As of the 30th of March 2020, Sheffield United have scored 30 goals in 28 games which has resulted in us getting 11 wins, 10 draws and 7 losses and gives us a points total of 43. I'm sure if your a United fan you know those particular statistics off by heart and I don't think I need to reiterate where we are in the league. It's been an incredible season and has seen us score some very important goals. Whether these goals have been to secure a point or snatch a win they've all contributed to us getting past that magic 40 point barrier. In this article, let's reminisce about some of the goals that might not have been the most visually impressive but have helped us get to where we are today.
Billy Sharp vs AFC Bournemouth Date: 10th August 2019 Time: 88th Minute Final score: 1-1 Who else really could have scored our first goal in the Premier League for 12 years other than that man Billy Sharp? And what a moment for our captain to score his first goal in the Premier League! After a pretty even Stevens first hour, United arguably had the best chances to score via McGoldrick and Robinson, Bournemouth pulled ahead after a goalmouth scramble following a corner with the ball eventually landing to Chris Mepham who slammed the ball home to put The Cherries one up. During the next half hour, United plugged away and manged to pin Bournemouth back into their own half but never really looked like creating anything of real substance. Oh well, we've given a good account of ourselves against a team that are pretty well established in the le- wait, hold on, Baldock's beat his man and the ball's in the six yard area. SHOOT MCBURNIE! How's he mis- OHMYGOD YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!! BILLY SHARP WITH THE SLIGHTEST OF TOUCHES BUNDLES THE BALL OVER THE LINE! Sorry about that outburst but, yeah, Billy Sharp managed to hook the ball over the line and cue pandemonium wherever United fans may be. Be it in Bournemouth or be it in a terraced house a stones throw away from Hillsborough. We were up and running in the big boy league and of course it would Billy who'd score the goal to get us our first point, no matter what division it is there's one thing you can guarantee and that's Billy Sharp scoring goals. John Lundstram vs Crystal Palace Date: 18th August 2019 Time: 47th Minute Final score: 1-0 Before this point, I don't think many Blades were best pleased that John Lundstram was playing in our starting XI in the Premier League. He'd not been a regular the season before and I think many thought that he'd be on his way in the summer. But he stayed and after an impressive pre season he started the season and played out of his skin that eventually led to him scoring the goal that got us our first win of the Premier League season. Jack O'Connell made a marauding run forward and after playing a lovely ball into the feet of an onrushing Luke Freeman, Freeman beat the Palace defender and hit a cross-cum-shot towards Palace keeper Guaita who parried the ball into the path of Lundstram who emphatically slammed the ball home to put us 1-0 up. It was an incredible moment and I couldn't help but feel proud of a player who has become something of a mascot for this blog. I think I can safely say that before the bout of Lundstram fever that has gripped the nation I liked John Lundstram before it was cool and it's great to see him contribute so much to this season's successes. Kurt Zouma (OG) vs Chelsea Date: 31st August 2019 Time: 89th Minute Final Score: 2-2 It's the first appearance of one of our most prolific goal scorers of the season, own goal, and what a time to open his account! After going into halftime 2-0 down it looked like we'd be doing a repeat of what we did during our previous stint in the Prem which was being unable to gain points against what some may call 'the big six' in the division. However, this is a Wilder team and we really should have known better and just a minute after the restart Callum Robinson managed to slot home a lovely Enda Stevens cross that gave us a sniff. Despite an almost constant bombardment of the Chelsea goal, it looked like we'd be heroic losers who almost pulled a point from the jaws of defeat. All of a sudden, Robinson has the ball on the edge of the Chelsea box, he plays an inviting ball across the face of the box and YESSSSSSS! MOUSSET HAS GOT A TOUCH AND IT'S IN! He didn't get a touch on it though or maybe he did and he just touched it onto the head of Kurt Zouma who was desperately trying to clear the cross. It didn't really matter who got the final touch however, all that mattered was that that ball went into the back of the net and United had indeed snatched a point from the jaws of defeat against one of the 'big teams' in the division with this result perhaps being the first big indicator that weren't just in this division to make up the number. Lys Mousset vs Everton Date: 21st September 2019 Time: 79th Minute Final Score: 0-2 Mousset didn't have to wait long to get his first confirmed goal for United and what a time to score it. Despite having a lead going into half time thanks to another own goal, this time off the head of Yerry Mina, United were under the cosh for a lot of this game and were somewhat hanging onto our slender lead as we neared the last 10 minutes. All of a sudden, Lundstram had the ball on the right hand flank and after spotting the run of a relatively fresh Mousset (he'd come on in the 62nd minute for Callum Robinson) and played a wonderful ball that split the Everton defence and saw Mousset clean through and after setting himself, Moose calmly slotted under Pickford and despite only having one shot on goal all game, United won 2-0 and we completed perhaps the most smash and grab'esque performance of the Wilder era. Lys Mousset vs Arsenal Date: 21st October 2019 Time: 30th Minute Final Score: 1-0 Lys Mousset has had a bit of a knack of scoring important goals this season but this one is perhaps the most important that he has scored up to now. There was a little bit of deja vu about this game, United won a tight game against an Arsenal team playing in yellow with a Frenchman scoring the winner for United. In the 13 years between these teams last playing at The Lane, somethings have changed