Do West Brom still bang on about shepherds being their lord? I've always found that association pretty tenuous, is there a lot of sheep and or shepherds near The Hawthorns? Answers on a postcard if you please, anyway, United were back at it again after the draw with Norwich last week with struggling (ironic considering our form) West Brom next up for the Blades who begin the post Bruce era of their existence (which I think every club in the country has had at this point) with Carlos Corberan taking the helm for his first game after taking over. Would the new manager bounce help those boing, boing Baggies? Or would United cut down the Throstle's? Let's find out.
A trio of changes for United today with McBurnie, Doyle and Ndiaye returning to the starting XI. Enda Stevens returned to a matchday 18 for the first time since Watford on opening day. United would start quicker out of the two teams and after ten minutes took the lead! Some nice build up play saw Doyle loft a ball in behind The Baggies backline for Baldock to burst onto with his cross seeing McBurnie whiff on the shot but, thankfully, Iliman Ndiaye was there to trap and curl home for his 7th goal of the season. A dream start and it was almost euphoric moments later as McBurnie saw a looping header narrowly clear the bar and settle behind the net as our hosts struggled to clear a corner. Despite our recent struggles, United looked every inch the team that set the league ablaze in the early weeks during the first half hour and we had our second just before the 25-minute mark with a goal involving our two attackers. A West Brom attack was broke up and the ball found it's way to Illi who proceeded to proverbially pants two Brom midfielders and break with McBurnie to his left. Our Senegalese star laid the ball off to our Scottish sniper who cut inside and curled home from just outside the box for his 7th of the season and just like that we've got a front two that know where the goal is. It's rare for United to have two strikers in such a rare vein of form and is something we've been looking for since the 18/19 promotion season with Dave (miss you Dave) and Billy. Looks like we've finally got our attacking twosome, long may their rich vein of form continue! As we approached the break, our hosts began to creep into the game with Wallace and Diangana both having shots from distance go close but with no cigar. Matt Phillips went closest to getting a goal back for the hosts with his effort from just outside the box forcing Davies to save low to his right. Despite the late pressure, United would nearly get a third and it was that man Ndiaye going close again. A punt forward reached Illi despite it looking like he was miles off. Linesman nor ref called for offside however and Illi was one on one with Erik Peters (yes, he still plays football) with his effort deflecting off the ex-Dutch international (yes, really) and just looping over the crossbar with Palmer well beaten. Not long after this the half time whistle blew, and all looked good for the boys in red and white. Could it continue? It sure looked like it after the break as United looked to fully kill off the game. Intricate play from Doyle saw him play in Illi who rounded the keeper but couldn't quite slot home and instead nestled the side netting. We were in the ascendency with more good play seeing Osborn have an effort blocked then minutes later Norwood went close with a curling effort that he perhaps should have done better with. West Brom decided they wanted to try and attack our goal so brought on Swift and Molumby to ask some questions. They did, to be fair, with Molumby having a crack that just miss the post. Swift was next up to have a go, but his effort was just a bit too high to truly worry Davies. Molumby was back at it again as we entered the last 10 with another strong effort that forced Davies into an unconvincing parry. Norwood did his signature 'shot flying over the bar' routine that was mildly amusing and then West Brom actually tried to score! Can you believe it? Yeah, me neither but they tried. A scrambled corner was half cleared by United, and Brandon Thomas-Asante saw a header knocked off the line by Anel and the follow up from Reach (lol) was turned away for a corner. The huffs and puffs continued but it just wasn't to be and United tamed the sheep herders with a very professional performance indeed. Just a really decent away performance and just all-round performance from United today. We took our chances, limited theirs', and defended like Fernando Alonso on El Plan juice. Really nice just to see us close a game out after the madness of Blackpool and Norwich to be honest. Yeah, was really good, wasn't it? I'll tell you this for free, let's get Illi tied down to a lifetime contract yeah? That guy is a truly special talent. He really is the best academy talent we've had since Brooksy and I don't want him to leave. He's ace. Stay forever Illi? Anyway, Bristol City Tuesday, let's get after them Blades! Until then, UTB.
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Statistically, teams usually don't win every football game that they play. In the history of English football, only two teams have gone unbeaten through a league season and even those were nearly a hundred years apart. So United coming away from our last two home games without a win is something that just happens in football. These things happen. It was a bit huff and puff and, on another day, maybe we get a draw with the ball bouncing just that bit kinder to us. Alas, that didn't happen, so let's take a look at the game.
