Match Thread Manchester United v. Sheffield United - 24th June 2020

v.
EPL Week 31 - Wednesday 24th June 2020 - Old Trafford​

Please keep all discussion related to the match within this thread.

Matchday Stats/Player Ratings - https://www.s24su.com/forum/index.php?match-day/match/manchester-united-vs-sheffield-united.495/

Officials:

Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referee: Gary Beswick
Assistant Referee: Adam Nunn
Fourth Official: Jarred Gillett
Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell
Additional Video Assistant Referee: Simon Beck
Replacement Official: Robert Merchant

Coverage:

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Live TV Coverage:

 

[west_yorks_blade]

What we wouldn't have given 3 years ago to be contemplating a tough game at Old Trafford in the PL.

 

[CoatesyBlade]

Damage limitation team tonight.

If we play our normal 3-5-2 we will get smashed.

Its hard for me to say this but go with 4-5-1,to stiffle them.

Team
Moore
Baldock-Basham-Robinson-Stevens
K Freeman-Lundstram-Norwood-Fleck-Osborn
Sharp(30 mins) McBurnie(30mins) Mousett(30mins)

The lone strikers have 30 mins each to run their gonads off,not bothered which player does which 30 min stint.

I feel a 5-4-1 approach would be a tad knee jerk and quite negative, so for those reasons I can’t see it happening. If we did go 5-4-1 I think you’ve gone with your heart with team selection. And I wouldn’t put the loan striker on the clock like that either!

I’m oddly a little more optimistic this morning. I do want to see Didzy and Mousse start. We need Didzys creativity and we need Mousse’s pace! That would be a positive for me.
If Berge is to start then I want to see him play with confidence. I want to see him pick the ball up and carry it 40yds. What better time to announce your arrival to the PL!
If Jags is fully fit I’m happy (enough) with the defence. Of course we’ll miss JOC down the left but between Enda, Fleck, Didzy and Mousse I’m sure we can still cause problems down that side. UTB!!

 

[Danetheblade]

Last time...

View attachment 83711

What is do for a striker with the caliber of Conor sammon...

 

[Espania blade]

I think we start with a lone striker, Moose with Didsy behind him in the "hole" then four across the middle with two of them to press forward behind Didsy, and shoot on site, then Berge behind them in the "Hole" protecting a back three.
Just my opinion, i'm certainly no manager!

It might help to break up their runs from midfield, Pogba frightens me! he could "put us to bed" on his own on his day.,
guessing how we will line up is such good fun!

Let's hope for a big performance, we will need one.

UTB

 

[Cerberus Blade]

We've had a slow re-start with one admittedly very shit performance, and now suddenly we are the whipping boys going into this fixture?

Sorry lads, but I must have missed the point where ManU became world beaters this season. Yes Fernandes is good, and their front 3 can be a bit tasty, but I still think we can, and will get at these.

I given you a big like for that.

But I totally disagree with you!

 

[Cerberus Blade]

I'm struggling to remember the last time I saw us play Man United at Old Trafford, but there's been some good ones down the years for sure. I was there when we lost to them in the old first division and George Best scored that wonder goal. That was an amazing day out for me as young kid. I've never seen so many football fans in one place and there were thousands more locked outside.

I remember us playing them at Old Trafford back in 2007. Sod's law I couldn't go because I was working. In fact, I was working in the US in the head office near Philadelphia. They are 5 hours behind us of course, so the match was due to kick off mid-afternoon US time - right in the middle of my working day. I kept looking at my watch over lunch, wishing I could find a way to watch it. Then just after lunch, my colleague said, "we're all going to be in a meeting this afternoon, it's about US business, you're welcome to come but it's probably not going to be that relevant to you, so just find yourself a workspace and do your own thing if you like". I bet you know what's coming next?

I thought, "opportunity!". If they were all going to be holed up in a meeting all afternoon, I might as well get out the office and find somewhere to watch the game, they're obviously not going to miss me! So I checked out the internet for sports bars in Philly, I phoned one up and asked if they were planning to have the game on, and when they said yes, I shot out the office like a bolt, jumped in my hire car and drove the 20 miles or so from the office into Philly centre.

