Deadbat
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It was a disappointing day for the Blades as Champions elect Burnley got revenge for the mauling, they suffered at the Lane with a 2-0 victory. United never gave themselves a chance in the game as a moment of madness as Wes Foderingham and Jack Robinson got in a horrible mess leading to a red card for the United keeper. The Blades toiled hard and kept in the game for the first half but two goals from sub-Gudmundsson saw off a spirted ten men.
United made two changes with McBurnie and Norwood in for Sharp and McAtee whilst newly promoted Burnley brought in Foster into their starting line up. The game began with United moving it around nicely and won an early corner but Ahmedhodzic’s overhead kick went over the bar. McBurnie and Ndiaye were linking well and the Blades looked fluent but a disastrous moment came on 17 minutes as a ball down the United left was not dealt with. Robinson left it to his keeper but Foderingham failed to deal with it and as he tried to dribble round Tella, the forward took it past him and the Blades stopper tripped him up. As clear a red card as you could wish to see and a free kick just outside the box. Davies came on and Robinson was sacrificed and clearly furious with the decision to take him off and exchanged profanities with his manager Heckingbottom as he was withdrawn. It was a real game changing moment as the best side in the league now had 75 minutes to break down 10 men.
Maatsen’s free kick was deflected over but the home side kept moving the ball about but the Blades stayed disciplined for the most part and few chances arose for Burnley. Norwood was lucky to not get away with a red card after a tackle on Maatsen soon after but the Blades remained within the contest and Ndiaye had a chance from a Berge cross. Burnley were moving the ball about but United kept their shape and the only real chance came from Beyer’s long ranger which Davies tipped over just before half time.
The second half the Blades struggled to get out and Burnley kept moving the ball about and the opener came when a ball across was not dealt with by Bogle and the ball dropped to half time sub GUDMUNDSSSON to fire home into the corner. It was well taken but United should have dealt with the cross better.
United struggled to muster a response and the home side continued to move it around and the second came 10 minutes later as Davies got into no mans land and the ball fell for GUDMUNDSSON to smash home again. Despite the numerical advantage, both goals were poor defending.
The Blades opted to withdraw McBurnie, Doyle and Ndiaye for Sharp, Fleck and Osula and at least had a late flurry with a few balls cleared that came across the box but Davies then had to react to deny Gundmundsson his hat trick. In the end United were glad of full time as the leaders won the game at a canter but will point to the early red card as a hugely game changing moment that never gave them a chance in the game.
United – Well we never had chance due to a moment of stupidity. We played ok first 10 minutes and moved it about and looked decent but then Wes/Robbo do that (I see some have blamed Robinson more than Wes but I would go the other way around in terms of blame). We have 10 men for almost the entirety of the game against the best side in the league. As I say we had been ok and looked the better side before that. It completely changes the game. We actually do well after this and keep our discipline and get to half time with Davies only making one save. We were fine and Ndiaye actually had a chance too. We did not get carved open and were fine in terms of out discipline- although some might say Norwood was lucky not to get sent off (I am not sure - thought he won a tackle and then his foot kind of went in that area and there is an obsession with what VAR would do – well VAR make some absolute howlers too as proved with this same referee!). We got to half time and despite the stupid moment we are in the game at least.
Second half we were ok again but then poor defending as we failed to stop the cross and then Bogle does not deal with it and nobody reacts and they score. This pretty much kills it although as Hecky says we were about to make changes and they get the second. The killer goal saw more poor play as Davies gets into no mans land and shows why he sadly cannot be counted on as regular. Poor keeping. The game is then done and we at least get some key men off and do not concede any more.
A really poor day in terms of Luton winning (although Boro only drew) and us throwing the game away so poorly with complete ill-discipline. The gap is still 5 points and you would think even with Davies in goal we should be able to get some points from the next two games but we never gave ourselves a chance tonight and that was the most disappointing thing. I thought we could give them a game and were doing ok but then toss away any chance to get anything.
We have to respond now on Saturday and hopefully the players will be fired up against Cardiff. We need a big performance where we need the whole team to be at it. I’d expect that McAtee will be restored and maybe Lowe too but we have to be bang at it and come out and put a poor side away. We then face a mid-table side with nothing to play for. It is still very much in our hands despite it being a bit of a disaster tonight so regardless of what Luton (and Boro) do it is up to us.