A rarity for United this season as Redfearn made two changes to the team that started against Bristol City. Ellie Wilson and Mia Enderby came in with Enderby rewarded after bagging her third of the season in last week's fixture. United started the game brightly and Bex Rayner had an effort from distance held by Rendell. The visitors began to dictate play a little bit after our good start with some quick passing seeing our defensive line struggle. Morris was played in behind, but Davies made good save to deny an opener. Our flat footedness did eventually cost us the opener however as Southampton sliced us open and Pusey beat Davies to the through ball, rounded her, and rolled home to give the visitors the lead. United began to probe for an equaliser but struggled to break down a stout Saints backline. Our best chance to equalise came just after the first half midway point with Southampton half clearing a Cusack corner only as far as Lord-Mears thundered the ball towards goal that Rendell tipped over the bar. Lord-Mears went close again from more half-cleared corners, but this time sent her effort wide. Sweetman-Kirk and Riglar went close with efforts that just narrowly missed the target. That was more or less that for a first half with Southampton and Rendell doing their best to frustrate United. United were quick out of the blocks after the break and Lord-Mears was at it again from distance with Rendell once again denying our midfielder. The Saints went close shortly after this with Davies again pulling off a cracking save to deny Southampton a second. Changes came as Walters and Brown entered the fray as we looked for an equaliser. The play became a bit more of a war of attrition after this as Southampton managed to keep our creative players at arm's length. The closest United came to an equaliser was just as we entered the final 10 minutes with an Althea Paul corner dropping to Brown in the box about 6 yards out. Unfortunately, the former Forest players effort was straight at Rendell and that was all she wrote on the game as Southampton condemned us to a second home loss of the season. Full credit to Southampton for yesterday's win, they came with a clear gameplan that United just struggled to get on top of. We had the majority of the ball but just couldn't create much with it as Southampton set up a low block to absorb our play and nullify our creative players. On the other hand, however, we saw a keeper in Rendell produce some cracking saves that on another day could have seen us have at least one goal as we went into the break. The second half was a bit more frustrating as Southampton sat back and protected what they had. Frustrating but we go again next week against freshly relegated Birmingham. I'm sure we'll see a positive response from the team! Until next time, UTB. The last game that we played B.P. (Before Pandemic) was the very fixture that we played today. The only real difference was the division with the match now being a Championship game rather than a Premier League clash. On that day, Billy Sharp scored a bullet header to secure us a crucial three points on our quest for a European place. How times have changed as now both teams came into today's game in pretty awful form. So, a drab 0-0 it is then? No actually, far from it.
Changes were afoot after the Coventry debacle (I've still not fully recovered from that yet) with Sharp, Fleck, Brewster and McAtee coming back into the starting line-up. The game got off to a calamitous start for United with some blasé passing around the back seeing Pukki block a Davies clearance with the ball rolling into the net and causing consternation in the stands. United probed for an equaliser but couldn't string a pass together to save a life and looked vulnerable to the counter and, more pertinently, balls over the top and this was how Norwich would bag a second just after the quarter hour mark. A long ball was hoofed between Ahmedhodzic and Pukki with Pukki managing to hold off the attentions of the ex-Malmo man and slot home, ignoring the attention of some Blades defenders as he bagged. The atmosphere upped, but not in a good way as the United faithful were staring down the barrel of another defeat. United did look for a way back into the game in the next phase of play and Norwood sent a free kick flying over the crossbar and Brewster rose highest to an Osborn cross but sent it high over the bar again. Norwich almost had a third via Josh Sargent who was set free in our box after, you guessed it, another counterattack. Adam Davies produced a smart save to deny the US international and United hung on. United came closest to getting a goal back five minutes before half time with Norwood forcing a smart save from Gunn after some good play from Sharp. United continued to press for a goal but it wasn't coming and there was a smattering of boos as the teams headed back down the tunnel for a fifteen-minute break. The odds looked against United, how would we respond? Iliman Ndiaye was introduced at the break as United looked to force the issue with The Canaries. The introduction of Ndiaye saw United come out fighting and our Senegalese international nearly converted after a mesmerising dribble saw him have two bites of the cherry but saw his first effort blocked and then his second effort flew over the bar despite the goal being pretty open. Just after the hour mark, United would halve the deficit thanks to Ben Osborn. Sharp laid the ball into the path of the former Forest man to curl home from close range and raise the octave of The Lane as we now had a sliver of hope. As United searched for an equaliser, Norwich began to remind us all of how good they are at feigning injury and buying fouls as they looked to wind down the clock and frustrate The Blades and the fans. Despite the gamesmanship, United would not be denied an equaliser and Oli McBurnie would be the one to get us back on level terms! A cracking cross from Osborn found McBurnie at the back stick with his first effort hitting the post but, thankfully, the rebound hit McBurnie as he slid towards the net and