United 0 Newcastle 2 - match report

[Deadbat]

The Blades excellent run of performance and results came to an end as they were beaten by a goal in each half against a determined and resolute Newcastle side. The Blades lost for the first time since September 28th at the Lane against Liverpool. United had more of the possession and the better chances but a sloppy opening goal and a controversial second goal saw the away side take all three points. The first half saw the Blades miss some decent chances and the visiting keeper made some good saves and even after going behind, United were pushing for a leveller. After the second goal went in the home side became ragged and did not look like coming back into the game. It was a really disappointing result and despite being favourites for the first time this season; Steve Bruce got his tactics and approach spot on.



Chris Wilder sprang a surprise by changing his front two with Sharp and McBurnie coming in for McGoldrick and Mousset. Andy Carroll also got a start for Newcastle in the loan striking role instead of big money signing Joelinton.



Newcastle started the game well and had the better of the opening five minutes by winning a few throws that saw the ball hurled into Carroll’s head. The Blades responded and a decent move saw the ball come across and Stevens deflected effort was well saved by Dubravka. Soon after Norwood’s corner was met by McBurnie but his effort was saved from close range. After these efforts, the visitors scored with their first attack.



Basham opted to head twice on the floor almost and then Baldock’s clearance only went to the right wing. Manquillo picked it up and sent over a dangerous cross and SAINT MAXIMIN powered above the defence and Basham in particular to head away from Henderson into the goal.



United tried to respond with neat and patient play leading to Basham’s cross right into the path of McBurnie but his header was too close to Dubravka who pushed away.



United kept trying to probe and find gaps but Newcastle were defending well. Sharp was shepherded wide with a shot and then Egan’s header was straight at the keeper. United were having all of the ball but struggling now to create too much but then one cross from the left was deflected away from Sharp who looked like he would score before the defensive touch to take it away.



Newcastle were already slowing things down and taking their time over everything but Fleck was fouled by Shelvey and this gave United a chance right on half time. Norwood took it but Dubravka palmed away reading the midfielder’s intentions.



After the break, Sharp was booked and then United tried to push the tempo but were struggling to get anything going through the middle and Newcastle kept forcing United wide but were stopping the overlaps that often cause problems. One ball from Baldock saw McBurnie get a good headed effort in that Dubravka palmed over.



Mousset came on for Sharp who just before had an effort saved but had been deemed offside.



However, it was not long after this that the second goal of the game came and it went to the visitors in a smash and grab raid. Once again, the long punt to Carroll was the preferred method of attack and as he had all night, he won his header. The ball flicked into the path of SHELVEY but the offside flag went up. The referee did not blow his whistle and seemed to wave play on. The United players foolishly stopped and Henderson seemed to just watch the ball go into the net as the midfielder ran through and scored. You feared the worst when it went to a check and the replays showed it was clearly onside and the goal was given to wild jubilations from the away players and fans.



United fans voiced their frustration and it hard to take when the referee sometimes plays on when the flag goes up and other times, he stops the game. It seems like there is almost little point of having linesman in the games anymore and more confusion over VAR continues. However, the goal sadly for the home side was a legitimate one and another poor one to concede as the Blades lost the header, had a too high line and no one went with a runner with a horrific attempt to play him offside. These things may get forgotten in the outrage over the decision and the confusion over the rules.





After this McGoldrick and Freeman came on for Norwood and Basham but United’s momentum and chances of coming back seemed to have completely stalled. The Blades started giving it away and the crowd became even more frustrated. Newcastle slowed things down and in the final stages, they looked more likely to score another goal with McGoldrick’s shot that went about 30 yards over the bar, summing up a desperately disappointing and frustrating night where nothing went right for the home side.





United – Really disappointing night. It was a big game and after some great showings but not the points we deserved you felt we had to get a positive result tonight but it never happened. From the first minute, we just seemed sloppy even though we had a lot of the ball. You sensed they actually looked like they may get one early on and so it proved. They then had something to hold onto and they did it quite easily in the end.



After the Southampton game, the biggest disappointment of the season and maybe our most disjointed performance. Sure, we had lots of the ball and did have chances but I felt too many players were off their game. The changes in attack did not work in terms of the shape of the team. We had a few early chances, they then scored and we missed a few but after this, we kind of ran out of ideas.



We shuffled it across painfully slowly and they just got men behind the ball. They made us cross from wide and deep and this was bread and butter for the big defenders. We had no creativity, little link play and none of the midfield got ahead of the strikers all game. We looked very sluggish and just ran out of ideas completely. We had so much of the ball but second half we did not do much with it. Of course, they barely had it and did not create much at all and we still had more of the ball and chances but at this level we have to take them. We did not. They did.



That has been our undoing in the last 4 games really. We played great in 3 and ok in patches today but picked up 3 points from 12. The plaudits for all our play and performances will mean nothing if we cannot put the ball in the net and keep it out at the other end. Sadly, we saw Sunday and even more so today our lack of concentration at one end and the lack of genuine class at the other could mean it will be still be a long, hard season. Today we faced a team that sat in and I felt we struggled other than 2 or 3 chances from headers. Of course, we take a few of them first half and they have to come out but we did not and that is the difference at this level. We now play our fellow two promoted teams and have to respond. We proved that changing some of our first eleven shows a big drop off but I think whilst the lack of a number 10 and the lack of pace up top did impact us, so many other players had off games also. The wing backs were not threats, the centre backs did not get forward. To have to much of the ball and create so little is a concern really. A lot will be made about the 2nd goal but for me it was more about the concerns with the lack of genuine quality or idea in the final third and the fact we switched off at key times at the back.

