell if Leeds can continue their remarkable form, but one thing is for sure; Sheffield United could really do with a player capable of producing anything like Deane’s 93 goals if they’re going to stand a chance of achieving the impossible.
Credit feature image: Phoenix Sport & Media Group
