United 1 Brighton 1 - report

[Bladesthorpe]

Alarm bells already ringing? Gerra way. Only for people who think it’s dead easy for a young player to uproot from one country to another and then adapt to a new club and a new league in a handful of games. Fook me, it took McBurnie half a season to get up to speed and he only came from Wales.

You think McBurnie is up to speed. Seriously ?

 

[GrayBlade]

Very much disagree about McBurnie. Thought he was excellent and is growing with every game (this is a player I was really unsure about after the first 5/6 games). He come short and gets out of tight spaces really well, using a combination of skill and strength. I personally really don’t like the McBurnie/Sharp combination. I think McBurnie drops and links up play really well, but teams can defend high because we don’t have that ball in behind as an option. If Mousset isn’t fit to start then fair enough but I do think there is a lack of dynamism between those 2.

Sharp is a legend, but he always will he a player that contributes very little when he isn’t scoring. No question marks over him when he was scoring 15/20/25 per season but can we afford a passenger if he is only going to contribute 4/5 per season? I think McBurnie would look even better if he had an outlet to play through once he has broken the lines or ridden the challenges, which he did lots of times yesterday.

McBurnie looks twice a fit as he did when he came. I don’t worry about players missing chances, I worry when they’re not in position to miss them, I’m sure goals will come for him if he can keep these performance levels up.

 

[GrayBlade]

You think McBurnie is up to speed. Seriously ?

His overall contribution would suggest he is which is why he’s now starting games. Goals will come if he keeps up his current level of performance.

Berge however hasn't even had the luxury of time on the bench like McBernie had, he‘s been thrown straight in and played in an unnatural position basically because Lundstram had been shite, but I’ll trust Wilder to do what‘s right and sort it. But I think to say that your alarm bells are ringing already after he’s played just 3 hours of football seems way OTT. Are you suggesting that just because he cost £22m or as a general rule because it’s taken players who‘ve cost way more than him months to settle into the Premier League.....unless its been played out on a games consul.

 

[Bladesthorpe]

His overall contribution would suggest he is which is why he’s now starting games. Goals will come if he keeps up his current level of performance.

Berge however hasn't even had the luxury of time on the bench like McBernie had, he‘s been thrown straight in and played in an unnatural position basically because Lundstram had been shite, but I’ll trust Wilder to do what‘s right and sort it. But I think to say that your alarm bells are ringing already after he’s played just 3 hours of football seems way OTT. Are you suggesting that just because he cost £22m or as a general rule because it’s taken players who‘ve cost way more than him months to settle into the Premier League.....unless its been played out on a games consul.

Wish Berge all the best of luck and hope he goes on to be a success, not his fault for the price tag . What I am trying to say is when we brought in the likes of Sabbella or Babourkis you could see the talent straight away .I go to all home and away matches and have seen every single minute he's played and have yet to see him do anything out of the ordinary so far.

 

[Grappler]

As someone said on another post, i thought Osborn played really well when he came on and deserves a separate mention,
he looks "a leader" as well, him and Enda are going to be battling it out for a place in the team next season.

The lad has some pace as well, similar to Baldock in how he can race down the wing.

 

[Deadbat]

Very much disagree about McBurnie. Thought he was excellent and is growing with every game (this is a player I was really unsure about after the first 5/6 games). He come short and gets out of tight spaces really well, using a combination of skill and strength. I personally really don’t like the McBurnie/Sharp combination. I think McBurnie drops and links up play really well, but teams can defend high because we don’t have that ball in behind as an option. If Mousset isn’t fit to start then fair enough but I do think there is a lack of dynamism between those 2.

Sharp is a legend, but he always will he a player that contributes very little when he isn’t scoring. No question marks over him when he was scoring 15/20/25 per season but can we afford a passenger if he is only going to contribute 4/5 per season? I think McBurnie would look even better if he had an outlet to play through once he has broken the lines or ridden the challenges, which he did lots of times yesterday.

McBurnie did some good work off the ball and worked hard. He has definitely improved and think he will be a great player for us.

However he was found wanting in the big moments yesterday. The Brighton goal he lost the key first header as Webster overpowered him.

In terms of the other end he missed good chances all game. First hslf he mimicked a Baldock cross. Then repeated this from O Connells cross 2nd half. This was shocking composure really in a tight game and missed by a mile under no pressure. He then had a week poke straight at the keeper from close range after O' Connells header back from the corner. Finally from Didzys superb cross he barely got any contact when he has to score...again from close range.

That accounts for my 6/10. He did ok in general play with one or two good slalom runs but the Brighton lads dominated aerially.

Agree that him and Sharp do not work as they slow things down. Both take an age to bring it down and keep possession and this sees defenders get men back. Mousset was the change we needed to make yesterday to stretch them.

I think we have gone with the same two for the last few games and won most but our best performances came when it was Didzy and Mousset up top and hope we go back to that now for the next few games.

 

[theoneandonly36]

I think with a pre season under our coaching Berge will be a different player. Mistakes and slowness in thought happen with tiredness. First team may be a tad too soon in the company he keeps. He needs a long term perspective. Look how other players have developed.