the ball settled in the net as The Lane went bananas and McBurnie had his sixth of the season which equals his total during his first season in a Blades shirt. The game began to swing with end-to-end football as both teams looked for a winner. Hernandez, Pukki and Nunez all had efforts for the visitors with Doyle, Khadra and McBurnie going close for United. As we entered the final five minutes however, we would gift Norwich a chance to take all free points after Egan brought down Sargent to give Pukki a chance to get his hat trick. The Finnish international stepped up... And saw his effort saved by Davies! The Welsh international redeemed himself after his early blunder and gave us a good chance to be able to get a winner and as the game entered added time, it was United who would have the closer opportunities to get a win with McBurnie missing two very good opportunities to get his second with his first header looking destined to nestle in the net, but Gunn was there to produce a great reaction save to somehow keep the ball out of the net. United continued to push but it wasn't to be and for the second home game running, a thrilling contest saw both teams share the points. A really strange afternoon for United today. The first half was a continuation of Wednesday with the team looking like they've never played together in their lives with missed passes aplenty and simply chasing shadows as Norwich knocked the ball around us. They didn't really create much, and both their goals came as a result of defensive errors. We could easily have crumbled, but we came out of the break with fire in our belly and once we equalised, it looked like only one team would go on and win the game and that was The Blades. Once we had our creative outlet in Ndaiye on the pitch, we looked a much better outfit which begs the question, why didn't he (or Doyle) start the game? I think it's all down to player stamina at this point with Doyle and Ndiaye both being constant starters in our current run of games. If we had more players available against either Coventry or Blackpool, they probably would have been rested for at least one of those games and started this one. Alas, half our squad is injured, and we don't yet have the privilege to rest players for bigger games. When we have those players on IR back, maybe we'll see more rests and Hecky probably saw the return of Fleck as a way to rest Doyle and go to a flat 3 and rest Ndiaye as well. Unfortunately, we crapped the bed a bit in the first half and Ndiaye and Doyle both played crucial roles in our comeback. So, it's another game without a win but there is hope there unlike in our other games in this slump. If we play like the second half team against West Brom, I can see us getting a positive result! Until next time, UTB. Unlike most of the reviews that I do for our fair football club that can be far ranging and long, this will be an actual brief review because I don't want to talk about this game of football for a particularly long time. Partly due to the dire football on show and partly down to us failing to win. So, let's get on with review.
Three changes from the weekend's fracas with Blackpool with Anel and McBurnie returning to the XI and, nearly a year after joining the club, Adam Davies debuted between the sticks for the suspended Foderingham. Very little happened in this half and that's an understatement. It was so, so poor from both teams. Neither created any chances I think apart from pot shots from angles that only Ronaldinho would score from. The big news of the half was the inevitable injury to a United player. This week's victim was one of our top performers of the season so far in Rhys Norrington-Davies who pulled up with a hamstring injury after attempting to swing in a cross 10 minutes in. RND was carried off on a stretcher and the proverbial idiom 'when it rains, it pours' immediately came to mind. Maybe we should just stop employing a left side of the pitch because of all the injuries we have on that side of the pitch. McAtee came on and poleaxed a Coventry player and that was that for half one. Crap? Absolutely. Did it get any better? Not really. There were a few more chances to write home about in the second half which was nice from a viewing perspective, I guess. Illiman sent a couple of efforts flashing wide and then Norwood hit the top of the crossbar with a free kick akin to 'that' one against Villa many moons ago. United did pick up the pace and quality of play after this for a bit and did manage to string some decent passing moves in and around the Coventry box but with very little end product. All of a sudden, a big flashpoint in the game occurred like a Randy Orton RKO when Ndiaye and McBurnie connected just outside the Coventry box eventually seeing our Scottish international send an effort flying towards goal that had the keeper beat... But stung the post and bobbled away before anything could formulate. Coventry had a shout for a penalty at the other end but that looked like it would be that for a truly turgid game of football. Wait, why's Basham brought down the Coventry player there? Oh, great, we've given away a penalty and Waghorn has struck it hard and low past Davies to steal victory and condemn United to a second away loss on the trot and leaving us without a win in five. Fun times, I'm sure you'll agree. Not much else to say really, you don't want to read any more about what was a godawful game of football, and I really don't want to write anymore about the godawful game of football. So that's that then. Onto Norwich at the weekend. Until then, UTB. After an encouraging start to the season that has seen some really positive results (Coventry and Durham x2) we were probably due a result that is what we call in the trade, "a big sad". Sunday's loss against top of the league Bristol City was that "big sad" result for United as we lost for the first time since the opening day of the season but just like Wizards Of Waverly Place once said in its theme, things are not always what they seem and that was the case yesterday. Let's get into the review.
