38 Matches. 39 Goals for, 39 against. 14 Wins, 12 draws, 12 losses. 352 days after we began our first Premier League campaign back in August we're all done. A frankly insane season where not only did United finish inside the top 10 of a division that many predicted we'd finish bottom of back at the start of the season, we had the fourth best defence in the division with the only clubs letting in more goals than us being champions Liverpool, defending champions Manchester City and Manchester United who spent a record £80 million on one defender. To put that into context, you could have bought 20 John Egan's for that amount alongside Chris Basham and Enda Stevens. What makes it even more mental is that up until last weeks result against Everton there was still a chance that United could have qualified for European competition. Not to mention the fact that football was halted for 3 months because of a pandemic, it's safe to say that this football season will probably be unlike any we have ever seen before and will probably never see again. The highs were high but the lows didn't feel low really because we're in the Premier League and never really ever looked like being in danger of relegation. I think the biggest worry was that we'd drop out of the top 10! Imagine telling a Blade's fan that fact back at the start of the season, I'm pretty sure even they wouldn't have believed that our biggest worry of the season would be about us not being one of the top 10 teams in the country after spending so much of the season inside it. After the end of a season, I think we all like to take a little bit of time to reflect on what has happened over the course of the season. Reminisce about the wins, think about what could have happened if we just held onto that lead against so and so and, of course, rue the losses. But before we do that, there is one last match to review. So, shall we?
After rumours of a quarrel between Wilder and Mousset in wake of the Everton defeat, it later came out that Moose wasn't being picked due to bad behaviour, it was due to his partner giving birth and homesickness. Congratulations to Moose and partner on the birth of their baby and hopefully we'll see Moose firing back when we start again in September. But anyway, back to the match. Four changes came to the final Blades XI of the season with Jack Robinson, John Lundstram, John Fleck and Billy Sharp coming into the starting XI replacing O'Connell, McGoldrick, Osborn and oddly Norwood. Despite this game having nothing riding on it for either side the game was competed at with gusto as both teams went looking for an opener. United arguably should have scored early doors with a brilliant ball from John Lundstram sending Billy Sharp clean through on goal after showing a clean pair of heels to get away from Vestergaard but with only McCarthy to beat, the skipper overthought his finish and shot straight at the Southampton No.1 with McBurnie rueing not calling for an earlier pass. Southampton did threaten with Nathan Redmond proving to be a thorn in the side of Baldock throughout the game with his mazy runs almost resulting in goalbound efforts for Saints leading scorer Danny Ings. United did find the opener however, with Enda putting in a ball that evaded everyone apart from John Lundstram who slotted home through the legs of McCarthy to give the Blades the lead. Lunny arguably should have doubled his total shortly after this after a good ball in from Sharp led to Lunny letting rip on the half volley. An astounding save from McCarthy denied Lunny but United managed to see off late Southampton pressure and go in at the half one up. Despite an encouraging first half, United totally fell apart in the second period. Five minutes after the restart ex United man Che Adams pounced on defensive naivety by the Blades and powered home at Henderson's near post to level. United had the next big chance however with Southampton playing the ball directly to the feet of Sharp with the goal seemingly at the marksman's mercy but, once again, Billy overthought it and the chance went begging. The missed opportunities would prove costly and Southampton would eventually take the lead thanks to an unfortunate rebound falling nicely to Adams who duly dispatched past Henderson. With United 2-1 down, only one man could save us from defeat. That man was Leon Clarke who came on in what will probably be his final appearance in a Blades shirt. Despite the presence of the big man, United never really looked like troubling the Saints and a third goal did come for them via the penalty spot. Henderson went the right way but there was nothing he could do about Ings rocket of a penalty. So after a promising start to the game, United ended a brilliant campaign with a loss. But, to be honest, who the hell cares? It was honestly nice to go into this game with nothing to play for. Europe was always a pipe dream but to not be in a relegation dog fight was brilliant. It might not have been the sprint to the season that some people expected but we're one of the top 10 teams in the country! If that isn't special, I don't know what is. Anyway, It's been a great season and we don't have to wait long for the next one. Until September, UTB.
