My take ....

[PaulHalfway]

RND was superb tonight I must say

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Fitter, stronger, more athletic team wins match at the death...

Can't underestimate the power of bringing on athletes like Khadra, Brewster and McAtee late in games...

 

[Sean Thornton]

Just having a watch back of the highlights, Heckingbottom's interview and reading through all of the content this morning.

Last night, I felt it was a bit of a smash and grab and that we'd rode our luck.
This morning, I feel it could have gone either way and, ultimately, our individual quality told.

The best chance fell to them and they really should have punished us from Wes' poor clearance.
As good as he has been, that has crept into his game. That's 3 or 4 for the season. He needs to cut it out.

They created two other good opportunities for themselves. Piroe with some lovely footwork but a weak finish and, later, a well worked throw-in routine which was well defended at the front post.

For us, two headers.
(1) Berge with a trademark run to the byline clipped a hanging cross to RND. Unlike others, I don't think it was a great chance. It was an awkward height for him and he was quite far from goal, to score would've taken a superb finish.
(2) The next, a better opportunity. Khadra is probably our best crosser of a ball. We haven't seen much of it but I remember those arrowed, dipping deliveries causing us bother when he was with Blackburn last season.
He found a pocket on the left hand side and picked out Brewster beautifully. Brewster was slightly off balance but I do think he should hit the target and, if he does, it's in.

As good as Swansea were (and I was pretty impressed) they don't have players capable of doing what Brewster and Khadra did in the 94th minute.
If those two had started, it would have been McBurnie, Berge or Ndiaye coming off the bench. This squad is blessed with match winners that will tip close games in our favour. It's not 'luck.'
I just don't think we're used to being this type of team so we are still quite modest in our outlook.


My own thoughts on ratings:

Foderingham - 5.
Every player starts on a 6 and moves up and down from there. Foderingham had nothing to do but nearly gave Swansea the points.

Baldock - 6.
Dogged, competitive, defended solidly. Did little-to-nothing in attack.

Anel - 7.
Did OKish at LCB but was glad when we moved him. Second half looked far more comfortable. Moves up a mark for an incredible piece of defending. The defining moment of the match.

Egan - 6.
Wes had very little to do. Egan did well with a tricky Piroe. I think it was Egan who defended the near post when Piroe nearly scored. If so, a very good piece of defending.

Basham - 6.
Like Anel, struggled a bit first half. Much improved in the 2nd. Slalomed his way up the pitch a few times and put in a great tackle for the match-winner.
I do think he's looked defensively shaky since he returned from injury last season, hopefully he improves with a run of games (which looks likely with the injuries).

RND - 8 (MOTM).
Without doubt our most improved player this season. We knew about his competitive nature and tackling abilities.
We didn't know about his pace, physicality and composure on the ball. He's stepped up tremendously. His crossing was terrific tonight.
Sorinola will give a lot of teams headaches this season but RND tracked his every move.

Norwood - 6.
It was a tough night for both midfielders tonight. We were over-run in the middle of the park and they seemed to have more bodies than us.
He coughed it up, badly, once. Outside of this, he made some good interceptions and retained the ball safely. Struggled to influence the game in an attacking sense.
I think Swansea got their tactics right.

Doyle - 5.
As above, but less involved defensively. I don't think he was poor, just felt he was less involved and at times chasing shadows.
He can be a midfield dictator for us and help fill the McGoldrick role of progressing us up the field. That's what I want to see from him. Constant showing for the ball and roaming around the park.

Berge - 5.
Think pommpey has it spot on. Looked the part first 15 then did a disappearing act. Appeared in flashes but it wasn't enough.
On a side note, Berge often doesn't perform great away from home. Indicative of the rest of the team, but he's the guy we look to to set the tone.
Further side note, I'd rest him on Saturday and give Khadra a run. He's not going to get a rest during the international break as Norway have called him up. Important we look after him.

Ndiaye - 5.
As with Berge, largely anonymous.
You can still see that at the flick of a switch he could change the complexion of the game though. Great that he's now lasting the 90.
Marked out of the game.


