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Sheffield United: Podcaster criticises Enda Stevens

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Ben Meakin and Andrew from ‘Roy’s View From’ discussed Sheffield United’s 2019/20 season during the latest edition of the BladesPod podcast, where the panel spent some time talking about Enda Stevens.

Stevens arrived at Bramall Lane on a free transfer from Portsmouth back in the summer of 2017 and since his first season with the Blades, the left-back has been a prominent member of Chris Wilder’s first-team squad.

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The Republic of Ireland international played in 45 of Sheffield United’s 46 Championship games in their promotion-winning 2018/19 campaign and he was also heavily involved during the most recent season, featuring in all 38 of the Blades’ Premier League fixtures during the 2019/20 season. Only George Baldock accumulated more top-flight minutes for the Blades than Stevens did last term.

During this recent edition of the Sheffield United-focused BladesPod podcast, Meakin was full of praise for Stevens, stating that he ‘thought he was tremendous’ last season and giving him a 9/10 rating for the season just passed.

However, Andrew gave Stevens an 8/10 rating for the 2019/20 season and justified his lesser rating by criticising the player’s performances in the Yorkshire-based club’s most recent games, saying: “Post-lockdown, none of the players were good on a consistent basis, but I just thought Stevens fell off a cliff.

“I think that’s 11 pretty poor games in a row. I agree with everything you’ve just said pre-lockdown. Absolutely fantastic, 10/10 or close to 10/10. [I] think [he was] one of the few players who looked right at home from the get-go.

“I just feel that [there’s been] too many poor games for me to give him a nine.”

Do you agree with this podcaster's assessment of Stevens' recent performances?

YES, HE FELL OFF A CLIFF

YES, HE FELL OFF A CLIFF

NO, HE WASN'T THAT BAD

NO, HE WASN'T THAT BAD

TIF Thoughts…

It may be fair to say that the Blades struggled during the 11-game period that followed the enforced break caused by the pandemic, as they won just three of their competitive fixtures that they played following that break.

As per WhoScored, while Stevens struggled in the Blades’ first few games following the league’s resumption in June, the left-back did deliver some solid performances during that period, most notably in Sheffield United’s wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, with the Irishman provided an assist in both of those contests.

With that in mind, we feel that the podcaster’s criticism of the £4.95m-rated man’s performances during this period was slightly harsh.

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