Yes, believe it or not, we're doing this. In a season where we didn't win a game until mid January and only just managed to pull level with Derby County for the lowest goals scored total in Premier League history we're going to hand out awards in 6 categories (yes, some of them are scraping the bottom of the barrel as you'll see shortly). So who will be the big winners? Who will turn up in what and turn up with who? Who might say something controversial and have to be thrown out of the venue? All those questions will not be answered because it's a blog post and not ruddy DocFest. So enough build up, let's hand out some of these very prestigious awards!
Most Improved Player Of The Season No, this isn't a joke category but I can see why some may think that it is because not many of the squad improved on performances from a season finishing 9th in the Premier League to finishing rock bottom a year later but some players actually did improve (maybe marginally) on performances from last season. Those players nominated are: David McGoldrick A first nomination of the year for arguably our stand out player of the year. Coming off the back of a season where it took him 10 months to grab his first Premier League goals after missing some sitters during the season, McGoldrick came back this year and quadrupled his league total on the previous season, scoring 8 goals over the course of the season. This total put him above players like De Bruyne and Werner in the goal getting totals. Not only did he score goals but his general play outside of the penalty box was a joy to watch all season and was a definite shining light during this season. Sander Berge The man who got us serenading him at Selhurst Park in one of the last good moments we had as a fanbase before the world shut down for months had a very, very good start to the season for United and began to show us why he is seen as one of the brightest talents in world football at the minute and why we were fending off teams like Napoli and Liverpool for his signature back in January 2020. Unfortunately, his season was effectively ended with a freak injury during our home game with Man United back in December with his only appearances since them being 45 minutes against Spurs and about an hour against Palace. Will we see him pull on a United shirt again come August? Time will tell. George Baldock A little bit of a surprise nomination and one that I'm still not sure is completely necessary due to George by and large staying consistently good when comparing performances between this season and last. Baldock has been a consistent presence on the right flank this season and like McGoldrick has been a little flicker of light in a season that has by and large been shrouded in darkness. Ben Osborn After a few brief cameo appearances just before lockdown, Osborn has gone about having a tidy campaign this year and made 24 appearances over the course of the season as well as bagging his first competitive Blades goal in the loss at Elland Road against Leeds. A terrier of a player that appears to not to tire not matter how much he runs. It's a bit like having Matt Done back and, to be honest, it's just nice to have a player who actually looks like he's trying this season. And the winner is... David McGoldrick! A first award for Didzy tonight and it's a well deserved win! After going nearly a full season not scoring a goal to then scoring 8 the season after in one of the worst Premier League teams ever is quite the achievement. Will Dave win more tonight (answer: more than likely). Goal Of The Season 20 Goals for United this season. People thought that 38 in 38 was a poor return last season but then this season we made that goal return look like we'd played like Newcastle under Keegan. But in those 20 goals there were still some banging goals scored by the Blades. Quick note, of the four goals in this category, 3 are from David McGoldrick which makes sense seeing as though he scored nearly half of our league goals this season. David McGoldrick VS Aston Villa, Home, 3rd March 2021 Holy moly this was brilliant. If you ever doubted the fact that David McGoldrick was a top class footballer, just watch this goal and be prepared to eat your words. During the closing weeks of the season, Dave was compared to Zidane in the closing weeks of the season but his most Zidane-esque moment arguably came two months before those comparisons. Picking up the ball just inside of the Villa half, Dave sent the Villa right back for a hotdog with a spin so quick you'd think he'd just turned into a human twizzler ride that you see at fun fairs. After that, Dave pinged out a perfect ball to Baldock on the right. Baldock threw some shapes and eventually sent a cross-cum-shot across the face of the Villa box into seemingly empty space but wait! David bloody McGoldrick was there to send the ball high into the roof of the Bramall Lane end goal and put us 1-0 up. An astonishing goal from an astonishing player. David McGoldrick VS Arsenal, Away, 4th October 2020 This was actually our first league goal of the season and although it meant very little in the grand scheme of the game (we were already 2-0 down when Dave scored) it was still a brilliant finish. Picking the ball up just inside the Arsenal 18 yard box, Dave did some nice ball control and curled home past Leno to give us a first goal of the season. David McGoldrick VS Burnley, Home, 23rd May, 2021 Now this goal was special for two