McBurnie - 6.
You could argue that he was a 5 but he had far less opportunity to be involved than the guys immediately behind him and I feel he stuck to his task and worked hard.
Although Brewster did well tonight, I'd stick with McBurnie. I think he's earned a bit of credit in the bank.
Sometimes 9s need to be given that confidence from their manager that they're their man. It would be unfair to drop him (or any striker) every time they have a quiet / fruitless game.

-----

McAtee - 6.
Neat and tidy. Did nothing wrong. You can see his obvious talent in possession, it's still the other stuff he needs to work on. He needs to get used to moving the ball quicker.
Teams aren't going to sit off him as they would at Man City.
I think he could be dangerous further in field, operating in front of the opposition's centre halves. I think his talents are a little wasted out wide.

Brewster - 7.
Great impact from the bench. The game had started to open up and he provided (a lot of) pace.
He did superbly for the goal. Speed, strength, balance and composure.
Probably should have scored with his header a little earlier.
He looked delighted with his contribution and seems a really positive dressing room character.

Khadra - 8.
It might seem high, given that he gave the ball away a few times, but his mission objective was to win us the game and this will have impacted the way he played.
Forcing the issue, making mistakes.
Not only did he win us the game, he also put it on a plate for Brewster a few minutes previously.
You can't really ask for much more in a 10 minute cameo.
A great weapon in the arsenal that we should use more, particularly away from hom

think Doyle linked well with RND.

 

[Sean Thornton]

Fitter, stronger, more athletic team wins match at the death...

Can't underestimate the power of bringing on athletes like Khadra, Brewster and McAtee late in games...

RND always seemed ready for a ruck before. He’s certainly matured and become more athletic. Originally not a fan, very pleased with his development.

 

[Dnblade]

Yeah, not really a smash and grab, but a 50/50 game,both teams had chances, but I think we created ours more, as we gifted them one or two of theirs.
We took the game to them first 15,then started to be more cautious the rest of the first half playing in front of them, passing unnecessarily backwards...Tough place to go, and another clean sheet, and great that we can bring on that quality from the bench to get us that late winner.

 

[Espania blade]

Smash and grab. And how many fucking times have we had that done to us?

Yeah, it was an unremarkable, unattractive and largely negative display from us, more akin to 'don't lose the away games' mantra but how rewarding to send the Swansea supporters home cursing and kicking rather than celebrating a draw against the top of the league? It was all on for us to miss a game and come back fucking appalling and lose badly, in The Sheffield United Way we are used to.

I'm up in North Dorset at the moment in the caravan, having fished a lake on my favourite complex. In time honoured fashion the past three weeks it has fished it's arse off, producing a good stamp of forty and thirty pound slabs all stuck up on social media. Three days ago, for some strange reason, the lake 'switched off' and no anglers before and after my 48 hour stint are catching. That's fishing. Similarly, for the first ten to fifteen minutes of tonight's match we were dominant and on the front foot and in a manner that spelled out a high scoring away win. A couple of decent chances, one for RND at the back stick and a majestic cross by Baldock to McB who'd lost his marker were both without result. Then (in typical style) something happens, in this case a decent challenge on the edge of our box which resulted in their trainer coming on, and we 'switched off'. No more attacking, no more great spells of forward moving passing and possession, no more chances on goal to speak of. We simply fell back and allowed Swansea to come onto us, so much so that by the end of the first half, they were camped in our half expecting to be one-up. What happened?

Second half Hecky made one change by swapping a clearly unhappy Anel with Bash which gave us some respite but with our midfield looking suspiciously underpowered we couldn't bring McB or NDaiye into the game, looking at times like the toothless Wilderbeast of seasons past. On seventy minutes and with changes from the bench beckoning, we still slugged it out with a Swansea side full of errors and not really looking potent or deserved enough themselves of anything more than a scrappy point. In truth the winner didn't seem to be coming from anywhere until Bash makes a great intervention, the ball is booted up the pitch, Brewster looked a damned sight more determined to get to the ball that ex-Blade Naughton and we went on to get all three points via Khadra, who'd legged it up the field like a greyhound. Did we deserve it? No, not really? Is it something to celebrate? Damned right. Are we still top of the league? Fuck yeah. Congratulations United. That was a dirty win and sometimes they are the best.