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Pft, we never even really wanted Europe anyway. It would have just been a distraction for the second season plus, look at what it did to Burnley! They were nearly relegated when they got into Europe! Yeah, we dodged a bullet on this one. These are all sentiments that some Blades fans may have used to try and rationalise the fact that, no, European football will not be coming to Bramall Lane next season. I'm not saying that I wasn't dreaming about far flung away days to places like Italy or Germany because I was. Even if we might have struggled a bit next season it would have been amazing to have seen United facing off (potentially) against the likes of Lazio and AC Milan but it wasn't to be and, in hindsight, that's completely ok. Because this season itself has been truly incredible and yeah, European football would have been the icing on the cake but let's just look at how well we've done as a newly promoted team that almost everyone said would finish rock bottom of a league that was surely a step too far for a football team that only does the basics well? Well, our boys only went and proved every doubter wrong by securing a place within the top 10 teams within the country, finishing higher than teams that had spent more on one player than we have on our entire starting XI combined. Not only that but we've got the second best defence in the league behind only the defending European champions and newly crowned league winners Liverpool. There are moments from this season that will be talked about for years by Blades fans. Billy scoring a last gasp equaliser on opening day, coming back from 2-0 down to get a point at the home of the reigning Europa League winners, beating teams like Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. These are just a few of the memories that I personally will treasure for a long, long time. So, yeah we might not be playing in Europe next season but that doesn't mean we've failed in anyway shape or form, far from it. Anyway, we did play a match the other day and we lost it so I suppose we should look at that if needs be.
The last home game of our inaugural season back in the big time ended much like our last home game when we were last in the Prem. We lost narrowly to a team that many people expected us to beat except this time we weren't fighting against relegation, we were fighting for Europe and instead of David Unsworth scoring against us to condemn us to a loss it was a Brazilian who was courted by Barcelona in January and cost Everton £40 million. You could say things have changed a lot in the past 13 years but oh well. The first half of this game wasn't great if I'm being honest. Whom I kidding, it was dire. It was like watching a training game between two sides who weren't looking to get any injuries before the big game at the weekend. A few crosses were needlessly palmed away from Pickford and because of this United almost opened the scoring thanks to Jack O'Connell with the Liverpudlian almost connecting with an Oli Norwood cross at the back stick. Alas, Jack whiffed and our lukewarm attacks continued. Everton went closest to breaking the deadlock before halftime with Calvert-Lewin leaping over Basham to meet a cross at the right hand post of the Kop goal. Fortunately for the Blades Calvert-Lewin's effort hit the post and the ball was scrambled away. The halftime whistle went not long after much to the relief of the watching public who I'm sure were glad that they weren't paying for the privilege to watch this game. The goal that this game was calling out for came minutes into the restart and it was the visitors who opened the scoring with a wicked delivery from Sigurdsson meeting the head of Richarlison who had somehow recovered from the x rated challenge that Norwood committed at the end of the first half with the Brazilian powering home to put Everton ahead. The game brightened up a bit after this as United searched for an equaliser with Everton always looking dangerous when they countered. Despite knocking on the door a lot throughout the half, United never looked like scoring and never tested Pickford. The most entertaining thing that happened from a United perspective in the second half was when George Baldock looked like he was going to kill a cameraman after they refused to give Baldock the ball back for a throw. Apart from that though, nothing else really happened of note in the game and United ended their home campaign with a loss. There was a lot more effort in this performance than the one against Leicester, that cannot be denied. You could see that our boys were trying their hardest to try and get a goal from somewhere but, unfortunately, it looked like Ancelotti had done his homework and our attack was by and large kept at arms length throughout the game. Disappointing? Yes. Angry? Not particularly. At the end of the day, we huffed and we puffed but we just came up short. The end of the season is now on the horizon and after 37 games we have 1 left with the visit to Southampton. It should be an interesting game, hopefully we can go out with a bang. Until next time, UTB. I mean, yesterday wasn't great was it? Apart from Deano, I don't think anybody who started at least in yesterdays game came out of the game with any credit. Even Bash was bad and you know something must have gone wrong somewhere if Bash was bad. 2-0 was a score line that flattered United. It could have been a lot worse if Leicester were just a tiny bit more clinical in front of goal and if Henderson wasn't on it like he was. I think our defending can best be described as schoolyard and not even year 6 standard, it was more like key stage 1 style defending in that our three centre backs appeared to forget what a defensive line was and just go forward whenever they pleased with little thought as to what might happen if they leave our goalkeeper exposed. It also didn't help that nobody on our team appeared capable of either playing more than two passes together or failing that just fail to trap the ball. We turned the ball over on inside our own half multiple times. But hey ho, I'm not as angry as I was when we lost to Man United and Newcastle but it was probably on par with those performances. I guess it's time to look more in depth at the game.
