Burton Albion has had quite the impact on modern Sheffield United history when you sit back and review everything. I believe that we first met The Brewers in a league fixture during the Nigel Adkins 'flying Geese that were very quickly forced to land' season. So, in the past 6 years or so, we've been pasted by a Mark Duffy (whatever happened to that guy?) Inspired Albion at the Lane as they stormed to an unlikely league title, we've pasted them also at The Lane with David Brooks scoring his first goal in front of The Kop after a few delays due to snow, and then we come to THAT game. You know what I'm talking about, It's a night ingrained firmly in the mind of so many Blades fans that even if you weren't there at the stadium you probably have a stadium level view in your mind of the night when our promotion charge looked so strong but also eminently weak at the same time. I'm talking about when Paul Coutts had his leg snapped in a challenge by Marvin Sordell. Like I said, a hell of a lot of recent history. This match was probably the least charged match between the two as we both looked to build fitness as we hurtle towards the new football season. Enough talking about history, let's look to our most recent meeting between the two teams.
This line up that started against Burton can probably be described as the 'B Team' line up as we played Barnsley yesterday with an eleven that looks like something similar to what will probably start the season against Watford. Amissah started between the sticks in front of a backline consisting of Enda, RND, Bash, Robbo and, most intriguingly, a trialist that was revealed to be Crystal Palace academy product Sean Robertson. Norwood, Arblaster and Coulibaly manned the midfield whilst Osula and Jebbison lead the line with Jebbo returning to stadium where he spent the first half of last season on loan. Notable inclusions in the Burton line up were ex-Blade John Brayford and former Man United player Cameron Borthwick-Jackson. United started quickly and Jebbo was played in by Norwood who saw his effort save with the rebound being turned onto the post with Coulibaly unfortunate not to open his Blades account. Osula was the next to go closest as we closed out the opening ten minutes when Robertson curled in a brilliant ball that our Danish youth international got his head to but could only angle it straight at Garratt in goal. The hosts had a break not long after but saw Bash step in before it could get really dangerous. Osula had another header not long after but put it wide with Garratt rooted to the spot. The hosts retaliated not long after with Castro firing over from distance and then the same man combining with Borthwick-Jackson to dart into the box but he was herded out by Basham before play could become particularly dangerous. The hosts did probably have the best opening of the goal so far however just before the half hour mark when Basham fouled Castro 20 yards out from goal. Keillor-Dunn curled in a hell of a shot that saw Amissah at full stretch to tip the ball behind for a corner. Brayford nodded on the cross from the resulting corner but it was easy stuff for our Ghanaian youth international. The warning signs were heeded by United however and we opened the scoring not long after the Burton pressure. Norwood slid a peach of a pass through to Jebbison who rounded Garratt in the Burton goal and side footed home from a tight angle to get us going! United nearly got a second a few minutes later when a spectacular Coulibaly effort forced Garratt to make a terrific save. Garratt might have made a great save then, but there was nothing he could do about our second goal that came on the cusp of halftime. A big, calculated punt from Osula saw Jebbison burn past Brayford and from just inside the box he hit a howitzer of a finsh low past Garratt to get his and United's second. It was a fantastic half for our youngster and United as the ref blew the whistle that saw us two to the good at the break. Burton came out of the blocks a wee bit quicker after the break and went very close in the opening exchanges. Powell powered past Norwood and took aim from a fair distance. His effort bounced just wide of the post with Amissah probably having it covered. United did start to build our way back into the game not long after this with Arblaster going close a couple of times. Jebbison nearly had a hat-trick just before the hour mark when he met a floated Stevens cross at the back post that saw Garratt make another great save to keep the score down. Just after the hour mark however, the score wasn't to be kept down any longer and we were treated to perhaps the pick of our pre-season goals. A corner was cleared only as far as Enda