It was not a Hulllsome return to the Championship, and given that we had two weeks to integrate our new players into the system, while our existing players had time to adjust to it, it was a depressing and disappointing outing for the spectators. We have yet to earn our first three points, or even secure a win under Walter.
Our Yorkshire rivals, Sheffield United, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, were in town—a side we seldom beat. In fact, we haven’t defeated them since 2018. Very little changed from our defeat against Leeds before the break, except this time we looked even more clueless and anxious, as if they had never played football before. As a result, the Blades easily formulated a game plan: wait for our mistakes and then pounce. That is exactly how they scored their two goals— we were fortunate not to concede more.
The gaffer made three changes to the starting eleven that played against Leeds: Zambrano, Millar, and Slater were replaced by debutants Belloumi and Abu Kamara, along with Fin Burns. In a 4-1-4-1 formation, we lined up as follows: Pandur in goal; Coyle, Jones, McLoughlin, and Giles in the back four; Fin Burns as the defensive midfielder; Belloumi, Kamara, Mehlem, and Omur in the attacking midfield; and Chris Bedia leading the line. Puerta, Hughes, and Jarvis were absent, which is concerning.
To be fair, we showed some quality in the first ten minutes—zipping the ball around, playing with an attacking mindset, and controlling possession well. We earned a corner in the 14th minute after some impressive buildup play from the back, with McLoughlin finding Omur in space, who drove forward before feeding Kamara on the left. His cross was cleared behind for the corner. Then, things fell apart.
The corner was played short and fell to a naive Belloumi, who panicked and was muscled off the ball by Callum O’Hare. With only green grass between him and the keeper, and Rak-Sakyi to his left and Hamer to his right, O’Hare passed to Hamer, who calmly slotted the ball into the far-left corner.
Our only other significant chance in the first half came from a set-piece in the 28th minute. Omur cheekily moved the ball a few yards from the awarded spot, which allowed him to strike it cleanly toward the top corner, but a brilliant save from Cooper denied him.
Sheffield United could have doubled their lead in the 30th minute. Hamer and Burrows combined on the left, with Burrows delivering a dangerous ball into the box, which Moore connected with, only for it to deflect off McLoughlin. The rest of the half saw little action, as we spent time aimlessly passing the ball around the back.
Despite having 65% possession to their 35%, seven corners, and three shots to their two, we found ourselves trailing at halftime. It was clear, though, that United were the more organised, threatening, and pragmatic team, defending well and capitalising on our mistakes.
The Blades started the second half faster than we did, forcing a corner in the 55th minute that nearly resulted in a goal. Hamer’s ball into the box caused chaos, and after several failed clearances, it fell to Souza, whose toe-poked effort forced a reflex save from Pandur. Six minutes later, we had a corner, with Belloumi curling a powerful shot-cross that was tipped over the bar by Cooper.
However, another poorly executed corner in the 66th minute allowed United to break quickly, moving from one end of the pitch to the other in a flash. Drameh, who had been subbed on at halftime along with Liam Millar, mistimed his jump and was beaten by Brewster, who sliced the ball through our high line. Moore hustled Millar off the ball before passing to Brooks, whose back-heel found McCallum. McCallum’s outstretched leg generated enough power to send the ball into the far-right corner. We never learn.
Our best chance to reduce the deficit came just after we made our final two substitutions (Palmer and Slater), which had a slight impact. In the 72nd minute, some more direct play got us up the pitch, with Coyle delivering an accurate ball from the right. Mehlem connected with it brilliantly, crashing his header against the bar. Millar’s follow-up went wide.
Like the first half, the rest of the game became tedious, with little to report. Fans began leaving around the 85th minute, and the final whistle was met with an ample echo of boos—much louder than those after the games against Leeds and Millwall.
We were promised exciting, attacking football that would be playoff-worthy, but we’ve seen the opposite. It doesn’t seem like it’s coming anytime soon. We need to start learning, show more effort, and get our act together, or the fans will lose faith.