United actually started the game the brighter team and had McGoldrick not had his shot blocked by James Justin who knows how this game would have panned out. But then we just stopped attacking and just gave the ball away either on halfway or in our defensive third and when we did attack, we just pelted the ball forward to Oli McBurnie who was bullied out of the game by Wes Morgan. Leicester opened the scoring just before half time with Ayoze Perez converting from debutant's Thomas's cross with the Spaniard in acres of room just inside the box and a well struck volley left Henderson grasping at thin air as The Foxes raced ahead. No matter though, Wilder will have them at half time, we'll definitely see an improved performance in the second half won't we? Unfortunately not, despite a treble substitution at the half, none of the subs really made an impact and it was more of the same as we just didn't control the ball, let it go to a Leicester player or get easily dispossessed that led to a Leicester attack. We actually nearly equalised from a corner when pinball led to a touch that looked like it would send the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the net. Nope. Schmeichel was there and the follow up by Egan was blocked and turned away. Maybe the fightback will start now? No. No it didn't. Jamie Vardy nearly scored again with a one on one with Henderson leading to Vardy somehow hitting the post. It wouldn't be long before the second goal came though and it was just a defensive mess. John Egan decided to try and take someone on on a congested right wing and was dispossessed which left Vardy and Demari Gray against Lundstram and O'Connell. One pass from Vardy and a lovely finish from Gray doubled The Foxes lead and truly killed The Blades hope of getting something from the game. I think the most positive thing about the game was Wilder's comments afterwards which should hopefully lead to us getting a response from the boys on Monday. So, a drab report for a drab game. There wasn't really a lot to write about from a United perspective because we didn't really do anything of note in the game. We never laid a glove on Leicester and didn't really look that bothered about competing in a game that could have gone a long way in deciding who finishes where in the top 8. I think it's safe to say the top 4 dream is possibly over but as long as that 6th spot is still on offer then Wilder will be doing his upmost to get these boys firing again for Monday with the visit of a very, VERY poor Everton team to The Lane for the final time this season. On that note, I'll leave you all to enjoy your weekends, until next time, UTB. P.S. Just before I go, we've actually signed somebody! I hope your ready for this, it's a doozy. Our first signing of the summer is... Wes Foderingham! Wait, what? Another goalkeeper? Excluding Deano, we now have the grand total of 5 goalkeepers contracted to the club which would be good depth for any other position on the pitch but for goalkeeper it is a bit OTT. I think what's got to be happening this summer is an exodus of our goalkeeping core. Dewhurst will probably be going out on loan, I assume Eastwood and Moore will be sold so I guess if we get Deano back for another season our trio of keepers will be Henderson, Foderingham and Verrips although it could be Verrips who could be going out on loan and Dewhurst staying on. Either way, I'll cover the signing of Foderingham more in depth at the end of the summer window (whenever that is) all in all, a very lukewarm start to our summer dealings but hey, it can only get more exciting from here! After 11 months, 33 games, 1615 minutes and 42 shots we can finally say that David McGoldrick is a goalscorer in the Premier League. It's a sentence at times that I don't think many United fans thought they would have seen after Dave kept on missing chances during the season. Some looked easy, some looked difficult but none of that matters now. It's just good to finally see a player that truly epitomises what it is to represent the Blades under Chris Wilder get his reward for all the work that he has done during the season to help us get into 7th in the Premier League and on the brink of qualifying for European football with just three matches of the league season left. After being released by Ipswich after 5 years of service it looked like the future could be bleak for McGoldrick with a history of injuries and aging going against him he took a chance on himself and went on trial with United and as they say, the rest is history. After the acrimonious departure of Mark Duffy in the summer, I think many Blades fans were worried where the link that Duffy provided between the midfield and the attack would come from without the Liverpudlian there. Those worries were lifted whenever we have played McGoldrick this season. His ability to drop deep and link play has been brilliant to watch during the season as his willingness to drop deep allows United to maintain control in the middle whilst allowing the right and left sided midfielders to bomb on and get in the box. Basically, he's brilliant and we'd probably be a worse off team without him. Anyway, I could continue to wax lyrical about David McGoldrick till the cows come home but we've also got a match to review and what a match it was.