Foderingham 6/10: Not a lot to do. Made a decent point blank stop in the first half which was drilled straight at him. He is back at dawdling with the ball a bit though. Needs to stop that.
Baldock 6/10: Gritty, determined but in the event fruitless game higher up the wing. Because Berge disappeared on 20 minutes, and Basham had a poor first half he had a tough job making any headway.
Basham 6/10: First half he was decidedly and uncharacteristically dodgy with a number of misplaced passes and at times looking exposed. Second half he was slightly better when swapped to the left and worked better with RND, making better, more penetrating runs and better dealing with their advances
Egan 6.5/10: A better game for him with some key interceptions, tackles and headers at the right time. But he still plays fast and hard with the fucking about at the back shit
Anel 5/10: Not a great first but a better second for him. LCB isn't where he most happy
RND 7.5/10: The beating heart of the side tonight. A great one on one war with Sorinola, one I felt he won. Should have buried his header
Berge 6/10: Great first ten. Looked excellent and difficult to dispossess. Really great. Then, in a puff of smoke, he fucking vanished. Games like these, against a pretty shitty Swansea side, are where he should be bossing the game throughout
Norwood 6/10: Some good stuff and some bad. At times, he does 'make things tick' but this is fleeting and is given over to pointless possession play and balls over to the far touchline. He did graft throughout which was pleasing with limitations
Doyle 6.5/10: Tried hard to make it work and connect in his position but when the rest of the team seemingly shut down, he was left grasping at thin air at times
NDaiye 5/10: Not given any real supply after our shut down. He showed short flashes of potential but nowhere near what we see of him at BDTBL
McB 6.5/10: Tried hard to mix it up and missed a bit of a sitter in the first half. Less shithousing too

McAtee 4/10: Doesn't show me much of the so called potential yet
Brewster 7/10: Okay, should have buried his header but his gut determination and will to win chasing that ball up the pitch, dusting off Naughton and playing the correct pass is noteworthy. Fucking ace substitution
Khadra 6/10: Not really on long enough to make a complete impact on a tiring Swansea but took his goal really well

HJ&SMcC: 8.5/10: Big marks because we are four points clear now with a 12 goal difference. Tonight's win is theirs and theirs alone because we didn't just accept the draw. we made the most of a chance and took the three off Swansea, historically no easy feat for us.

pommpey

Listened to their manager this morning, moaning all the way through, you lost to a sucker punch mate, except it and move on, another overrated manager imo.
RND was brilliant, Heck'y said after the match "even if he is carrying an injury he's playing on Saturday"
Bit harsh on McAtee, I htink he has a good footballing brain, a bit lightweight but the bits he did, you could see he was reading the game, he'll be a descent player one day.
It wasn't an overly great game, but the ending was magic, I went to bed a happy man.

 

[Keen Blade]

Agree about the passing about sideways along the back 3, all it does is make the opposition push up 20 yards and squeeze the midfield to the point where we have no time on the ball and invariably lose possession or pass the ball back to the back 3 to start the process all over again ! It’s a mystery why we tend to do this in away games and not at home where we are far more positive going forward. Still, a fantastic 3 points.

UTB !

We make trouble for ourselves passing along the back 3 + often to Wes - it lures the opposition into an effective press + then all we can do is hit it long anyway .... There is no advantage gained from the risk it incurs.
I don't know whether it's instructions from Hecky or because midfielders are not making space to receive the ball , but it needs changing at least some of the time coz the opposition can predict exactly what we'll do + anticipate our sideways moves.
Sometimes Wes is put under pressure with a hurried backpass , which shouldn't happen when we start off being in calm possession.
But this is a counsel of perfection + I accept that we are currently doing well to perform effectively with a team that is lopsided through injuries.

 

[Big Hitter]

Good post Pomps. Liked RND's performance , likewise McB put himself about a bit at his old club, Silly messing at the back could have cost us but didn't. Berge - where did he go.? Excellent finish by Brewster and Khadra who showed some real desire to get up there and score. Well done lads.
Also a shout out to our travelling fans, loved the shot of them when we scored, and the guy in the no.10 Blades shirt who went arse over tit down the steps. Hope you are OK mate - if you are on here let us know.