Three changes were made from Continental Cup action last weekend with CSK, Rayner and Haywood all returning to starting line up with Georgia Walters keeping her place in the XI after a double against Durham. A cagey opening saw both teams limited to pot shots from distant or potential chances being cut out before they can come to fruition. It took until the 25th minute for the first clear cut chance of the contest and it fell to Sweetman-Kirk who was played through but couldn't beat Bentley despite very little disruption from the defenders. As we entered the final ten, Newsham went close with a cross that floated across the goal line put just didn't fall in. Despite us having the better chances in the half and restricted the visitors to very little, The Robins would be the ones to open the scoring. Hayles pounced on a loose ball and beats two defenders with very little resistance from the Blades backline and slotted past Davies to ultimately go into the break with a lead slightly against the run of play. The lackadaisical defending continued minutes after the restart from a Blades perspective as City doubled their lead when a crossing opportunity was not dealt with by our defence with the ball looping over Davies and leaving Hayles with a chance on a silver platter to knock it in for her second. The misery would be compounded six minutes later as City got a third with a ball over the top seeing Harrison poke the ball past Davies to put City in the driving seat. United however have a knack of turning around games that we seemingly shouldn't get anything out of this season, and we should have had a free kick inside the penalty box just before the hour mark with one of the most blatant back passes I've ever seen at a football match. Somehow, despite the lineswoman having a clear sighter of the incident, Bentley was allowed top pick up the pass and play was waved on. It was simply bizarre and saw a ref that started the game well descend into a slew of strange decisions. Riglar went close from a corner with Bentley making a good save to deny the ex-Coventry player. We entered the final twenty and Sweetman-Kirk almost got a goal with a chance on the by-line seeing Bentley meet it with a cracking save to force a corner. Enderby and Paul both tried their luck but were denied but we did eventually get our goal as we started 4 minutes of stoppage time. Enderby was played in and kept her head to finally beat Bentley and get her third of the season. That was unfortunately that for United and a first home loss of the season despite a relatively decent performance. Really, really unfortunate for United yesterday as our first half performance saw us more than match a Bristol City side that has not yet lost in the league this season. We had the better chances in the first period and restricted them to very little. Poor defending was ultimately our downfall for two of City's goals as we didn't put a tackle in and just let the Bristol City players the chance to waltz into our box and have a pop at goal. Despite this, we once again showed a lot of heart to get back into the game and if a certain refereeing decision went our way and Bentley was less inspired, we could have come away with a point. But, ultimately, you can't win them all. We go again next week with the visit of Southampton to The Lane. If you can get down on Sunday, please do! Until next time, UTB. The Battle Of Bramall Lane is a game that lives on in infamy in the world of football. It's so infamous that it has its own Wikipedia page that may or may not be unnecessarily in depth. But on that early spring day, Sheffield United faced West Brom and proceeded to forfeit the game to the visitors 3-0 after we failed to finish the 90 minutes with the required 7 players on the team. It's a fascinating game to read about (and listen about thanks to the cracking MUNDIAL podcast on the game, look it up on Spotify) as it's a game that has a lot of lore behind it. Yesterday's game is somewhat of a modern-day sequel to that game as Sheffield United and Blackpool fought out a ding-dong battle that saw six goals scored and 4 players sent off in a firecracker of an afternoon at The Lane. Let's get on with the review.
