Deadbat
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Podcast coming later today all being well (links to follow). Report below….
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With much of the football world seemingly in a state of flux, matching that of the wider society, the game did go ahead on Monday night at Craven Cottage as league leaders Fulham entertained the mid-table Blades. After the full-time whistle, the Blades will have been delighted the game went ahead as they made it four wins on the bounce and three straight for Heckingbottom since he was appointed permanent manager. Iliman Ndiaye’s superb individual goal early on gave United a platform and for the most part the Blades managed the game superbly offering Fulham few chances of note until a late Mitrovic/Wilson double miss in stoppage time. United now are inching near the playoff area and the resilience and togetherness that seemed missing much of the season, seems to be back in the camp as United not only won but kept yet another clean sheet. It was the first league win for United at Craven Cottage since September of 1985 when Steve Foley (2) and Glenn Cockerill were the scorers in a 3-2 win in front of only 4,266 fans.
United had to make changes with McGoldrick (Covid) and Davies (personal reasons) out so in came Jack Robinson for a rare start and Iliman Ndiaye. There was no place in the match day squad for Brewster, McBurnie or Mousset as the Blades’ striking depth was severely limited due to various reasons of unavailability.
Fulham were clear at the top and despite a run of draws, will have been boosted by the fact that their two closest challengers, West Brom and Bournemouth both dropped points this weekend.
The game started with United kicking away from their excellent following of supporters, considering the new date, TV coverage and the recent upsurge in Covid cases. The Blades started confidently moving it around and on the attack but the early goal came from a home side spell of possession. The ball was turned over by the Cottagers and fell to NDIAYE. The French forward took it on confidently and ran from well inside his own half. He kept going and moved away from two challenges and then as he approached the edge of the box, curled a delightful left footed finish away from the despairing dive of Rodak. It was a wonderful individual goal showing his qualities of pace, running and composure.
With a goal to build on, United continued their excellent start and were moving the ball around well with Ndiaye looking to flick and trick when he could. Fulham had struggled to get going but slowly started to see more of the ball and Wilson was becoming a threat getting into pockets of space. They did not really create anything until a ball down the side saw Mitrovic get in but he pulled his shot wide.
Fulham then got into the box and Wilson skipped past two defenders but then fell as he looked to take the shot and United cleared. United continued to look threatening the other way and Ndiaye’s fleet footed skills were a highlight early on. Gibbs White had not been as influential but his beautiful ball saw Sharp in but the striker could not get it under his spell and Rodak pouched the ball. It was a good chance for the skipper.
Fulham had struggled to build up much headway in open play and their next chance came from a deep free kick headed back by Tosin and Kebano was in space but he dragged his shot wide. His appeals for a corner fell on deaf ears and it seemed the correct decision as it did not hit a Blades player on the way behind. Foderingham was booked for taking his time over a goal kick but in truth the Blades had not been really in any trouble and had looked dangerous when they did attack.
Rodak’s poor punch nearly saw Norwood profit but the half time whistle was not long coming and United had limited Fulham to few chances and Foderingham had not made a save.
At half time, Silva brought on Cairney for Seri in an attempt to bring some creativity for the disappointing home side. The Blades also had to make a change with Gibbs White not able to shake off his knock and Berge came on in his place – as the visitors went to a more orthodox flat three in the middle of the field.
Fulham saw a lot of the ball but United were well organised and kept a solid shape and often the final ball from the home side went awry drawing groans from the Cottage. Cairney and Wilson tried to link up and the latter was clattered by Jack Robinson, drawing a yellow card. Wilson then nearly found an opening but Egan did well to get across before Basham did likewise.
United had soaked up the Fulham attacks and indeed had the best chance of the half as they broke down the right and Bogle was in after good work from Berge but he got blocked out.
De Cordova Reid came on for Carvalho and soon after Muniz Carvalho for Robinson, as Fulham used their final changes with still 20 minutes to play.
Fulham finally had a shot on target as Mitrovic’s turn and shot was straight at Foderingham and quite comfortable before at the other end Ndiaye, who had been quieter this half, got in space and found Sharp but the flag went up despite the striker’s excellent finish into the top corner.