 

[Deadbat]

Ratings:



Henderson 6/10 – Barely had a save to make but header goes in first half. Not sure he had much chance and then he stands there instead of trying to stop the shot. Why is he not playing on? Ridiculous really and unprofessional. He was a bit dithering a few times coming for the ball. To be honest though he had nothing to do but let in two goals so hard to mark him really.



Baldock 6.5/10 – Bit of a poor clearance on the first goal when he did not get enough on it. One of few who kept trying and at least getting forward but he lacks confidence to put the ball in the box. He kept plugging away with little movement in front of him at all. I thought he was frustrated that he often ended up tight in corners with little help.



Stevens 6/10 – I thought he was not great Sunday and the same today but his standards have been so high so him being average is more of a surprise. He made poor decisions on the ball all night and was giving it away a lot with telegraphed balls. He also took an age to do things and they closed him down and realised he does not have a right foot at all so channelled him inside constantly where they had men. His final pass/cross was too weak all game and also got run past a few times also.



Basham 5.5/10 – At fault for their goal with two silly stopped headers instead of just clearing the ball and then when he got back to position, he was easily beat on the headed goal and never got off the floor. He looked a bit clumsy all night and going forward there was little impact as they sent him backwards. Did put one good cross in though which McBurnie should have scored. He also seemed to be the man who played them onside on the second goal. Key moments but cost us dearly.



O’Connell 6.5/10 – One of the few who tried to come out and get forward but his final ball/moment when he did attack did not come off. Felt he did ok defensively and at least competed and won a few more balls than the rest but the few breaks they had they did get through us quite easily with pace and power.



Egan 6/10 – Carroll is a handful and won a lot of headers against us including the key one for the second. His aerial play allowed them to get up the pitch. I thought for the first time for a long time he lost his battle. I remember Carroll doing the same at the Lane to Morgan.



Norwood 5.5/10 – Some decent passing and control early but then started giving the ball away and constantly he found their shirts with sloppy play. His long passed did not always come off and I felt he got outmuscled a few times also. One decent free kick saved was his highlight. Not his night and taken off



Lundstram 5/10 – Really poor tonight. His passing, tackling and overall contribution was limited. He sadly reminded me of the Lunny of old that looked like he was running through treacle. He constantly gave the ball away or played balls that were either over hit or short. No real attacking threat and not involved much in the link play. We were way too slow to move it around and they just got men behind the ball.



Fleck 6.5/10 – Our best midfielder just for the fact he tried to get on the ball and make things happen but even for him things did not come off really. He was ok first half and some decent bits but then faded badly after they scored the second, as did the whole team and looked a forlorn figure as the game finished. We ended up with an unfamiliar formation and not even sure where he was meant to be playing at the end?



McBurnie 5.5/10 – Not sure he can be accused of not trying. He did try but he missed two good chances – both headers and needs to score at least one of them. He had a decent header second half well saved and a curled effort but outside of this he looked a bit like someone who did not know how we played. He did not know whether to come short or get in the box and there was a big gap between the midfield and attack and they just packed the box. He is pitifully weak and three times he just got shoved off the ball so easily and ended up on the floor. Sure, he will get lots of criticism once again but there were lots of other issues with the team tonight but he looks a long way off a Premier League striker. At least he got into areas and was a threat; not sure Sharp did much of anything really in contrast.



Sharp 4.5/10 – Sadly he looked a bit out of his depth. A few decent bits of build up or link but he slows things down so much when it comes up to him and takes an age to control, move it on or find a shirt. Missed a good headed chance and then screwed another wide but the Newcastle defence coped with him quite easily as he lacks pace and strength. The movement from the front two was quite poor tonight and we were stagnant but the passing was poor also behind them. Daft booking too and seemed to want to argue with the ref all game.



Subs –



Mousset – Came on and at least linked and showed some nice bits of hold up. We looked a threat for a spell but then the second goal came and he was not really in the game after that.



McGoldrick – His wild shot into the Kop summed up his finishing confidence at the moment. It was hard for him as we were chasing the game but the ball did not stick and the whole team just could not get anything going. Will have to come back in with Mousse at the weekend.



Freeman – Looked unfit and his cameo was really uninspiring with a blatant foul after he lost the ball and a booking to compound it. He barely kept it when he had it and looked very sluggish and slow.



Manager Wilder 5/10 – Got outcoached by Bruce today in some ways. They started well, got a goal after we missed a few chances and then they sat in a deep line knowing we had no pace and we had no answer. They pressed our wing backs and let Norwood have it and just sat back and pressed when they had to. I felt that whilst we had a bit of a spell second half, they saw things out quite easily second half and Wilder has to change the tactics and formation – he changed the personnel but that made no difference. They just sat in and we lacked the class/pace and movement to break them down. We could still be playing tomorrow and not sure we would have scored. Indeed, from around the hour mark not sure we had any chances at all and only remember one McBurnie header of note after the break. I thought we would really up the tempo after the break but we did not really do that. Big test to get the team back on track. The team rotation did not work at all. The front two that came in are far inferior to the other two and it showed today but so many others did not have any idea how to break down a defensive side.



