So its three days on from Hull and Sheffield United have seemingly gone a bit haywire. Chris Wilder's post match interview was a particularly dire listen. He gave a scathing review of the players performance and said that the playoffs were no longer an obtainable goal. That's not something you really want to hear your manger say but, in a way, its true. If we continue to perform like we did on friday for the rest of the season then all the good work the team has done to get to the position they are currently in will be undone. Although, results went our way on the saturday and sunday games so we still are only two points away from a playoff spot. A little bit of luck has come our way and we can right the wrongs of friday with a positive result tommorow. However that's not the end of the drama...
It came out in the news today that Tottenham Hotspur are preparing to place a £10 million bid for our young elsh prodigy David Brooks. Although Wilder has come out and said he knows nothing of Tottenham's plans, it wHHRDHDRould be a very Sheffield United thing to sell Brooks. Wilder has also stated that he wants to know what direction the club will be going on inthe future due to the continued battle over ownership between Kevin McCabe and The Prince. Now, worst case scenario, we sell Brooks for, lets face it, a pittance of a fee and Wilder leaves due to not being informed of the direction of the club. That's the worst possible thing that could happen to the club at this point. Brooks is arguably the most exciting prospect to come from the academy (via Man City) since perhaps Harry Maguire and selling him at this point in his career for a fee which is pretty insulting considering the way that transfer fees are now thrown around would not be beneficial for the club. Brooks could be a focal point to build the team around for at least the next 4 years. And if Wilder goes then who replaces him? Wilder has done in one year what it took 5 mangers before to do in six. Not only that, but he has us established as a team currently fighting it out for a playoff spot. I mean, we've been in League One for the past six years! We shouldn't currently be anywhere near the top six based on where we've been but Wilder has made us competitive and has made fans believe in Sheffield United again. Letting Wilder go at this point could be fatal for the club so please... whoever takes over be it The Prince or McCabe... DON'T LET WILDER OR BROOKS WALK! So onto the fixture at hand, Reading are a team that just last season were a sliver away from promotion to the Premier League but now find themselves embroiled in a relegation dog fight. However, there is a lot of talent in that team they showed during the last 10 or so minutes at the Lane back near the start of the season that they are an extremly dangerous team. So unlike friday, we can't underestimate our opposition and should be on full alert instead of putting in a half baked performance again. Still, I believe we can come away for the win. I'm going for a 2-1 Blades win with Sharp and Duffy scoring the goals.
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Well... That was truly awful. First of all, I thoroughly apologise to Hull for my score prediction before the game. Hull were the better team throughout the night and could have had at least another 2 goals at least. Hull managed to limit United to only one real chance throughout the 90 minutes and the rest was just a lot of hitting and hoping. So well done Hull, best of luck for the rest of the season and I hope that everything works out between yourselves and your owners. Now, onto the Blades and hoo boy were we bad...
Wilder made two changes to the team that beat QPR with John Fleck coming in to replace John Lundstram and, bizarrely, Ryan Leonard came in to replace Mark Duffy. This is a strange switch because Leonard himself isn't really a central attacking midfielder like Duffy. He's more of a box to box midfielder who can break up and redistribute play. Leonard doesn't really seem to have the same attacking prowess as Duffy so we effectively started without a main focal point in midfield attack. That's the first red flag. So, the game starts and we start on the back foot with Hull making chances pretty regularly in the first 20 minutes most evidently when Evandro managed to break away from Basham and hit a shot that Blackman managed to turn away with his foot. There was a small break due to Hull fans throwing balls onto the pitch as a protest but once play started again, United still didn't wake up and were forced to constantly go long ball and this would ultimately lead to the same thing happening time and time again. Basham or O'Connell get ball, they send ball to either Sharp or Clarke, Sharp or Clarke either knock it down into space where there were no white shirts or were overpowered and gave the ball away. This was basically all United did attack wise in the first half and more or less all game. Second red flag, an inability to adjust. So half time comes and United did brighten up a bit towards the end of the first half with Fleck flashing a shot a few yards wide of McGregor's right post. Still, a disappointing first half and we perhaps were a little lucky to keep the scores at 0-0. The second half began and United looked refreshed and started to get on top most notably when Sharp managed to latch onto a long ball forward and went one on one with McGregor who turned the low drive wide similar to Blackman in the first half. Then Hull got a corner and United failed to clear and got mixed up leaving Dicko open and he slotted home. Well... We'll get at them now right? RIGHT!? We didn't. We looked fresh out of ideas and just went back to hoof ball. That was all really. Just... Hoof... Hull made some half chances as the half wore on but they weren't really anything to write about. So Sheffield United lost the Nigel Adkins derby and boy howdy were we bad. United failed to adapt to Hull's tactics of making us play hoof ball and that was ultimately our downfall and has been our undoing as of late. We really need to start coming into games with a plan b and plan c otherwise, most games could just become repeats of this. Overall, a bitterly disappointing game but we go again next Tuesday with a visit to the Reading. Here's hoping we look better than we did tonight. Soooooo... two pieces in a month... that's a new thing. But lets not delve into inactivity TOO MUCH. Instead, lets look forward to tonight's television fixture against local-ish rivals Hull City. So after victory in the Alex Baptiste derby on Tuesday, United come into this fixture on the back of two straight wins in the League. Hull City on the other hand, are struggling. The former Premier League outfit find themselves in a battle against relegation to the third tier of English football after a tumultuous season which started with Leonid Slutsky as manger and has led to ex Blades boss and Dean Hammonds lover, Nigel Adkins at the helm. United come into the fixture with no worrying injury doubts with James Wilson, Ricky Holmes and the returning wunderkid David Brooks possibly recovering from little niggling injuries that prevented them from being involved in the midweek clash. Hull on the other hand could still be recovering from the awful news of Ryan Mason being forced to retire from football at the age of 26 after a head injury suffered in the middle of Hull's last Premier League campaign.