Ratings:
Foderingham 1/10 – Absolutely stupid and cost us the game and now put us in a weaker position for the next two games. As much as a lot are blaming Robinson, he has to deal with it – he can see it all in front of him and needs to just come and kick it out. Too slow to come out and then he tried to dangle a leg rather than launch the lot at it and just deal with it. Rather then he would have let him go and score as we end up with 10 men and inevitable lose the game and now he is out for 2 games. He has been ill disciplined twice now in terms of two red card. Really moronic moment. If I was a fan who had paid to go over to Burnley I would be fuming that he had effectively chucked the game away after 10 minutes.
Baldock 7/10 – Thought he worked hard and defended well and kept to his position and did the things Bogle did not on the other side. Yes, at times he got stretched but he did what he had to in terms of limiting chances or crosses. Seemed annoyed that others were not helping him out. He gave his all-in terms of work ethic.
Bogle 4/10 – He has been really poor for a while now. Not a threat going forward at all in games recently and not beat a man for a long time. Defensively he is wretched as he is switched off and never gets tight to his man. He has no awareness defensively at all. The first goal a good defender he just puts it out but he fails to deal with it and they score. He continued to be off it in terms of his awareness. He gets a lot of plaudits for skills and attacking stuff but he has done little in this sense recently so when he cannot defend (and he cannot) he is barely a competent Championship defender as harsh as that sounds.
Robinson 2/10 – I still think Wes was more at fault but you could argue that he still needs to kick it out – Wes did shout but if he reflects, he would just boot it out. He looked annoyed to be subbed.
Ahmedhodzic 7/10 – Thought he was our best player tonight. Kept plugging away and made tackles, got blocks in. Had one overhead effort over and stepped out when he could and I felt he had little help from people to the side (Bogle) and in front (Norwood). He has been much improved recently.
Egan 5/10 – He struggled and got a daft yellow card as he lunged in and then he committed a few other fouls. Seems desperate to win the ball in the middle of the park but then they had quite a few free headers when it was in a more dangerous area sin terms of when it came in the box. Looked at full stretch but the red card did not help. He ends up passing it straight to them when they scored the 2nd goal too.
Doyle 6/10 – Thought he tried hard but when he is shunted to the right it is much harder and he has less of the ball. He tried to do the defensive stuff but he had little of the ball and his set play were poor tonight.
Norwood 4/10 – Thought he was woeful from start to finish. His passing was overhit, he lost the ball in key areas and also, he could have been sent off (you can argue over where he could have put his foot but it could have been a red card). He just kept punting it out and never tried to keep it. Hard to analyse as we had 10 but at the moment we look better with Doyle in that central area.
Berge 6/10 – Not really involved early and then we go down to 10 but I thought he stayed in the game and was not one of our worst players. He at least battled and tried to cover some ground. Barely had the chance to get on the ball.
Ndiaye 6/10 – Looked good early and had some good runs and moments but did miss a good chance. Got a yellow card and looked frustrated so right to protect him.
McBurnie 6/10 -Tried hard all game but had little of the ball and after the red card, he was feeding off scraps really. Right decision to take him off.
Subs –
Davies 5/10 – Made a couple of saves one just before half time and one near the end and had little chance on the first. Terrible judgement on the second goal as he came and got nowhere.
Sharp – Tried to hustle and battle and nearly got on the end of the Basham cross at the end.
Osula – Hard with 10 men as he did not have much chance but won free kick.
Fleck – Tried to get stuck in and at least competitive.
Basham – Got forward and was a threat with some runs and made a chance.
Manager: Heckingbottom 6/10 – Hard top judge as his players let him down really. I would have made the subs at 1-0 and he left it and then they scored again and it was too late but he was hamstrung really after the stupid moment early on.
Burnley – They won and did what they had to but felt we gave them the game on a plate with the red card and then the poor defending on both goals. They were not well-made goals. Just crosses we did not deal with. Fair play they will win the league and are the best side in the league but annoyed we never gave ourselves a chance but that was our own fault tonight. Not sure they really tore us apart but did what they had to and in the end, it was an easy win and they barely had to get out of second gear.
Opponent Man of the Match –Gudmundsson. Scored two goals. Easy one to call. Tella was a threat and contributed to the red card but it was more down to us.
Opponent Weak link – Not sure anyone was pressured really and an easy game for them.
Referee/Officials – Incredible that Michael Salisbury was allowed to ref after his errors in the VAR game at Tottenham but guess they don’t care if they ref in the Championship and it was 1 v 2 so no big game really?! The red he had no idea and relied on his assistant – he did not have a clue and think he may have given a penalty? After this I felt every 50-50, he gave to them and was desperate to book ours but then people could say Norwood may have been given a red. The second half was easy as they just had the ball and we just stood off.