Three changes were made from the loss at Stoke with Baldock, Sharp and Osborn all returning to the starting XI. McBurnie, Ahmedhodzic and Jack Robinson were also welcome returns to the matchday 18 as our squad began to look more like a professional outfit and less like a school team. In fact, the only youth team regular left on our bench was Arblaster. On the other side, perennial hero/villain Gary Madine lead the line for The Seasiders. United kicked off and almost immediately had the ball in the back of the net with Doyle getting on the end of a Sharp knockback but it was ruled out for offside. United wouldn't need to wait much longer for the opener however, as James McAtee got on the end of another Sharp knock on and bundled home for his first professional goal and our opener! Blackpool were not dismayed by going behind and instantly tried to force an equaliser with Madine going closest to getting the visitors back on terms with a looping effort that just cleared the crossbar. Blackpool continued to ask the questions as United struggled to break their press. Despite the pressure, United would be the ones to get the next goal with Ndiaye reacting fastest to Maxwell spilling a Doyle cross to nod home and give us a fairly generous two goal lead. Instead of building on our good fortune however and controlling the tempo, we let our opponents back into it on the half hour mark. Poor defending from a corner (sounds familiar?) saw Dougall curl a cross onto Yates head with The Seasiders target man cushioning a header over Wes and into the bottom corner to get themselves back into the game. United created a couple of good chances to add to our total after the 'Pool goal with Tommy Doyle going closest after a Sharp pullback saw the Man City loanee with plenty of time to pick his spot. His fizzing effort was turned over for a corner however, with Maxwell pulling off a cracking save to keep his team in it. His efforts would be rewarded on the cusp of half-time as Yates was at it again to level up the scores with a cool finish after a fast break. It was probably fair with the way the game had panned out to that point with United's two goal lead being a bit fortunate, but it was still vastly disappointing to give away a two-goal lead as the first half ended. How would the second half compare to a first half that had 4 goals? It turns out that the second period would see everything go to hell. It started five minutes after the restart when John Egan played Dougall through on goal after RND was robbed of the ball in defence. With the goal at his mercy, Dougall slotted home to stun United and send the away end into raptures as Blackpool came from two goals down to lead 3-2 with their goals all coming in a (half time excluded) twenty-minute period. It was just pure... Bad from United. We'd looked the gift horse in the mouth and the horse had bitten off our hand because we were rooting around too much, we've thrown away games in the past, but this one just seemed to hurt that little bit more. Perhaps it was because it was the first time we'd done it at home since the return of fans after the pandemic? I digress, we actually did try and get back on equal terms fairly quickly with Sharp and Egan going close. Blackpool smelled blood in the water however, and did nearly get a fourth through Patino on the hour. The game became an attack vs defence exercise as United searched for an equaliser, Norwood fired over but it looked like we would be heading for a third loss on the trot in the most embarrassing of ways. Then the game entered the final 12 minutes. Rhian Brewster was set free on the left flank and just before he could burst into the box, he was brought down by Ekpiteta who was shown a second red card and his marching orders. Ok, we've caught a break, now let's push home the advantage. McBurnie went close with a header the Chris Maxwell somehow got his hand on for a corner. The corner came to nothing but then we were given a penalty after Anel was felled in the box. Brewster stepped up and hit the bar and we've only just started with the craziness. The pressure continued; Anel had the ball in the back of net which was disallowed. Someone did a blatant handball that was missed, chance after chance after chance was missed as it looked like it just wouldn't be our day. Then it happened. A corner, it was punched to Norwood and, instead of doing his trademark 'blaze the ball over the bar' kick he usually does, Norwood kept his cool and slammed home to get an equaliser to send The Lane into raptures. Could we win it? After winning the game, losing the game and drawing the game, could we somehow get a winner? No, in fact, we nearly lost the game with CJ Hamilton weaving through our defence and seeing his goal bound effort blocked by Khadra. Despite time wasting from the Blackpool fans that the ref appeared to be adding time on for, that didn't happen, and the points were shared in a mental afternoon at The Lane. Despite all this the craziness wasn't over as the players clashed after the game which saw Wes and Lavery come together and Wes literally. Choke. Slam. Lavery. Wes was sent off, Lavery was sent off and that was how the game finally came to an end. With a god damn chokeslam. Football never ceases to amaze me. Despite all the craziness. This was not a fantastic performance from United. We created chances and probably had the better ones in the game. But we seem to do that pretty often but this time we just weren't very good. We got a commanding lead against the run of play and instead of settling down and controlling the tempo, we didn't, and we were punished by a Blackpool team who looked well up for the game. Last week we were down to bare bones so there was a valid excuse in the manner we lost but I don't think that can fly this week. Despite us having players playing out of position, we still had a team that wasn't made up of literal teenagers like last week. That Xi that we started with (minus Anel being on the bench) is a fairly strong XI for United but we just struggled with Blackpool who hustled and harried us. But we still got a 2-0 lead. Blackpool shouldn't have got back into that game, but they did and almost won it. That's not bad luck, that's just unprofessional. We need to have a serious look at getting our defence back to being able to defend because we've been holier than Swiss cheese these past few games. We do our job defensively; we're looking at a comfortable win. Instead, it's a draw clinched from the jaws of defeat, and we're left ruing missed again. Something needs to happen, let's see if it happens in midweek. Until next time, UTB. I don't know about you, but I measure major events in life on the P.J. scale. For the uninitiated, the P.J. scale stands for Phil Jagielka because for the past twenty two years, the one constant in all our lives hasn't been The Queen, it's Phil Jagielka. 