Well, i can safely say that this season has taken a good turn. From losing three of our league games in August to winning four games on the trot and having an unbeaten start to September so far. This was arguably the first real test for a rejuvinated blades team and the players passed that test with flying colours playing some fast paced, intricate football to defending incredibly well for the last half and hour or so of the match. So, lets talk about the match shall we? The blades started the match the better of the two sides and Matt Done was denied an opening goal from a sublime save from the Borough keeper. However, Done would have his day and that came minutes later courtesey of a well developed move that involved a cross field pass from Mark Duffy into the chest of Billy Sharp who managed to control the ball and hold off a defender long enough so that he could lay a ball off to an onrushing Kieron Freeman who whipped in an excellent first time cross which found the boot of the oncoming Done who slotted the ball home to make it one - nil to the blades. The blades contolled the rest of the half and nothing more of note really happened. The second half started and nothing really happened for a while until Gwion Edwards came on for Peterborough. About twenty minutes after coming on he struck a vicious shot low and hard at Simon Moore's goal, it looked like a certain goal, however Simon Moore had other ideas and pulled off a sublime reaction save to deny the posh a certain equaliser. I haven't mentioned Moore much in this post however, he had a sublime game and organised his defence well and provided the goods when called upon. Time went by and apart from a Stefan Scougall opportunity which the Borough keeper once again dealt with extremely well nothing of note really happened and the blades came away with a fourth consecutive win and a first clean sheet of the season. This team is really coming together now and looks like a far cry of the team which lost three - nil to Southend back in August, the defence seems more stable ever since Jake Wright came into the team and now that we have a quality keeper like Moore behind the, I have faith in a blades backline for the first time in a long time. So, onwards to Scunthorpe and another stern test for a rejvinated blades, the two form teams in League One meet for the first time and, even though they are top of the league, i believe that this blades team can take them and close that gap on the top two even further. As ever, UTB.
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So... What a turnaround it has been the past few weeks since I last wrote an article on Sheffield United. The last time I wrote one of these articles we were bottom of the league and I remember writing that the match against Oxford could have been Chris Wilder's D-Day after a disastrous start to the new league campaign. However, since then the blades have gone on a bit of a tear, winning their next two league games, both away from home, and have started to look like a dangerous unit on the offensive end. So for the first time in a long time, I am writing this article looking forward to tomorrows clash with fellow promotion rivals Peterborough and do believe that we could genuinely get something out of this game because the lads have hit their stride and are trying to continue the momentum they have built up in the last three league games. I believe that with a packed out Bramall Lane the boys can feed off a thunderous atmosphere and at least score a few goals due to Peterborough having a very leaky defence so if we can exploit that then we could continue our winning form, however like Peterborough we have also had a very leaky defence so if Peterborough catch our defence cold it could be a very hard game to watch for blades fans. Either way, I believe that this will be a hugely entertaining game of football and due to both teams having frontlines going through purple patches and defences that crumple under pressure easily I can see this game being a high scoring affair but I think if the crowd get behind the blades we will probably just about edge this fixture. Either way I am now fully invested in the Wilder regime and look forward to witnessing a fourth consecutive blades victory. Until tomorrow, UTB.
This is a regular article that I will write throughout the season about the performance of the team on a whole and will be published at the end of every month
Goalkeepers George Long: Rating 4/10: It all seemed to be going well for young George. Signing a new two year deal in the summer it seemed to everyone that this would be the breakout season for the young shot stopper, alas, it wasn't to be with George putting in some very shaky displays and costing the team by making a lot of errors that proved costly. He needs to improve greatly or his Sheffield United career could be over before it really has begun. Simon Moore: Rating 8/10: So far, Moore has performed extremely well for United pulling off some crucial saves and having a good command of his back line. That rumoured £500,000 fee looks like it is going to be a bargain and due to him still being quite a young goalkeeper he is only going to get better. A good signing overall. Defenders Chris Hussey: Rating 3/10: If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will know how I feel about our left back Chris Hussey. However, if you are new to this blog I will sum up his performances in three words. Harrowing, abysmal, terrible. An utterly god awful player. I honestly don't know how this player has made a career at League One level. Probably the worst of the summer signings and its music to my ears that Wilder has signed Daniel Lafferty who will hopefully replace Hussey for the foreseeable future. Jack O'Connell: Rating 6/10: O'Connell seems like an interesting player. At his age, he will continue to grow as a player if given a reasonable amount of time to play in a competitive environment, which it looks like he will get, then I can see this lad perhaps becoming a future defensive stalwart for the blades due to his deceptive pace and his commanding stature. However, the kid needs to be nurtured correctly because he is susceptible to make an error as proven in the Millwall and Southend games. However so far, the player looks like he could become a good player so watch this space on this guy. James Wilson: Rating 7/10: Wilson so far has been pretty solid for the blades and has not really put a foot wrong so far this season and looks to be a very decent signing and looks like he will work well with both O'Connell and Jake Wright so is flexible which makes him a very useful asset to the team. Jake Wright: Rating 7.5/10: Wright perhaps has been the best centre back the blades have had since Harry Maguire. This is due to his cool head under pressure and his ability to organise his defence. This signing looked like it would just be a manager doing one of his older players a favour and giving him one last big pay check to help him out, however I believe that if Wright continues to play the way he played against Oxford. I think he should get more of a chance around the starting eleven. John Brayford: Rating 4/10: Brayford has had a tough time since re joining the blades on a permanent deal back in January 2015. His first half season was plagued by injury and he never really got to show his best like he did during his first spell in 2014. This season could have been his breakout season, however he put in some shaky performances at right back and has been sent out on a season long loan to Burton. Hopefully, he will come back from his spell away reinvigorated and ready to play again but we will have to wait and see. Kieron Freeman: Rating 6/10: Freeman seemed to be dead in the water after being put on the transfer list early on in the summer. However, ever since the demise of John Brayford at right back Freeman has been brought back into the fold and has been a great improvement on Brayford. It seems that being unwanted has reinvigorated him and made him work harder and that hard work is paying off. His new look also shows that he is no longer the old Freeman who would coast games and not really do nothing throughout he now is constantly getting involved both offensively and defensively long may it continue. Midfielders Chris Basham: Rating 7/10: I have always liked Chris Basham. I like how he will never say die in a game and will always try for the team. This season has been no different with Basham being one of the more consistent players for Chris Wilder's blades as has been the case for the past two years. Once again, the transfer window has slammed shut and will not be open again for another four months. During this summer window, Sheffield United were very active and ended up signing twelve players of varying positions. In this post I will evaluate who have been the shrewdest bits of business and who should have stayed at their former clubs.
