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…
Sheffield United finally registered their first points of the season at Oxford on Saturday, and the performance of Ben Mee on his full Blades debut was their most striking of all. It took them seven games to get there, but Sheffield United finally kick-started their 2025-26 season with a 1-0 win at Oxford United on Saturday. Following seven straight defeats in the League, the sacking of Ruben Selles, and the return of Chris Wilder for a third stint at Bramall Lane, the Blades ground out a narrow win at The Kassam Stadium to finally get some points on the board.
Ben Mee’s performance stood out the most among all of the players. The former Burnley and Brentford defender put up a strong display at the heart of the Blades’ defence on his first start for the club, helping them keep their first clean sheet of the season.
“A brilliant signing for Sheffield United” – Ben Mee hailed over his full Blades debut
With all of that in mind, Football League World spoke with our resident Sheffield United fan pundit Jimmy about Mee’s strong performance for the Blades, and he was very excited about the defender’s full debut for his club: “Ben Mee has been a brilliant signing for Sheffield United, a really astute, clever signing. We’ve been lacking leaders for quite some time. We have a very youthful team, and I believe that the acquisition of Ben Mee, as well as Danny Ings, adds a lot of experience to the changing room, which we have lacked.”
Jimmy believes that Mee demonstrated incredible leadership skills for the Blades on Saturday, which his team had been lacking for some time: “Ben Mee’s a leader both on and off the pitch, so it’s great to have him in and amongst it, but when he came into the side against Oxford, he demonstrated why he was a leader.” He led by example and was a leader off the pitch.
And Jimmy is optimistic that Mee can now provide that steadiness to his club on a more consistent basis, which would greatly benefit his team after a rocky start to a season that began with high expectations: “So he’s definitely someone that we needed.” I believe it’s one of those intangibles that is difficult to quantify in terms of the impact he can have, but he also performed well on the field, winning Man of the Match, so I’m hoping he’ll be a regular in the Sheffield United side this season because I believe it will help us climb the table.”
“Leadership” is a difficult skill-set that’s difficult to quantify, but Ben Mee’s Oxford showing demonstrated it
Ben Mee joined Sheffield United on a one-year contract with the option to extend at the end of the summer transfer window, having been released by Brentford at the end of the 2024-25 season. His debut start for the club was postponed due to the international break, however he was an unused replacement in their 5-0 defeat at Ipswich Town and 1-0 home defeat to Charlton Athletic.
Mee arrived at Bramall Lane with over 400 appearances for his previous clubs, Brentford and Burnley, and he put this experience to good use with a commanding performance against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium. He started in the left-sided centre-back position, but his heat map for the season so far shows how he can support the left-hand side of their midfield while also occasionally getting into attacking positions.
However, it is more difficult to assess “leadership” using statistics or heat maps. When it comes to wielding such power in the dressing room, one thing is certain: experience counts. Younger squads of players may easily become overwhelmed when things aren’t going their way on the pitch, and the influence of someone who’s been there before – and four of Mee’s eleven seasons at Turf Moor were spent in the Championship – could well help to calm the nerves of younger players who haven’t been in the sort of situation in which Sheffield United have found themselves before.
Mee was unable to follow up with another match-winning effort against Southampton the following Tuesday, but early indications suggest that he could be a highly vital purchase for the Blades. While the outcome of the Saints match was disappointing for supporters who had hoped that their team had turned a corner with their first league win of the season, it’s clear that Sheffield United have improved since Chris Wilder’s return, and Mee could play a key role in propelling his new club out of the Championship relegation zone and towards sunnier climes.
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