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

Very much disagree about McBurnie. Thought he was excellent and is growing with every game

McBurnie had a damn good game. Folks need to realise it's the toughest position to play in and he led the line well. OK he missed a couple of chances, but I'd still take him over Maupay who did sod-all apart from get on the end of a great free-kick and nod-on.
With some strikers it's almost as if you're playing with 10 men for most of the game (Jordan Rhodes prime exanple) but this lad is a real asset and I think worth every penny. I said before the season started if he gets a goal to keep us up then he's repaid the 20 million. He'll get better - cracking buy for us. Get off his back you doubters!

 

[LoughboroBlade]

Sharp is a legend, but he always will he a player that contributes very little when he isn’t scoring.

This myth has been busted more times than I can remember over the last 5 years. He contributes plenty with his movement, hold-up play, and knows our system well-enough to link with the channels as we work an opportunity. Can’t remember a non-scoring game that Sharp made a significant contribution in? Think as far back as the Palace game where he won the corner we scored from.

There’s reasons why we wouldn’t start him next, but he continues to contribute at this level, and offers something different to the other strikers.

 

[blader]

This myth has been busted more times than I can remember over the last 5 years. He contributes plenty with his movement, hold-up play, and knows our system well-enough to link with the channels as we work an opportunity. Can’t remember a non-scoring game that Sharp made a significant contribution in? Think as far back as the Palace game where he won the corner we scored from.

There’s reasons why we wouldn’t start him next, but he continues to contribute at this level, and offers something different to the other strikers.

Which I think has a place, but not alongside McBurnie. It needs to be one of them, not both of them in my opinion. McBurnie is the future, Sharp still has a place as he can grab a goal from nowhere, the 2 of them up front limits out options as we can’t play direct (through balls, over the top etc) which makes it easier to defend against.

 

[Revolution]

I still can't decide how I feel about this result, though I enjoyed the game. We were in control the vast majority of the time but never looked like scoring a second goal.

A few thoughts:

- it is nice to see that there is one team in the division which is as slow as we are. This meant that there was not much risk of a speedy counter attack, as there was is other home games recently.

- thought Osborne did very well once he came on, although Baldock was noticeably more involved in the second half.

- Schelotto had a difficult afternoon for them but he battled hard at it and won a couple of points with me by trying to make peace and shake hands with O'Connell (which, regrettably, O'Connell did not want to do) and for unfussily immediately leaving the field on the far side when subbed, unlike Glen Murray, who took about 2 minutes to walk 50 yards.

- Murray and Aaron Connelly were collectively anonymous. Have we had an easier half defensively this season than the second half?

- It was a mistake not to bring Mousset on. I disagree that it wasn't the sort of game for him. Sure, they were deep as a rule, but on half a dozen occasions in the second half they tried to advance and lost the ball just over the halfway line. We were not quick enough to exploit this, and Mousset would have been. Plus McGoldrick is not a good player to bring on. He's no goal threat at all and is a much better starter.

- I see opinion is divided on the McBurnie performance. My view is that, like McGoldrick, he does a lot of good things, but not enough of them help with goalscoring. He works hard, wins the ball well in the air, holds it up pretty well (and he's improved at this as the season has gone on) but his positional play remains poor, he's never close enough to his strike partner, and he is useless at taking the sharp chance. He is good when attacking a cross, or when he has a little time, but if the ball comes to him quickly he can't finish at all.

- None of our strikers seem PL class at the moment in terms of goals and finishing. Robinson hasn't cut it and can't find space. McGoldrick can't score to save his life. McBurnie can't take chances in the box. Mousset looked great for 2 months but hasn't scored in 3 months and can't do 90 minutes. Sharp is aging and his hold up play is good in recent weeks but he is not getting the ball where he needs it as he did lower down the leagues. Thank goodness for the midfield picking up the slack.

- I'm really enjoying this season and the players are all to be congratulated for what they have done so far - we are not this high up by accident - but I do worry that if this excellent defensive performance drops a level next season we will find it very hard to score the goals to compensate. Still, that's a problem for the summer.

 

[Charlieblade]

Berge was our poorest performer in my eyes but certainly don't think it's anything to worry about yet. He's obviously a classy player but he needs to toughen up and catch up to the intensity of our team. We are in a great position to give him the best platform to do that.

I would possibly consider playing him in the Norwood role at Reading to see how he takes to playing in his natural position. That said, it's another good opportunity for him to play on the right and settle into the system.

Berge has been in country for 3 weeks. He doesn’t have the experience of the English game that McBurnie and Moose enjoyed at previous clubs. He is 21 years old and probably lacks a bit of aggression in his personality. Obviously has class but adaptation will take time. Maybe hurried into first team early because of his reputation earned abroad. EPL is unique, but this lad will get there in the end.

 

[cahill]

I was pleased to see McGoldrick come on and in that relatively short time created an opportunity for McBurnie that he fluffed. I agree that McBurnie is effective at what he does and is a work horse and fits into the team but we need someone to start banging them in. It's good that Enda, George, Fleck, Lunny weigh in with goals but we need an effective striker up front. Perhaps this is a season too far for Sharp. I'm just a fan who didn't play the game beyond my teenage years but I think Mousset looks the more effective of our forwards, seems to frighten defences. Perhaps he's lazy in training and that's the reason he doesn't get a start, but I believe he needs to be more involved. Wilder may be loyal to Billy and feel he has to play a new £22 million player but I think we need to play the most effective team. Pleased to see Didzy back