10th birthday? Phil Jagielka was probably playing in a Premier League match for Everton. End of school? Phil Jagielka was probably at an international tournament for England. 21st birthday? Jags was supposed to be winding down his career in a Blades shirt in our godawful second season team and now we come to 2022. Phil Jagielka is still here and still in red and white. Not United red and white though, since leaving United, Jags has played for two(!) clubs with a short stint at Derby proceeding his current stint at our opponents on Saturday Stoke City. This was a man who was due to be retiring two years ago and yet, here he is. Scoring and assisting against United. It's genuinely incredible the length of this man's career and he is defiantly up there in regards to modern legends of the 21st century in English football. But it would have been nice had he not had a worldy on Saturday. But hey ho, let's get on with the review.
United were once again down to the bare bones after more injuries in midweek. Four changes came with Baldock, Bogle and Berge out with injury. Oli McBurnie also missed out but that was due to suspension rather than injury although knowing our luck, he's probably stubbed his toe or something getting to his seat at the Bet365 and is now out for six years. Gordon, Khadra, McAtee and Brewster came in and it would be United who would have the first big chance of the game less than a minute in. Good interplay between various players saw McAtee played in by McAtee but his effort from the angle just went wide of Bursik's post. United wouldn't capitalise on this early chance and instead Stoke would open the scoring moments later. A corner was half cleared to Jags on the edge of the box with our former player having all the time in the world to curl a cracking cross to the back stick that Ben Wilmot slammed into the roof of the net to quell our thunder and send The Potters potty. Stoke continued to hunt for a second as our makeshift line up tried to regroup. Fosu-Henry was causing chaos for United and had multiple efforts on our goal that thankfully either went wide or were saved by Wes. United rallied after the opening twenty and went close through Tommy Doyle who forced Bursik into a cracking save with a curling effort that looked destined for the top corner. The pressure continued and we should have had an equaliser from the resulting corner. Egan headed the corner back across goal to Gordon who saw his seemingly goal bound effort miraculously cleared off the line. We actually made the pressure count and just before the half hour mark had the equaliser! A brilliant cross from McAtee looped onto the foot of Rhian Brewster with the ex-Liverpool man slicing home on the volley to open his account for the year and getting us back in the game! Moments after that however, Stoke nearly were back in front through that man again Fosu-Henry. The Brentford loanee had acres of space just outside our box and he unleashed a shot that cracked off of our bar and thankfully away before anyone could capitalise on the rebound. United would be the next to hit the woodwork with Ndiaye jinking his way to just outside the Stoke box. He hit the ball hard and low that had Bursik beat however, the ball cannoned off the post, hit Bursik in the hand and looked like it was bouncing in. This is Sheffield United in 2022 however, and our luck was out. The ball bounced back towards Bursik who gratefully claimed the ball and made Blades fans sad. United would be even sadder minutes later as Stoke would reclaim the lead on the cusp of halftime through that man Jagielka. Another poorly defended set piece allowed Baker time to loft a cross into the box that Jags got on the end of and nodded past Wes to send us into the break behind and very, very sad. United had a cracking chance to equalise five minutes after the restart with Doyle picking out RND at the back stick. Our Wales man couldn't keep his effort down however, and the ball skewed over the bar to safety. That would more or less be that creativity wise from United in the game as we scrambled to find a spark of inspiration that just wasn't coming. Sharp, Osborn, Arblaster, Jebbison and debuting Sachdev were brought on as we went back to the 3-5-2 but nothing really worked as Stoke just sat in and absorbed pressure. Ndiaye sent a shot spiralling over the bar in our best chance since the RND chance. In our half-hearted attempts to get an equaliser, Stoke would get a third through another name from the past in son of Rory Liam Delap converting a Tyrese Campbell cross to secure the points for The Potters. RND eliminated a Stoke man from the Stoke-On-Trent Royal Rumble as the frustrations finally boiled over and the final whistle went not long after to condemn United to a second defeat on the bounce and no wins in three. What a difference a week makes. From the hottest of hots, to the coldest of colds. United have struggled to find our rhythm since the resumption of League football. It's a thing that has affected us since the first season back in the Championship under Wilder but at least then we were able to put out something resembling a full squad then. Full credit to Stoke, they took