The Blades topsy turvy season saw them get back to winning ways in the league as they saw off Rochdale 3-2 at the Lane. United did not convince all afternoon and Rochdale will feel hard done by not to take a point back across the pennines. United’s match winner was Neil Collins who scored instantly after Rochdale had deservedly levelled but in truth Che Adams was the difference between the two sides with two superb finishes and looked the outstanding player on the field.
United once again never had full control of the game lacking cohesiveness in midfield and in possession in general but were also very sloppy at the back. Still visitors Rochdale as enterprising as they looked at times, were equally poor at the back as they tossed away goals of their own. It was entertaining in some ways but the lack of quality and overall composure of both sides was missing in abundance. The fact both are around the top of the division sums up the quality of the division.
Manager Adkins rotated his side again even after the impressive five goal show in the week. Back came Billy Sharp but Che Adams and Matty Done kept their places in a new 4-3-3 formation with Coutts, Baxter and Scougall in midfield and Basham going back into defence with Neil Collins. Jay McEveley was back as captain and started at left back. High flying Dale had a number of key men missing including dangerous strikers Ian Henderson and Calvin Andrew.
The game began with an early interchange that saw Sharp and Adams set up Done but his low shot was comfortable for Lillis. McDermott had a long ranger for Rochdale and then former Blade Mendez Laing had two powerful runs that nearly saw him get in. At the other end, Sharp fed McEveley who played in Done who put in a good ball but Scougall could not convert as it got stuck in his feet.
Collins headed over in a relatively even game but United were able to take the lead with a real moment of quality.
Baxter played a lovely slide rule ball that beat the offside trap and ADAMS latched onto the pass before taking a touch and curling it low past the keeper. He made the finish look easy but much of the credit goes to Baxter for the sublime pass.
Cannon was booked and then got involved in a skirmish with Adams and was rightly taken off with Allen coming on for him. However, it was not long after when parity was restored.
United got away with a foot left in inside the box and cleared the ball but was not as lucky a few minutes after as the ball dropped and Done clumsily caught Mendez Laing. It was a bad tackle and totally unnecessary. The spot kick aware was an easy one.
VINCENTI took the kick and converted easily going fairly central with Howard already committed to the dive.
Still United bounced back and they were back ahead just three minutes later.
Sharp held up the ball and drifted out wide right before hitting a tremendous long high ball diagonally across the field into the path of ADAMS down the inside left channel. The teenager controlled the bouncing ball superbly and then arrowed in a half volley past the despairing dive of Lillis. It was a great goal and as with the first, superbly made and taken. It was an even better finish and showed Adams class once again.
Scougall took a knock and needed sustained treatment soon after the goal and Collins also had to go off after he took a whack. These stoppages led to six minutes additional time.
At the half Adkins had to make two enforced changes as Scougall and McEveley both went off injured. The former was deemed to have some concussion after the earlier treatment whilst the latter went off with an ankle injury.
United nearly made it three when a good diagonal ball came in from Coutts cross saw Basham and Baxter converge and there may have been a shirt pull on Basham but the Blades could not force it home. Then Done was in and away from the keeper from another good Baxter ball and as the ball span away after the forward and Lillis challenged luckily Lancashire got back to knock it behind and save a certain goal.
After this Rochdale had a really good spell and started to control midfield. Freeman had to make a last ditch tackle to deny a good chance before Mendez Laing had another good run that saw him crowded out. Howard was tested with a few long range efforts which he held well and they forced a few corners and then a free kick after a Freeman foul. This hit the wall.
Vincenti headed over and United were sitting further and further back and it was no real surprise when it was 2-2. Vincenti was played in and his powerful shot was hit hard enough but straight at Howard. Sadly the keeper pushed it up into the air and behind him. Freeman frantically tried to get back but as a forward ALLLESANDRA also converged on the ball, it hit the post and the striker may have got the final touch as it trickled over the line just. Still it was a deserved leveller for the visitors who had been the better side in the second half.
Campbell Ryce has been prepared to come on but Reed was now sent on for Coutts. United were back in front almost immediately after being pegged back.
Done’s tenacity won a corner and Baxter’s near post delivery saw COLLINS meet it and nod home. The keeper had opted to stay at home and he too would have been unhappy with his efforts on this goal but it was another for the centre back, his third this season.
After this Rochdale did not have as much of a threat and Done’s hard work was evident as he chased defender down continually. United took the heat out of the game and Baxter’s great tackle and run fed Adams but he blazed over in a rare moment where he did not show composure.
Sharp wrestled with the linesman in the corner as the official ridiculously did not move out of the way but United saw out time fairly comfortably and indeed more lovely skill from Adams as he bounced a defender out of the way and hit a fierce drive that Lillis pushed behind denying him his hat trick. The final whistle came soon after.