reasons, 1) it's a cracking goal and 2) it's the first goal that Blades fans actually managed to see in a ground since Billy Sharp's header against Norwich back in March last year. Similar to the Villa goal, Dave drove towards the Bramall Lane end goal and opened up to shoot from about 30 yards out with his curling effort beyond the outstretched hand of Norris in the Burnley goal to send all gathered in Bramall Lane into raptures for the first time in 14 months. It was brilliant to be able to see a goal of such quality in the flesh again and is another reminder that we managed to get this man on a free. Incredible. Jayden Bogle VS Bristol Rovers, Away, 9th January, 2021 It's not a complete David McGoldrick shut out, honestly it could have been but this goal that Bogle got was probably the best team goal we scored all season and was a reminder that we could play quick, fast paced attacking football when we wanted to. Some good work down the United right eventually saw Bogle set free inside of the Rovers box and our wing back managed to keep his composure and slot home past the keeper to restore a lead that we'd just let slip literally a minute beforehand. And the winner is... David McGoldrick VS Aston Villa! It's two out of two so far for Dave with his outstanding goal against Villa earning the GOTS award for FNRL: The Blog. If you couldn't tell from the paragraph I wrote on this goal that it was brilliant, it was. I loved his goal against Arsenal but, come on, he literally starts and finishes the move for this goal! In fact, before we continue go back and watch this and tell me it's not our goal of the season. Go on, I'll wait... In fact, I'll link it here so you can go and watch it, you'll thank me later Premier League Highlights | Sheffield United 1-0 Aston Villa | McGoldrick goal & Jagielka Red Card - Bing video Signing Of The Season A lot like the award for MIP, this was a difficult award to find nominees for apart from the obvious two who were the main contenders. It think the other two players who make up the four probably had the most impact on the team aside from the obvious two. It was a really bad window of signings, at least two of them were good. Aaron Ramsdale What a turnaround for Rammers. After a shaky first half of the season where many fans were calling for him to be dropped, Rammers has gone on an absolute tear since Christmas and has probably been our most outstanding player of the second half of the season. Some of the saves he's pulled off have been out of this world with the ones against West Brom at home, the double save against Everton and the Shelvey header save against Newcastle just three that immediately spring to mind. He's answered the critics and them some and that £18.5 million that we may end up paying for him in the end now looks like a bit of a bargain for a goalkeeper that's just been included in the first preliminary squad for Euro 2020. It's the least that Rammers deserves because he really has been that good this half of the season and that was reflected in him winning the POY and YPOY awards for the club this year. Here's hoping we get to see more of him in a Blades shirt next year! Jayden Bogle Bogle was a player that went a little bit unnoticed during the first half of his debut campaign at The Lane with the ex-Derby man not making his debut until the away game against Brighton just before Christmas but what a debut it was! Getting the goal that eventually saw us get our second point of the season was one way to introduce yourself to Blades fans and since then Bogez has been in and around the starting XI with more crucial contributions with goals against Bristol Rovers and West Brom adding to an impressive campaign in the Premier League. One to watch for the future definitely and one who will hopefully be ready to take over from George when that time comes. Ethan Ampadu It's been a hard season for Amps. Coming on loan to us after a season in Germany with RB Leipzig where he impressed in a Champions League knockout game against Spurs to fighting a losing battle against relegation the season after must have been hard to take but to be fair to the 19(! He's been around for ages! How is he two years younger than me!?) year old, he was pretty dependable when called upon whether that be in midfield or more commonly in the defence. He's got a promising future ahead of him, whether that will be at Chelsea is still to be seen. Oliver Burke Burkey was a tricky one to decipher this season. During the early portion of the season, it could be argued that he was our biggest threat in the frontline with his blistering pace causing trouble for the likes of Arsenal and West Brom. Not only that but he actually scored the winning goal for us at Old Trafford against Manchester United which was strange. But after that, Oli tailed off a bit and has looked a bit headless ever since. His early contributions and his goal against Man U probably secure him a place as a nominee but he did tail off and it will be interesting to see what Jokanovic does with him. And the winner is... Aaron Ramsdale! It couldn't be anyone else could it? A blistering second half of the season for the academy graduate proved all his doubters wrong and saw him arguably become the most in form English keeper in the top flight for the last six months. A brilliant start to his second stint in a United shirt, long may it continue! Match Of The Season In a season where we lost 29 out of the 38 league games that we played, you might think it'd be difficult to find a match for this particular category and you would be right! But in the middle of the dirge, there were some slight specks of positivity. Here are the four matches that I think best reflect that positivity. Manchester United Away, 27th January, Won 2-1 In the future when our children and grandchildren ask us about when Sheffield United went to Old Trafford and beat the mighty Manchester United 2-1 in the middle of a global pandemic, we can regale them with tales of how players named Kean Bryan and Oliver Burke were the ones to give us a famous win when it looked like we were never capable of winning. 