Fleck and Osborn came on for Hourihane and Ndiaye as the game moved towards the final 10 minutes and Fulham did start to at least build up some pressure but Foderingham’s handling was immaculate on two occasions from a high cross and then a low ball into the box.
Bogle was booked for bringing down Kebano and Fulham won a number of free kicks and corners but the Blades held firm as the game ticked into four minutes of stoppage time. Right at the start of this Fulham had a great chance to win a point. The ball was pumped forward and Osborn’s clearance did not go very far and the ball was knocked into the wide right position on the angle and Mitrovic was left unmarked. The striker came inside and waited patiently before hitting a fierce shot that thudded against the bar. The ball came back out and it seemed Wilson would net the rebound but made a real mess of it spooning it high and wide. It was a lucky let off for the Blades who had defended so well up this frantic finale.
United saw out the remaining period of additional time with no further worries and the full-time whistle was met by a loud ovation from the jubilant away supporters who celebrated with the players who came over to thank them for their terrific support that was rewarded with the best result of the season.
United – A fantastic win and a good performance. We scored a great early goal and then worked our socks off and did what we had to and deservedly won the game limiting the best attack in the league to barely an effort and only the late chance saw any concern in a solid, organised and professional showing.
On paper today looked the toughest game left on paper, playing the league leaders away. We have played a fair few of the other top sides away. I thought Fulham would be tough and show us where we at in terms of improvements after routine defeats to challengers West Brom and Blackburn on the road (albeit did well at Bournemouth and unlucky to lose). The recent opponents, Reading, Bristol City and Cardiff were all really poor sides. The reality is today showed what a bad division it is but also showed United’s improvements and that if you can defend, be organised and do the little things, you can be the right side of tight games.
Maybe Fulham had an off day but they have not been ripping things up recently and, in the end, United were decent value for the win and it was a classic away performance. We got an early goal – a fantastic one – then we managed the game pretty well. Fulham struggled to break down a very organised defence with good protection in front too. We lost Gibbs White but still managed to do enough to limit them and with a bit more care on the break might have had another goal. They had a few efforts but Foderingham was faultless again. Not sure I recall many chances at all and he made some fairly routine saves. At the end we got deeper and deeper and the chance fell to Mitrovic but after it hit the bar, Wilson somehow missed the rebound. We got lucky there but we do not seem to have experienced more fortune the last 18 months so nice to see a couple of efforts miss the target.
I am not sure we were superb with the ball and at times rushed or made poor decisions and I felt the longer the game went on, we became more jittery in possession but actually to be fair when we lost it, we got into a great shape and denied spaces/areas. Out of possession, we were excellent. The team had few gaps either in the middle or down the sides and we stopped the supply to Mitrovic. I thought Robinson came in and had a really solid game alongside Egan who had his best game of the season. Bash was Bash and the wing backs did ok defensively. I also thought Hourihane and Norwood screened and protected the defence well. Ndiaye and Sharp worked hard and well to get Sander 45 minutes too. We were not scintillating and outside of the goal we only played a few pockets of good attacking football but ironically when we did, we looked dangerous. After leading we seemed caught between protecting and attacking and in the end, I felt we had a nice balance though and ended up just being really solid but trying to find spaces on the break when we could. I thought the work rate was superb and players hunted in packs. We tackled, covered space, got blocks in and vital interceptions. We won the big headers and also, I felt fouled when we had to. We slowed the game down nicely at times and it was as I say a perfect away performance. Get an early goal and then just make the game a bit messy and slow it down when needed but try and pass when we could. We really did limited Fulham to nothing significant at all that I can remember.
The table looks so much healthier now. United need to ensure they keep to the standards they have set in terms of not giving away sloppy goals and limiting chances but also keeping the ball and attacking when they have chances to do this. We showed this against a good side and as we have seen, versus poorer sides will get more chances. Nice to see Ndiaye come in and take his chance and he did well with his goal and showed other flashes at times. We of course had a number of strikers missing so it was crucial he came in and got back to the form he exhibited when he broke into the team.
We now have to back things up with some games where points are very attainable in Preston away and Hull at home where we need to be looking for 4 points minimum to me. We then have a certain former manager in town.