I don't remember a lot about the game other than, we'd been given no chance of getting a result and I don't think we'd been playing well up to that point. Luton Shelton was in the starting line-up for us. I thought it was going to be a mauling. In fact, we lost (2-0?) but we played very good for most of it and Shelton should have had a penalty - he tore them a new one!

There are some similarities perhaps with tonight's game. We come into on the back of a little spell where we just haven't played well at all. We've got a weakened team and I don't know of anyone in their right mind, apart from Stretch, who thinks we can get a result. But football is a strange game. A game of skill, effort and luck. I don't think we can beat Man Utd on the first of those, but if we can get back to putting in the usual 100% effort for the entire match, and have a little bit of luck go our way, you just never know.

 

[Large Mendonca]

Think we'll still go 5 at the back as that's the system we're used to, and we're up against it enough with key omissions without changing shape as well.

Taking the left hand side first, if JoC is missing then i reckon we could go Stevens LCH with either Osborn (preferred) or Robinson at LWB. Next up, I don't think we have much choice but to go Basham in the middle if Jags isn't fit. I think it's too key a position to put someone in there with little experience of how our defence works and how we cover. If Basham did play central, then i think we're gonna have to play Rodwell at RCH unless we go completely curveball and try Lunny, Berge or Kieron Freeman/Baldock. It's gonna be interesting for sure.

Up top we're gonna have to go for pace (Moose) as i think we'll be sitting in and defending a fair bit, with Didsy (hopefully) linking it up. I would be ecstatic with a point today.

 

[Dutch Blade]

One of the key things to do tonight, is having enough people behind the ball when we make a mistake in possession on their half, and they are taking over. Against Newcastle we got caught way to many times on the counter. And that was with Joelinton. We're up against world class forwards now.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Taking the left hand side first, if JoC is missing then i reckon we could go Stevens LCH with either Osborn (preferred) or Robinson at LWB. Next up, I don't think we have much choice but to go Basham in the middle if Jags isn't fit. I think it's too key a position to put someone in there with little experience of how our defence works and how we cover. If Basham did play central, then i think we're gonna have to play Rodwell at RCH unless we go completely curveball and try Lunny, Berge or Kieron Freeman/Baldock. It's gonna be interesting for sure.

If Stevens is moved to LCB, it’ll be Osborn that replaces him at LWB – if Robinson remains involved I can’t see Wilder switching their positions.

It is a dilemma if Jagielka doesn’t start, and even if he does I imagine Wilder will be factoring in a contingency for him not being able to finish it. I know Basham is the most experienced in our system, but middle CB isn’t something he’s done in the system, and you probably have to go back to Clough to find him getting time as a non-overlapping CB. With us probably being weaker than normal on the left, I don’t think we want to weaken the right side at the same time. If we had to move any defenders I’d probably prefer Robinson there and keeping Basham where he is.

There’s an argument for Berge to step in there – not so much for his aerial ability (which I’d put as weaker than all the centre-back options available) but for the fact he’s generally got a good positional sense defensively, and he tends to like to use the ball from a central deep position, not unlike Egan’s role in switching the play when the pass to Norwood isn’t on. I don’t think we’ll go with this, but wouldn’t be wholly surprised to see it. It wouldn’t be unprecedented for Wilder to move a player for the first time into a position they’ve never played so we can get through a one-off game – think Dowell vs Middlesbrough when Stevens was moved and Johnson couldn’t play.

 

[Blade58]

.....................Moore

Baldock Bash Robinson Stevens

.....................Berge

Didzy.........Ollie............Fleck

...........Moose.............Zivkovic

I'm thinking outside the box for this one due to both cb's out the side.

Berge is a defensive midfielder and I think this role may suit him better than playing down the right.

Pace up front to give them something to think about on the break. Let's be honest here, catching them on the break is probably all we going to get tonight

 

[GeorgeLColdwell]

.....................Moore

Baldock Bash Robinson Stevens

.....................Berge

Didzy.........Ollie............Fleck

...........Moose.............Zivkovic

I'm thinking outside the box for this one due to both cb's out the side.

Berge is a defensive midfielder and I think this role may suit him better than playing down the right.