United came into this game on the back of impressive results against Wolves, Burnley and Tottenham with Chelsea coming into this match on the back of wins against Crystal Palace and Watford as well as a shock loss against relegation threatened West Ham. Despite the wins, Chelsea have looked a bit short on confidence as of late but with an embarrassment of riches on the pitch, you'd like to think they'd be pretty competitive? They weren't really, despite having a lot (and I mean A LOT of the ball) Chelsea never really threatened Dean Henderson's goal during the first period with a diving header from Christian Pulisic and a low drive from distance by Ross Barkley being their most notable chances. All United had to do was soak up the pressure and wait for their opportunity and it came after good work by Berge saw the ball come out to Baldock whose lofted cross was met by McBurnie with the Scotsman volleying into the turf and the bouncing effort being parried by Kepa into the path of the waiting McGoldrick with the striker pouncing to open the Blades account for the afternoon. The second came not soon after with a quick freekick eventually leading to a one two between Stevens and Osborn with a lovely cross by the Irishman being powered home by McBurnie. It was a great move by the Blades and was a deserved lead in a game that we never really looked like conceding in. How could United top a first half like that? Well, by continuing to frustrate Chelsea of course! Frank did throw on Oliver Giroud at one point (who, I maintain, is a brilliant Premier League striker and I will fight anyone who says otherwise, well, I wont fight you but I will disagree with you. Anyway) with the Frenchman coming close to pulling one back for The Blues with a first time volley whipping wide of the right hand post. Lys Mousset and Lundstram came on for The Blades and it would be the McGoldrick/Mousset connection that would lead to our winning goal with McGoldrick playing in Moose and the eventual pullback finding it's way back to Dave via a 'clearance' from Rudiger with McGoldrick firing home to finish off the current Europa League winners. The final 10 minutes went by with Mousset looking certain to grab a fourth for United when he was played in by Dave. Moose was too smart though and chipped Kepa with the ball bouncing agonisingly wide of the right hand Kop post. It was a shame but it didn't matter too much. United had taught Chelsea a footballing lesson with another statement win that see's us unbeaten in four going into our match at Leicester who appear to have figuratively crapped the bed results wise. Could we be making a late surge for the top 4? Perhaps, but in all honesty, it's just been so, so incredible to be watching United come out once again and look like the team we did pre lockdown. After those first four games we looked lost but since Arsenal we've looked like a completely different beast of a team and look laser focused as we make our surge to consolidate a top 8 finish. All in all, this was a statement win and I'm very much looking forward to Thursday. Until next time, UTB. Have you ever watched a critically acclaimed film that yeah, you've enjoyed but you can't quite comprehend why people go absolutely mental for it but then, right at the very end, there's a twist so incredible that it hits you like a sledgehammer through a brick wall and in that moment of impact you get it. You get why people rave about this piece of media. Well, something like that happened last night during the United/Wolves game. After a pretty entertaining 92 minutes that saw United contain a very dangerous Wolves squad that contains the living embodiment of a Predator as well as Sin Cara's best mate it looked like this was going to end in stalemate and that would have been fine. Wolves are a very, VERY, good team and for 90+ minutes we've kept them relatively quiet and at times, especially in the last 10 minutes, we looked very dangerous going forward. But we'll take the draw, this is a good point, let's just see what happens from this corneOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOODDDDDDDD JOHN EGAN YES! GET IN! EUROPE ISN'T QUITE DEAD YET FELLAS WE'RE STILL GUNNING FOR THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE! Excuse my excitement but yes, John Egan got his second goal in as many games with a bullet header from an Oli Norwood corner in the 93rd minute to keep our European dream alive. But what else happened in this game apart from the late, late drama?