Hope the games go ahead of course as the country is still in an uncertain status and the recent development in Wales is a bit of a worry in terms of our chances of being able to keep attending, as we have often ended up doing what they and Scotland have, albeit later. I do think we may end up with reduced crowds or even behind closed door at some point. I think the games do need to keep happening whatever restrictions may or are put on fans. If teams have enough players, then games need to go ahead where they can. I cannot see how stopping games for a week or too achieves very much to me? Everyone then is ok-ish but then even during that period some will go down as they get off family/kids etc? I am not sure what the point of a suspension is. Everyone comes back and maybe we have more games but then players start to go down again? The only situation where it works is if they go back to bubbles again and sadly behind closed doors games again might have to come in. Of course, the alternate is lots of games get postponed and we end up with so many rearrangements and the season finishes about July! Conversely, any break and with more subsequent games postponed anyway and that will still happen. It is hard to see a way where they can ensure all the games go ahead or teams will have most players available. In the states, the NBA has postponed a fair few but are essentially just trying to play through it. That might have to be the answer unless it becomes so rife that so many have it but then if that happens then that will be mirrored in society and there may be a bigger lockdown than a few weeks. The reality is they may be an issue every winter with different strains. Maybe they need to look at moving things to the summer for football? It is all a bit of a mess but then that is not just football and hard to see of a way out, when it seemed we were getting back to normal only a month ago.
Much of above is out of our control – just nice at the moment to see United winning and back giving us some pride. We have had a great last few weeks and last night felt like proper United again. Grafting, hardworking, muck of nettles etc. Sometimes fans, including myself get frustrated how we are portrayed and I wonder whether we will ever really have a style different that fans take to – but I do believe if Jokanovic had got us playing like Fulham or Watford, fans would have taken to it. Under Wilder we worked hard and entertained, playing great stuff. The last few weeks has been very much getting back to basics but those essential ingredients of tackling, running and being hard to score against are crucial whatever style you play as a team. Credit to messrs Heckingbottom, McCall and Lester for getting the team back doing those key things and we have still scored some good goals in the run too, both individually and collectively.
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With much of the football world seemingly in a state of flux, matching that of the wider society, the game did go ahead on Monday night at Craven Cottage as league leaders Fulham entertained the mid-table Blades. After the full-time whistle, the Blades will have been delighted the game went ahead as they made it four wins on the bounce and three straight for Heckingbottom since he was appointed permanent manager. Iliman Ndiaye’s superb individual goal early on gave United a platform and for the most part the Blades managed the game superbly offering Fulham few chances of note until a late Mitrovic/Wilson double miss in stoppage time. United now are inching near the playoff area and the resilience and togetherness that seemed missing much of the season, seems to be back in the camp as United not only won but kept yet another clean sheet. It was the first league win for United at Craven Cottage since September of 1985 when Steve Foley (2) and Glenn Cockerill were the scorers in a 3-2 win in front of only 4,266 fans.
United had to make changes with McGoldrick (Covid) and Davies (personal reasons) out so in came Jack Robinson for a rare start and Iliman Ndiaye. There was no place in the match day squad for Brewster, McBurnie or Mousset as the Blades’ striking depth was severely limited due to various reasons of unavailability.
Fulham were clear at the top and despite a run of draws, will have been boosted by the fact that their two closest challengers, West Brom and Bournemouth both dropped points this weekend.
The game started with United kicking away from their excellent following of supporters, considering the new date, TV coverage and the recent upsurge in Covid cases. The Blades started confidently moving it around and on the attack but the early goal came from a home side spell of possession. The ball was turned over by the Cottagers and fell to NDIAYE. The French forward took it on confidently and ran from well inside his own half. He kept going and moved away from two challenges and then as he approached the edge of the box, curled a delightful left footed finish away from the despairing dive of Rodak. It was a wonderful individual goal showing his qualities of pace, running and composure.
With a goal to build on, United continued their excellent start and were moving the ball around well with Ndiaye looking to flick and trick when he could. Fulham had struggled to get going but slowly started to see more of the ball and Wilson was becoming a threat getting into pockets of space. They did not really create anything until a ball down the side saw Mitrovic get in but he pulled his shot wide.