United – The performance as nowhere near the one we saw v Doncaster and was less than convincing but we got the victory. Fair play that he changed his formation and allowed our three most dangerous players from an attacking sense to play. Still the idea to have three in the middle did not lead to us having any real control all game in this area. They did not keep the ball and did not protect the defence. The fact we are finishing the game with Collins and McGahey as centre backs still and have not improved is really poor. We will not go up with those and Howard in goal and we have to improve this area and fast. Today Adkins knows it was a game we could easily have at least drawn and we have to play better.
At times when we played it forward with pace we looked dangerous (two great balls for the goals) and other times we played some neat and tidy stuff. However, we often were sloppy on the ball or took too long to get it forward and the tempo was lacking badly. We had no control of the key areas of the field and at the back I just felt that we looked like conceding. Luckily so did they and we had better forward players to profit. The performances are so wishy-washy and other than the odd glimpses such as Donny, Peterborough and Swindon we easily could have won, lost or drawn almost every game we have played. I keep hearing we have not seen a good side yet but then we have looked far from that either. Every side we have played has been no better but really been no worse. That is a concern and in truth we still look a bang average side. We have some talent up front but are not controlling games for territory, shape and possession. We are easy to get through and still look a soft touch. He keeps playing weak links like Howard and Collins (no choice in some ways on current personnel – although his fault we did not upgrade key positions) and also McEveley (we have better options here). If he does not improve personnel and the overall desire and application on a consistent basis we will continue to win, then lose, then draw and get very inconsistent results. It still looks a long way off a side that will win 5 or 6 on the bounce. May seem negative after a win but I do not think many fans came out and thought that was great. It was more of one we just got away with but with the same concerns we have if it had been a draw or defeat.
Fortunately, the division is so poor we may stay in touch with the automatic promotion places and then in January may be able to strengthen but we have heard this before haven’t we so not holding my breath and in truth we should have done this a long time ago. Until then expect more patchy performances and results and us to bob between 4th – 9th place I fear. Today was pleasing for the side showed some character (more than they have done at times this season and last) and responded well to losing goals and that was a positive.
Rochdale – Played ok for long spells and considering they have a much smaller squad and have a fair few out really will be disappointed efforts did not see them take anything. Neat and tidy on the ball and they did attack and not sit back as teams realise how bad we are at defending. They fought back twice and second half the equaliser was coming for a long time. They did not create as much as say Colchester and most of efforts were long shots but they did have long spells especially second half were they had much of the ball and pegged us back. They got level and you thought they may go on and win but left a stupid goal away. They were as bad if not worse than us at the back and never got to grips with Adams all game. The first two goals were statuesque defending and even though good balls were avoidable. Still they kept going and had a real go second half. If we had not scored the third I think they would have fancied their chances to win the game. After it went 3-2 the belief dissipated somewhat and they did not cause much of a threat after this. Still with our defence you never felt comfortable.
Manager Keith Hill has done a great job with Rochdale. He always amused me when he was in the area with Barnsley. Straight talking and with a decent sense of humour he was one of the local manager I liked listening to due to his unpredictability. He has gone back to Dale and got them back up and now are established at this level and will finish top half. With limited resources and little experience (very young and mostly home grown squad) he has done a superb job and they will be around the playoffs when they get some players back.
Opponent man of the match : Mendez Laing. They had a couple of decent players. The blond lad in midfield was decent (not sure who that was – was it McDermott who then went off?). I also thought that Vincenti caused some problems with his height and he is a useful player at this level. However, I never thought I would say this but Mendez-Laing was very good. He was tricky, assertive and had several great runs and caused us problems all game. Still looks like a Rugby League player but today he was good and looked a different player from the one that struggled at the Lane and has bounced around clubs at this level.
Opponent Weak link : The lad Andy Cannon was poor and Adams caused him problems. Similarly his replacement Jamie Allen struggled and should have been booked.
They both struggled to keep Adams in check. The other lad Rafferty also had problems and he too should have got a card. The first was booked and the latter should have been too. Rafferty was the nearest man to both goals first half. He was booked and taken off. His replacement fared no better and reverted to fouling and shoving United players in the back as his only real way of contributing to the game.