Newcastle – In many ways a perfect away performance. They started ok, got a goal and then sat in. They had a few let offs and good saves but not sure we created tons of chances really. They fought hard for each other and closed off the gaps. Carroll and the two wide men were a threat in terms of not letting us have an easy out. The second goal came at a great time as it effectively killed the game. Fair play to Shelvey for taking the chance. For most of the game we passed it side to side and they just got men across. They knew we lacked genuine quality to break them down and actually for all the possession we had, not sure we hurt them much at all. They actually did what we have done to other teams before when we had resilient ground out away wins last year (Leeds, West Brom etc) where they defended well and took the few chances they created. On one hand it was a bit smash and grab but on the other they actually won the game relatively comfortably in the end. They will stay up as Bruce has them working really hard and for all his critics, he normally gets teams organised and defensively very good. They have a bit of pace and power at the top of the field and will take enough points to be well away from the bottom three.



They were quite direct tonight and limited and very negative in terms of spoiling and timewasting but if we had done the same; people would have said professional away performance and commend us. We have to do better to beat limited sides who play in such a way. They sat off us and said ‘Go on try and show you have the quality to break us down.’ We did not. Some Newcastle fans saying that teams will watch that and do the same but not sure teams will sit back and defend like that every week.





Opponent Man of the Match – The defence was solid for the most part with Clark excellent in particular. Shelvey was busy but they did not have much of the ball. The defensive covering and work they all did was commendable. Carroll actually won so many headers that helped them up the field. The best player was probably Saint Maximin. He scored a vital first goal and was a real handful throughout. The keeper also of course made some good but kind of expected saves. Not sure any were world class and were quite close to him.



Opponent Weak link – No one was amazing but no one was that poor. Almiron is frustrating player and has ability but a bit weak and not much end product. However, they were all solid in the work they did defensively. They did not need the ball much to beat us.



Referee/Officials/VAR – The big talking point was the goal. It was not offside and the ref clearly did tell the players to play on. The linesman got it wrong as he got most things wrong all game. However, the bigger issue is the fact that sometimes refs play on, other times they blow their whistle and stop the game (did it with McGoldrick near the end). Surely now if that is the rule, they should just play on till the ball goes out and then check it afterwards. Why does it sometimes get stopped but other times the ref can play on? It is almost as if they will play on if it is a dangerous attack but others if it looks like it might not be a chance, they blow the whistle. In simple terms we may aswell not have linesman. Just play on all the time and let someone in a room decide after it is offside. The assistants/linesmen were appalling all night. They did not make any decisions ironically (till that one – the wrong one) and just kept looking at the ref for throws in/balls going out. The ref may have got the goal right but not much else. He gave them a lot of 50/50’s and was weak all night. Attwell did not penalise some absurd timewasting from the keeper who played the situation like a fiddle – going down claiming he was hurt when he was fine. Several other players did that and he played just 2 minutes in the first half. He did not book any of the Newcastle players and essentially let them do what they wanted. We saw the ball on the field about a minute from 45th minute to the 55th minute and killed any chance of momentum we had as he let them go down, feign injury, take ages over goal kicks. It was pitiful to see him barely even acknowledge it. Sharp and Freeman got booked. They did not get one booking despite the timewasting and cheating all night. Tonight, everyone will praise him in the national media for what a fantastic job he did on the goal. The reality was his entire performance was spineless as he allowed players to feign injury and take as much time as they wanted. Really weak. We wanted to watch a game but for long spells we saw him stood over a player pretending to be injured.





Crowd/Atmosphere etc – Thought we lost the battles on the field and off it. Newcastle fans were the loudest to come to the Lane and the 3,000 made much more of a racket than 27,000 Blades who were subdued for the most part. The team had an off day but felt the crowd did not really generate much of an atmosphere either. It is as if the fans almost expect great performance and results and felt it was really flat tonight.

 

[cahill]

Not felt this peed off since Norwich 2017. You can praise Bruce all you want but Jesus Christ !!!!!!

 

[crucialkneeligaman]

Saint Maximillian or whoever was pants apart from the goal he scored.

 

[Deadbat]

Saint Maximillian or whoever was pants apart from the goal he scored.

He actually held the ball up welll and ran the channels and his pressing was very good.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Bit hard on McBurnie's rating DB, soft on Stevens, hard on Egan and O'Connell.


Surely their keeper was their MOM followed by Clark. As for SaInt-Maximin, we were laughing at him part of the time. Great header for the goal and nobody was more surprised than him apparently. He was doubtful for the game and we concluded he must have been only half fit to play as he had none of his awesome pace on show and just kept running the ball into players who didn't really have to do much to win it off him.


Agree about the need to change tactics and after the hour there was a need for high balls into the centre of the penalty area. As good as the keeper was he didn't venture far off his line. Why not put Egan up alongside McBurnie and even Lundstram too and go aerial? A Shameless aerial approach to combat a shameless deep 5-4-1 that became 5-5-0.