5 months on, it is still pretty unbelievable that we beat one of the biggest teams in the whole world at their home ground in the middle of a pandemic with Kean Bryan and Oli Burke getting the goals. Here for how insane it is that this actually happened but I'm bloody happy that it did. Burnley Home, 23rd May, Won 1-0 This was not a game that was a back against the wall performance like a few others nominated in this category, nor is it a dominating performance where we fully deserved the win and arguably could have scored more goals (to be fair, that hasn't happened much this season has it?) Nope, this was a pretty low quality game of football with the only bit of real quality in this top flight football game being the goal that David McGoldrick slotted home past Norris in the Burnley goal to get us the win and take us past the points total of 'the greatest team to ever finish bottom' (trademark Jake Humphrey). This game is nominated for what it represents because after 442 days of not being able to go and watch United at Bramall Lane, fans were allowed back in. Yes it wasn't a full house and yes the pricing was absolutely abhorrent for a dead rubber game at the end of the season, but being back in the ground after so long was a feeling that is beyond description. It really was nice that we won as well. That just topped it all off. Everton Away, 16th May, Won 1-0 Now this, this was more like it from a classic Sheffield United performance! Going to Goodison Park and playing against a very strong Everton side that, much like us last season, were chasing European football and needed a result to keep those hopes alive. We pulled off arguably our best all round performance of the season. We attacked with speed and good movement which eventually culminated with a goal for our new youth product Daniel Jebbison. From then on in, we defended well and should probably have made more of the chances that we created in this game and got more. A reminder that this team can compete in the top flight against some of the more established teams in the division. West Brom Home, 2nd February, Won 2-1 A crucial game at the time made it look like we were going to make a genuine effort at attempting to stay in the Prem. After going behind early doors to a Matt Philips, United managed to turn it around in a very good second half performance with goals from Jayden Bogle and Billy Sharp (who else?) Securing three points that at the time looked crucial for a last ditch attempt at safety. Special props must also go to Aaron Ramsdale who produced a cracking save off of a point blank shot from another former Blade in Callum Robinson. All in all, a nice win to watch. And The Winner Is... Burnley at Home! I think that being able to be in the stadium again and be able to get involved with chants and just experiencing the joys of going to a football match again for the first time in over a year are what have tipped it for this game. It was a real pleasure to be back and that was topped off by being able to watch a cracking goal from David McGoldrick to top it all off. Young Player Of The Season Penultimate award of the day/night now and it's time to take a look at the youth who played for us this season. Perhaps one of the minor positives of this season has been the emergence of some fairly good young players that we either brought in via transfers or coming through from the academy. Speaking of players through the academy, although he is not nominated here, there has to be a very honourable mention to Daniel Jebbison. He came out of nowhere really and was a very pleasant surprise as we wound down our season. He was good in a 30 minute cameo against Palace and then in his first start against Everton he only went and got a goal that turned out to be the winner! A very good end of the season for Jebbo and I think it's safe to say that everyone is looking forward to seeing more of him last season where, fingers crossed, he'll be nominated for this award and hopefully a few others! Aaron Ramsdale A second award nomination of the day/night for Rammers and is once again a testament to how good he has been in the second half of this season. During a season where he was left horrendously exposed by a backline that just a few months beforehand had been one of the best in the country, Rammers produced some excellent saves this season that really do challenge and even exceed some of the ones that Dean Henderson made whilst he was here. All of this culminated in getting his first call up to the full England squad at the end of the season and was named as a sub for the game against Austria. That call up was very much deserved and lets hope it'll be the first call up of many during his second stint as a Blades player. Jayden Bogle To say he didn't actually start