massively but others stay the same. All it needed was Phil Jagielka to go in goal and you would have thought that we'd had a mini time warp and gone back to 2006. The goal itself came after an Oli Norwood corner was nodded down by Jack O'Connell and left Mousset with the freedom of the Bramall Lane end. One touch was enough and Mousset sent Bramall Lane into raptures. It was our first statement win of the campaign but it definitely wouldn't be our last. Lys Mousset vs West Ham Date: 26th October 2019 Time: 69th Minute Final Score: 1-1 He's at it again this time scoring our equaliser in a game that the media and various sports channels hyping up as a grudge match for the ages which in fact was just another game against a team that has perhaps lost all vestiges of character that they had during the season where they stayed up and we didn't. Callum Robinson arguably should have put United up long before Robert Snodgrass scored the opener for The Hammers. Robinson somehow headed the ball well wide with the goal at his mercy. Up stepped Mousset who coolly finished with a first time volley from an Enda Stevens header. It was a lovely finish but watching does bring up questions about whether the keeper should have saved it or not. It's not the quickest shot and despite it being pretty close to the corner of the net, I think a better keeper may have saved the shot. But again, who cares, it was a great goal and it looked like Mousset would be our talisman for the season. George Baldock vs Tottenham Hotspur Date: 9th November 2019 Time: 78th Minute Final Score: 1-1 This goal really should have been our winner and instead of earning us a well deserved point at Spurs, it really should have been for all three. After going behind to a Heung-Min Son goal that could have been prevented, it looked like United had instantly responded through David McGoldrick however, somehow, someway, the goal was ruled off for offside. The reason given was because a snippet of John Lundstram's boot was just in front of the Spurs defenders body and even though it was in a different phase of play it was still given as offside. Lesser side's may have crumbled after a setback like that but not this United side and it was George Baldock who played in what looked like a cross that somehow ended up in the back of the Spurs net. Baldock looked like he was going to nut someone in his celebration and after another VAR check, the goal was given. It's still an important goal, but imagine if McGoldrick's goal had been given. It could have been an even more important goal. Oliver McBurnie vs Manchester United Date: 24th November 2019 Time: 90th Minute Final Score: 3-3 Thinking about this game now, it was an absolutely incredible game. It had everything. An early lead, a mad 10 minute comeback and a late, late equaliser. To a neutral, it must have been an exciting game but to me in the ground at that time I couldn't help but feel frustration at the fact we had blown a 2-0 lead in just 7 minutes. The fact that I was disappointed about blowing a lead to Manchester United perhaps shows how much Wilder has raised expectations in the 4 years he's been here. But we would eventually get something from this game with a late goalmouth scramble leading to Callum Robinson laying off a ball to Oli McBurnie who controlled the ball and manged to slam it home to see us get a point which over the course of the game is the least we deserved. Looking back it's a good point but I cant help but feel like we should have won. It's a weird feeling but I suppose at the end of the day, a points better than none and having the will to carry on probing, even after throwing away a commanding lead, shows how dedicated and never say die these players are. George Baldock vs Norwich City Date: 8th December 2019 Time: 52nd Minute Final Score: 1-2 It's interesting to see how both of these clubs campaigns have played out. At the start of the season, I think many pundits thought that it would be Norwich who would be setting the Premier League alight and that it would be us who would be struggling to get wins and would be cut adrift at the bottom of the league. Well things couldn't have turned out more differently and United came into this game challenging for Europe and Norwich were desperate for points in a fight against relegation. It would in fact be Norwich who would take the lead thanks to a rasping effort from Alexander Tettey that would see Norwich go in at the break one up. Minutes into the second half, United would level with Enda Stevens nodding home a George Baldock cross. Minutes later United were ahead thanks once again to Baldock and what a goal it was. After shimmying away from the Norwich defender, Baldock turned and placed the ball beyond the reach of Tim Krul and United were on their way for another win on our push for Europe and Norwich were once again left to wonder what might have been. If only they'd bought a competent defender, maybe then they'd have faired better this season. Oliver McBurnie vs Brighton And Hove Albion Date: 21st December 2019 Time: 23rd Minute Final Score: 0-1 Round one of the battle of the expensive Championship signings between McBurnie and Maupay went the way of the ex Swansea man with an early finish from our no.9 being enough to see off a Brighton side who don't lose very often at the AMEX. To be honest the scoreline could have been a lot worse with United having two goals ruled out via VAR and David McGoldrick continuing to outdo himself in finding new ways to miss sitters. But even though Maupay may have gone on to score more goals (so far) this season, I think we've still got the better player because it's not just goalscoring with McBurnie, it's a tireless workrate that must give opposition defenders nightmares as he throws his gangly frame around their vicinity. Maupay is probably the better goalscorer of the two but McBurnie is probably the better all round player and I know which one I'd rather have in my team. John Fleck vs Arsenal Date: 18th January 2020 Time: 83rd Minute Final Score: 1-1 This is an absolutely brilliant goal and it really does show off the classy player that John Fleck is. Coming towards the end of a match that United had been chasing for large parts, Billy