As for a 'perfect away performance' maybe yes if it's Fylde away to Barcelona in the cup. However we are not Barca and Newcastle are not Fylde but yes, they 'did a job on us'. The ends justify the means, of course they do, but in truth they were frightened of us and had to field at least 2 half-fit players which made their task all the harder.

As for their second goal, it was a genuine goal and we were wide open and then unprofessional. Shelvey ventured up for a knock-on for the first and only time, it took us by surprise and we were nowhere. Henderson is a young keeper and has learned a lesson. We move on.

Our manager made a big decision to play Sharp alongside McBurnie. I expected McBurnie to play because we knew they would be defending in numbers and we would need an aerial option. To play Sharp and not Mousset or Robinson for their pace was not really fair on the big lad who needs a busy, quick partner. We play on Sunday but to rest the two strikers and choose the two he did was thought a joke when we were first told in the pub. No disrespect to the manager as he is God but we didn't believe he'd do that. Have to say I didn't respect his post-match interview which was over-emotional and probably a diversion away from the fact we lost a game against a poor team and the 2nd goal was embarrassing. Again he is still 'God' in S2 and can say what he wants.

Big challenge to pick the lads up for Sunday with a day less than Norwich to recover. They were poor at Southampton by the way but they are getting a couple of players back from injury. One silver lining last night was that nobody went onto 5 bookings.

As regards emotions, I got home at 11.50pm last night and read Deadbat's report which I found almost provocative and refrained from commenting. This morning it reads much better, but not your best Deadbat.

 

[Woodwardfan]

My Toon pal e-mailed me this morning from Teneriffe, quote:

' Carol was our best defender and goalkeeper MOM, says it all. Terrible to watch but all rests on first goal. We concede, like we did at Villa, and we are hopeless. Score first and negativity has a chance. As in life, you don't always get what you deserve.

Substituting your best player, Norwood, seemed odd.

If the referee told Shelvey before the match to play to the whistle then presumably he said the same to Sharp? Conspiracy theory or more likely just another VAR theory tested.

Lovely weather here.'

 

[Addison]

Can't disagree with your assessment of the players performance DB we'll agree to disagree on the second goal. Attwell and his team were at fault and the reason why our players stopped. Also Newcastle's goalkeeper was the MOM he pulled off three excellent saves in the first half.

It was obvious Bruce would play Carroll and go for the negative approach. CW got old manned tactically simple as that.

Pedestrian and having a lot of the ball and not doing much with it summed us up last night. I doubt we will experience many teams playing the way the Barcodes did last night but a flat midfield three against 10 men behind the ball doesn't work. Really suprised we didn't change it at half time and go with a 10 bringing on Mousset for Sharp and Mcg for a midfield player so he could play in the hole.

What is worrying is the defending for both of their goals. They targetted Bashams weakness in the air all night yet no-one would have expected one of their smallest players to out jump him for the first. The second goal I agree there was no need for the high line.

We need to dust ourselves down and get something out of the game on Sunday to keep confidence levels high. What the games against Man U and the Barcodes have illustrated is that when we don't start with our first X1 we don't finish the game off and that is a concern that may need to be addressed in January.

 

[Espania blade]

Thanks DB.

Our midfield needs to chip in with some goals.
McBurnie will never make a Prem' player.
Didsy also needs to score, his outfield play will come to nothing if we can't score goals.
We can't rely on Moussett to score all our goals
Sharp should not be anywhere near the first team, sadly his days are done.
I've yet to see the point of buying Freeman, he just seems to wave his arms around and commit silly fouls or just fall over.
Henderson needs to learn, i really can't believe he doesn't know the basic rule of play to the whistle.
VAR is killing the game as we know it, but you can't blame it for their second goal.
I'm glad i'm not a Newcastle supporter having to watch that crap every week, never mind having to pay for it.
We will need to recruit in January and maybe be prepared to move a few on.

Let's get Norwich done; UTB

 

[Wards]

I honestly cannot believe you thought Saint-Maximin was any good. We were actually laughing at how bad he is - comically rubbish.

 

[Houston_Blade]

Thanks for the report.

I disagree on the performances of Norwood and McBurnie. Norwood was the only midfielder wanting the ball and it's not his fault that he had nothing in front of him in terms of movement. Gave the ball away trying to force passes but again he had to force passes.

McBurnie's chances weren't easy at all, he headed back across the keeper with limited power for the first but he was leaning back, the 2nd he headed at the top corner and the keeper made a save.

 

[coaxingstar71]

Cheers for the report Deadbat

Think Wilder got it wrong changing the team. I never thought we looked like scoring and it was obvious what was going to happen once they scored. We’d have been better starting with the same side, get an early goal and then make changes, but of course hindsight is a wonderful thing. We were too slow in moving the ball and we were giving it away far too often.
Very disappointing.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Manquillo in Spanish means 'little one-armed man' (I kid you not). The way he played dead after the foul by Billy, and then heroically limped as slowly as possible to the touch line, followed by an even more heroic sprint onto the pitch seconds later, was little short of a miracle. I thought he was going to have to change his name to Cojo ('one-legged'), but the physio worked wonders.