their opportunities and deserved the win but our injury crisis did not let us put out anything near our full strength eleven. I don't know what's happened since the restart of football since Covid but it appears that United have no medical team whatsoever. We're 13 games into a new season and we've got 11, yes 11, players currently out injured. We're at the point once again 3 months into a season where we are having only two senior players on our bench as options and the rest being filled up with youth team players that shouldn't be near a first team bench yet. 4 out of our 7 players on the bench were under the age of twenty on Saturday. Injuries happen yes, we can accept that but to have nearly half of your squad out injured not even 15 games into a new season is just plain incomprehensible yet here we are. Whether it be the training pitch at Shirecliffe or tired legs, something has got to give if we want to make a serious tilt at promotion. We can't be consistently competing at a high level when so many first team players have long term injuries. The fact we're top of the league despite all these set backs is a massive credit to Heckingbottom and the team in maximising results in challenging circumstances. So yes, we lost but some perspective is needed on the external factors. We've got a week between Stoke and Blackpool, hopefully we'll have a few bodies back by then otherwise the uphill task will continue. Until next time, UTB. I think I mentioned on Twitter after the draw at the weekend that that first half performance is our worst since the opening day against Watford. I mentioned that I reckon we'd get a response at yesterday's game against QPR and for the first half it looked like we did. We were in control of the game and could have had a goal had the finishing been a tiny bit better. We're now it, and we look like we're finding our way back for the minute (HAIM is, indeed, the f'n sound). However, that optimism soon died in the second half as we put in a performance even worse than Watford and that's saying something. Let's just reminisce about that first half yeah?
One change is all it took for Hecky from Saturday with Jayden Bogle coming in for Khadra for his first start since January. United did start on the front foot and Chris Basham sent an effort from a corner screaming towards goal that could have caused issues had it been anywhere but straight at Dieng in The Hoops goal. United were back at it again a minute later with Norwood sending an effort just a bit too high over the Bramall Lane End goal. The good start and pressure continued from The Blades as Tommy Doyle was next to have a crack at Dieng but his effort from a set piece routine sailed high and wide. It seemed United had an impetus to test Dieng from distance, but he didn't really have a save to make as our efforts were usually high and wide. After a first twenty largely dominated by United, the game settled down a little bit and it became a bit quiet. QPR had a good opportunity just before the half hour mark when Chair was set free just inside the box with Wes getting down quickly to send his effort behind for a corner. United responded with an arrowing effort from John Egan with our Ireland international sending one just wide of Dieng's post. We were getting towards the end of the half when Iliman Ndiaye nicked the ball just outside the QPR box and duly went on a jinking run that saw him end up in front of goal. Illi unfortunately saw his effort just go wide of the post in a run that really did deserve a goal. It would be the last action of note in the half. So United looked decent, how could this possibly go wrong? We should have known it wasn't going to be our night when Baldock went off a minute after the restart. The walking wounded division claims another member and Hecky once again went for the Khadra at wing back experiment from Saturday. It didn't work then really and was perhaps marginally better last night. United, however, didn't improve and in fact got worse. The half time Horlicks kicked in and QPR duly passed the ball around the wing with Chris Willock finishing off the move at Wes's near post. It was a real shock to the system but after the way we restarted it wasn't much of a shock. To be fair, we did go close to equalising a few minutes after this with Norwood forcing Dieng into a super save after sending an effort in from distance. Unfortunately, this was the last real chance United had on goal for the rest of the game. This was in the 60th minute. For half and hour, United huffed and puffed but never really looked like getting an effort in on goal. QPR sat back, time wasted and had some useful counters. United just passed the ball a bit and looked a bit toothless. There was a shout for a penalty at then end that claimed Sander Berge to the injury room and that was that for United's unbeaten run. A very disappointing night especially after a fairly decent first period. Just really disappointing last night. We had a really good first half where we controlled play and hardly let QPR have a sniff whilst we created a fair few good chances that could have seen us score at least one goal. The second half was just plain B A D bad. QPR had very little to do as we pondered whether to attempt a forward pass, let alone a shot on goal. The only positive that I can think of last night is that we're still top of the league and have a chance to put these two results behind us at the weekend. Another plus is the possibility of Anel perhaps coming back which is something we definitely need. Overall, not happy, but we go again. Until next time, UTB. I don't think I've ever seen us beat Birmingham City. To be fair, I think the same goes for a lot of Blades fans over the past few years, our last win at home against The Blues came in 2009 apparently and before our win at St Andrews last season, we hadn't won in Birmingham since Christmas 1999. It's fair to say, it's been a fairly barren fixture for us but after the win last year, would our luck change? Let's get into the review.
