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
Leave a Reply. |
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 |