Stevens who, 25 yards out from goal, struck a laser beam of a shot that skimmed the Pirelli Stadium turf and nearly burst the goal in front of the United travelling support. A great goal from Stevens and a real reminder of the amount of skill that Enda does have. Burton had a foray forward on the verge of the final twenty with Smith slicing wide after being pressured by Stevens. United continued to search for a fourth but just couldn't really get a clear effort on goal, dangerous balls were put in by Norwood but nothing really stuck as we entered the final phase of the game. Both teams had a couple of slight chances to add to the score line but it wasn't to be and the final whistle blew with United securing a well deserved victory. Compared to the last two pre-season games (streaming platform issues included) this match was a hell of a lot more entertaining to watch. United looked well up for it against a Burton team that just didn't really have an answer for us. Oli Arblaster was absolutely superb in the midfield and has been a real standout of the pre-season. He could be one to watch out for in the future and could perhaps even be on the verge of a David Brooks like outbreak this season. Jebbo produced another couple of fine finishes as he added to his pre-season tally. He looks a lot more complete since the last time we saw him in fits and spurts at the back end of last season. He's definitely going to have a bigger role to play this season than last hopefully joined by his strike partner Osula! Also, special praise to Coulibaly who has quietly improved over the course of pre-season and probably put in his most complete performance in a Blades shirt so far. Fingers crossed this will have built the confidence because he's clearly a very talented footballer. All in all, pre-season has been a mixed bag of results for United. 3 Wins and 3 losses against varying quality of opponents might not look too great visually but at least we've had a pre-season this year compared to last year's fiasco of a campaign. Hopefully this serves us well come Watford next week, or the week after. Anyway, I'll speak to you all soon and until next time, UTB.
0 Comments
Reunions are a thing that always seem to be in vogue no matter what is going on. Your favourite television programmes may have a reunion episode as actors double the age of what they were when the programme they were in come back and knock about a recreation of a set from said TV programme and reminisce about the glory days whilst playing some type of party game loosely linked to the show. Nigel Clough, John-Joe O'Toole and Stephen Quinn had one of those reunions with United on Tuesday but rather than be a bit half arsed about reminiscing about the past, they played like they did in their prime and put United to the sword. Let's take a look back at a match that almost happened in a haze as we all tried to negotiate what was the hottest day ever recorded in English history.
Wes Foderingham returned to the starting XI for his first appearance of pre-season after recovering from a slight leg injury that has kept him out of the first few fixtures in the friendlies. The first 10 minutes was a write off completely, not because we played terribly (that would come later) but because it appeared that someone in the media team had left the cameras out in the 35 degree heat as still images flickered on and off screen like those twisty devices with the moving horse in that first brought us moving images about 125 years ago. Either a replacement camera was found or someone found a way to cool the camera as we eventually got a stable feed going around the quarter of an hour mark. As the feed stabilised, we were immediately treated to a stoppage in play as the teams took a break to take on fluids. The first real chance United managed to create came when Baldock played a ball in behind The Stags defence that Brewster latched on to but he was bundled over in the box before he could get a shot off. The ref said no harm no foul and the match continued. United were back in behind a couple of minutes later when Berge played a defence splitting pass to Ndiaye who closed down the angle but was denied by a great save by Pym to turn the ball behind for a corner. From the resulting corner, Mansfield cleared only as far as Baldock who whipped a ball onto the head of Ahemedhodzic who was free as a bird but put his header from close range narrowly wide of the post. Mansfield broke away not long after this and Enda Stevens had to pull off a cracking recovery tackle to stop a one on one. Another drinks break occurred, United continued to probe after that but were let down by either a poor final touch or final ball before we could get sight