Fulham then got into the box and Wilson skipped past two defenders but then fell as he looked to take the shot and United cleared. United continued to look threatening the other way and Ndiaye’s fleet footed skills were a highlight early on. Gibbs White had not been as influential but his beautiful ball saw Sharp in but the striker could not get it under his spell and Rodak pouched the ball. It was a good chance for the skipper.
Fulham had struggled to build up much headway in open play and their next chance came from a deep free kick headed back by Tosin and Kebano was in space but he dragged his shot wide. His appeals for a corner fell on deaf ears and it seemed the correct decision as it did not hit a Blades player on the way behind. Foderingham was booked for taking his time over a goal kick but in truth the Blades had not been really in any trouble and had looked dangerous when they did attack.
Rodak’s poor punch nearly saw Norwood profit but the half time whistle was not long coming and United had limited Fulham to few chances and Foderingham had not made a save.
At half time, Silva brought on Cairney for Seri in an attempt to bring some creativity for the disappointing home side. The Blades also had to make a change with Gibbs White not able to shake off his knock and Berge came on in his place – as the visitors went to a more orthodox flat three in the middle of the field.
Fulham saw a lot of the ball but United were well organised and kept a solid shape and often the final ball from the home side went awry drawing groans from the Cottage. Cairney and Wilson tried to link up and the latter was clattered by Jack Robinson, drawing a yellow card. Wilson then nearly found an opening but Egan did well to get across before Basham did likewise.
United had soaked up the Fulham attacks and indeed had the best chance of the half as they broke down the right and Bogle was in after good work from Berge but he got blocked out.
De Cordova Reid came on for Carvalho and soon after Muniz Carvalho for Robinson, as Fulham used their final changes with still 20 minutes to play.
Fulham finally had a shot on target as Mitrovic’s turn and shot was straight at Foderingham and quite comfortable before at the other end Ndiaye, who had been quieter this half, got in space and found Sharp but the flag went up despite the striker’s excellent finish into the top corner.
Fleck and Osborn came on for Hourihane and Ndiaye as the game moved towards the final 10 minutes and Fulham did start to at least build up some pressure but Foderingham’s handling was immaculate on two occasions from a high cross and then a low ball into the box.
Bogle was booked for bringing down Kebano and Fulham won a number of free kicks and corners but the Blades held firm as the game ticked into four minutes of stoppage time. Right at the start of this Fulham had a great chance to win a point. The ball was pumped forward and Osborn’s clearance did not go very far and the ball was knocked into the wide right position on the angle and Mitrovic was left unmarked. The striker came inside and waited patiently before hitting a fierce shot that thudded against the bar. The ball came back out and it seemed Wilson would net the rebound but made a real mess of it spooning it high and wide. It was a lucky let off for the Blades who had defended so well up this frantic finale.
United saw out the remaining period of additional time with no further worries and the full-time whistle was met by a loud ovation from the jubilant away supporters who celebrated with the players who came over to thank them for their terrific support that was rewarded with the best result of the season.
United – A fantastic win and a good performance. We scored a great early goal and then worked our socks off and did what we had to and deservedly won the game limiting the best attack in the league to barely an effort and only the late chance saw any concern in a solid, organised and professional showing.
On paper today looked the toughest game left on paper, playing the league leaders away. We have played a fair few of the other top sides away. I thought Fulham would be tough and show us where we at in terms of improvements after routine defeats to challengers West Brom and Blackburn on the road (albeit did well at Bournemouth and unlucky to lose). The recent opponents, Reading, Bristol City and Cardiff were all really poor sides. The reality is today showed what a bad division it is but also showed United’s improvements and that if you can defend, be organised and do the little things, you can be the right side of tight games.
Maybe Fulham had an off day but they have not been ripping things up recently and, in the end, United were decent value for the win and it was a classic away performance. We got an early goal – a fantastic one – then we managed the game pretty well. Fulham struggled to break down a very organised defence with good protection in front too. We lost Gibbs White but still managed to do enough to limit them and with a bit more care on the break might have had another goal. They had a few efforts but Foderingham was faultless again. Not sure I recall many chances at all and he made some fairly routine saves. At the end we got deeper and deeper and the chance fell to Mitrovic but after it hit the bar, Wilson somehow missed the rebound. We got lucky there but we do not seem to have experienced more fortune the last 18 months so nice to see a couple of efforts miss the target.