Sharp eventually laid on a ball for Fleck who thumped the ball into the pitch which gave it enough bounce to sail into the top left hand corner of Bernd Leno's net and give United a 4 point haul for the season against Arsenal. But holy moly what a player Fleck is. I think it's fair to say that even though he might not have lived up to the early hype of him being Scotland's answer to Wayne Rooney, he has gone on to prove that he is a player who is more than comfortable enough playing at the elite level of club football and the fact that he's still not a regular for the Scotland national team is mind boggling. He may not be the next Wayne Rooney, but he is the first John Fleck and that is absolutely fine. John Lundstram vs AFC Bournemouth Date: 9th February 2020 Time: 84th Minute Final Score: 2-1 We started this article with a goal against Bournemouth and we're going to finish it with a goal against Bournemouth except this time it wasn't to draw a game, it was to win it and who else scored it but that man Lunny. Bournemouth actually took the lead in this game through a strong finish from Callum Wilson. United eventually got back into the game and levelled just on the cusp of half time thanks to a tap in from Billy Sharp. The second half was pretty even and it wasn't until the introduction of Mousset and Lundstram that United managed to turn the screw and get a result. It would be the two substitutes who would combine to get the winner with Mousset laying off a lovely ball to Lundstram who controlled it with his left and finished with his right to give us a win that has proven crucial in our hunt for Europe. In Conclusion, we might not have blown teams away with commanding wins but United have proven that you don't need score loads and hope the other team doesn't score as many. All you need is to be clinical when you get your opportunities and make sure that your backline is up to par to suppress the other team to make sure they don't get chances to score more than you. Until next time, UTB.
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There was a brief period of time, it lasted around a month or two, where Matt Done was the most lethal striker in the whole world (or, at least, that's how it felt to my 14 year old brain) after joining on the 2nd of February 2015 and being unveiled on the pitch alongside Paul Coutts and Kieron Freeman, Done scored on his debut against Colchester United 8 days after signing. Four days later, he scored another two goals in a win against Bristol City. All in all, in the first 8 games that he played for Sheffield United, Matt Done scored 6 goals. After that initial spell however, the goals dried up and he would only go on to score one goal for the rest of that season but during that initial period, to me it really did seem like we'd unearthed this gem from Rochdale who would fire us to promotion. Unfortunately for Matt, that wouldn't come for another year at least but in the meantime, throughout the torrid times of the end of the Clough era and the aberration that was the Adkins experiment Matt Done always tried. He'd always be chasing down defenders, chasing every lost cause no matter who far away that ball was. He didn't score many goals after his initial purple patch (the following 62 games for United produced 7 league goals) but bloody hell did he try. He tried a lot harder than a lot of the other players we had on the books at that time did and during that period it was just nice to see a player that cared. It was a nice feeling to see Matt contribute to our promotion season with crucial goals against Peterborough and Wimbledon along with a final goal that topped off the win against Port Vale providing a nice cherry on top of the cake for Matt's United career and after a United career that had it's up's and down's, Matt left just before the start of the 2017/18 season back to Rochdale. Even though he wasn't the most prolific striker at the club, Matt Done was a trier and at a time when not many players did, It was nice to see someone try for the club. But during that initial period where he was scoring for fun, Matt Done was the greatest striker in the world.
The 24th of September 2017 is a day that will live long in the memory of United fans for many years to come. For the uninitiated, this was the day when Sheffield United beat our city neighbours Sheffield Wednesday 4-2 in their own back yard. The obvious hero's of that day will, quite rightly, be Leon Clarke with his two goals against a team that didn't think he was good enough to play Championship football and I don't think there's anything more that can be said about Mark Duffy's contribution to the result that day. But there is one player who's contributions perhaps went under the radar a little bit. David Brooks entered the field against Wednesday making his first professional start for United, you'd think that something like that might play a little bit heavy on the mind of a player who was just 20 years old but by the way he played you would thought that this lad had been playing in high pressure games for years. His darting run at the Wednesday defence eventually led to him being fouled and after dusting himself off, his lay off resulted in John Fleck arrowing a shot into the bottom right hand corner of Westwood's net. From there on in, Brooks continued to drive forward with the ball making a Wednesday backline who the season before had been a couple of penalty kicks away from Wembley look terrified. He should have probably scored a goal and it would have been deserved. We haven't even got to the best bit yet. A ball is played out to Brooks on left wing, just after the halfway line. Brooks is being handled by experienced defender Jack Hunt, Brooks takes a touch to bring the ball under control, holds off the attentions of Hunt and oh my god he's ruined that man's career. Brooks managed to nutmeg Hunt and before the Wednesday defender could even comprehend what just happened to him Brooks was racing away and played a ball to Leon Clarke that Clarke really should have put away. It was a performance that endeared Brooks to Blades fans and truly made many of us believe that we had a talent on our hands that could go on to the very top of the game.