SUFC Player Ratings –
Howard 5.5/10 – Up the goal he let in he had made several smart but expected saves. They were shots that have been causing him problems at times this season and he was saving them and holding them too. His handling was very good. However, in other aspects of his play his distribution was awful. He has clearly been told to throw it out and go short so is under instructions but not under instructions to roll / kick it to a visiting shirt every single time! I don’t think he barely found a white and red shirt all game. Still he would have been a 7 maybe until the goal. Then when they had the shot near the end he somehow contrived to shovel it over himself and pretty much into his own net. It was another poor error not helped by awful defending in the lad up but he has to save things like those. I have heard others say he is good as we are going to get at this level and when I see the likes of the Rochdale and Doncaster keeper (equally poor) then maybe they have a point but Howard is making mistakes with great regularity. I do think for a key position we need to do better. The likes of McEveley gets a lot of criticism but Howard is making bad mistakes routinely.
Freeman 6/10 – Mixed game. He made a tremendous saving tackle to deny what may have been a certain goal and a few others good covering tackles/blocks and also got forward well and was not always found. However, at times he also lost his concentration and let players in. He seemed slow to react on the second goal but then not sure you would expect Howard to do what he did. Mendez Laing actually caused him some real problems at time and with our formation he ended up one on one quite a lot. He gave away a few daft free kicks near the edge of the box too. Despite the great tackle he has had better games and Vinceti isolated on him quite a bit using his height.
McEveley 4/10 –Really poor. He did very little right. He won a few headers v the dangerous Vincenti but other than that he kicked it out, found a Rochdale shirt and threw it three times straight to the Rochdale player. Just looked a clumsy mess. His look of distain when the crowd groaned after another mistake summed up the player – crowd relationship. I do think he has become the scapegoat and any kind of mistake is jumped on but to defend the crowd he is rubbish. Apparently he went off injured and may be out for a while which could be a blessing. He is a liability and needs to be moved on.
Basham 6.5/10 – Played at the back and did ok defensively first half. We looked better in the middle of defence first half than second half and at least he was trying to get them to come out despite Collins going back. This causes so much confusion. He still was a bit slow as the rest of the defence was to react at times and they walked through the same as at Port Vale last week. He was moved into midfield but I felt that we had little control of midfield second half and he was fairly quiet. I think his better at the back sadly and even in a three we had no real control for a home side in this area.
Collins 6.5/10 – Gets an extra mark for the winner of course but overall I felt that he was poor again defensively and looked generally unsteady as did the rest of the defence. So many sliced clearances and the moment where he dribbled out of defence and then walked it out of play summed it up. One of the main issues I have with him is him constantly reverting further back and back and the rest of the defence have to follow. We sit so deep and you can see why Clough dispensed with him as Collins is central to this sitting back so deep. I was going to comment about how oddly he heads the ball down when defending but heads it up when attacking on corner but then he shut me up by scoring the near post header. For me despite the winner a player we have to replace.
Coutts 6/10 – He was steady when on the ball but did not contribute enough for me. He was neat and tidy and put in one great ball for the Basham/Baxter chance and did not give it away much which is a plus but how often did he actually have the ball? Also defensively he offers no protection. The biggest issue I have with him is he cannot run. I watched him carefully today and he simply struggles to move and seems to almost run with a limp. After half time he was looking at the bench several times and seemed to indicate he could not go on. I watched him twice when they just ran away from him and he tried to run but just sort of was stuck in mud. For all Baxter’s critics, even he can run more and cover more ground. As I say a neat and tidy footballer and technically decent but just seems crocked. I will be surprised if he puts together more than 20 games this season.
Baxter 7/10 – Mixed performance. At times made some lovely balls; like the one for the first goal and a few other passes that nearly led to chances; like the Done one and made the third with a good riven near post corner. He was one of the few who tried to go forward and gamble with passes (not as many square balls today) and tried to be positive. He also made a great block on the stroke of half time at 2-.1 However, he also made mistakes today with some poor balls and at times also looked languid and tired. I felt second half he had spells where he was not in the game at all and we did not control midfield. He just played it aimlessly and we looked a tired bunch I that area. Today we did have a three but not sure you can get away with having two players with the lack of work rate/fitness of Coutts and Baxter. We did better when Reed came on and kept the ball more.
Adams 8/10 – The outstanding player on the pitch in that he was the only one who looked like he had the class to play at a higher level. He had long spells where he was not in the game due to the way the formation worker and play became channelled in the middle and he was shoved out wide. He did swap wings quite a bit too. However, the moments when he had the ball showed real class. He showed strength, poise and pace. Ironically he had given it away a few times before showed some excellent skill in a piece of play that nearly led to a chance to a Done. Then the first goal which was just a cool finish after a lovely ball but he made it look so easy. The second was even better with sublime control and a smashed finish. The lad on the right had to go off after being booked and then his replacement fared little better and how he escaped a card was beyond me. Second half he was quieter but still looked our main threat with a few other good runs and chances. He did blaze one over the bar but then had another great run and shot that was saved at the death. Long term he will move into the Premier League I have no doubt but hope we can get a least a season or two but feel someone will take a punt on him as early as January I am afraid. Players with pace, athleticism, strength and composure on the ball do not stay in League One for long.