Jack O'Connell made his return to the starting XI for the first time since lockdown and Billy Sharp returned to the fold due to an injury to David McGoldrick. Wolves on the other hand had the usual suspects in their starting XI with the somewhat terrifying front three of Diogo Jota, Raul Jimenez and, of course, Adama Traore who somehow looks like he's bulked up even more over lockdown and with the dreadlocks resembles a certain space alien that has a penchant for hunting Arnold Schwarzenegger in South American jungles. It would be a tough gig keeping those three quiet but we did manage to get an early blow on Traore with a seemingly innocuous looking coming together between the Spaniard and Enda Stevens seeing the speedster dislocating his shoulder. He didn't go off the pitch though, he carried on for the rest of the game until he was subbed off. Massive props to Traore for continuing with that injury and the fact that he was still incredibly dangerous looking after the dislocation is testament to his skill and tenacity. Despite the dangers of Traore and co. however, United's backline held firm and it would be the Blades who had the first shot on target with Oli McBurnie nodding a Jack O'Connell cross into the waiting palms of Rui Patricio. After this and the drinks break, Wolves began to probe a little bit and had a brilliant chance to open the scoring with a Ruben Neves freekick that left Henderson grasping at thin air but thankfully grazed the top of The Kop crossbar and out of play. It was the last action in a first half that proved both teams weren't just here to settle for the draw. Wolves continued their probing in the second half but United continued to hold firm and continued to keep the front three at arms length and as the half wore on, United began to come into the game more and started knocking on the Wolves door. First there was the offside goal which was a cracking finish from Billy even though he was miles off. Mousset and Zivkovic came on for the Blades with the first viewing of our speedy partnership making encouraging viewing. It was Zivkovic who laid on a brilliant looping ball which was almost nodded home by George Baldock. But as the match wound down it did look like Wolves were settling for the draw but United continued to press and almost got the winner when pinballing in the box saw the ball fall to Ben Osborn who narrowly put his effort wide of the left hand side of the Kop net which Rui Patricio palmed behind which looked a silly move with what happened next with Oli Norwood putting in a peach of a cross that was powered home by John Egan and thus securing a crucial three points for the Blades. After the worrying start to the lockdown season, It looked like United were DOA with players looking tired and injuries piling up the top 8 finish that looked likely pre lockdown now looked like it was slipping away from our grasp but, just when you start to count out Wilder's Blades, we come back with a vengeance. After no wins in our first three games, we now go into the Chelsea game on Saturday unbeaten in three and picking up a possible 7 points from 9. It's not just the creativity that's come back but we look much more defensively secure with O'Connell back on the left of the back three. Now, Jack Robinson has performed admirably in the absence of O'Connell and his long throw in is a weapon I've wanted for a long, long time. But he's not quite O'Connell and the steel that he brings to this back three as well as his offensive guile was much, much appreciated in this game. Restricting Wolves to just 1 shot on target all game was something we were doing pre lockdown so to see that returning, especially against high profile opposition, was brilliant. But before we can put ourselves on the back too much, we've got another crucial game for our top eight ambitions with the visit of Chelsea to The Lane on Saturday. All I'm going to say is, bring. It. On. Until next time, UTB. There have been many great volleys that have been over the years. Zidane vs Bayer Leverkusen, Robin Van Persie vs Aston Villa, Billy Sharp vs Leeds even Lee Evans vs Middlesbrough was an absolute banger of a volley. Basically, I don't think there's a more satisfying goal to watch in football other than the volley. Even the spelling and the way you say the word is satisfying, go on, do it, I know you want to, I have and it's good isn't it? But whether it be from 6 yards out of 30 a volleyed ball hurtling towards a goal is always exciting because it could go one of two ways. The ball hurtles into the top corner and everyone calls the player who struck it a genius or it whizzes off of their boot and shoots off into the stratosphere and probably