Not long after that United played against in another local grudge match with a visit to Elland Road giving United the opportunity to top a league that some had said we would never even survive in. After goals from Billy Sharp (who else?) and Kalvin Phillips the score was level. Late on in the game, Mark Duffy was advancing on the Leeds penalty area. To his left was Brooksy and an fantastic ball slid through the Leeds backline like a hot blade through butter. Brooks still had a lot to do and a player with less confidence could easily have put this one wide. Not Brooksy. Brooks let the ball role onto his left foot and calmly rolled home the ball in such a nonchalant way that you'd think this was his 200th career goal and not his first. You only really realised he hadn't scored that many goals in a professional context when he began his celebration. Not knowing what to do, he first set off round the back of the goal then eventually struck up a pose in front of the United fans when he found where they were. So an influential performance against both Wednesday and Leeds, surely this kids is set for a big season? Unfortunately, Brooksy season was cut in half when he was out for a good few months with glandular fever. This isn't a disease to be sniffed at and has kept people ko'd for months on end. Brooksy did eventually come back and came back with a bang with a goal against Burton Albion. It was his first goal in front of The Kop and you'd like to think that would be the first of many. It wasn't to be. In the summer Brooks was sold for around £12 million to AFC Bournemouth who at that time were in the Premier League whilst we were still in the Championship. It was a sale that I don't think anyone on a United end really wanted to see but I think most United fans understood why Brooks left. It was Premier League football against Championship football and for a player like Brooks, he deserved to be plying his trade on the biggest stage and the Prem is just that as we are finding out this year. Brooks left with very little ill will towards him and his sale allowed us to buy crucial players like Oli Norwood and John Egan so, in a roundabout sort of way, he did help us a little bit in our journey to the Premier League. It's such a shame to see that Brooksy career at Bournemouth has been hampered by injury this year, especially after the year he had last season. He proved that he could do it on the biggest stage and there was even talk of a move onto one of the biggest clubs in the country. There are a lot of what if's with David Brooks, what if he doesn't contract glandular fever? What if he stays at United for at least one more year? What if he doesn't injure his ankle keeping out for a large amount of this season? They're all interesting scenarios to contemplate but at the end of the day, David Brooks is easily one of the most technically gifted footballers that I have ever had the pleasure of watching be it at The Lane or be it on telly on the south coast. David Brooks is a talent that should be cherished whilst he's here. Hope you get back soon Brooksy, and the next time your at The Lane, you'll definitely be getting a big round of applause from me. As of January 2020, Chris Wilder has signed 57 players 32 of those have been permanent signings and 19 were loans. By and large a lot of these signings have been incredibly successful and the fact that we got players like David McGoldrick, John Egan, John Fleck and Oliver Norwood for a combined fee of about £5 million proves that Wilder is very adept at working the transfer market to his advantage. However, there have been a few duds mixed in with those successes and that is what we will be looking at today. The signings of the Wilder era that didn't quite come off. Just going to lay out some ground rules as to what I believe is a 'strange' signing. If the player has made less than or equal to 10 league appearances then that is a strange signing, also, this article will only cover up to the 2018/19 season. This is because despite some signings in the current squad having not made those 10 league appearances (*cough* Michael Verrips *cough*) I think it's still to early to judge on these players time at the club. Have we all got that? Good! Right then, let's all getin our Peroni powered time machine and head back to the beginning of the Wilder era, 2016/17.