 

[robbiez666]

Ratings:



Henderson 6/10 – Barely had a save to make but header goes in first half. Not sure he had much chance and then he stands there instead of trying to stop the shot. Why is he not playing on? Ridiculous really and unprofessional. He was a bit dithering a few times coming for the ball. To be honest though he had nothing to do but let in two goals so hard to mark him really.



Baldock 6.5/10 – Bit of a poor clearance on the first goal when he did not get enough on it. One of few who kept trying and at least getting forward but he lacks confidence to put the ball in the box. He kept plugging away with little movement in front of him at all. I thought he was frustrated that he often ended up tight in corners with little help.



Stevens 6/10 – I thought he was not great Sunday and the same today but his standards have been so high so him being average is more of a surprise. He made poor decisions on the ball all night and was giving it away a lot with telegraphed balls. He also took an age to do things and they closed him down and realised he does not have a right foot at all so channelled him inside constantly where they had men. His final pass/cross was too weak all game and also got run past a few times also.



Basham 5.5/10 – At fault for their goal with two silly stopped headers instead of just clearing the ball and then when he got back to position, he was easily beat on the headed goal and never got off the floor. He looked a bit clumsy all night and going forward there was little impact as they sent him backwards. Did put one good cross in though which McBurnie should have scored. He also seemed to be the man who played them onside on the second goal. Key moments but cost us dearly.



O’Connell 6.5/10 – One of the few who tried to come out and get forward but his final ball/moment when he did attack did not come off. Felt he did ok defensively and at least competed and won a few more balls than the rest but the few breaks they had they did get through us quite easily with pace and power.



Egan 6/10 – Carroll is a handful and won a lot of headers against us including the key one for the second. His aerial play allowed them to get up the pitch. I thought for the first time for a long time he lost his battle. I remember Carroll doing the same at the Lane to Morgan.



Norwood 5.5/10 – Some decent passing and control early but then started giving the ball away and constantly he found their shirts with sloppy play. His long passed did not always come off and I felt he got outmuscled a few times also. One decent free kick saved was his highlight. Not his night and taken off



Lundstram 5/10 – Really poor tonight. His passing, tackling and overall contribution was limited. He sadly reminded me of the Lunny of old that looked like he was running through treacle. He constantly gave the ball away or played balls that were either over hit or short. No real attacking threat and not involved much in the link play. We were way too slow to move it around and they just got men behind the ball.



Fleck 6.5/10 – Our best midfielder just for the fact he tried to get on the ball and make things happen but even for him things did not come off really. He was ok first half and some decent bits but then faded badly after they scored the second, as did the whole team and looked a forlorn figure as the game finished. We ended up with an unfamiliar formation and not even sure where he was meant to be playing at the end?



McBurnie 5.5/10 – Not sure he can be accused of not trying. He did try but he missed two good chances – both headers and needs to score at least one of them. He had a decent header second half well saved and a curled effort but outside of this he looked a bit like someone who did not know how we played. He did not know whether to come short or get in the box and there was a big gap between the midfield and attack and they just packed the box. He is pitifully weak and three times he just got shoved off the ball so easily and ended up on the floor. Sure, he will get lots of criticism once again but there were lots of other issues with the team tonight but he looks a long way off a Premier League striker. At least he got into areas and was a threat; not sure Sharp did much of anything really in contrast.



Sharp 4.5/10 – Sadly he looked a bit out of his depth. A few decent bits of build up or link but he slows things down so much when it comes up to him and takes an age to control, move it on or find a shirt. Missed a good headed chance and then screwed another wide but the Newcastle defence coped with him quite easily as he lacks pace and strength. The movement from the front two was quite poor tonight and we were stagnant but the passing was poor also behind them. Daft booking too and seemed to want to argue with the ref all game.



Subs –



Mousset – Came on and at least linked and showed some nice bits of hold up. We looked a threat for a spell but then the second goal came and he was not really in the game after that.



McGoldrick – His wild shot into the Kop summed up his finishing confidence at the moment. It was hard for him as we were chasing the game but the ball did not stick and the whole team just could not get anything going. Will have to come back in with Mousse at the weekend.



Freeman – Looked unfit and his cameo was really uninspiring with a blatant foul after he lost the ball and a booking to compound it. He barely kept it when he had it and looked very sluggish and slow.



Manager Wilder 5/10 – Got outcoached by Bruce today in some ways. They started well, got a goal after we missed a few chances and then they sat in a deep line knowing we had no pace and we had no answer. They pressed our wing backs and let Norwood have it and just sat back and pressed when they had to. I felt that whilst we had a bit of a spell second half, they saw things out quite easily second half and Wilder has to change the tactics and formation – he changed the personnel but that made no difference. They just sat in and we lacked the class/pace and movement to break them down. We could still be playing tomorrow and not sure we would have scored. Indeed, from around the hour mark not sure we had any chances at all and only remember one McBurnie header of note after the break. I thought we would really up the tempo after the break but we did not really do that. Big test to get the team back on track. The team rotation did not work at all. The front two that came in are far inferior to the other two and it showed today but so many others did not have any idea how to break down a defensive side.