takes out a starlink satellite whilst the crowd in the ground groan and scold the player for even thinking they could pull the audacious act off. Basically, it's a manoeuvre that leaves little room for error and it only seems to be able to be pulled off consistently by either skilled technical midfielders or goal hungry strikers but when defenders do it? There's surely one place that's ending up pal and it's not the top corner, I hope you've got your PayPal ready for a bank transfer to a Mr Musk so when John Egan strode onto a flicked on header from Billy Sharp late on in the game against Burnley you'd probably be thinking there'd be a better chance of finding Lord Lucan rather than him banging it top bins past the only keeper who you can say has had a better season than our Hendo. But John Egan stuck a big Irish middle finger up to that stereotype of a defender not being able to control a volley and pelted the ball straight into the top left hand corner of Tom Pope's net that left the Burnley man wondering what in gods name just happened. No, seriously, look at the footage again, Pope is dumbfounded. He doesn't have the scoobiest what the hell he should do with his arms so he just leaves them in the air. Egan on the other hand is already off celebrating, he channelled the spirit of his dad John Egan Sr with that shot, it was something straight out of the GAA and it was wonderful. So, how did the rest of the match go?
Well, after the joy of Wednesday an unchanged XI was looking to build momentum against a Burnley team that has arguably had a worse injury record than us post lockdown. One big plus for the Blades was the return of Jack O'Connell to a matchday 18? Or is it a 27 now what with the 9 subs allowed? That sounds silly when you look at it, doesn't it? Anyway, brick man is back and everything is right with the world once more and United started the match much like they ended the match on Wednesday with a lovely flick by David McGoldrick deserving a finish from Oli McBurnie with the Scotsman arrowing his effort into the palms of Pope. United didn't stop though and McGoldrick was fizzing balls about with reckless abandon whilst McBurnie was showing twinkle toes that would have made Craig Revel Horwood jealous with the fancy footwork allowing him to break away from the Burnley backline and play a ball back that Sander Berge slammed into the legs of a Burnley defender. The drinks break brought about a switch of momentum however and Burnley were now pushing for an opener with one time Blades loanee Phil Bardsley lashing an effort from about 25 yards out that whipped in the wind and forced Henderson to palm back into his own box, inches away from the waiting Jay Rodriguez. Never mind, we can regroup at half time and go again let's just keep this Burnley set piece out annnnnnnnndddddd they've scored. Well, crap. James Tarkowski got his foot on a Dwight McNeil cross to send Burnley in at the break with a goal to their name and left United with work to do. Burnley came out of the blocks quicker in the second half and were beginning to look a little bit comfortable as United decided it was a good idea to play a game in a way that Burnley simply love with balls in the channels being swept up by Tarkowski and Long and duly despatched to McNeil and Rodriguez. Burnley should have had a second thanks to one of these counterattacks with a sweetly struck shot on the turn from Rodriguez making Hendo palm the ball straight into the path of the onrushing McNeil who snatched at his opportunity and put his point blank effort wide of the post. It was a wake up call for the Blades that eventually led to us trying to probe our way into the Burnley net. O'Connell and Sharp came on for Robinson and McBurnie as United continued the search for an equaliser. It got so bad that even Jack Rodwell got on the pitch but the goal did come (perhaps it was down to the pure confusion of the Burnley players seeing Rodwell on a Premier League pitch for the first time in three years) but it was a good un as described in the opening paragraph and the final 10 minutes passed with little incident as United held on for a precious point as our hunt for a top 8 finish continues. After the way this match started out it looked like the result would look similar to our previous match against Burnley back in November but perhaps it was down to fitness after our monumental effort on Wednesday but after the first water break we looked a little bit flat and that played perfectly into Burnley's hands. It was a little bit disappointing to come away from this match with just a point after our early flurry but on the whole a points a point and under the conditions it was