of the Mansfield goal. The last chance of a frustrating half for The Blades fell to Iliman Ndiaye who when played through by a cracking Brewster ball couldn't quite get the ball out of his feet and his effort was denied by the legs of an onrushing Pym. That was that for the first period, could it get any better for United? In true Blazin Squad style, the match flip reversed as the second period began with Mansfield coming out of the blocks quickly with some quick pressing causing our backline some issues. Akins had the first effort on target of the second half with his weak effort thankfully being easy for Wes after a good cross from Gordon. United began to slowly get back into the game with some good work down the right seeing Baldock and Ahmedhodzic link up with our new Bosnian international seeing his low cross blocked and cleared. Mansfield were asking questions not long after this with Foderingham being forced into a good save to deny Oates. The Mansfield pressure paid off a couple of minutes later with the League 2 outfit taking the lead. A botched offside trap allowed our hosts midfielder time and space to pick out Boateng in our box who duly smashed home at the near post to open the scoring. United did almost have the perfect response to falling behind when Berge slid in Baldock who fired in a cross to Brewster with Rhian heading home. Unfortunately, George was adjudged to have been offside. United did continue to look for an equaliser and almost found it again when a Norwood corner found Robinson alone at the back post unmarked. Robbo proceeded to somehow cannon his header back to Norwood on the wing when the goal was at his mercy, play was recycled and Brewster had a strong effort caught by Pym. It would be our hosts who would find the next goal however with Robbo culpable. Oates got the better of Robinson in a foot race and slotted home past Wes to double the lead. The game became a bit of a possession exercise for United after this as we probed to at least find a consolation. That consolation would not come and more poor defending would see us concede a third goal. Robinson sold Wes short with an awful backpass that was intercepted by Mansfield, United half cleared the ball only as far as Boateng who curled a delightful finish onto the far right post and in to fully bury The Blades. That was the last real action of note in the game as United were left wondering what might have been as we fell to our second consecutive loss of our pre-season preparations. Despite the score line, United did have a fair few chances to get at least a couple of goals in this game during the first period. Compared to the first half at Scunny, our first half outing was a much better effort with just the final pass or poor first touches denying us as we looked to open the scoring. Despite it only being pre-season, it's still pretty disappointing to lose comprehensively to an outfit from a lower league for the second game running (all due respect to both Mansfield and Scunthorpe). The way we've conceded these goals has been especially disappointing with some of our more senior defenders making some head scratching decisions as Mansfield and Scunny tore us apart with ease at times. Hopefully these mistakes will be out of everyone's system come opening day against Watford but it'll be interesting to see if these errors will be arrested in our final two pre-season games. Overall, another bad night for United, both on the pitch and off the pitch. But we go again tomorrow at Burton, fingers crossed for a good result! Until next time, UTB. The last time we played Scunthorpe United was in Spring 2017. Spring. 2017. 5 years since we last played what feels like one of our most highly played teams possibly of the past ten years. That game came during an exciting climax to a League One season that saw us, our hosts and Bolton Wanderers in a three way tussle for the title and saw Scunny visit The Lane and come away with a fairly lucky point after a 1-1 draw. Since that day both teams have taken completely different routes in journeys around the leagues. United went up to the Championship that season then eventually went one step further into the Premier League before we were eventually relegated back to the Championship after two years in the top flight. Scunthorpe on the other hand have gone much the opposite way and went from the precipice of the Championship to out of the football league with relegation from the Football League happening this past year. It's fair to say it's been an eventful five years for both clubs since we last met on that Spring day back in 2017. But enough looking back at the past, let's look instead at the present and our third pre-season friendly.
