So... We're playing a team that has won the Champions League 3 times tomorrow. Inter Milan (or Internazionale for all you hipsters out there) will be strutting their stuff on the hallowed turf of Bramall Lane for the second time in a decade. No pressure eh? Well there shouldn't be because this is our traditional 'home' pre season friendly. Over the years we've entertained teams such as FC Twente, Stoke City, Fenerbahce and Dundee. This one comes with a little bit more intrigue however (I know, more intriguing than Dundee?) Because not only are we Inter's first of two opponents on their short English sojourn, the other team being Chelsea (don't look at me like that, i don't know who they are either), but players such as Mauro Icardi and Radja Nainggolan are confirmed to appear. So this isn't a simple 'B Team' but a full strength Inter, minus players who were involved during the World Cup. So, lets see how the Mighty Blades combat this threat.
First off, we sold David Brooks which wasn't the best start to the summer. But, as good ol' J.R. would say 'business is about to pick up here', and pick up it did. For the first time since 2008, Sheffield United broke their transfer record for a player! Finally! After years seeing transfer fees inflate and clubs constantly break their transfer records, we had to wait and see if the board would ever break the bank and spend more than the £4 million paid for James Beattie and last week, we did just that... John Egan is our new record signing! Coming in at a reported £4.1 million (baby steps) it made Blades fans sit up and take notice after a transfer window of relative quiet on the incoming front with outgoings seeming to be the focus. The signing of a player who is established at a team that has consistently finished in and around the top 10 if not higher and who was captain of that team last season is a real statement of intent. And the spending doesn't stop there! (We're spending that much money I'm getting regular nosebleeds) it seems that Egan may not be our club record signing for long with a £5 million bid put in for Ipswich striker Martyn Waghorn. Waghorn had a brilliant season last year scoring 16 goals and getting 11 assists in an Ipswich team that was mediocre at best last season. Although there are questions being raised about the amount being spent on a 28 year old who before this season had scored double figures twice in his career (one season being in Scotland), I believe that Wilder wouldn't be interested if he didn't see something in Waghorn so I'm going to do what I've done for the past two years and trust his judgement on this potential transfer. Anyway, enough about our summer dealings, lets look at the match. United come into this prestigious fixture on the back of a disappointing draw at League Two side Mansfield Town. Although United had chances to win the game, Mansfield probably deserved to win the game on the back of a gutsy performance where they clearly wanted prove themselves more than United did. Before that however, United have had a good start to their pre season campaign with an empathetic win at Stocksbridge Park Steels followed by a scrappy but hard earned win in Portugal against top flight Maritimo and a 3-2 win against League One Bradford City with the score line not really doing justice to a professional United performance. Inter on the other hand come into the game having had a mixed bag of results so far. They started off with an routine win against Swiss side Lugano followed by a surprise 2-0 loss to another Swiss time, the team being Sion. They then played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with Zenit St. Petersburg on Saturday. After facing United, Inter will be competing in the International Champions Cup tournament in France whereas United will be facing a short away trip to Doncaster to conclude their pre season in preparation for the season opener against Swansea. The obvious danger man for Inter will be club captain Mauro Icardi. After coming through the ranks at Sampdoria, where he scored 11 goals in 33 games, Icardi moved to the San Siro in 2013 and has gone on to have an extremely prolific 5 year stay scoring 100 goals in 159 games. Last season saw Icardi get 29 goals in just 34 games and attracted the attention of some of Europe's best teams. Despite this prolific season, Icardi was left out of Argentina's World Cup squad in favour of Gonzalo Higuaín. Icardi will definitely be playing with a chip on his shoulder and will prove a testing opponent for any of our centre backs. Another player that could also prove to change the course of the tie could be Antonio Candreva. A veteran striker who has been playing for 13 years, Candreva lists teams such as Udinese, Parma, Juventus and Lazio on his playing CV along with 54 caps for Italy. Although his best years were probably spent at Lazio where, for three seasons from 2013 - 2016, he scored 32 goals in 101 games. He still will pose a viable threat that will need to be monitored. So, how do I see this fixture panning out? Honestly, it could go either way with pre season fixtures throwing up some shock results a la Fenerbache 2014. United are capable of causing a shock and if we play to our full potential anything could happen. But I'll go for a 2-2 draw with Leon and Billy getting our goals and an Icardi double for the visitors. Whatever the result, lets try and enjoy this one Blades because, after all, it is just a pre season friendly. As always, UTB.
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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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