So, what happened the last time the two teams met? Well, Leon Clarke went on a rampage and scored 4 goals in the second half of a game that Hull led at half time thanks to a Kamil Grosicki wonder goal. This was a dominating performance from United and more specifically Clarke, who although hasn't scored since the New Year's Day draw against Derby, has looked more like his early season self in recent games. So, how do I see this clash going down? I believe that we will have too much for Hull and that we will come away with a convincing 3-0 victory with Clarke, Sharp and a bullet header from Richard Stearman earning the Blades three more points to the playoff charge. Thanks for reading guys! Enjoy the game! January, much like the summer window, was a month full of transfers that make the eye water. With hundreds of millions of pounds being spent, Sheffield United came away with four new players. This article will look at what these players got up to before becoming Blades. (All transfer fees gathered from transfermarkt) Ryan Leonard Signed from: Southend United for £711,000 Former clubs: Plymouth Argyle, Weston-Super-Mare, Tiverton Town, Southend United Career games/goals: 253/20 After a transfer saga that seemingly never seemed to end, Ryan Leonard finally put pen to paper on a long term deal with the Blades. Leonard can play in a variety of positions and was the captain and current player of the year at former club Southend after a stellar season that saw him play 43 games as Southend narrowly missed out on the League One Playoffs. At 25, Leonard come to United on the cusp of his prime years and his versatility and a willingness to give his all at a higher level should make him a shrewd signing. Lee Evans Signed from: Wolves for £765,000 Former clubs: Newport County, Wolves, Bradford City, Wigan Athletic Career games/goals: 143/11 A surprise signing for all Blades fans. Evans was spending the season on loan at Wigan Athletic and was having great season all things considered. Evans had played in 20 games of Wigan's surge to the top end of League One scoring one goal and becoming a crucial part of that push for promotion. During this stint, Evans became a fully fledged Wales international coming on as a second half substitute in Wales 1-1 draw with Panama. A promising player and definitely one for the future. Ricky Holmes Signed from: Charlton Athletic for £405,000 Former clubs: Chelmsford City, Barnet, Portsmouth, Northampton Town, Charlton Athletic Career games/goals: 408/99 A reunion between Chris Wilder and Ricky Holmes finally came through in January after another transfer saga that seemed destined to happen in the summer but was quelled after Holmes signed a new deal at Charlton. 5 Months on and Holmes signed on for three and a half years. The current Charlton player of the season comes as a bit of a gamble being 30 years old but Holmes comes trying to prove himself in a higher division for the first time in his career so that drive to succeed could make him a useful player. James Wilson Signed from: Manchester United on a loan to the season's end Former clubs: Manchester United, Brighton and Hove Albion, Derby County Career games/goals: 48/9 Wilson comes as player looking to prove himself after recovering from a serious knee injury that cut short his time on loan at Derby. Wilson has made 15 first team appearances for the Red Devils and scored 3 goals in those 15 games along with representing England at all levels apart from the first team. Wilson also comes as the Man United Under 23's top scorer. If he can avoid injury, Wilson could provide the goals that aid United in the fight for the top six. Good window or bad window?: I believe that the January transfer window was particularly fruitful. United brought in strength in areas that needed it and managed to hold onto key pieces of the team that have got us at the top end of the table in the first place. All in all, this was an excellent window. |
AuthorHi my name is John and i will be giving my thoughts on the blades matches and all blades related news in this section Archives
November 2022
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