to feature in the starting XI for United until just before Christmas, it's fair to say that Jayden Bogle more than made up for lost time over the course of the next couple of months. Grabbing three goals and looking like he'd be the one to provide genuine competition for George Baldock was a real positive for a player was persona none grata for the first half of the season. At just 20 years old, hopefully we will be able to see a lot more of him next season and for the next few seasons. Ethan Ampadu Streaky to say the least, Ampadu could go from looking very good and a player that looked like he belonged in the starting XI of a top flight team to looking very, very raw and inexperienced sometimes over the course of a single game. There is clearly a footballer in Ampadu and his continued inclusion in the Wales squad proves that but whether or not he goes on to make an impact on the Chelsea team is still up in the air. It's probably best to sum up his time here as the right player at the wrong time. Sander Berge The stand out player of the first few months of the Premier League season. Sander started this season like a house on fire and was starting to show why why paid a then club record fee for him in January and why teams like Napoli and Arsenal were sniffing around him at that time. A really classy player and one who I hope we all get to see again in a Blades shirt. Unfortunately for him, his injury against Man United at home basically ended his season and stopped what looked like could be his break out year in English football. A real shame and it'll be a real shame if we never see him in a Blades shirt again. And The Winner Is... Aaron Ramsdale! A second award for Rammers which is very much deserved. As mentioned at the top of the section, one of the very few positives of this season has been the rise in play time of young players and it's credit to Rammers that he's manged to be the cream of this particular young player crop. So big congrats to Rammers on his second award and it's not the last time we'll here about him... Player Of The Season It's time for the big one. Yes, believe it or not, United did have enough players to perform well enough to earn a POTS award. These four men have been the stand out performers over the course of this season and have consistently given good performances over the course of the last 8 months. So, enough build up, let's have a look at the nominees... Aaron Ramsdale Fresh off his victory in the YPOTY category, Rammers is back for his hat trick of nominations with the big one. After the initial teething phase of his Blades career was finished, Rammers went on to prove that the reported £13.5 million that we played Bournemouth for him in the summer was a little bit of a bargain. Pulling off save after save as the last line of defence, Rammers was left horribly exposed by his defence this year and managed to battle past a difficult start to his second stint in a Blades shirt to be our stand out player during the second half of this season. David McGoldrick What a turnaround from the man that couldn't score last season to being the man that scored 40% of our league goals this season. We already know how good that Dave is as a player and despite his dry spell in front of goal last season, his ability to link play and drop back and orchestrate play from the midfield was invaluable as we aimed to establish ourselves in the top 10 during last season. This season he continued the link play and the midfield play as well as adding those goals. His goals against Villa and Arsenal prove how much of a quality player he is and late season comparisons to Zidane don't come as that much as a surprise to us Blades fans because he's been doing these quality bits of play for 3 years now. A real quality player and it's been great to see him succeed whilst many around him have floundered. George Baldock Perhaps this nomination is just purely down to him looking like one of the only players that cared as we plummeted down the leagues. Billy Sharp said in an interview last season that the player who had most embraced the whole Sheffield United experience was George and you can really tell that that statement isn't just talk. Out of all the players who have represented United George wears his heart on his sleeve and always gives 100% for United. He's been a brilliant servant to the club and it's good thing that we've tied him down to a long term deal. He could very well be a future captain for United. Chris Basham Bash just about beat out John Egan for the last nominee spot here and even though this wasn't as good a campaign for him personally as last season (to be fair, that's true for all the squad) with this season seeing a slight drop off in performance and affected by injury, Bash was still one of our better performers of the season and at times was arguably our best attacking output aside from David McGoldrick. Amazingly coming into his 7th season in a United shirt, he's been a stalwart during the modern era of Sheffield United and has to be up there with one of our best players of the 21st Century. And The Winner Is... David McGoldrick! Dave tops off the night with the big award and it really is very much deserved. Coming away with the MIP and the MVP award is the least that Dave deserves as he has once again proven that he really should have played more top flight football over the course of his career. It's been great to have had the pleasure of watching those top flight years of Dave's career and winning POTY is the more than justified thanks to his performances over the course of the season. So, there we have it! Despite a ruddy awful season by everyone, we've manged to hand out 6 awards which have been split evenly between David McGoldrick and Aaron Ramsdale which, to be honest, is pretty bang on. Right, well, thanks for reading this mammoth article and I'll see you at some point soon for the review of the season because I really enjoy re-examining big failures. Until next time, UTB.
