Well, we are up and running in the Checkatrade trophy after a draw against Leicester city's under 21 outfit and I have to say the blades were hard done by in this match and probably should have come away with all three points and not just the one. Wilder seemed to take some of my advice and started all but one of the players I suggested to start in the match and that payed dividends due to the blades starting the match brightly and creating the better chances of the first half with Sharp missing an absolute sitter around the half hour mark of the first half. The blades had the lions share of the possession in the game and, apart from the odd Leicester counter attack, played much of the ball in the Leicester half. The second half was very much like the first with the blades once again dominating but were constantly denied by an inspired Leicester keeper who pulled off some great saves to deny the blades that all important goal. Regular time ended and the match went to penalties to see who would earn the extra point (yes you read that correctly the shootout was for ONE extra point) the blades scored four of the five penalties with John Fleck missing the only penalty in the shootout and Leicester snatched that all important extra point. All in all the blades performed well which should give Wilder some food for thought when selecting the squad for Gillingham. Stand out performers for me were Louis Reed, James Wilson, Simon Moore, Jack O' Connell and Harry Chapman. Reed did an excellent job of getting stuck in and looked like creating something whenever he got the ball. Wilson and O'Connell seem to be starting to gel together at the back and both put in an assured performance. Moore was constantly loud throughout the game and made some great saves when called upon most notably denying Demari Gray with a spectacular save in the dying moments of the game. Chapman was a constant nuisance to the Leicester back line and had two golden opportunities to kill the game in normal time but failed to convert. All in all, a good performance by all (including Hussey) and onto the next game against Gillingham.
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So... The match that no fans seem to want has come around and to be honest, i'm looking forward to it. I mean it couldn't have come at a better time if you think about it because we have just won our first game of the season and instead of waiting a full week for the next game to come around, we get it three days after it which allows the players to still have that afterglow of the first victory and the hunger to try and keep that winning feeling inside them. Yes it's only against the Leicester under 21's but it could still be a big boost for some players confidence if we win. Now, the team selection tonight shouldn't be too hard for Wilder to select but he has to keep in mind that competition rules state that an EFL team must have six players who playedthe previous fixture, so I believe that Wilder should pick Simon Moore, Jack O'Connell, James Wilson, Jake Wright, John Fleck and captain Billy Sharp. Some of those choices seem pretty obvious like Sharp who is the captain and in my mind the captain should play every game so he should start. I think the backline of Wilson and Wright worked well at the weekend and it should be interesting to see how they cope against potentially quicker, younger opposition. Fleck should start to try and get himself back to full match fitness and Moore should start because George Long doesn't need anymore abuse. Now O'Connell is the interesting one in this six because although he is a centre back by trade he proved himself to be a damn good left back when he came on for Chris Hussey at the weekend due to his decent showing on the defensive end (already an improvement on Hussey) and his deceptive quickness which made him a nusience on the offensive front as well so I believe that Wilder should bite the bullet and make O'Connell our starting left back and drop Hussey for the forseeable future due to O'Connell looking like a better left back than Hussey. All in all, tonight shouldn't be taken too seriously but I believe Wilder should put out a competitve team that can win the match and continue the momentum into the weekends game against Gillingham.
So, the new era under Chris Wilder is finally underway thanks to a well earned 2-1 victory today against Oxford United. I'll be honest, going in to today's game I genuinely thought that we might lose this one and that Wilder's job might be hanging on a thread but, the blades had to go and prove me wrong and thank god they did. Today's performance was a bit of a mish-mash of some good attacking football and some pretty god awful football but in the end all that matters in the score line and today that score line was in our favour. Lets do a quick summary, for the first ten to fifteen minutes of the first half I thought we looked good, challenging for the ball, attacking the Oxford backline, just playing some very positive football with Chris Basham putting in a very good performance if I do say so myself then, for the rest of the half, we looked like the United that has turned up for every other game so far this season, playing very slowly and misplacing passes all over the pitch and it was during this period of torridness that Oxford managed to open the scoring with Kane Hemmings pouncing on a Simon Moore spilled save to slot home into an empty net. Not much happened after that and the blades went in 1-0 down with seemingly no way back. 'Enjoy the second half' Gary Sinclair bellowed down the microphone but to be brutally honest I was readying myself for more disappointment. However, the blades started brightly and looked like a genuine goal threat. It also helped that Wilder subbed on Jack O'Connell for the disappointing Chris Hussey at left-back which seemed to shore up that left side if Oxford ever tried to attack via that route. Anyway, the blades continued to gain momentum and were rewarded for their perseverance when Matt Done crossed to the far right hand post at the kop end and found Billy Sharp waiting to tap home his second goal of the season. Eupohria erupted from around the whole stadium with people just glad to finally have something to celebrate about. However the blades weren't done there and, spurred on by an electrifying crowd, managed to win a free kick on the right side of the pitch which Mark Duffy swung into the box and his cross found the head of James Wilson who sent a bullet header flying past the outstretched hand of Simon Eastwood. Absolute pandemonium broke out in the stands with a huge sigh of relief being collectively let out by everyone. Could we do it? Of course we could and the blades sent home a 19,000+ crowd home happy and smiling. It helped that Wilder made some much needed changes to the team with Jake Wright finally making his first team debut and impressing large amounts of the home support with an assured performance at the back, he looks like a mainstay and I'm completely okay with that if he continues to perform like he did today. Wilder also took out Leon Clarke and finally installed Matt Done as an out and out forward where he did a great job grabbing an assist for Sharp's goal and pressing the opposition from the front. Wilder also made a great decision to take off the disappointing Chris Hussey and put on Jack O'Connell at half time which proved to be a masterstroke due to O'Connell proving to be an excellent upgrade on Hussey in every way due to his ability to actually defend and also his ability to find a pass and use his speed to bomb down the left flank. I would not mind O'Connell becoming the teams regular left-back if he continues to perform like he did today. All in all, the blades just looked up for the match today and put their bodies on the line to finally get that first win on the board which was well deserved. So, Wilder lives to fight another day and if the rest of the season plays out like today, I will be A-Okay with that.