Scougall 5.5/10 – Cannot recall him doing much of note at all. Game just passed him by. Won one tackle and played one ball through but other than he barely touched the ball. Got a whack with a high challenge that seemed to almost knock him out but he carried on with the half nearly done. Could not carry on at half time. I think he may have been subbed anyway regardless as he was fairly anonymous. Despite his goal in the week, another player that needs to be moved on. After a promising start when he arrived, he has regressed badly and does not offer much at all.
Sharp 7/10 – Worked hard all game even though he had no real chances at goal. Held it up well at times even though he was getting constantly fouled/held. Set up the second with a great diagonal ball and a few other balls to Done and Adams nearly got us in. Kept plugging away and his effort and running on and off the ball was good all game. Still contributes even when he is not scoring and maybe the first name on the team sheet at the moment.
Done 7/10 – He gave away a penalty with a forwards challenge which was daft and his control/touch was up and down. He also missed a decent chance after getting past the keeper but the defender got back. Nearly got in a few times as always playing on the heels of the defenders and with Sharp/Adams we are fairly interchangeable. The main thing he offers is phenomenal work rate. He never stooped and second half kept chasing and harrying constantly. His willingness to keep running put many other players to shame. A player that for me has to start whether it be wide, in a three or up front with Sharp. We need to have more players with his attitude and his work ethic should be a marker for any more signings we make.
Subs –
McGahey 6.5/10 – He kicked it and headed it away which in essence is ok but at times looked extremely clumsy and he too sat back too much. He made the mistake that led to the Freeman tackle and lost his man a few other times too. Nobody took initiative to get the defence out and they invited pressure. He is awful on the ball. I keep hearing a few on forums say he has promise but I have seen nothing. He is a big lad but looks like ‘bambi on ice’ when on the ball and lacks pace but also genuine aggression for a big lad. If he cannot stand out at this level then it is worrying. Another in the not good enough bracket regardless of how old he is.
K Wallace 7/10 – Did ok. Kept it simple and improved a lot on McEveley. The defence still looked less than convincing but cannot recall too many individual mistakes from Wallace. He may struggle v pace but today as he has in other games he was fine. Surprised me after he looked a non league player last season and a useful squad player currently.
Reed – Did alright when he came on. Improved us just by giving us some energy and a bit of ball retention. Looked more composed than others. One poor ball when he played it too far apart, he was steady and helped us finish the game better than we had been for a long period in the second half.
Manager – Adkins 7/10 – As he said himself; it was a win. That is the main thing. After such a stop start season, another defeat or draw and we would have been around 9th-10th and some way off the top. We had to win today after the defeat last week. I think he knows the performances are so patchy not helped by poor personnel (that he should have improved aswell as the board) but overall we are not controlling games are looking a side that can win games with any comfort. Today it could easily have been a draw or even a loss and like Bury and Colchester we are conceding chances too often for a home side. We look ok going forward but the other way we are a long way off a top side. He has to change this aspect of the side or we will continue to get mixed results. We go to Oldham next week but I think the fact most fans have no idea what result it will be (yes I know that is football!) sums it up. I would be more surprised by the form and sequence of results if we won and expect a draw at best. We cannot put together those run of results.
Ref – Thought he was poor. He was frustrating for both sides. I felt the penalty was an easy call; with a daft tackle. He could have given one not long before although that may have been soft Adkins turned to the South Stand as if to say we got away with it. He also favoured United a few times with trips that he played advantage that could have been brought back. I felt for long spells he favoured United although his inability to book the replacement right back was ridiculous. He committed at least 8 fouls second half. Not sure how he got 6 in the first half. Scougall was down for a few but Collins went straight off when injured. I suppose you could say there had been a sub and three goals. He was very fussy wanting free kicks taken right from the spot exactly where the foul had been but let throw ins be taken wherever (often foul throws). A special mention to the linesman for tackling Billy Sharp (blocked him twice) in the corner as he ran down the wing.
Crowd – Another superb crowd of over 19,000. I know we have said it before but unbelievable support for such poor fare of football and at such a low level, although we are seeing a lot of goals at the moment I suppose and some decent goals too. Rochdale brought maybe 800 at best so the crowd really was excellent. Not much noise and the groans were more audible than cheers as we were slow to go forward and a few mistakes from the likes of McEveley drew the bird. However, the Kop had a spell second half after we got in front of cheering them to the close.
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