Signing no.1: Mark Duffy signed from Birmingham City for free Mark Duffy was one of Wilder's first signings of the summer window and when we first brought him in, it seemed like a bargain. This was a player who in the previous season excelled in League One, helping Burton Albion to an unlikely promotion and was voted into the team of the season. However, Duffy has not yet showed his full potential in a blades shirt and has been more frustrating to watch rather than entertaining largely due to the fact that he has a tendency to try and do too much with the ball when a simple pass off to a team mate would do the trick. This leads to him usually giving the ball away and letting the other team counter attack, however, in recent games Duffy has started to improve and has begun to aid the team more than hinder it. Verdict?: 6/10 Signing no.2: Chris Hussey signed from Bury for an undisclosed fee Chris Hussey was signed on the same day as Mark Duffy and came to the club with some mixed reviews. Some people said that his attacking was very good and that his set pieces and his left foot were unrivalled in this division however, others said that he has a tendency to go AWOL on the defensive end. Unfortunately for Hussey the fans have seen none of his supposedly excellent set pieces or his unrivalled left foot and instead have only seen his ability to defend which like people said, is very, very poor at the best of times and abominable at the worst. I honestly don't know how this lad has carved out a career for himself at League One level because he is just terrible and doesn't seem to know how to defend and his attacking, supposedly his best asset, has yet to be shown to the Bramall Lane faithful. For Hussey its either buck up or become obsolete and the way it currently looks he looks to be going down the obsolete route. Verdict?: 3/10 Signing no.3: James Wilson signed from Oldham Athletic for free Wilson is one of the summer signings that we desperately needed, a centre back who is in his prime and relatively tall and so far Wilson has done his job well and looks like an upgrade on David Edgar and Neil Collins but believe me, being an upgrade on those two is not a very hard task to complete. However Wilson looks like a solid centre back who goes about his work quietly and efficiently. Verdict?: 7/10 Signing no.3: Jack O'Connell signed from Brentford for an undisclosed fee O'Connell when signed looked like a great signing. He is a young, tall and hungry defender who has versatility to play anywhere along the defensive line and so far, he has been decent borderline good. I mean, he started well enough putting in a good display against Crewe but in recent weeks he has started to make some errors, he was responsible for two of the three goals in the humiliation at the hands of Southend and handballed in the dying minutes of the Millwall game which resulted in a penalty which left going away from the Den with no points instead of one. However, O'Connell has improved in the resulting games and put in an assured performance at left back against Oxford and had a good game against the Leicester under 21's. So some pro's and con's but mostly pro's Verdict?: 7/10 Signing no.4: John Fleck signed from Coventry City for free Ahh John Fleck. What a story this young man has had. Coming through the fabled Rangers youth system it seemed to be going right for the young Scot, but then he lost his place in the starting eleven and needed a club to go to. Enter Sheffield United who offered the young man the chance to come a play for the and help them avoid relegation from the championship. It all seemed set in stone, Fleck would join the blades on a season long loan and add some bite to a decrepit midfield. Alas, the move never happened due to the papers needed for Fleck's transfer coming through too late so the young man stayed in Scotland and the blades were relegated. Fast forward six years and Fleck does eventually join the blades but this time the transfer is a permanent move and actually happens instead of it breaking down due to lack of paperwork. So how has Fleck performed so far? Was it worth the six year wait? The answer to the question is meh, he's been alright. However this is largely due to the fact that when Fleck has played, the blades decide to play hoofball which is not how Fleck plays so he becomes very ineffective however when the blades decide to pass the ball around instead of just hoofing it up field, Fleck is one of the finest passers of the ball I have seen and his first touch is a cut above the rest so if the blades start to play this way, I can see Fleck becoming an attacking focal point for the blades in the coming years but we will have to wait and see. Verdict?: 5/10 |
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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