Match ratings

[Mojo]

Bunn 5 - Didnt have much to do but not great positioning for second goal and came for the cross but retreated for the third goal - partly to blame for it.
France 5 - Bad positioning for second goal when Monty lost it, didnt get forward hardly at all and tended to just kick the ball aimlessly down the line.
Walker 5 - Struggled badly for strength against Best and cant remember him winning a header. Looked uncomfortable and not a patch on the player we have been seeing at right back.
Morgan 6 - Seemed unsettled by having Walker along side him.
Taylor 5 - Steady if unspectacular. Good pass for Wards goal.Should have scored with an absolute sitter just before half time that he completely missed. Went off injured.
Treacy 5 - Largely anonymous, not one of his better games.
Harper 6 - Very hit and miss tonight, a few nice moments and a couple of shocking ones too. Not sure three in midfield suits him, seems unsure of his role in the team.
Monty 5 - Unfortunatly not one of Montys best games. Badly at fault for the second goal that effectively changed the game tonight when we were comfortably on top. Passing was very iffy tonight and also seemed quite slow making decisions on the ball.
Quinn 5 - Missed a good chance in the first half. Again another who seemed very sluggish with the ball.
Ward 7 - Very lively all night, scored a great goal, got an assist and generally looked threatening whenever he had it.
Hendo 6 - Held the ball up well tonight and won most headers, a bit isolated up front alone.

Subs:

Cotts 5 - needs to know when to release the ball!
Evans 6 - Unlucky with a shot that clipped the bar. Looked lively. Surely must start Friday!
Stewart 6 - Looked decent and very good pace.

Overall very dissapointing tonight. The game was there for the taking. Killa being out is very worrying!!

 

[Plan B]

I'd agree with most of that. What puzzled me was that Walker was left with Best for most of the night. Why didn't Morgan pick him up? Cov were only playing one up front. I don't think we'd have conceded the first if Morgan had been challenging Best - Walker just got brushed aside. I wouldn't be surprised if Morgan's carrying an injury - he didn't seem his normal self at all.

 

[Micalijo]

Got to feel sorry for Bergen on his goalwatch duties - it's going to be a very difficult task working out what happened.

Bunn's surprised me by how well he's done but nothing ruins that more than seeing a keeper virtually behind his line when the ball goes in. Like at Reading, it was an excellent delivery but there is no point having a keeper at set peices if all he does is take one step forward and then leg it backwards. Why does he do this? Because he is NOT tall enough to successfully claim crosses on a consistent basis

 

[mattbianco1]

I wouldn't be surprised if Morgan's carrying an injury - he didn't seem his normal self at all.

Maybe he just wasn't himself because he didn't have Killa along side him. they've struck up a great partnership and when you take one out we crumble.

 

[Ollessendro]

Mojo (and the rest of you) I presume that you were at the Ricoh last night.

Forgive me as I've posted something similar in another post, but I'm interested in in more on how did it shape up?

I could only listen to Radio 5 and get updates at intervals. At half time Daren Fletcher (who was commentating) said that it had been a really poor game, but we had 4 clear cut chances. Quinn had missed 2 good chances and also Taylor. Even though Blades weren't playing the best football they should have been in front. At full time the Feltcher went onto say that we were very unlucky not to get something out of the game. Harper and Evans were guilty of missing good chances.

By my reckoning we defended awfully and rued missing our chances. However the game could have easily been 3-3 or even 4-3 Blades.

I'm not interested in this ridiculous negativity about us not been good enough. Correct me if I'm wrong (people who witnessed the match only please!?) but last night was a case of weakness in defense and not taking our chances.

I'm not making excuses for the lads. I'm bitterly disappointed. I don't rate Coventry and think we should have beaten them. I guess the moral of the story is we need CB cover. Providing KB brings someone in on loan then I don't think we have too much to worry about.

 

[Revolution]

I was not there, but for what it is worth was told the following by someone who did go:

United were poor at the back (as is well documented on here)

Monty had a really poor game passing wise, and was at fault for the 2nd goal where his "pass" took out 2 of his teammates and let them in.

The biggest problem - and it is not a new problem - is that United lost out physically in a big way. We were pushed around all night, and the 1st goal, which more forthright defending would have prevented, was a good example.

That said, United still looked the more likely winners until the 2nd goal went in as we were creating chances. There were some unlucky (Evans) and appalling (Taylor) misses.

So, sounds like a bit of an off night, but if your squad is threadbare you run this risk I suppose.

 

[Ollessendro]

Ok thanks Revolution.

Hmmm. I still maintain that if KB brings in another (decent) CB on loan then it will eradicate the problems that arose last night. It seems clear that Walker is not the short term answer at CB. We desperately need cover. But other than our leaking defense (and a few sloppy mistakes) we are looking good in other areas.

 

[Mojo]

Our shape was exactly the same as at Derby. The problem was that the hesitancy of the new back four spread throughout the rest of the team. We created a hell of a lot last night and with our normal defense we would have comfortably won the game. Its not the end of the world I saw us play far far worse at Coventry the season we got promoted. Attacking wise we look good. We just cant afford to mess the defense around too much when one player is out. We need another decent centre half its clear for everyone to see.