The starting XI for United was similar to the team that started the first 60 minute game against Lincoln on Tuesday with new boy Ciaran Clark starting on the bench. There was a very Sheffield United feel to the Scunthorpe starting line-up with Marcus Dewhurst starting between the sticks a few days after his loan move to Scunny was finalised. Also starting for Iron yesterday was Elliot Whitehouse and apparently Scunny's assistant manager is one Tony McMahon. United had an early effort go careening over the bar when Broadbent curled in a cross that Max Lowe met unmarked at the back post but that he could only turn over the bar from close range. The match then settled into a bit of a lull with neither team threatening the goal and a few niggly fouls creeping in. Scunthorpe began to assert themselves on the game and this eventually lead to them getting the opening goal of the afternoon. Broadbent whiffed on a clearance from a cross which Daniel capitalised on and slotted home to give our hosts the lead. United did almost get an instant reply from a Fleck corner but Dewhurst was equal to Robinson's effort and turned it around the post for a corner. United did probe for the leveller but never really got a clear look on goal with Scunny reducing us to half chances. Scunthorpe's rear-guard action was rewarded just after the half hour mark when a cross field pass found Beestin free as a bird in our box and the forward slammed home to double the visitors lead. Scunthorpe had the bit between their teeth now and, incredibly, found a third just before half time when O'Malley crossed in to an unmarked Daniel who's cushioned header flew past Amissah to finish off what was an extremely humbling half for the Blades. Iliman Ndiaye came on for Will Osula at the break as United looked to salvage something out of a very disappointing day results wise. United did start to play some of the one touch quick passing that has served us well so far this pre-season. Ndiaye, Broadbent and Coulibaly all combined which eventually saw Coulibaly sky the ball over the bar from just inside the box. Max Lowe was next to test Dewhurst with the United loanee producing a good save that dropped to Jebbison who's backheeled finish trickled narrowly wide of the post. Norwood came on for the impressive Arblaster just after the hour with the ex Northern Ireland international shooting wide from outside the box after Ndiaye did good work to set him up. Norwood duly played in Lowe who sent an effort screaming wide just before the 75 minute mark. Scunthorpe nearly get a fourth when Sellars-Fleming saw his deflected towards the bottom right hand corner with Amissah producing a fine save to turn the ball wide. Baldock, Gordon, Clark, Berge and Brewster entered the fray and mere minutes after coming on, these players made an impact. Norwood played the ball to Baldock who worked his way towards the left hand by line with his whipped cross being met by an onrushing Brewster who headed home to reduce the arrears and get his third of pre-season. 5 Minutes later and United had a second when Ndiaye was allowed to duck and dive around the perimeter of Scunthorpe box before curling home an effort from inside the 18 yard box to set up a grandstand finish for the final 12 minutes. United did have half a chance to level five minutes before the end when Berge's prodded effort fell to Brewster who may have snatched at his chance a little bit with his chance sailing high and wide of the target. Scunthorpe managed to hang on for the final few minutes however, and despite an improved second half, United fell to a first defeat of pre-season. Pre-season is a time to try new things and integrate new players into the squad for the coming season so losing a game in pre-season is far, far away from the end of the world and it's highly likely that half (probably more) of the squad that started the game yesterday will play a part in the opening day fixture in a couple of weeks time at Watford. The first half was still very disappointing to watch because it was just very flat. To be fair, it wasn't even fully the fault of the more junior players in the squad who contributed more towards our collapse. Our back three struggled with balls over the top and looked second best against forwards who were clearly more up for it then they were. Oli Arblaster was the only really bright spark of that first hour or so with his ball control and movement causing Scunthorpe some early problems. Coulibaly also had his moments but did fade a bit before he was eventually subbed off. The second half was a much better performance and once the more senior players entered the fray in the final fifteen we looked a completely different outfit and could have found an equaliser had we just had a bit more time. Alas, it wasn't to be and a disappointing day was numbed a bit by an encouraging final fifteen minutes. All in all, minutes in the tank, we go again Tuesday at Mansfield. Until next time, UTB. 60 Minutes is one of those time spans that cover a lot of time but don't actually cover a lot of time if you catch my drift? Compare watching an hour long programme with a two hour long film. The film looks daunting and your thinking it'll take up a huge chunk of the 24 (12 hours really) that you have during your day but that hour long programme? That's doable! That's not too long, you can engross yourself in the programme without feeling like you've spent all day watching something. All this is a build up to our second (and third if you want to be pedantic) pre-season friendly against League One outfit Lincoln City. The set up was thus, two one hour games with the games split into 30 minute halves with two different starting XI's competing in the games. Got that? Good, let's get into game one.