Newcastle – In many ways a perfect away performance. They started ok, got a goal and then sat in. They had a few let offs and good saves but not sure we created tons of chances really. They fought hard for each other and closed off the gaps. Carroll and the two wide men were a threat in terms of not letting us have an easy out. The second goal came at a great time as it effectively killed the game. Fair play to Shelvey for taking the chance. For most of the game we passed it side to side and they just got men across. They knew we lacked genuine quality to break them down and actually for all the possession we had, not sure we hurt them much at all. They actually did what we have done to other teams before when we had resilient ground out away wins last year (Leeds, West Brom etc) where they defended well and took the few chances they created. On one hand it was a bit smash and grab but on the other they actually won the game relatively comfortably in the end. They will stay up as Bruce has them working really hard and for all his critics, he normally gets teams organised and defensively very good. They have a bit of pace and power at the top of the field and will take enough points to be well away from the bottom three.



They were quite direct tonight and limited and very negative in terms of spoiling and timewasting but if we had done the same; people would have said professional away performance and commend us. We have to do better to beat limited sides who play in such a way. They sat off us and said ‘Go on try and show you have the quality to break us down.’ We did not. Some Newcastle fans saying that teams will watch that and do the same but not sure teams will sit back and defend like that every week.





Opponent Man of the Match – The defence was solid for the most part with Clark excellent in particular. Shelvey was busy but they did not have much of the ball. The defensive covering and work they all did was commendable. Carroll actually won so many headers that helped them up the field. The best player was probably Saint Maximin. He scored a vital first goal and was a real handful throughout. The keeper also of course made some good but kind of expected saves. Not sure any were world class and were quite close to him.



Opponent Weak link – No one was amazing but no one was that poor. Almiron is frustrating player and has ability but a bit weak and not much end product. However, they were all solid in the work they did defensively. They did not need the ball much to beat us.



Referee/Officials/VAR – The big talking point was the goal. It was not offside and the ref clearly did tell the players to play on. The linesman got it wrong as he got most things wrong all game. However, the bigger issue is the fact that sometimes refs play on, other times they blow their whistle and stop the game (did it with McGoldrick near the end). Surely now if that is the rule, they should just play on till the ball goes out and then check it afterwards. Why does it sometimes get stopped but other times the ref can play on? It is almost as if they will play on if it is a dangerous attack but others if it looks like it might not be a chance, they blow the whistle. In simple terms we may aswell not have linesman. Just play on all the time and let someone in a room decide after it is offside. The assistants/linesmen were appalling all night. They did not make any decisions ironically (till that one – the wrong one) and just kept looking at the ref for throws in/balls going out. The ref may have got the goal right but not much else. He gave them a lot of 50/50’s and was weak all night. Attwell did not penalise some absurd timewasting from the keeper who played the situation like a fiddle – going down claiming he was hurt when he was fine. Several other players did that and he played just 2 minutes in the first half. He did not book any of the Newcastle players and essentially let them do what they wanted. We saw the ball on the field about a minute from 45th minute to the 55th minute and killed any chance of momentum we had as he let them go down, feign injury, take ages over goal kicks. It was pitiful to see him barely even acknowledge it. Sharp and Freeman got booked. They did not get one booking despite the timewasting and cheating all night. Tonight, everyone will praise him in the national media for what a fantastic job he did on the goal. The reality was his entire performance was spineless as he allowed players to feign injury and take as much time as they wanted. Really weak. We wanted to watch a game but for long spells we saw him stood over a player pretending to be injured.





Crowd/Atmosphere etc – Thought we lost the battles on the field and off it. Newcastle fans were the loudest to come to the Lane and the 3,000 made much more of a racket than 27,000 Blades who were subdued for the most part. The team had an off day but felt the crowd did not really generate much of an atmosphere either. It is as if the fans almost expect great performance and results and felt it was really flat tonight.

I saw pretty much the same game. I was calling for Freeman to be brought on but he looked out of his depth. It clearly can;t be easy when you're not playing regularly, but still. I thought what we needed was to sacrifice a defender and have someone doing what Duffy used to do so well. Give and goes, one-twos, moving their defenders around and finding the gaps.

I actually thought they looked more threatening when they bothered to go forward. Seemed to get to the edge of our box way too easily but then mainly made bad decisions.

 

[guancheblade]

Thanks DB

But you're being very generous to Fleck. He was only marginally better than Lunny.

 

[Balham]

From my vantage point up in the gods of the BLUT it's hard to disagree with any of that. Newcastle's defensive shape was great, they shut down our lateral passing channels and they took their chances.

Henderson 4: they apparently had 4 shots on target and scored two. He loses two marks for the non-existent attempt to stop Shelvey's goal. Distribution OK given the lengths of his passes

Basham 5: beaten for their first, slow in possession and didn't get forward anywhere near as much as normal. Up against a quick opponent in Saint-Maximin, maybe he was scared of getting caught?

Egan 6: Carroll will win most aerial battles. Egan handled him fairly well

O'Connell 6: more touches than anyone else on our team. Like Basham, didn't get forward as much as normal.

Baldock 7: kept the width but the absence of the inside pass meant that the option was 20 yards backwards. Some decent crosses but we didn't get to the bylines for more accurate pull backs.