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It's over, thank goodness. We can all go back to our normal lives for a little bit hurray!24/5/2021 After 9 months, 38 games, 7 wins and 29(!) losses it's done. The season that was lost to a global pandemic is finally over and we can stop writing and talking about United for a few weeks at least. We can have a rest. A reset, a detox, and that really is something that's much needed especially after this season. A season that was arguably dead and buried after 3 minutes in the opening game of the season against Wolves but here we are. Things are opening up again a bit and, whisper it quietly, we might actually be back to something resembling normality in a few weeks. So since I last wrote, United have played another 4 games and believe it or not, actually won two of them! I know! Scandalous. Anyway, let's get cracking and review this final slog of games. Game 1: Sheffield United 0 - 2 Crystal Palace, 8th May 2021 This game mirrored our last game against Palace in more ways than one. We conceded an early goal, we never really looked like troubling Guaita in the Palace goal and we eventually went further behind to another mazy run from Eberechi Eze because it appears our players are incapable of tackling him. Not even 2 minutes into this game and United were already behind, that man again Eze picked the ball up and darted in and around United players with the England U21 player squaring to a wide open Christian Benteke who's shot deflected off of George Baldock and into our net. United didn't look too bothered about attacking and Palace just controlled the pace of the game and had the better opportunities with Ramsdale continuing his resurgence and pulling off some really good saves to keep the score down. After half time United brought on youth product Daniel Jebbison who probably had our best chance of the game with a header that he put just over the top of the bar. The youngster (he's 17, players being older than me doesn't upset me as much as it used to anymore) did some good hold up play and tried to get players involved up top. Unfortunately, it didn't happen and instead Palace got a second by the aforementioned Eze who danced his way through our defence and slotted home past Rammers and with 8 minutes on the clock, United's goose was well and truly cooked. Game 2: Everton 0 - 1 Sheffield United, 16th May 2021 HOLY MOLY WE WON A BLOODY GAME! AND A CLEAN SHEET!? WHAT IS THIS CHRISTMAS? Yes, believe it or not, United went to Goodison for the second season running and came away with a very well deserved 3 points. And that's not an exaggeration, we actually were the better team in this match. United came out of the blocks looking like the team that took the league by storm last year and were rewarded by our early efforts with Daniel Jebbison poking home a lovely cross from Jack Robinson (remember him?) to become the youngster play to score on their first Premier League start. It was a genuinely brilliant moment to see and you could see that it meant the absolute world to Jebbo as it should! It's a lovely moment in a season that has produced very few of those. Jebbinson was at it again not long after with the Canadian latching onto a lazy backpass from Keane but his attempted chip over Pickford was too low and the England keeper plucked it out of the sky. At the other end of the pitch, Everton were scratching their heads and wondering how they'd not equalised after Aaron Ramsdale pulled off a terrific double save, first from Richarlison and then a brilliant save from point blank range to deny Calvert-Lewin a certain goal. After being written off by some after some shaky performances at the beginning of the season, it's been pleasing to see Rammers grow in confidence as the year has gone on and, arguably, since the turn of the year he's been our standout player. United had a few more chance to add to the lead throughout the game with McGoldrick firing over from close range and Egan heading over from a corner. Rammers and the defence made some solid stops in the second half and United managed to comfortably see out the game to earn our second away win of the season and a third clean sheet for Ramsdale. Game 3: Newcastle United 1 - 0 Sheffield United, 19th May 2021 After the euphoria of the Everton game, United travelled to the North East to face our Geordie friends at St James Park as we aimed to earn our own possible double of the season. A McGoldrick effort in the first half was the only real time United looked like troubling Dubravka in the Newcastle net with Rammers once again putting in a shift to keep the score low including a jaw dropping save to deny a header from about 6 yards out. Newcastle eventually breached fort Ramsdale with Arsenal loanee Joe Willock continuing his good form and bagging his in his sixth consecutive game for The Toon. Allan Saint-Maximin ran the show for Newcastle with the