Pace up front to give them something to think about on the break. Let's be honest here, catching them on the break is probably all we going to get tonight

I do think it could work, tho I would rather have ollie alongside berge, so that he can spray them and berge can have freedom to run. I think with a 4-2-3-1 system, the full backs can still bomb on forward, overlap the wide cam, with the wide cdm filling in for the cut back crosses. Its a long shout, but with the lack of defensive experience, I really don't want to see 3 at the back unless JOC is present. The formation has worked for other teams, but ik wilder loves his 2 up front

 

[Deleted member 1486]

Like you's, it boils our piss when playing them & the presenter/pundits call them United...

A few weeks ago The Times had a roundup of how each and every club were doing as the restart was due to kick off.

We got a couple of paragraphs, and Manchester United were mentioned three times in our section, and they kept using the term "United" to mean Manchester United (in a section dedicated to Sheffield United!).

"[Henderson] won’t play when the sides meet on June 24; if United recall him, he wouldn’t play for the Blades again"

There isn't a swear word strong enough to describe my despair!

 

[HammerInPeace]

A few weeks ago The Times had a roundup of how each and every club were doing as the restart was due to kick off.

We got a couple of paragraphs, and Manchester United were mentioned three times in our section, and they kept using the term "United" to mean Manchester United (in a section dedicated to Sheffield United!).

"[Henderson] won’t play when the sides meet on June 24; if United recall him, he wouldn’t play for the Blades again"

There isn't a swear word strong enough to describe my despair!

Pisspoor journalism. They probably don't even realise the ignorance of what they're saying.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

I don't understand why people get so upset about the name thing.

Names are attributed to the thing or person that are most commonly known.

Man Utd are one of the biggest football clubs in the world so most people are automatically going to assume them when you say United.

My neighbour who lives across the street is called Boris. He doesn't get upset if someone mentions Boris meaning Boris Johnson and not him.

 

[Il Coltello]

I'm struggling to see us pose a real goal threat tonight. The lack of goals issue was already concerning in Jan/Feb and in the last 2 matches we have created next to nothing in terms of clear cut chances.

For me, Billy and McBurnie doesn't work - they don't seem to have that understanding and reading of each other.

Maybe time to give Mousset a run of games to try and regain his touch. He's flattered to deceive recently and needs to step up and contribute more.

 

[Dkc]

I don't understand why people get so upset about the name thing.

Names are attributed to the thing or person that are most commonly known.

Man Utd are one of the biggest football clubs in the world so most people are automatically going to assume them when you say United.

My neighbour who lives across the street is called Boris. He doesn't get upset if someone mentions Boris meaning Boris Johnson and not him.

Not the same. A better analogy would be two boxers fighting each other, both with the same surname. Let's say, for arguement's sake, Tyson Fury was fighting Deontay Wilder. Everyone would refer to him as "Fury" and it wouldn't be a problem. But what if he was fighting Hughie Fury? Tyson Fury is the better-known of the two boxers, but the commentators would not in such circumstances just refer to him as "Fury" and expect us all to know which boxer they were referring to. They'd refer to him as "Tyson" or "Tyson Fury".

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Not the same. A better analogy would be two boxers fighting each other, both with the same surname. Let's say, for arguement's sake, Tyson Fury was fighting Deontay Wilder. Everyone would refer to him as "Fury" and it wouldn't be a problem. But what if he was fighting Hughie Fury? Tyson Fury is the better-known of the two boxers, but the commentators would not in such circumstances just refer to him as "Fury" and expect us all to know which boxer they were referring to. They'd refer to him as "Tyson" or "Tyson Fury".

It's just a really odd thing to get upset about when you think about it.

"You're saying a word but not referring to the thing that I want it to".

In the end, Man Utd are called United because it's just a shorter way of saying Manchester United.

 

[Dkc]

In the end, Man Utd are called United because it's just a shorter way of saying Manchester United.

And it's the same with Sheff United. But when two Uniteds are playing each other, it makes sense to differenciate between them. In that way you avoid any confusion

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Not the same. A better analogy would be two boxers fighting each other, both with the same surname. Let's say, for arguement's sake, Tyson Fury was fighting Deontay Wilder. Everyone would refer to him as "Fury" and it wouldn't be a problem. But what if he was fighting Hughie Fury? Tyson Fury is the better-known of the two boxers, but the commentators would not in such circumstances just refer to him as "Fury" and expect us all to know which boxer they were referring to. They'd refer to him as "Tyson" or "Tyson Fury".

