Stoke City were beaten 4-0 by a very impressive Sheffield United team at Bramall Lane, here are our talking points
Brian Dick Reach Football Correspondent
07:00, 07 Dec 2025
Mark McGuinness of Sheffield United heads the ball during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United and Stoke City (Image: Getty Images)
Stoke City returned from Bramall Lane with their tail between their legs after being ‘bullied’ by Sheffield United.
Three goals in the first half and one in the second saw the Potters hammered 4-0 by the Championship’s third most in-form team. Only Coventry City and Southampton have taken more points form the last six matches.
By contrast Stoke are having a wobble and in truth, apart from the opening exchanges when they forced the Blades back, they were never really in this match.
Here’s what stood out
Foiled
Going into the match Robins was mindful of the fact he had two players, Ashley Phillips and Sorba Thomas, one booking away from a one-game ban – and missing Wednesday night’s trip to Ipswich Town.
With half an eye on that fixture he decided to take Phillips out of the firing line and bring Ben Wilmot back into the side.
In recent games the Tottenham defender has been collecting yellows like he is preparing for a trading card convention and protecting him from himself/the referee/the opposition (*delete as appropriate) had some logic.
However, Stoke’s defending, especially at set-pieces, was so shambolic in the first half that Robins admitted he had to do something at the interval. On went Phillips, off came Tomas Rigo and into midfield went the slightly chaotic Bosun Lawal.
To be fair to the 20-year-old he did pretty well and he wasn’t helped out by the fact with 14 minutes to go Tatsuki Seko decided to chase the ball and not Andre Brooks into the penalty area.
Phillips instinctively reached out to block the winger, down he went, out came Steve Martin’s finger which pointed to the penalty spot, closely followed by the caution that denies Phillips an evening at Portman Road.
Robins summed it up with gallows humour. “Brilliant, wasn’t it? Great thinking behind it…Obviously you’re trying to work yourself through the game but the game then demanded that I needed to make the change at half-time…and Sod’s law.”
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Unacceptable
By that time the cream had already curdled, the contest was over and the only real question was how many Sheffield United would insist on scoring.
The result was academic by half time because the visitors’ foundation was so flimsy. Two minutes in they conceded a corner and surrendered a free header to Mark McGuinness who thundered the ball over the bar from eight yards. Completely unmarked.
He would remain so for most of the first half as he won at least five ‘first contacts’ in the Stoke penalty area and scored once.
The Potters simply had no answer for the set-up which saw United send three decoy runners to drag defenders with them and attack the six yard box and McGuinness hold his run and lurk behind. The splendid Gus Hamer would clip his delivery on to the free head. Again and again.
Without a stable set piece defence it’s virtually impossible to win any Championship match and everything else crumbled around it.
Asked about it post match, the manager was not inclined to share industrial secrets but he did promise an inquisition. He said: “I know exactly what happened there but I’ll have to deal with the players on that because that is unacceptable.”
Sheffield United’s Patrick Bamford and Stoke City’s Ben Wilmot(Image: PA)Dream Land
Robins surprised some in his pre-match press conference when, on the back of three defeats in four, he talked about smelling the whiff of something special in the bet365 air. ‘Special’ sounded like code for ‘promotion’ although it came with the rider that his players had to a) want it enough and b) be good enough to take it.
I’m sure every member of his squad would gladly shed red and white blood to finish in the top two and make it to the Premier League but even if they pass the first test, being good enough is an altogether bigger challenge.
On this evidence relegation-threatened – at least they were until four games ago – Sheffield United looked by far the more likely team to mount a bid for the top flight.
Stoke were weak at the back, insipid in midfield and failed to make quality decisions in attack. Undoubtedly they missed Phillips in the opening 45, Ben Pearson’s tenacity was conspicuous by its absence and on his return to the starting XI Divin Mubama fluffed his two big chances in the context of an extremely modest overall performance.
By contrast the Blades were powerful, purposeful and with players like Hamer, Sydie Peck, Andre Brooks and Patrick Bamford they had quality throughout their team. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they are in the promotion hunt at the end of the season. Stoke have some serious questions to answer if they are to join them.
Foundations
Four losses in five games has prompted the airing of the dreaded phrase ‘old Stoke’. Seven years after they were relegated the Potters have either given their fans little hope of a return, or hinted at an improvement only to ultimately disappoint.
Is this what we’re witnessing once again? Let’s hope not. In fact let’s do more than hope let’s remind ourselves of the fact the grown-ups are once again in charge at the football club. Jon Walters is a steady hand on the tiller and Robins is as seasoned a Championship manager as there is.
Both know what a promotion squad is supposed to look like, both have been in the game long enough to know what a cruel division the Championship is, ‘mental’ as Robins put it yesterday, and both are experienced enough not to ride the emotional rollercoaster.
There won’t be any knee-jerk reactions to this bump in the road, there’ll be a solution-focused response based around improving performances.
As for the team itself we all know Stoke have arguably the best goalkeeper in the division and still have the best defensive record in the league. Those are very firm foundations to go forward with – once Saturday’s set-piece post-mortem has been conducted.
Thomas is electric and while Bae Jun-ho and Million Manhoef are inconsistent they can produce at this level. More punch up front and more control in the middle of the park and Stoke can put together another run.
So as bad as this was, let’s view it in context.
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