United made two changes with McBurnie and Norwood in for Sharp and McAtee whilst newly promoted Burnley brought in Foster into their starting line up. The game began with United moving it around nicely and won an early corner but Ahmedhodzic’s overhead kick went over the bar. McBurnie and Ndiaye were linking well and the Blades looked fluent but a disastrous moment came on 17 minutes as a ball down the United left was not dealt with. Robinson left it to his keeper but Foderingham failed to deal with it and as he tried to dribble round Tella, the forward took it past him and the Blades stopper tripped him up. As clear a red card as you could wish to see and a free kick just outside the box. Davies came on and Robinson was sacrificed and clearly furious with the decision to take him off and exchanged profanities with his manager Heckingbottom as he was withdrawn. It was a real game changing moment as the best side in the league now had 75 minutes to break down 10 men.
Maatsen’s free kick was deflected over but the home side kept moving the ball about but the Blades stayed disciplined for the most part and few chances arose for Burnley. Norwood was lucky to not get away with a red card after a tackle on Maatsen soon after but the Blades remained within the contest and Ndiaye had a chance from a Berge cross. Burnley were moving the ball about but United kept their shape and the only real chance came from Beyer’s long ranger which Davies tipped over just before half time.
The second half the Blades struggled to get out and Burnley kept moving the ball about and the opener came when a ball across was not dealt with by Bogle and the ball dropped to half time sub GUDMUNDSSSON to fire home into the corner. It was well taken but United should have dealt with the cross better.
United struggled to muster a response and the home side continued to move it around and the second came 10 minutes later as Davies got into no mans land and the ball fell for GUDMUNDSSON to smash home again. Despite the numerical advantage, both goals were poor defending.
The Blades opted to withdraw McBurnie, Doyle and Ndiaye for Sharp, Fleck and Osula and at least had a late flurry with a few balls cleared that came across the box but Davies then had to react to deny Gundmundsson his hat trick. In the end United were glad of full time as the leaders won the game at a canter but will point to the early red card as a hugely game changing moment that never gave them a chance in the game.
United – Well we never had chance due to a moment of stupidity. We played ok first 10 minutes and moved it about and looked decent but then Wes/Robbo do that (I see some have blamed Robinson more than Wes but I would go the other way around in terms of blame). We have 10 men for almost the entirety of the game against the best side in the league. As I say we had been ok and looked the better side before that. It completely changes the game. We actually do well after this and keep our discipline and get to half time with Davies only making one save. We were fine and Ndiaye actually had a chance too. We did not get carved open and were fine in terms of out discipline- although some might say Norwood was lucky not to get sent off (I am not sure - thought he won a tackle and then his foot kind of went in that area and there is an obsession with what VAR would do – well VAR make some absolute howlers too as proved with this same referee!). We got to half time and despite the stupid moment we are in the game at least.
Second half we were ok again but then poor defending as we failed to stop the cross and then Bogle does not deal with it and nobody reacts and they score. This pretty much kills it although as Hecky says we were about to make changes and they get the second. The killer goal saw more poor play as Davies gets into no mans land and shows why he sadly cannot be counted on as regular. Poor keeping. The game is then done and we at least get some key men off and do not concede any more.
A really poor day in terms of Luton winning (although Boro only drew) and us throwing the game away so poorly with complete ill-discipline. The gap is still 5 points and you would think even with Davies in goal we should be able to get some points from the next two games but we never gave ourselves a chance tonight and that was the most disappointing thing. I thought we could give them a game and were doing ok but then toss away any chance to get anything.
We have to respond now on Saturday and hopefully the players will be fired up against Cardiff. We need a big performance where we need the whole team to be at it. I’d expect that McAtee will be restored and maybe Lowe too but we have to be bang at it and come out and put a poor side away. We then face a mid-table side with nothing to play for. It is still very much in our hands despite it being a bit of a disaster tonight so regardless of what Luton (and Boro) do it is up to us.
Ratings:
Foderingham 1/10 – Absolutely stupid and cost us the game and now put us in a weaker position for the next two games. As much as a lot are blaming Robinson, he has to deal with it – he can see it all in front of him and needs to just come and kick it out. Too slow to come out and then he tried to dangle a leg rather than launch the lot at it and just deal with it. Rather then he would have let him go and score as we end up with 10 men and inevitable lose the game and now he is out for 2 games. He has been ill disciplined twice now in terms of two red card. Really moronic moment. If I was a fan who had paid to go over to Burnley I would be fuming that he had effectively chucked the game away after 10 minutes.