I am not sure we were superb with the ball and at times rushed or made poor decisions and I felt the longer the game went on, we became more jittery in possession but actually to be fair when we lost it, we got into a great shape and denied spaces/areas. Out of possession, we were excellent. The team had few gaps either in the middle or down the sides and we stopped the supply to Mitrovic. I thought Robinson came in and had a really solid game alongside Egan who had his best game of the season. Bash was Bash and the wing backs did ok defensively. I also thought Hourihane and Norwood screened and protected the defence well. Ndiaye and Sharp worked hard and well to get Sander 45 minutes too. We were not scintillating and outside of the goal we only played a few pockets of good attacking football but ironically when we did, we looked dangerous. After leading we seemed caught between protecting and attacking and in the end, I felt we had a nice balance though and ended up just being really solid but trying to find spaces on the break when we could. I thought the work rate was superb and players hunted in packs. We tackled, covered space, got blocks in and vital interceptions. We won the big headers and also, I felt fouled when we had to. We slowed the game down nicely at times and it was as I say a perfect away performance. Get an early goal and then just make the game a bit messy and slow it down when needed but try and pass when we could. We really did limited Fulham to nothing significant at all that I can remember.
The table looks so much healthier now. United need to ensure they keep to the standards they have set in terms of not giving away sloppy goals and limiting chances but also keeping the ball and attacking when they have chances to do this. We showed this against a good side and as we have seen, versus poorer sides will get more chances. Nice to see Ndiaye come in and take his chance and he did well with his goal and showed other flashes at times. We of course had a number of strikers missing so it was crucial he came in and got back to the form he exhibited when he broke into the team.
We now have to back things up with some games where points are very attainable in Preston away and Hull at home where we need to be looking for 4 points minimum to me. We then have a certain former manager in town.
Hope the games go ahead of course as the country is still in an uncertain status and the recent development in Wales is a bit of a worry in terms of our chances of being able to keep attending, as we have often ended up doing what they and Scotland have, albeit later. I do think we may end up with reduced crowds or even behind closed door at some point. I think the games do need to keep happening whatever restrictions may or are put on fans. If teams have enough players, then games need to go ahead where they can. I cannot see how stopping games for a week or too achieves very much to me? Everyone then is ok-ish but then even during that period some will go down as they get off family/kids etc? I am not sure what the point of a suspension is. Everyone comes back and maybe we have more games but then players start to go down again? The only situation where it works is if they go back to bubbles again and sadly behind closed doors games again might have to come in. Of course, the alternate is lots of games get postponed and we end up with so many rearrangements and the season finishes about July! Conversely, any break and with more subsequent games postponed anyway and that will still happen. It is hard to see a way where they can ensure all the games go ahead or teams will have most players available. In the states, the NBA has postponed a fair few but are essentially just trying to play through it. That might have to be the answer unless it becomes so rife that so many have it but then if that happens then that will be mirrored in society and there may be a bigger lockdown than a few weeks. The reality is they may be an issue every winter with different strains. Maybe they need to look at moving things to the summer for football? It is all a bit of a mess but then that is not just football and hard to see of a way out, when it seemed we were getting back to normal only a month ago.
Much of above is out of our control – just nice at the moment to see United winning and back giving us some pride. We have had a great last few weeks and last night felt like proper United again. Grafting, hardworking, muck of nettles etc. Sometimes fans, including myself get frustrated how we are portrayed and I wonder whether we will ever really have a style different that fans take to – but I do believe if Jokanovic had got us playing like Fulham or Watford, fans would have taken to it. Under Wilder we worked hard and entertained, playing great stuff. The last few weeks has been very much getting back to basics but those essential ingredients of tackling, running and being hard to score against are crucial whatever style you play as a team. Credit to messrs Heckingbottom, McCall and Lester for getting the team back doing those key things and we have still scored some good goals in the run too, both individually and collectively.