United defence simply chasing shadows as we looked to contain the Frenchman. United did hit the crossbar in the second half with McGoldrick sending a looping effort that beat Dubravka put kissed the top of the crossbar. The final bit of the game ran with very little of note happening apart from the fact that it appeared that half of the Newcastle squad got injured in about 10 minutes. But United couldn't find an equaliser and we were condemned to our 29th loss of the season. Game 4: Sheffield United 1 - 0 Burnley, 23rd May 2021 No, your eyes do not deceive you, that was a photo that I took about an hour and a half before kick off against Burnley on Sunday because yes ladies and gentleman, for the first time in 442 days fans were allowed inside Bramall Lane! The build up to the game wasn't the best with the pricing itself being pretty abhorrent (£40 for an adult ticket to watch a dead rubber? What are we, Sheffield Wednesday?) But honestly, being able to be in the ground and watching live football for the first time in well over a year was just simply brilliant. The singing of the Greasy Chip Butty song before kick off, the chanting (special shout out to the one guy who did the 'your s*** ahhhhhhh to Norris in the first half) and the biting cold all were welcome reminders that this wasn't being sat at home in the comfort of your own house with central heating to keep you warm. This was live, cold football and I couldn't have been happier to have been present. I could write a whole article in itself just about being back in the ground and being able to watch United live again but I might leave that for now.
How was the actual football I hear you cry? Well, to be honest, it wasn't exactly Barca vs Liverpool at Anfield but the game did produce one moment of pure quality that came from none other than David McGoldrick because who else would be able to do it? Picking the ball up from just inside the Burnley half, our no. 17 drove at the Burnley backline and took aim from about 30 yards out and curled a lovely strike past Norris in the Burnley goal to give the fans in the ground something to shout about. It was a class strike from Dave and it's nice to know in a season when no one else looked like producing quality moments, our bargain signing from Ipswich has produced in spades this year. 8 goals in a team that only scored 20 is not a shabby total at all and it's a blessing and a curse that Dave is 33 and not 23 because it means we more than likely get to keep him going forward but a player of his calibre and skillset really should be gracing the Premier League week in, week out. He's top quality is Didzy and it's an honour to watch him play. Another nice surprise in this last run of games is the resurgence of Jack Robinson. After starting the season as the backup to JOC, Robbo was persona non grata for a few months at the start of the year as Ethan Ampadu staked his claim for the LCB slot (I use the term 'stake' rather loosely) but after coming into the team for the Everton game he has looked very good and saved our bacon a few times in this game with some stupendous last ditch defending. If he can keep that up going into next season, JOC should have a nice bit of competition to keep that LCB slot his. All in all though, it was a nice way to end a pretty horrible season and it was a brilliant being able to see the win in person rather than on a TV screen. And there we have it! A very disappointing season to say the least from a United perspective but there were still some good moments during this season (believe it or not). Billy netting his 100th Blades goal that ultimately got us our first win of the season, winning at Old Trafford with Kean Bryan and Oli Burke getting the goals (that's still weird to write and see 2 months on from the match), David McGoldrick scoring more Premier League goals than the likes of Greenwood, Richarlison, Werner, Grealish and De Bryune and the emergence of Daniel Jebbison as well as other talents like Brunt, Seriki and N'Diaye. It's a season that most will want to forget but there was still a lot of bright lights in a season and a year that was very dark. Until next time, UTB. It really feels like it's been a longer time since I last wrote about United. It's only been four games but bloody hell a lot's happened since then hasn't it? United lost a lot of matches (that's pretty normal, tbh) but we had a breakaway European League come and go quicker than an Oli Burke sprint, fans have (rightfully) been protesting this group of clubs and their decision to try their best to monopolise a game that didn't look like it could be monopolised any more than it already has. Aside from that, the Teletubbies tried to set up their own line of bitcoin (yes, this is big news), there was a battle to determine the rightful owner of the name Josh that was won by a four year old who declared after that he loves to fight and, perhaps most importantly of all, Sheffield United were officially relegated back to the Championship after a season that can best be described as a bit crap. But before we get to that match, we've got a match against Arsenal to cover.