Lundstram 7: tried to keep us moving, struggled against the blanket defence. Some great crossfield balls to Stevens

Norwood 6: didn't hide but nothing really came off. Well struck free kick but straight at Dubrovka. Subbed off after giving the ball away three times in quick succession

Fleck 7: kept going but same story as Lundstram

McBurnie 7: showed some desire in his closing down, decent headers forced good stops from the excellent Dubrovka

Sharp 4: sad to say but Sharp is out of his depth. Looks slow and ponderous at this level

Subs:
Mousset (for Sharp, 62) 6: are we expecting too much? Some good touches but no sight of goal

McGoldrick (for Norwood, 72): tried but his wild shot summed up his form in front of goal. Newcastle were sat in the last 30 yards when he came on.

Freeman (for Basham, 75): looks short of match practice. Booked for taking out Almíron after giving the ball away softly

 

[sitwell]

Personally I think its a very poor report ,completely reliant on the last 20 minutes. The view of Norwood is just based on 2 misplaced passes. The rest of the report is one of the worst Ive seen either from you Deadbat or from anyone else on last nights game. The view on Saint maximin is incredible. And Freeman looked unfit ?? in 10 minutes ,wow.

 

[dc_blade]

Personally I think its a very poor report ,completely reliant on the last 20 minutes. The view of Norwood is just based on 2 misplaced passes. The rest of the report is one of the worst Ive seen either from you Deadbat or from anyone else on last nights game. The view on Saint maximin is incredible. And Freeman looked unfit ?? in 10 minutes ,wow.

Agree on Norwood. Stats aren't everything but WhoScored had him making 113 passes with an 89% pass success rate. Pretty impressive considering Newcastle essentially let him have the ball and made sure to close down any space and mark any player he might possibly pass it to. First half in particular I thought he dictated some really nice moves.

 

[dc_blade]

That has been our undoing in the last 4 games really. We played great in 3 and ok in patches today but picked up 3 points from 12. The plaudits for all our play and performances will mean nothing if we cannot put the ball in the net and keep it out at the other end. Sadly, we saw Sunday and even more so today our lack of concentration at one end and the lack of genuine class at the other could mean it will be still be a long, hard season.

I like the reports and I think it's fine to disagree on ratings, etc, but you're still giving me whiplash with the sudden outbursts of doom and gloom after every poor result. We knew it was going to be a hard season anyway, didn't we? But the overall level of performance, and the point total so far, suggests that we're on course to avoid relegation, even with a couple of blips along the way.

 

[sitwell]

Agree on Norwood. Stats aren't everything but WhoScored had him making 113 passes with an 89% pass success rate. Pretty impressive considering Newcastle essentially let him have the ball and made sure to close down any space and mark any player he might possibly pass it to. First half in particular I thought he dictated some really nice moves.

I don't think they let him have it, he actively takes up positions and seeks the ball.

 

[dc_blade]

I don't think they let him have it, he actively takes up positions and seeks the ball.

They were letting him receive the ball from our back three under no pressure at all and only tried to press him once he was pretty deep in their half. Agree that once we got into the attacking third his movement and positioning were important.

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

I felt pessimistic before the game started (most unlike me) simply because of CW's changes up top. We were ponderous, and there was a general lack of pace and movement off the ball. There was far too much square passing and long-ball stuff, and a reluctance to get forward with real purpose, and a failure to get down the flanks and in behind. Given how off the pace we were, we should still have won that game, and could have but for some inspired goal-keeping, sloppy finishing, and poor defending - but that's football ain't it? Toon fans thought they got out of jail, and that says something about our progress in the Prem, despite us being well below par last night. A temporary blip.... cheer up folks.

 

[Deadbat]

I like the reports and I think it's fine to disagree on ratings, etc, but you're still giving me whiplash with the sudden outbursts of doom and gloom after every poor result. We knew it was going to be a hard season anyway, didn't we? But the overall level of performance, and the point total so far, suggests that we're on course to avoid relegation, even with a couple of blips along the way.

But surely any report on a game details what happens that game. We have been amazing this season and should have more points. We would all have took 4th from bottom at the start of the season. We are on track and confident we can stay up but not sure that means I cannot criticse elements of a game. We were not at our best i felt againstg a pretty poor Newcastle side who did park the bus for long spells. We have to be better than that. There is nothing wrong with having aspirations to be better. Wilder drives this from the top down. It is not doom and gloom; we lost 2-0 to Newcastle in a game many before the start would have felt confident of a result. It's natural to be disappointed. I do not think we would have scored if we played till mid night and that is a concern as is our inability to bury the chances we create. We are playing well but at the two important facets we have fell short to stop us picking up probably 12 points from 12 instead of 3 from 12 and we all know after the next few, we have that horror run of fixtures. Important game on Sunday.

 

[BerksBlade]

Weird how you can get a totally different impression from radio commentary.
I listened to the game on R5: hardly heard Fleck mentioned at all, and Lunny not much more. By contrast Norwood was in the action constantly.
Most CBs struggle against Carroll in the air but it sounded like Egan did better than most.