2016/17 James Wilson Signed From: Oldham Athletic Appearances/Goals: 7/1 Clubs After United: Walsall (loan), Lincoln City, Ipswich Town One of the first signings that Wilder made as boss of United, James Wilson joined from Oldham on a two year deal after declining to extend his stay at Boundary Park. Wilson was part of a new look Sheffield United backline that also consisted of John Brayford, Jack O'Connell (yay) and Chris Hussey (boo) that started off the season against Bolton. It's fair to say that the start to that season wasn't exactly the best but that wasn't necessarily Wilson's fault. He was a solid defender who went by the wayside when United began playing our now vaunted 3-5-2 formation. There is one thing that James Wilson did that I think all Blades fans will thank him for and that's scoring the goal that won us our first game of that season that got the ball rolling on a season that would eventually see us garner 100 points and win promotion back to the Championship after 6 years away. So for that James Wilson, I, and I think all Blades, thank you for scoring that goal. Chris Hussey Signed From: Bury Appearances/Goals: 7/0 Clubs After United: Swindon Town (loan), Cheltenham Town When Chris Hussey signed for United I remember reading an article somewhere that described him as having the best left foot in the whole of League One. Pretty glowing praise right? Well... I do wonder if that person had a monetary investment in Hussey because from what I saw, he didn't have one of the best left feet in League One. He was absolutely diabolical. He may have provided the assist for our first goal of the season but apart from that he didn't do anything else of worth whilst he was here. I think the fact that when he was replaced at half time against Oxford for Jack O'Connell more or less sums up his career at United. Joe Riley Signed From: Manchester United Appearances/Goals: 2/0 Clubs After United: Bradford City The arrival of Joe Riley from Manchester United was seen as something by a coup of a signing in some quarters. The season before this one, Riley had seemingly been on the precipice of a first team start for Man Utd as inclusions in matchday squads for both the Europa League and the FA Cup seemed to indicate Riley was the right back of the future for the Red Devils. His development however was hampered after suffering a serious injury whilst he was on loan at United. Not much more to say about this one really, I suppose he did a job for us in the draw against Bristol Rovers? Reece Brown Signed From: unattached Appearances/Goals: 2/0 Clubs After United: Bury, Rochdale What a strange signing this was. The brother of Wes, Reece Brown was brought into the Blades fold after a successful trial spell that saw him earn a short term deal with the club. During his short spell at the club, the abiding memory that I have of Brown is his ability to look like a professional footballer who has never played football in his life. During a match in the Checkatrade Trophy, Brown had the ball played to him with no pressure on him whatsoever. He proceeded to take a slice at the ball that somehow looped all the way to Simon Moore who had to scramble to keep the ball out of his net. I seem to recall that this inadvertent error led to Leicester scoring a goal but I could be wrong. I think his over appearance came as a last minute sub to defend a corner. A very strange signing indeed. 2017/18 Ricky Holmes Signed From: Charlton Athletic Appearances/Goals: 5/0 Clubs After United: Oxford United (loan), Gillingham (loan) It's been 2 years since Ricky Holmes first joined United from Charlton and despite only making five appearances for the club (to be honest, I think I can only remember him playing for us once so... credit to him I guess?) and despite leaving the club twice on loan he is somehow still here at the club as I write this article. It's a bizarre signing because it had been rumoured that we had been chasing the signing of Holmes for around six months prior to his actual arrival and the fact that Wilder had managed him before at Northampton seemed to indicate that he would at least be more involved in the first team than he has been. But, alas, here we are, numberless and having not appeared in a matchday squad for what must be at least a year. Maybe he'll leave this summer, maybe he won't. To Be honest, who knows where Holmes will end up next? Ben Heneghan Signed From: Motherwell Appearances/Goals: 0/0 Clubs After United: Blackpool (loan) Ben Heneghan is something of an anomaly at United. If you watch the excellent video that Bleacher Report created following United's autumn transfer deadline day Wilder seems to be very positive about the signing of Heneghan and it would seem that he would at least have some part to play in our push for the play offs in the later half of that season. Heneghan hasn't made a league appearance for United in the 3 years that he has been on the books of the club. He did make an appearance in the FA Cup against Preston though so I guess that's a positive. Since his signing, he's been on loan at Blackpool twice which is where you will currently find him playing his football. Nathan Thomas Signed From: Hartlepool United Appearances/Goals: 1/0 Clubs After United: Shrewsbury Town (loan), Notts County (loan), Carlisle United (loan) Nathan Thomas must be one of the few players that has one of the best goalscoring records whilst playing for United. He has played three games for United (1 league appearance) and scored 2 goals. His first goal came on his United debut scoring the winner against old foes Walsall and then later on in the same season he scored an absolute screamer against Ipswich in the FA Cup. It's strange because the reason that Thomas chose to come to us over his boyhood club Middlesbrough is because he believed that he