Sheffield United 0 - 3 Arsenal 11th April 2021 It's been a while since this match happened so I can't really recall a lot of what happened in it if I'm being completely honest. We played pretty rubbish which is par for the course. Ramsdale played pretty well which is again par for the course. Lacazette scored a very good goal to open the scoring that had shades of the Wilshire goal that Arsenal scored against Norwich about seven(!) years ago. It was 1-0 at half time but then half an hour later it was two with the returning Martinelli reacting fastest to a Ramsdale spill to tap home to effectively kill the game off. 14 Minutes later and it was three and Lacazette had a double being played through one on one with Rammers and slotting home past the keeper. There might have been more that happened in this game but dwelling on a 3-0 loss to Arsenal is something that I'm sure you, dear reader, don't want to reminisce about. so I'll stop and move on to the match that saw us officially get relegated from the Premier League! Isn't that fun? Wolves 1 - 0 Sheffield United 17th April 2021 The sad thing about this match is that we actually played pretty well in this game and arguably deserved a point from this game at the least. We looked like a team that was up for the fight and tried our best to create chances and actually try and score which was a rarity this season. the lead up to the Wolves goal was a perfect encapsulation of our season as a whole. We had a ball break it's way to Enda in the Wolves box with the Ireland international having time to pick a spot and put us ahead. Instead he hit it straight at Rui Patricio with the keeper distributing the ball to the physical embodiment of pace and power in Adama Traore who skinned Kean Bryan and John Egan and laid on a lovely pass for Willian Jose to smash home to open the scoring and ultimately win the game. We actually did try and get an equaliser with Enda Stevens doing the best thing he's done all season by performing a drag back and a snapshot that kept Patricio honest. We kept the pressure on Wolves but couldn't find that elusive goal and thusly we are once again a Championship club. This doesn't hurt like it did in 2007 or 2010, it's been coming for a while and I think that's allowed our crapness to numb the pain of relegation. It's disappointing don't get me wrong but not actually being there in the ground has definitely taken the edge off of seeing us get relegated. Is it one of the few positives of no fans games? Possibly, but let's not dwell on this any longer because believe it or not, we actually won our next game AND kept a clean sheet! Sheffield United 1 - 0 Brighton 24th April 2021 Yes, we actually won a game on a weekend! It might have come too late to salvage anything from this season but a win is a win and it brings us ever closer to that fabled 20 point mark. It was not a return to the vintage of last season, in fact, it was a match that went like many that we've played this season but this time we were on the right side of a result. McGoldrick (who else?) scored the winner after some defensive errors in the Brighton backline for his 7th Premier League goal of the season. After that, there weren't many more chances from the United side of things with a Jayden Bogle toe poke in the second half probably being the closest we came to a second goal. Brighton actually did have the ball in the back of the net at one point which was ruled out for offside after VAR review despite the ball itself travelling backwards rather than forward. Our old friend Neal Maupay also has to have a special mention after producing what has to be one of the misses of the season. With the goal gaping and from about four yards out, Maupay somehow spooned the ball high into the second tier of the Bramall Lane end when it really did look easier to score than miss. So we get our fifth win of the season and guarantee that Brighton are a club that never beat us during our short sojourn in the Premier League. And now we come to yesterday's game... Tottenham Hotspur 4 - 0 Sheffield United 2nd May 2021 Oh well, momentum is obviously a word that United have forgotten over the course of the past year because for the second time in just over a month we we battered by a team. To be fair, we managed to keep Spurs at bay for about half an hour before none other than Gareth Bale broke our defensive line and lobbed Ramsdale to open the scoring. We kept Spurs quiet for the rest of the half and actually started the second half quite well and looked more likely to get a goal. Then Gareth did it again with a bullet of a shot after Spurs countered from a United corner. Not long after that it was three for Spurs and three for Gareth with the ex-Madrid man latching onto a weighted Aurier pass to slam home from just inside the 18 yard box to fully kill the game. Heung Min Son scored the fourth not long after that to wrap it up. I didn't see the last goal because I started to play my guitar or try to at least. But it was probably a very good goal. So there we have it, we're all caught up on the goings on for The Blades. It's been bad and believe it or not we've still got four games left of this season, this really is like the footballing equivalent of Source Code. It's a never ending chain of horrific explosions that we have to keep on reliving week after week with the occasional reprieve. Unlike Jake Gyllenhaal in that film however, we don't look like we will be able to break the code and live happily ever after with Michelle Monaghan. We just keep on blowing up with our train bomb being top class strikers. I guess I might review another match this season, maybe? I don't know. Until then. 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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