 

[Varkanoid]

I would have given RND 8.5 out of 10 just for the speed of him last night. I think Brewster needs to start he needs to create that partnership with Ndiaye who looked a bit like little lad lost when he had the ball as no one was operating on the same speed as his football brain at times. McB despite his new found upturn in form is not a partner for Ndiaye.

Thanks for the report.

 

[Westran]

Berge, Basham and Brewster all missed sitters, whereas their chances were defended well by us. The stats show an even game, the Swansea fans will clearly back their team, but I think we deserved the win

 

[BladesOnToast]

Smash and grab. And how many fucking times have we had that done to us?

Yeah, it was an unremarkable, unattractive and largely negative display from us, more akin to 'don't lose the away games' mantra

I thought it was far more positive than say Luton or Watford - we created tonnes of good chances (as did they of course)

 

[Old Programme seller]

Anel I agree wasn’t in his preferred position and looked out of sorts but tbf he’d been I’ll, RND has took some time to show his potential I’ve always thought that there’s nothing that can beat playing in the first team thats why getting youth players out on loan is a must! Berge switched off as you said. I love a last min goal in our favour reminds me of the Warnock years.Nice report again thanks.

 

[Bennyand the Blades]

You know there's something that a lot of our fans are not giving the team credit for here, yes, we have injuries and new faces to fit in, but there's another weight the team are carrying just now, and you only have to read Roy's view to see it.
We are top of the league and a prize scalp for any team we play, even a home draw will be looked upon as a victory by some teams and their supporters,
While we are top, we will be the team to beat for all the clubs we play....

 

[Constantly Optimistic...]

As always, good precise analysis, thanks Pommps, slightly lacking from being there. I actually decided to make the journey, and was glad I did. Blades away quite subdued until the end. Swansea appeared to be false in their league position. They tried to play decent football, not aggressive Ogre ball, as per the Lutons of this world. This meant imo we should have slaughtered them. A team who tries to play decent football cannot and shouldn't match us. We struggle against the Ogres. We were surprisingly lacklustre in Swansea, lethargic and lacking vigor. Berge, in particular, just sauntered through most of the game.
The euphoria at the end was unbelievable. We won dirty, Brewster showed what he can actually do. We really didn't deserve the win, but we got it. The form of a team to understand stamp out

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

Smash and grab. And how many fucking times have we had that done to us?

Yeah, it was an unremarkable, unattractive and largely negative display from us, more akin to 'don't lose the away games' mantra but how rewarding to send the Swansea supporters home cursing and kicking rather than celebrating a draw against the top of the league? It was all on for us to miss a game and come back fucking appalling and lose badly, in The Sheffield United Way we are used to.

I'm up in North Dorset at the moment in the caravan, having fished a lake on my favourite complex. In time honoured fashion the past three weeks it has fished it's arse off, producing a good stamp of forty and thirty pound slabs all stuck up on social media. Three days ago, for some strange reason, the lake 'switched off' and no anglers before and after my 48 hour stint are catching. That's fishing. Similarly, for the first ten to fifteen minutes of tonight's match we were dominant and on the front foot and in a manner that spelled out a high scoring away win. A couple of decent chances, one for RND at the back stick and a majestic cross by Baldock to McB who'd lost his marker were both without result. Then (in typical style) something happens, in this case a decent challenge on the edge of our box which resulted in their trainer coming on, and we 'switched off'. No more attacking, no more great spells of forward moving passing and possession, no more chances on goal to speak of. We simply fell back and allowed Swansea to come onto us, so much so that by the end of the first half, they were camped in our half expecting to be one-up. What happened?

Second half Hecky made one change by swapping a clearly unhappy Anel with Bash which gave us some respite but with our midfield looking suspiciously underpowered we couldn't bring McB or NDaiye into the game, looking at times like the toothless Wilderbeast of seasons past. On seventy minutes and with changes from the bench beckoning, we still slugged it out with a Swansea side full of errors and not really looking potent or deserved enough themselves of anything more than a scrappy point. In truth the winner didn't seem to be coming from anywhere until Bash makes a great intervention, the ball is booted up the pitch, Brewster looked a damned sight more determined to get to the ball that ex-Blade Naughton and we went on to get all three points via Khadra, who'd legged it up the field like a greyhound. Did we deserve it? No, not really? Is it something to celebrate? Damned right. Are we still top of the league? Fuck yeah. Congratulations United. That was a dirty win and sometimes they are the best.