Game One Game One started with an eleven that was similar to the line up that finished the game against Casa Pia with the only change being Adam Davies in goal in lieu of Jordan Amissah who would start the second game instead. 3 minutes in and United had already opened the scoring! Jebbison held the ball up and laid it off to Stevens who sent in a low cross to Danish youth international Will Osula who fired home to give the Blades a lead. 6 Minutes later and it was two! A raking ball from Norwood looked like it had fallen behind Osula but the academy product produced a sublime touch to bring it in to his running stride and with just the keeper to beat, Osula placed the ball past Rushworth to give us a quickfire double. After this however, the game became a bit of a training ground exercise (apropos considering the games took place at our training ground) with a more experienced Lincoln side dominating possession but not really doing anything with it aside from a couple of pop shots from distance and an effort that saw Coulibaly make a block. The last real effort of note in the first 60 was Jebbison being played in by Osula with Jebbo's chip being kept out by an onrushing Rushworth. The game lulled to a stop and United secured a first victory of the day fairly easily. Game Two A much more experienced XI started for the second game for United with Amissah, Belehouan and Arblaster being the only academy team members in eleven. Jack Robinson made his first start of pre-season coming in for an ill Ahmedhodzic. Similar to the first game, United took the lead early doors with fantastic link up play on the left eventually seeing Ndiaye play a lovely back heel into an onrushing Osborn who's effort appeared to catch Long out as it hit his hand but nestled in the net to give us the lead! United took control of the second match and began to play some lovely stuff on the wings with some brilliant one touch passing seeing us get up the pitch really quickly as we searched for a second goal. The second goal did come with just ten minutes left of the first half with more good link up play, this time on the right hand side, seeing Baldock cut back to Berge who took on the whole Lincoln defence before coolly slotting past Long to double the advantage. Lincoln did have a couple of efforts before half time but nothing came of them so United went into the break two to the good. Dylan Wharton took over the gloves for the last 30 minutes after Amissah had an extended stint in goal after Davies was taken off not long into the second half of the first game. Wharton was nearly called upon not long after the restart after Jack Robinson dawdled on a pass from the ex Chesterfield keeper allowing the Lincoln forward who picked his pocket with only Wharton to beat. Thankfully for JLT, the Lincoln man somehow put his effort past the post in what was a massive let off for United. United heeded the warning and made it 3 four minutes after the Lincoln effort with Rhian Brewster sending a bullet of a shot past Long that the Lincoln keeper could only get a hand to and divert into the corner of the net as our record signing scored his first goal of the pre-season. Ndiaye began toying with the Lincoln defence after this and could have had a goal just before he played a big role in our fourth. Our fourth did you say? Yep, Brewster got his second of the game after Ndiaye and Osborn connected allowing the ex Forest man to slip a ball across the six yard box that Rhian tapped home to fully finish off The Imps. The final fifteen passed with very little else happening and United made it two wins from two in a good tune up for our next game of the pre-season on Saturday against Scunthorpe. It was a real yin and yang between the two games yesterday. The first ten minutes of the first game saw us assert dominance early, get two goals, then more or less shut up shop and let Lincoln try and break down our younger line up. The second game saw a much more experienced eleven assert it's dominance over Lincoln with the 4-0 being a fair reflection of how much we dominated the game. All in all, It was a positive morning/afternoon that saw us compete against a very game League One outfit and dispatch them pretty comfortably with both our 'scratch' eleven and a more first team eleven. We carry on unbeaten and can now look forward to the half way point of pre-season on Saturday and a visit to Scunthorpe. Until next time, UTB. When I say 'summer holidays' what image immediately pops into your mind? Go on, let's do that exercise now. Look away from the laptop/phone screen, close your eyes, and just think of what comes to mind with the phrase 'summer holidays'... Done? Ok good, now, this is just a guess but did you think of sandy beaches and crashing waves? Because I think that's the go to image. Now imagine what that sandy beach would look like in the middle of a suburb in Lisbon. Bit of a strange image to transplant ain't it? But that sandy beach is what Sheffield United opened up their pre-season campaign on against new Portuguese top flight outfit Casa Pia. After a few days out in Portugal doing warm weather training, The Blades culminated the camp with a friendly against The Os Gansos (The Geese, hell of a nickname btw). So, did we slide over the sand like a sandworm out of Dune? Or did we sink into the quicksand whilst a bunch of geese laughed at us. Let's take a look.
