Ben Brereton Diaz among Sheffield United trio slammed as "underwhelming" in 2024-25 | OneFootball

The wheels have come off of the Blades' season, and a number of players have been told they've underwhelmed

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Having lost in a crucial promotion clash with Burnley at Turf Moor on Easter Monday, Sheffield United will have to settle for the end of season lottery that is the Championship play-offs in May.

The Blades were in the mix all season with the Clarets and Leeds United, but three damaging defeats in the space of one week against Oxford United, Millwall and Plymouth Argyle put them on the back foot - a further loss against Scott Parker's side confirmed their fate.

It will now be a challenge for Chris Wilder to pick his troops back up for the post-season scramble, and it comes after he was backed massively in January, with big-money permanent and loan signings such as Tom Cannon, Ben Brereton Diaz and Hamza Choudhury.

Sheffield United trio dubbed "underwhelming" amid late season slump in form

There is much frustration among Sheffield United supporters right now due to their recent form, and the fact that Burnley and Leeds secured their promotions so early.

And when asked who has been the most underwhelming player at Bramall Lane this season, FLW's Blades fan pundit Jimmy - of the Blades Ramble YouTube channel - believes that there are three individuals that can be classed as just that based on the expectations that they arrived at the club with.

"I think it's a harsh question when we're third in the table, but having hit a brick wall in terms of form, it's slightly easier to answer at the moment.

"I think Jesurun Rak-Sakyi, he's only really performed at League One level previously, but came in with a lot of expectation. We won a race to sign him and he's not really found any consistent form for us this season or nailed down a first-team place to be honest.

"We also brought in Ben Brereton Diaz in January, who's flattered to deceive in a lot of ways. His output started okay, his performances have never really been brilliant, but even his end product has started to dry up now, so he's been a huge disappointment from when we previously saw him in a Blades shirt, which was very, very good.

"Another one is Tom Cannon unfortunately. I personally think we need to give Tom Cannon more time, he's only started a couple of games, not got many minutes on the pitch, but he came in for a big fee and a lot of fans were expecting an awful lot from him.

"I'm trying to be patient with him, but I think I'm in the minority at the moment if I'm honest."

Sheffield United need Rak-Sakyi, Brereton Diaz & Cannon to step up for the Championship play-offs

With the squad depth that Wilder has at his disposal, it was a surprise to see Sheffield United fold so tamely with three defeats on the spin, but that squad depth has not been performing to the standards that have been set.

Rak-Sakyi came in last summer with big hype, with United beating half of the Championship to his services, and whilst he was a regular starter in the first half of the campaign, he has been in and out of Wilder's starting 11 since coming back from an injury in January.

The January additions of Brereton Diaz from Southampton and Cannon from Leicester City have also not really worked out, with both not showing the clinical edges that they possessed previously - the former whilst on loan last season with the Blades and the latter in the first half of the campaign with Stoke City.

Wilder of course has other options he can turn to in the final third - Gus Hamer, Callum O'Hare, Rhian Brewster, Tyrese Campbell and Kieffer Moore are certainly a formidable group of players that can be relied upon - but he could also do with the "underwhelming" trio coming back to form to guide United back to the upper echelons of English football.