would be getting more game time at United than he would at Boro. Technically he could still play a part in a United shirt but with his contract running out this summer, I highly doubt that fact. At least he'll always have Ipswich. James Wilson Signed From: Manchester United (loan) Appearances/Goals: 8/1 Clubs After United: Aberdeen (loan), Aberdeen, Salford City A player that initially promised so much and has delivered so very little throughout his career, James Wilson came to United on the back of a serious injury in his previous loan spell at Derby County this was once again seen as a bit of coup of a signing from United with Wilson seemingly highly thought of back at Man Utd. Well, I guess he wasn't that highly thought of because just six years after making 13 appearances for Man United during the 2014-15 season finds himself slumming out in League Two with Salford City. It's amazing to think that Wilson came on in a Steel City Derby ahead of Billy Sharp but hey! He did score against Norwich. Isn't that nice. 2018/19 Kean Bryan Signed From: Manchester City Appearances/Goals: 0/0 Clubs After United: Bolton Wanderers (loan) He's been here for about a year and Kean Bryan is still yet to make a league appearance for United. Initially joining the club on a free transfer from Manchester City. Hopes were raised for Bryan when City inserted a buy back clause into his contract. Surely if City have inserted a buy back clause, this kid has to be good? Well, he's made some appearances in both the League Cup and the FA Cup and as perhaps one of the only people who has seen every one of Bryan's professional appearances for United I feel I can give a fairly good assessment of his United career so far. That assessment is a lukewarm meh. He's not exactly bathed himself in glory when he's played and did nearly murder Michael Verrips in the cup game against Fylde earlier this year. Apart from that, he can jump high, yay? Ben Woodburn Signed From: Liverpool (loan) Appearances/Goals: 7/0 Clubs After United: Oxford United (loan) Before the signing of Sander Berge this January, the signing of Ben Woodburn during the summer transfer window of the 2018/19 was perhaps the highest profile signing in the recent history of Sheffield United. Before he went on to have a pretty dire stay at United Woodburn was seen as the crown jewel of the Liverpool academy and would go on to become the third youngest player to play for Liverpool and is currently the youngest player to ever score for The Reds. Alongside this fact, he's also the second youngest goalscorer for Wales (behind Gareth Bale) when he scored on his international debut with a crucial 25 yard strike against Austria that kept Wales in the hunt for qualification for the 2018 World Cup. It seemed like we'd got a young stud on our hands that would more than make up for the sale of David Brooks a few weeks earlier. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be for the young Welshman and whenever he did appear for United he looked like a rabbit in the headlights. To be fair to the lad, it was his first time away from his parent club and moving from Liverpool to Sheffield can be pretty jarring at the best of times, more so when your 18. It's perhaps best summed up as simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time and it's good to see him having a modicum of success out at Oxford. It's just a real shame he couldn't have made more of an impact at United. Scott Hogan Signed From: Aston Villa (loan) Appearances/Goals: 8/2 Clubs After United: Stoke City (loan), Birmingham City (loan) We started with a signing who, despite limited appearances, scored an important goal in the recent history of Sheffield United and we end with another who made limited appearances but scored perhaps the most important goal in recent times for Sheffield United. Scott Hogan will always be remembered at Sheffield United as the man who scored the goal that eased the nerves in the crucial end of season clash against Ipswich in the match that would eventually see us promoted to the Premier League. Apart from that goal, Hogan would be like a more modern day Matt Done, he ran around a lot and ultimately did very little but he did score a goal that I think will live long in the memory of Sheffield United fans and for that Scott, we all thank you. I think the overwhelming feeling whilst going back over these signings is that they were all hindered by the rapid progress of our team under Wilder. It's not necessarily that these were bad player, it's just the fact that the players who they were competing with for places have and were playing out of their skins for a manager who has not only saved a club that was floundering and was looking to be on the precipice of a much longer stay in League One but revolutionised a club who now play some of the most innovative football in the country and are going out of their way to gate-crash a top six that no one other than United fans fully believed that The Blades were capable of. For every Reece Brown that Wilder signs, he'll sign an David McGoldrick or an Oli Norwood and that is why Chris Wilder is the best manger United have had in the 21st century. Thank you for reading, until next time, UTB. Todd Cantwell has very strange hair. It's almost like someone just emptied a bowl of spaghetti on his head and he's styled it into something that I doubt anyone would ever go into a barber's and ask for. "Hello Jim, just came in for a trim today" "Barry! Long time no see! No problems mate, what can I do you for?" "Well, do you know Todd Cantwell? I want that." "Oh. Ok then if your sure..." But hey, it suits him. Anyway, United won yesterday! It was another three points as we continue our cruise to the continent. It wasn't a dominating performance but we got the job done. So how did the match pan out.