 

[Blade59]

Have to agree to disagree in this one. Thought we played some excellent football for 70 mins but as wilder said the circumstances of the second goal sucked the life out of the players and supporters. Although furious at the time the VAR decision was correct but can understand the confusion and the players stopping Lesson to be learned just ignore any decisions by the linesman till referee blows. In fact the only decision they should flag for are throw ins

 

[Deadbat]

Personally I think its a very poor report ,completely reliant on the last 20 minutes. The view of Norwood is just based on 2 misplaced passes. The rest of the report is one of the worst Ive seen either from you Deadbat or from anyone else on last nights game. The view on Saint maximin is incredible. And Freeman looked unfit ?? in 10 minutes ,wow.

Norwood gave the ball away at least on three occasions in the first half alone. I felt he took too long to do things and like many of our players last night slowed everything down so they just got men behind the ball.

We had lots of the ball and all the possession and did have chances but not one effort did I think was a wonder save. They all were quite saveable and straight at him.

United were the better side in terms of play and chances but it was all so slow and methodical and we lacked the pace and creativity to break down a quite limited side I felt who essentially just sat back knowing wwe have no pace/creativity or aerial threat at the top of the field.

United have to be much cuter and better and if they create chances they have to take them. We have been superb this season but make mistakes at the key ends and that has cost us vital points we may reflect on in a few months. I love the football and every player has all been to a man superb this season but felt too many were not quite at it with and without the ball. They essentially let us have the ball and not sure we did anywhere near enough in terms of tempo, getting the ball into the box and creating more. At the back they had two clear chances and scored both. It was a ruthlessly efficent away performance punctuated by some shamless timewasting and cheating.

Saint Maximin scored a very good header and worked his socks off all game, pressing and closing us down. As did all the Newcastle players. It's not all about having lot of the ball and clever skills. Last night I felt the Blades got outbladed at times and work rate they really were superb even if they did little on the ball.

Freeman was blowing after 5 minutes on the pitch, twice he failed to run back after he gave it away and resorted on the second occasion to cynically chopping his man down. He has hardly played but looked so far short of match fitness even that brief spell.

I am not sure any United players were really awful (Sharp was ineffective and felt that was Lunny and Enda's poorest games for this season) but none really stood out and imposed themselves and really seized the initiative. Too many were a bit safe last night I felt.

If we play like that with the retained possession, football and control of the ball then that is the positive but if we dont put the ball in the net and give sloppy goals away then we will drop down the league no matter how good our general performances are.

Game of opinions of course, that is what my reports aim to simulate.

 

[Deadbat]

Weird how you can get a totally different impression from radio commentary.
I listened to the game on R5: hardly heard Fleck mentioned at all, and Lunny not much more. By contrast Norwood was in the action constantly.
Most CBs struggle against Carroll in the air but it sounded like Egan did better than most.

Carroll won most things in the air last night. I felt Egan struggled with him most of the game. The only good thing is Carroll was on his own so drop downs fell to noone most of the time but he made both goals with his hold up/flicks.

 

[metalblade]

For once I think that is a pretty poor report Deadbat possibly you believed the bookmakers and expected a routine home win and are falling into the same trap as opposition fans berating their players for having an off day when we go away and get a result. Although it is shit to watch you have to give Newcastle a bit of credit they did their homework and stopped us playing as we like but I still think we were half decent in patches.
A 5.5 mark for McBurnie is just plain ridiculous it was his best game for us and what chances he did have worked their keeper, seems to me you are or have been listening to the haters, lets be right he was on his own up front last night as Sharp was really poor. Sad to say but I think this is a bridge too far for Billy and I can see why he will be limited to coming on as a sub for the last 10mins. If we were giving marks out for the period after the second goal fair enough but overall those are low marks.
On Henderson and his half arsed attempt to stop the second think back to Sunday and a offside Wolves player runs through collides with Hendo and we get a VAR check looking for a way to give a penalty. After that is he really going to dive at the players feet risk giving a penalty away and a possible red card when a fucking linesman is holding a flag aloft, that was the only occasion that apology of a ref did not blow his whistle when the flag went up.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Looking at the highlights:

Looked at that key save from McBurnie again and hate to say it but McBurnie mis-timed his header and gave the keeper a chance. The ball came off his head a nano-second before his main thrust was completed just after. That's shortage of match fitness. He was in the right place at the right time and got the direction but not the power.

The save from Stevens was world class. It got a big deflection. in fact I reckon it was a drilled cross, and it flew high and rising above his head. That set the tone for the keeper.

Norwood's free kick was very well struck but right at the side the keeper was covering and not high enough. Said at the time it was one for Fleck.

The second half save from McBurnie's header to the top corner was routine.

Thinking back:

Bad miss by Sharp to hit the keeper second half, didn't look offside live, was he?

Wouldn't call McGoldrick's a chance on the stretch and happening so fast.

Haven't seen the chance close to the goal-line early game, as I saw it live the keeper did so well plus a bit of luck.

Did Sharp's apparent brain freeze first half take a deflection? He seemed to just have to nod the cross into an empty net.


Conclusion: Wasteful and a stark contrast to the opposition's performance.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Player Ratings from The Toon 'Mag':

Dubravka 9.4
Clark 8.3
Shelvey 8.0
Manquillo 7.8
St.Maxim 7.7
Dummett 7.3
Willems 7.2
Haydn 7.1
Carroll 7.0
Almiron 6.5


Strangely no rating for Fernandez.