Foderingham 6/10: Not a lot to do. Made a decent point blank stop in the first half which was drilled straight at him. He is back at dawdling with the ball a bit though. Needs to stop that.
Baldock 6/10: Gritty, determined but in the event fruitless game higher up the wing. Because Berge disappeared on 20 minutes, and Basham had a poor first half he had a tough job making any headway.
Basham 6/10: First half he was decidedly and uncharacteristically dodgy with a number of misplaced passes and at times looking exposed. Second half he was slightly better when swapped to the left and worked better with RND, making better, more penetrating runs and better dealing with their advances
Egan 6.5/10: A better game for him with some key interceptions, tackles and headers at the right time. But he still plays fast and hard with the fucking about at the back shit
Anel 5/10: Not a great first but a better second for him. LCB isn't where he most happy
RND 7.5/10: The beating heart of the side tonight. A great one on one war with Sorinola, one I felt he won. Should have buried his header
Berge 6/10: Great first ten. Looked excellent and difficult to dispossess. Really great. Then, in a puff of smoke, he fucking vanished. Games like these, against a pretty shitty Swansea side, are where he should be bossing the game throughout
Norwood 6/10: Some good stuff and some bad. At times, he does 'make things tick' but this is fleeting and is given over to pointless possession play and balls over to the far touchline. He did graft throughout which was pleasing with limitations
Doyle 6.5/10: Tried hard to make it work and connect in his position but when the rest of the team seemingly shut down, he was left grasping at thin air at times
NDaiye 5/10: Not given any real supply after our shut down. He showed short flashes of potential but nowhere near what we see of him at BDTBL
McB 6.5/10: Tried hard to mix it up and missed a bit of a sitter in the first half. Less shithousing too

McAtee 4/10: Doesn't show me much of the so called potential yet
Brewster 7/10: Okay, should have buried his header but his gut determination and will to win chasing that ball up the pitch, dusting off Naughton and playing the correct pass is noteworthy. Fucking ace substitution
Khadra 6/10: Not really on long enough to make a complete impact on a tiring Swansea but took his goal really well

HJ&SMcC: 8.5/10: Big marks because we are four points clear now with a 12 goal difference. Tonight's win is theirs and theirs alone because we didn't just accept the draw. we made the most of a chance and took the three off Swansea, historically no easy feat for us.

pommpey

We started ok and should have been 2-0 before they sniffed,different game altogether then. Thought we were 5-10 yards too deep sometimes and gave their midfield enough time to supply the centre forward ,who thankfully wasn’t Harry Kane,decent report ,looks a good team spirit at the moment. Bet Mcatee didn’t expect the physicality of this league but he’s got to learn the hard way as Doyle is,onwards.

 

[Constantly Optimistic...]

As always, good precise analysis, thanks Pommps, slightly lacking from being there. I actually decided to make the journey, and was glad I did. Blades away quite subdued until the end. Swansea appeared to be false in their league position. They tried to play decent football, not aggressive Ogre ball, as per the Lutons of this world. This meant imo we should have slaughtered them. A team who tries to play decent football cannot and shouldn't match us. We struggle against the Ogres. We were surprisingly lacklustre in Swansea, lethargic and lacking vigor. Berge, in particular, just sauntered through most of the game.
The euphoria at the end was unbelievable. We won dirty, Brewster showed what he can actually do. We really didn't deserve the win, but we got it. The form of a team to understand stamp out

Not sure what happened with the last sentence, late at night predictive text. Can't seem to edit either? Help anyone?
But meant to write "The form of a team to make promotion a distinct possibilty"

 

[Sheff de party]

Not sure I get the Norwood criticism. He kept us ticking, moved the ball around really well (often under pressure) and basically made one mistake in 90 minutes. Thought he had a good game and did more than any of our other midfielders.