a very good result. Anyway, the games don't stop coming for The Blades and we're back in action on Wednesday with the visit of Wolves to The Lane in a match that could be crucial in deciding standings in the top 8. Hopefully we'll be able to take our chances in this game and hopefully Adama Traore won't cause us too many issues. Until next time, UTB. Say it quietly because you never know what could happen in the next 6 games but... UNITED ARE BACK BAYYYYYYYYYYYBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! Oh that felt good to write and it was an absolute joy to watch, especially the second half. But this was a much more complete performance for the full game rather than on Sunday where the first half was a bit meh. United were at it from the off yesterday and, apart from a 10 - 15 minute period in the first half, it was a very comfortable win for Wilder's boys. It all kicked off with Sander Berge picking out the bottom right hand corner of the Bramall Lane end net with a laser guided scuff that left Hugo Lloris (who this time last year was on route to winning a World Cup) pawing at thin air. It was a heart-warming moment to see the pure emotion on Sander's face as he got his first goal in top flight football and after the stick he's had from some, these last two matches have really started to change opinion on our record signing. Just as quickly as we took the lead however, it looked like we'd thrown it away and allowed Harry Kane to get the equaliser... But wait! There's a VAR check... And it's gone United's way! Wow, that's a shock. In all seriousness though, this goal really should have counted because if Moura didn't put his hand out to break his fall after being shoved he would have probably broken his nose and the new rules do state that if the ball hits the arm, it is a handball. The new rules aren't great but, that's the way it is.
United managed to get through to halftime unscathed and came out in the second half with all guns blazing again. There were a couple more disallowed goals for Mr MBE but it would be United who would score next in the tie. Brilliant work from Oli McBurnie on the right hand side of the pitch led to a lovely cross field pass that eventually worked it's way to Ben Osborn who saw the overlapping run of Enda Stevens and a lovely side rule pass played in the Ireland international who slid the ball into the feet of the unmarked Lys Mousset who grabbed his 6th goal of the season. It was a lovely move from the Blades that was reminiscent of play from a pre-COVID world. It couldn't get better, could it? It could! And it would be Oli McBurnie who, after working his socks off in this match and the last, got a goal he richly deserved with a tap in from a Sander Berge cross who in the build up managed to send Heung Min Son barrelling into the Kop with some lovely footwork before laying on a pinpoint pass that McBurnie duly dispatched. Despite Harry Kane finally getting his goal (he was overdue one after having a hat trick of disallowed goals during the previous 70 minutes of the game) United laid down a statement 3-1 win that let the rest of the league know that we shouldn't be counted out for a top 8 finish just yet. All in all, this was a truly satisfying and rewarding game to watch. After the lethargy of the first three league games, the second half against Arsenal and the game against Spurs were a much needed reminder that we're still a pretty good football team and not one that are just looking to consolidate our league position after a good first and second act of the season. There were too many good performances to single out just one man of the match because just about every outfield player gave a brilliant account of themselves. But special credit must once again go to Oli McBurnie in particular. What a turnaround this lad has had in the last two matches. After looking less than effective against Villa, Newcastle and Man U the ex-Swansea man has really worked himself into the ground in the last two outings. He was once again an absolute menace to the Tottenham rear guard and was winning everything in the air again. But the real standout for me in this game was McBurnie's footwork, especially in the build up to the second goal. It was simply sublime and if can work on that a little bit more along with his passing, we could have a long term successor to David McGoldrick. Also, special mentions to Sander Berge and Ben Osborn who didn't look out of place at all after his first 90 minutes in the Premier League. So, onto Burnley on Sunday and, hopefully, another win but until next time, 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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