Baldock 7/10 – Thought he worked hard and defended well and kept to his position and did the things Bogle did not on the other side. Yes, at times he got stretched but he did what he had to in terms of limiting chances or crosses. Seemed annoyed that others were not helping him out. He gave his all-in terms of work ethic.
Bogle 4/10 – He has been really poor for a while now. Not a threat going forward at all in games recently and not beat a man for a long time. Defensively he is wretched as he is switched off and never gets tight to his man. He has no awareness defensively at all. The first goal a good defender he just puts it out but he fails to deal with it and they score. He continued to be off it in terms of his awareness. He gets a lot of plaudits for skills and attacking stuff but he has done little in this sense recently so when he cannot defend (and he cannot) he is barely a competent Championship defender as harsh as that sounds.
Robinson 2/10 – I still think Wes was more at fault but you could argue that he still needs to kick it out – Wes did shout but if he reflects, he would just boot it out. He looked annoyed to be subbed.
Ahmedhodzic 7/10 – Thought he was our best player tonight. Kept plugging away and made tackles, got blocks in. Had one overhead effort over and stepped out when he could and I felt he had little help from people to the side (Bogle) and in front (Norwood). He has been much improved recently.
Egan 5/10 – He struggled and got a daft yellow card as he lunged in and then he committed a few other fouls. Seems desperate to win the ball in the middle of the park but then they had quite a few free headers when it was in a more dangerous area sin terms of when it came in the box. Looked at full stretch but the red card did not help. He ends up passing it straight to them when they scored the 2nd goal too.
Doyle 6/10 – Thought he tried hard but when he is shunted to the right it is much harder and he has less of the ball. He tried to do the defensive stuff but he had little of the ball and his set play were poor tonight.
Norwood 4/10 – Thought he was woeful from start to finish. His passing was overhit, he lost the ball in key areas and also, he could have been sent off (you can argue over where he could have put his foot but it could have been a red card). He just kept punting it out and never tried to keep it. Hard to analyse as we had 10 but at the moment we look better with Doyle in that central area.
Berge 6/10 – Not really involved early and then we go down to 10 but I thought he stayed in the game and was not one of our worst players. He at least battled and tried to cover some ground. Barely had the chance to get on the ball.
Ndiaye 6/10 – Looked good early and had some good runs and moments but did miss a good chance. Got a yellow card and looked frustrated so right to protect him.
McBurnie 6/10 -Tried hard all game but had little of the ball and after the red card, he was feeding off scraps really. Right decision to take him off.
Subs –
Davies 5/10 – Made a couple of saves one just before half time and one near the end and had little chance on the first. Terrible judgement on the second goal as he came and got nowhere.
Sharp – Tried to hustle and battle and nearly got on the end of the Basham cross at the end.
Osula – Hard with 10 men as he did not have much chance but won free kick.
Fleck – Tried to get stuck in and at least competitive.
Basham – Got forward and was a threat with some runs and made a chance.
Manager: Heckingbottom 6/10 – Hard top judge as his players let him down really. I would have made the subs at 1-0 and he left it and then they scored again and it was too late but he was hamstrung really after the stupid moment early on.
Burnley – They won and did what they had to but felt we gave them the game on a plate with the red card and then the poor defending on both goals. They were not well-made goals. Just crosses we did not deal with. Fair play they will win the league and are the best side in the league but annoyed we never gave ourselves a chance but that was our own fault tonight. Not sure they really tore us apart but did what they had to and in the end, it was an easy win and they barely had to get out of second gear.
Opponent Man of the Match –Gudmundsson. Scored two goals. Easy one to call. Tella was a threat and contributed to the red card but it was more down to us.
Opponent Weak link – Not sure anyone was pressured really and an easy game for them.
Referee/Officials – Incredible that Michael Salisbury was allowed to ref after his errors in the VAR game at Tottenham but guess they don’t care if they ref in the Championship and it was 1 v 2 so no big game really?! The red he had no idea and relied on his assistant – he did not have a clue and think he may have given a penalty? After this I felt every 50-50, he gave to them and was desperate to book ours but then people could say Norwood may have been given a red. The second half was easy as they just had the ball and we just stood off.