United started the much brighter side and managed to pin back Norwich early doors. This lead to an eventual chance for Oli McBurnie who made Krul honest with a powerful header that had to be tipped up and over the bar. Norwich then managed to get a hold on the game and after a corner was poorly cleared by United, the ball dropped to an unmarked Teemu Pukki who, despite having the freedom of the Kop end, managed to drill his effort onto the side of the post. It was a warning for United and, to be fair, Norwich continued to press but didn't create anymore real clear cut chances. After riding the Norwich onslaught, United did manage to get back into the game and managed to open the scoring thanks to a bullet header from that man Billy Sharp. It was a brilliant move with a delightful ball from my man Lundstram piercing the Norwich backline and allowing Sharp to net with relative ease. After this, United smelled blood in the water and Lundstram was at it again after controlling a ball and unleashing a dipping volley that went narrowly wide of Krul's right hand post. Lundstram was played in again after good work from Sharp saw Lundstram strike a fierce effort that if placed anywhere else but directly at Krul would have probably seen the lead doubled. Half time came and United perhaps didn't have as much of the ball as they would have liked but looked assured and looked to be stretching Norwich as the half ended. Second half and United came out of the traps quickly again with a good spell of pressure resulting in Chris Basham being possessed by Dennis Bergkamp after he effortlessly lifted a ball over the head of a Norwich defender and with most of the ground on their feet... Blazed the ball over the ball. Despite the finish, it was a sublime bit of skill from Bash and I think we sometimes forget that he does have skills like this in his locker. Anyway, the match continues and, once again, Norwich are pressing but not really finding anything clear cut. They did manage to get about 50 offsides throughout the game so I suppose they've got that going for them. They had nothing clear cut until they got a corner which resulted in perhaps one of the greatest saves ever seen at Bramall Lane. The ball came in and the ball was nodded to the back post where all Mario Vrancic had to do was tap the ball in to level the scores. Somehow, someway, Dean Henderson managed to keep the ball off the line twice then when the ball bobbled up to Josip Drmic who smashed the ball for a certain goal surely? Nope. Henderson got an arm to it and the follow up to that was blocked on the line by McGoldrick. It's a world class save and even after seeing it perhaps 4 times now, I'm still not certain how Norwich didn't manage to bundle the ball over the goal line. It's saves like this that really do make you remember who good Henderson truly is and he wasn't done there! A ball was played into the box and was knocked down to a waiting Jamal Lewis who's shot was beaten away by Henderson and eventually cleared by Lundstram. It was only a couple of saves, but they couldn't have been more important, can we please try and sign this man in the summer? He's absolutely incredible. Anyway, Norwich continued to press with their only tactic of knocking long balls in behind for Pukki to run onto just resulting in offsides and United managed to hold off the offside onslaught and got their 11th win of the season and moved up to 6th in the table! It wasn't the most dominating performance from United but we never really looked like losing the game. Norwich had a lot of the ball, but didn't do much with it and their tactic of waiting for Pukki to run then hitting the ball towards him became very easy to read very quickly and left them looking pretty toothless against our back three who managed to clean up any attack expertly. So, Newcastle next, let's hope we don't have a repeat of the antics in December then eh? Until next time, UTB. It's been a real tale of two seasons for United and Norwich. Separated by just five points at the end of the 2018/19 season with Norwich champions and United in second we come to the present day and things aren't quite as close this season as they were last season. Although one team in languishing at the foot of the table, it isn't the team that many pundits labelled as certainties for the drop at the beginning of the season.
Norwich come into this match nineteen points and twelve league places behind United. Despite playing attractive football that relies heavily on an attacking triumvirate of Emiliano Buendia, Todd Cantwell and the Finnish firecracker Teemu Pukki (out of the twenty five goals that Norwich have scored this season, 17 have come from Pukki and Cantwell) the real problems have come at the defensive end. Fifty one goals conceded sees them have the second leakiest backline in the league (Aston Villa have conceded one more goal) in a problem that could have been addressed in both transfer windows but bafflingly wasn't, Norwich really have been the architects of their own downfall. Despite their fate being more or less a foregone conclusion Norwich have put some impressive results together as of late with back to back victories against Leicester and Tottenham (on penalties) giving glimpses of hope to The Canaries followers. We've already talked about the attacking prowess of Pukki and Cantwell so now lets take a look at another two players who are highly rated in The Canaries squad. Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis play the full back positions for Norwich and were mainstays in the side that got The Yellows into the Premier League with both being included in the Championship Team Of The Season for 2018/19 with Aarons being named Young Player Of The Year and Lewis getting called up to play for Northern Ireland during the promotion year. With Aarons having just turned 20 and Lewis having recently turned 22 you'd like to think that the full back situation at Norwich could be sorted for the next decade at least but with both impressing in their debut year and Norwich staring down the barrel of relegation you've got to think if Norwich do take the plunge, at least one of the starlets will leave in the summer. Until then however, they will definitely be ones United will need to keep an eye on if we're to succeed on Saturday. How do I see this one going then? Although Norwich have picked up some notable results as of late and with the added danger of Pukki and Cantwell they still are not very defensively sound and I don't even know if they can really park the bus effectively enough to keep United out. I'm going to go for a 3-1 win for United with McBurnie getting a brace and Fleck getting the other. Until next time, UTB. It wasn't the prettiest of wins, in fact it was perhaps one of the ugliest victories that United have earnt over the course of the past 4 years but that doesn't matter at the end of the day. The only thing that matters as I write this review is that we did what we needed to do and got past a resilient Reading and booked our place in the last 8 of the FA Cup for the first time under Wilder and for the first time since 2014. It didn't seem like the evening would be that tough when the match started however, United took the lead within 2 minutes with a sublime ball from Ben Osborn being met by David McGoldrick who, for the first time since Hull away in April, scored a lovely header that ensured United's early pressure payed off and for the first 20 minutes it looked like a relatively strong United team would be able to pull away from their Championship opponents. Somewhat against the run of play however Reading almost levelled thanks to a thunderous effort from top scorer Yakou Meite that Dean Henderson managed to tip athletically over the bar. United would answer back with their own long range effort, McGoldrick fancied the chance to double his goal tally and let fly from around 25 yards that kept Reading keeper Cabral honest. Apart from the Meite effort, Reading hardly threatened but on the cusp of half time they were awarded a pretty contentious penalty after George Baldock was judged to have pushed Andy Rinomhota in the back. George Puscas stepped up and despite Henderson going the right way, the ball was just out of his reach and Reading were back on level terms going into the break.