A better analogy would be if the younger Hughie Fury was a much more well known boxer than Tyson Fury.

Imagine how absurd it would be if the commentators were calling Hughie just Fury and people were pointing out that Tyson Fury should be called Fury because he was called Fury first.

 

[AnotherSpur]

How many ex Man U players will be in the commentary box and on the panel tonight? I forgot Spurs were playing in our match against them. We didn't actually get a mention.

Good luck.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

If you both carry on like this you're going to make @gbs furious . He may even become outraged which , as I've previously pointed out , is not a good thing for gentlemen of a certain age .

 

[sheff_blade90]

i just want us to get back to the positivity that we saw & was praised for almost back in the reverse fixture. i feel we gone too negative the other way. as much as our success has been based upon 2nd best defensive record in football league

but i wonder if the reason is psychological for our poor start. but for most of the season what we did was a bonus on the crest of a wave with nothing to lose but now all the national media discussing if we can make Europe/champions league. has now given the player something where they feel for the 1st time they have something to lose

 

[From the pig end]

.....................Moore

Baldock Bash Robinson Stevens

.....................Berge

Didzy.........Ollie............Fleck

...........Moose.............Zivkovic

I'm thinking outside the box for this one due to both cb's out the side.

Berge is a defensive midfielder and I think this role may suit him better than playing down the right.

Pace up front to give them something to think about on the break. Let's be honest here, catching them on the break is probably all we going to get tonight

I like it, personally I want to see Osborn at all costs tonight but I appreciate the pace you're going for there.

I fear Bash and Robbo will get pulled to bits in a flat back 4 but not only do I reckon JOC will be back tonight but I think Sander would flourish protecting the defence.

We would lose a lot of width with that lineup but if we aren't going to have the ball much then nothing will pin a team back a bit more than pace.

 

[ChezVegasBlade]

Radical, but I would go with

...................... Moore..................
... Bash.......... Jags......... JOC or Robbo
...........Berge..............Norwood......
Baldock....Lunny....Fleck..........Stevens
..........................Moose.................

 

[bromtom]

Get Verrips in, chuck him in and see what he's got, because if he's not up to it, why keep him.

Cobble a defence together, I'd play Stevens and Osborn, not because Robinson has been bad really, just because that's a quicker pair. Osborn is rapid, and Stevens isn't slow.

Shore up the midfield defensively and add some room for creativity, I'd play 4 in the middle, Fleck, Norwood, Berge, Lunny and stick Moose up top.

 

[west_yorks_blade]

First half field keeper, 2 in midfield and 8 defenders. Let them tire out in the heat battering us.

Second half replace 5 of the defenders with 5 strikers and go for it.

Easy this team guessing lark.

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Get Verrips in, chuck him in and see what he's got, because if he's not up to it, why keep him.

Alternatively: we know Moore is the better keeper right now, Verrips is one for the future who may become a better keeper over time, and this isn’t the time to throw our 3rd choice keeper in when our 2nd choice is available. If Wilder suddenly thinks Moore is the poorer of the two and unexpectedly goes with Verrips tonight, fair enough. But right now, we’ve likely got enough experimentation tonight. No need to add to it further by sticking a keeper in for his debut behind a patched-up defence.

 

[Revolution]

In every game this season since Chelsea away (when not for the first time under Wilder, the team surprised me) I have thought that we could get something from the game - even against Liverpool and City.

but not tonight. Defeat is certain, I think.

 

[Bladesman98]

In every game this season since Chelsea away (when not for the first time under Wilder, the team surprised me) I have thought that we could get something from the game - even against Liverpool and City.

but not tonight. Defeat is certain, I think.

And we even went 1 up at City. Would have got a point if not for the referee putting his sky blue shirt on. Losing today won’t bother me, I just want us to put up a fight and show what we’re about again.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Too fecking hot. It will suit posession based teams like Man U and not our high energy approach. I fear the worst.