The last time I remember Sheffield United playing a Oxford United was in the FA Cup in the 2011/12 season. In that match I remember the team looking very threatening and Oxford couldn't handle us. That day we won 3-0 with Ched Evans scoring a brace and Stephan Quinn adding one late on. Fast forward five years and the situation is completely different. Quinn is plying his trade at Reading in the Championship and Mr Evans is rediscovering his goalscoring touch under Danny Wilson at Chesterfield and is currently the top scorer in League One with four goals in four league games. Sheffield United however are languishing at the bottom of the league with only a point to our name and the elusive first win under new boss Chris Wilder doesn't seem to be coming anytime soon. This is the worst start to a league campaign for a long time and already the pressure is starting to build on Wilder. A win here could give the team a much needed morale boost and hopefully they can kick on and start to build some much needed momentum, a loss however, and the pressure begins to boil over and the Checkatrade Trophy match on Tuesday against Leciester under 23's could be a make or break game for Wilder. Oxford come into this match with nothing to lose and the blades come into this match with everything to lose so I believe advantage Oxford there because they can come to Bramall Lane and play with little backlash whatever the result. However, for the blades anything but a win could perhaps start to see the cracks in Wilder's dam start to bust open and all the pent up rage of blades fans could start to pour out onto him and make his situation even worse. I believe that tomorrow the blades need to go for the jugular and at least try to play some exciting attacking football instead of just lumping the ball up to Leon Clarke and hoping for the best because that system is clearly not working so this match could be the start of a long and prosperous winning streak for United or it could be the beginning of the end for Wilder. We will have to wait and see...
Billy Sharp. A name that has divided many Sheffield United fans so far this season. On one side are the fans that support his every move and perhaps believe that he was the natural choice to the captain of this football club due to him being 'one of us' and having an excellent season last year proving many doubters wrong (myself included) and going on to score 21 goals in the league last year and generally leading the team. On the other side of the fence are the people who have started to doubt his abilities due largely to his general laziness on the field and selfishness when in front of goal. I for one believe that Billy Sharp is a good goal scorer, probably the best in this division however, I don't believe that he should be the captain of Sheffield United due to the fact that he seems to have lost all leadership qualities that he possessed at times last season. For example, on Tuesday after Southend had scored that killer third goal, you would have expected Sharp to try and gee up his comrades to try and improve their performance, instead he just stood their and looked dumbfounded. These are not the qualities that make a good captain, a good captain would try and encourage his team mates to improve their performance no matter the score and try and lead the line against adversity. Billy Sharp does not seem to be able to do this thus perhaps demoralising his team mates even further. It is also rumoured that Sharp does not get along with Leon Clarke which is again not good captain behaviour because a good captain should be able to put any personal beef with team mates behind him on the field and try to work with them to further the success of the team. Sharp does not seem able to do this. I also think that Sharp perhaps can't handle the added pressure of being captain which is further affecting his performance on the field which has been evident all season so far with Sharp looking a shade of his former self with the armband on. I would suggest that Wilder strips Sharp of the armband thus loosening his workload which could see him concentrate more on scoring goals and not the overall performance of the team basically leaving him to his own devices which seemed to work well under Adkins. I suggest that Wilder give the armband to, believe it or not, Paul Coutts. Now, before you go to the comment section and throw a hissy fit about Coutts not being good enough, think, Coutts has played reasonably well so far this season and genuinely looks like he is going to do something with the ball any time he receives it. Basically, he is the only one who seems to care and it looks like being put on the transfer list has reinvigorated him and we are finally seeing the real Paul Coutts who on his best day is probably the most technically gifted midfielder we have at our disposal. Wilder just needs to keep him focused and if these performances are churned out on a regular basis I believe that Paul Coutts could be the captain that Sheffield United needs.
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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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