The second half kicked off and it looked like United had just completely fallen asleep during the break and despite not creating anything concrete that would worry Henderson did look more likely to score. United on the other hand looked pretty rudderless with errant passes common and a complete lack of movement by some making Reading's defensive work very easy for them. Oli McBurnie came on around the hour mark for Lys Mousset who it has to be said had a very disappointing game and looked like he was playing for himself rather than for the team. The outlet of McBurnie did lead to The Blades having a bit of an outlet to hit up top and, unlike Mousset, McBurnie did press the Reading defence. Reading continued to look the more likely to score however and Billy Sharp was thrown on with 10 minutes of regular time left as United looked to kill the game off in normal time. The goal didn't come however, and this game was heading to extra time. The first period of extra time started with United looking to pin back Reading and did begin to make some positive moves and just before the end of the first period of added time United found a breakthrough with Luke Freeman working his way to the edge of the penalty area and putting in a lovely ball that was met by none other than Billy Sharp who buried the ball and put United into the driving seat going into the final period of extra time. The second period started and United were more than content to protect the one goal lead and threw on Panagiotis Retsos to shore up the backline and despite some near misses from Reading, United managed to hold out and got our name in the hat for the last 8 of the FA Cup. Was it an impressive performance? No, far from it in fact with only perhaps Luke Freeman and Ben Osborn being standouts on a night were nothing really clicked for United. I suppose the big positive, apart from getting through to the quarters, is the fact that we managed to limit Reading to no real opportunities throughout the game and you've got to wonder if we would have gone on to add to our goal total had the penalty not been given. But hey, we're through to the next round and our FA Cup journey continues. Until next time UTB. When I finished the review of the Liverpool match about 2 months ago, I genuinely thought that would be the last time I would be writing about an away match for a fair few months at least but then like being hit by an errant Jay McEveley clearance it was announced that our fifth round tie on Tuesday would be streamed by that fabled streaming service that is Facebook Watch. First off, that is pretty cool and the fact that it is a free stream makes it more accessible to fans that might not be able to afford your BT Sport's or your Sky Sports so thumbs up there but, secondly, Facebook have a streaming service!? Really? Apparently it's been available since 2016 and has shown great sporting events like Gaelic Football and even the Mixed Match Challenge. It's a service that I don't even think is readily advertised on Facebook itself but hey, free football! So, what have Reading been up to since we last played them?
It doesn't seem like much has changed for Reading, last time we faced them they were fighting off relegation and now they're fighting off relegation. Laying 6 points off Stoke it seems like such a long time since Reading were a penalty shoot out away from the Premier League back in 2017 and after going through four managers in two years, the current man in the hot seat is Mark Bowen. Perhaps most well known in his playing days for his 9 year stint at Norwich during the mid 80's-mid 90's, the Reading job is Bowen's first permanent appointment and it's sufficient to say he's not exactly set the world on fire so far in his 23 games in charge. gaining only 9 wins in that timeframe. Despite this lukewarm run of form, Reading do have some talented players on their books that could prove to cause United some problems. Chief amongst those players is John Swift. Swift was once a player who much was expected of, coming through the ranks at Portsmouth Swift was soon snapped up by Chelsea when he was just 11. Despite winning the 2011-12 FA Youth Cup and earning a 4 year professional deal shortly after, Swift only made one appearance for Chelsea mixed in with loan spells to Rotherham, Swindon and Brentford. It would be this loan spell at Brentford that showed why Chelsea took a punt on him at such a young age, despite suffering an Achilles injury, Swift would go on to score 7 goals in 27 games and after returning to Stamford Bridge Reading would strike and brought the midfielder in on a three year contract. Despite injury problems, limiting Swift to 118 appearances in his four years at the Madjeski, Swift has begun to show some consistency this season with 5 goals and 9 assists in 22 games so far this season. Other dangermen for The Hoops include Yakou Meite (11 goals) and George Puscas (10 goals) so despite their lowly position, we shouldn't underestimate Reading because if we do, we could be in trouble. So how do I see this one going? Judging by Wilder's comments in today's press conference we'll be putting out a relatively strong team with the possibility of Enda being the only absentee because of injury. It could be a good way to allow some of the new signings to gel into the set up so we'll have to see if either Retsos or Zivkovic have any involvement. I'm going to go for a 2-0 win for United with Lundstram and Sharp getting the goals. Until next time Blades fans, UTB. |
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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