Despite Hecky insisting we'd be changing the formation for the game due to injuries, we still lined up in the 3-5-2/5-3-2 that has almost become synonymous with Sheffield United over the past few years (I say that very loosely). Anel was missing via injury and so Reda Khadra started at The Lane after his hour stint for Germany's under 21's on Tuesday. This time however, he lined up at wing back. Tommy Doyle returned to the midfield and Adam Davies and, much more excitingly (sorry Adam), Jayden Bogle returned to the matchday squad after a lengthy spell away. The game kicked off in blazing sun shine and, to be honest, not much particularly happened in the first half. McBurnie had a header at John Ruddy that was comfortably saved with a Tahith Chong effort from just behind the penalty spot being blocked by Bash in what was the visitors best chance of the half. The play picked up a bit towards the end as Sander Berge saw a cross-cum-shot almost turned home by Ndiaye but it narrowly rolled past the Bramall Lane End post. A Tommy Doyle free kick rattled crossbar but never really looked like troubling Ruddy. An Ndiaye run and shot was the last effort of note in a first half that saw neither team really assert themselves in the contest. The second period brought more chances with Birmingham beginning to look a little bit more lively than United. Norwood blocked an effort from Graham and a skirmish involving half the outfield of both teams livened the game up a tad. United would turn up the heat even more not long after this and eventually broke the deadlock with a cracking goal from that man Oli McBurnie. A Norwood free kick wasn't cleared at all well by Brum and the ball fell to our number nine who sent a venomous shot careering past Ruddy into The Kop goal to get his fifth of the season and send The Lane into raptures. A thunderous finish from a player that looked incapable of scoring a goal just shy of a month ago. Now McBurnie can't stop scoring and that can only be a good thing for United. The feel good factor didn't last long however with poor defending from a corner 7 minutes later seeing Troy Deeney on his own with the ball inside the six yard box. The ex-Watford man did what he's done for the past decade plus and slot home to see United concede a goal at home for the first time since Sunderland. A really, really disappointing goal to concede with no one really looking sure as to who's man was who from a Blades perspective. Allowing a striker of Deeney's calibre a free shot on goal from six yards out is simply not on and United were punished for their defensive tardiness. After the goal, Birmingham seemed pretty happy to absorb pressure and try and hit us on the break with United probing but not getting a clear look on goal. United did string one decent opportunity together as the game entered injury time with Berge setting Sharp clean through with only Ruddy to beat. Unfortunately, Billy took too much time setting himself and Ruddy acted quicker in getting out and smothering the ball. The game wound down after this and a slightly deflating afternoon saw United's run of home wins come to an end. A really disappointing afternoon. We never really looked like getting out of second gear yesterday with the first half probably being the poorest we've played since Watford on the opening day. We struggled to break down Birmingham who simply employed a low block that we struggled to penetrate. The second half was a bit better and once we got the goal it looked like we picked it up a bit but then we threw it away thanks to some poor defending of a set piece. Despite all this however, we still had the better chances in the game. If the Ndiaye flick or Sharp chance go in, we're looking at a game where you can say we played poorly but did what promotion winning teams do and win ugly. Does not winning yesterday mean we're not dead certs for promotion anymore? Absolutely not, we still managed to get something out of the game and we're still unbeaten since the opening day of the season. We still kept our points total ticking over and still created some good chances despite a drop in creativity. A disappointing game yes, but let's not get our knickers in a twist too much yet. We're still top of the league and we've got a short turnaround to rebound against QPR on Tuesday. Let's hope we're back to winning ways then! 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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