United lined up in a special 'pre-season' all white kit as our new away kit is not yet ready to be unveiled. The first half starting XI would be the more experienced team that we would put out during the 90 minutes with the only youth product in the XI being Harrison Neal. There was no place in the squad for new signing Tommy Doyle but there was space for our other signing Anel Ahmedhodzic. United started the game with a couple of crosses peppering the Casa Pia area but then disaster struck just 4 minutes into the game our hosts took the lead. Neal was pressurised into losing the ball just outside our area with Godwin being slipped in to slot home under Davies to give The Geese the early lead. United tried to mount an immediate response with a flurry of set pieces. one was scrambled clear to the edge of the box that Neal set screaming narrowly over the bar which led to another corner that the head of a United player but that the Casa Pia keeper saved. Another corner and this time it was the turn of John Egan to try an effort on goal but his header was met with a save. Casa Pia came into the game after this a bit with some impressive counter attacking that came to a crescendo with a Casa Pia effort going high over the bar despite the man being unmarked from a corner. Despite the comeback, United would get level with an Osborn free kick causing a scramble in the box which eventually fell to Sander Berge who prodded home to get us level and give us our first goal of pre-season. United went back into the ascendancy and could have had a second minutes later when the ball found it's way to Rhian Brewster who's swivelled effort slammed the outside of the post and bobbled away for a goal kick. As the half came to an end it would be our hosts who would have the best chance to take the lead with Godwin once again causing our backline issues with his effort forcing Adam Davies into a very smart save to prevent us going into the break losing which, on the run of play, would have been extremely harsh but, alas, we ended the half all square. An almost completely new XI came out for the second half with only Davies and Gomis (subbed on for RND after about 20 mins) being the survivors. This was a much younger starting XI to our first half outfit with the only 'senior' players really being Norwood, Bash, Fleck, Stevens and Davies. Jebbison and Osula led the line for United and there would be more pressure applied by our hosts as they tried to capitalise on a Norwood error but sent their effort bellowing over the bar. Kyron Gordon can probably count himself lucky that he wasn't sent off after he brought down an attacker who was clean through but, because it was a pre-season friendly, he got away with a booking. United did work their way into the half a bit after this and just after the hour managed to get a second goal! Casa Pia gave the ball away cheaply to Daniel Jebbison who expertly shimmied past a defender and slammed home emphatically just outside the penalty box to give us the lead! It was an extremely well taken effort from Jebbo with his goal actually coming from his weak foot. United began to apply the pressure a bit now and we should have had a third not long after when Fleck played a lovely chipped ball to Osula who, with the goal more or less at his mercy, either missed the ball or mishit it which saw the ball travel safely behind the goal. A real shame for the young Dane who did impress throughout his second half stint. This was the last effort of note in the game as United managed to see off some late Casa Pia pressure to secure a well deserved first win of the pre season! It was very interesting to see the two contrasting games played by both of our outfits in the first and second half. Casa Pia were very game opposition and were a very decent measuring stick as we start our six match stint in pre-season. The first half team was probably something similar to what we'll see at some point in the season and, despite the error for the Casa Pia goal, we played some very good stuff at times with our quick passing causing our hosts a few problems. Our set piece taking was also pretty much spot on during the first 45 with every corner more or less seeing us get efforts off on goal and our equaliser came from a free kick. Our second half outfit meanwhile, included more experimental members of our squad but the young guns produced a fantastic performance against a much older Casa Pia side and held them off well whilst still creating chances that eventually saw us grab a winner. All in all, a very positive start to pre-season and we now turn our focus towards a mid morning clash with Lincoln City! 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
Categories |