Deadbat
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The Blades great run of form continued as they made it four wins on the bounce after an absolutely superb performance at the Lane on Saturday afternoon saw them completely dismantle Aston Villa. It was one of the best performances for years by United and in particular the first half was simply sensational as the Villains were blown apart by pressurised, high intensity play but ultimately sublime football. 3-0 actually flattered Villa at half time. The second half saw the Blades get a fourth and you wondered how many the home side would get but United did run out of energy and Villa had a spell getting a goal back but the result was never in doubt.
Manager Wilder had new signing Connor Washington on the bench but fellow newcomers Marvin Johnson and Martin Cranie signed too late to be included. David McGoldrick started up front with Leon Clarke ruled out through injury. There was a big boost that the returning Paul Coutts was also a surprise inclusion on the bench. Villa had made signings recently in the form of Yannick Bolaise and Tammy Abraham but neither were deemed fit enough to start. Villa were also without Albert Adomah but other injury doubts John McGinn and Jack Grealish started for the unbeaten visitors.
The game started in bright sunshine and United were quickly out off the traps and Norwood and Fleck were prompting very early on. The Blades pinned Villa back with quick possession football that dissected them early and had a few enterprising moves. They won a free kick in the 6th minutes and this led to the opening goal. Freeman was pulled down by El Ghazi and Norwood took the free kick wide on the right. The delivery was perfect and Nyland stayed on his line; O’CONNELL powerfully headed home from point blank range. The marking was poor and the execution was simple. It was a long due goal for the popular centre back and the Lane was rocking with the hat song reverberating around the terraces.
United were back on the attack straight away and Villa had not started at all mainly due to not coping with the intensity of United’s play on and off the ball. Ridiculous defending where the Villa man tried to let the ball go out and it clearly was not going to go over the line. United robbed them and more purposeful football saw the ball pinged about again with Duffy, Freeman and Stevens involved; the ball came across and Norwood hit a low shot that deflected off a defender and hit the post. United recycled play and Sharp was denied by Nyland although he was offside.
The second goal was not long coming though. Henderson had started the attack kicking the ball out and Fleck found DUFFY who strode on holding off McGinn. From 25 yards he went for goal and hit a low shot that bounced just in front of the keeper and into the corner of the net. The goalkeeper will have been disappointed but it was another good goal from United’s point of view.
The Blades were simply buoyant and Villa could not get the ball off them. They kept coming and the Fleck, Norwood and Duffy combination was too much for them. The wing backs and overlapping centre backs kept coming and it was wave after wave. McGoldrick was relenting in his closing down and Villa looked stunned.
The third goal came when Basham was fouled on the right. NORWOOD spotted Nyland moving to his right and went for goal and his clever free kick completely deceiving the keeper and went low into the net. He clearly meant it as turned with his arms aloft to John Street almost before the ball hit the net. United had more half chances and continued to dominate and Villa would have been delighted that the half time whistle came after being destroyed.
The second half saw United on top again and no let up. McGoldrick’s hard work continued and he linked with Freeman for a half chance before the fourth goal came. The keepers’ throw out was intercepted by Norwood’s tackle and he fed Freeman. The wing back put over a cross into SHARP’s path who took a touch, swivelled and hit a high shot into the goal. The keeper got a hand on it but could not keep it out.
Nyland saved well from McGoldrick’s low shot as United broke again and were threatening to run riot. Fleck then fed Duffy for a half chance but it was blocked out.
Villa had barely been in the game but had a spell of the ball with Grealish involved and getting fouled or winning free kicks in a short period. It was the midfielder that set up a goal with their first real attack of the game of note. He played a through ball that dissected the two centre backs who appealed in vain for offside and EL GHAZI coolly rolled the ball home. It was a poor goal and not in keeping with the home performance.
Fleck had taken a knock and limped off to be replaced by Lundstram whose first act was to play a lovely ball across for McGoldrick but he was denied a 5th by a great save from the keeper. Sharp was then in but deemed offside as he rounded the keeper and scored after more great work by the hard working McGoldrick. Lafferty replaced Duffy before Washington came on for Sharp. Villa had most of the ball now but were not doing much with it and Grealish was tacked superbly by Lundstram setting United on the attack but McGoldrick could not quite get his shot away. United saw out time professionally and managed to slow things down with a few stoppages to break things up and Villa knew there was no way back as the game entered stoppage time. Washington ran a defender down and won a corner which won him applause from the home fans on his debut and soon after the final whistle came and United rightly took acclaim from all sides of the Lane for an absolute masterclass.
United –
Wow. Not sure what other word sums up that. The whole performance was almost perfect. The first half was unbelievable and we absolutely smashed a previously unbeaten Villa. A side that is on huge wages and still cost a hell of a lot more than our side. They have some really good players despite a few new ones not playing and them losing some in the summer; they are a side you expect to be around the top 6. We absolutely destroyed them. Make no mistake they were not great but we made them look so poor. It had everything you would want of a United team. Passion, energy, guts, tackling, pressurising and total effort. Then on the ball we were superb, moving it quickly at pace, combination play, clever football. The whole team were involved in most moves and there was not one weak link. It was 3-0 and could have been a lot more. It was simply scintillating stuff. On the rare occasions when they did have it; the home side swarmed all over them and got it back and it was soon in the last third of the visiting half again. Every single United player were bang at it and the possession one touch stuff was a joy to watch. It was all done at pace too.
My descriptions may seem hyperbole but I am not exaggerating and those that saw it will clearly agree. It was as good as anything I have seen down there for a long, long time. That is saying a lot with some great performances under Wilder’s tenure. Individually there were some great performances but this more about the team and the collective unit. We scored three good goals but the keeper made saves, we hit the post and it could have been more. The referee was pretty rubbish too and could have sent off a Villa defender for a blatant trip on McGoldrick. Villa barely got into our half and looked shell shocked.
The first half was so good, you expected a come down but we still played well second half but a different kind of performance. We scored and you sensed it may be a cricket score but then inevitably they would have spell and Grealish started to pull the strings a bit. A great player but very sulky and constantly looking for fouls. We eased off and were probably tired from all the effort in the first hour of the game and the game sort of petered out which helped us in the end. We dug in and stopped them coming back any further and saw out the game professionally. We committed quite a few fouls today which I liked. If they had a chance of getting anywhere the few times we did not tackle them; we shut them down other means and were not a soft touch at all. We were so hard to play against. Villa probably could not wait to get off the field.
We are now up to third and with Coutts on the way back, a few new signings; things are very much on the up/ Hopefully Fleck was not hurt too badly and also Clarke will be back. We have a few weeks to get them fit and time to get Coutts even closer. We have a few tough games coming up I feel but the start now has been excellent and mirrored last season when we lost a few early and then went on a run. Just before the international break; we did the same to Derby in a statement win and I felt today was very much the same. We have simply hammered two sides in consecutive weeks now. Norwood has made a huge difference, being man of the match in every game and the Evans-Norwood manoeuvre was a master stroke. Credit to Wilder in that he shuffled things around and also for admitting that the January signings did not work. He has not hung around and also made a profit. I felt Leonard had done ok this season but Wilder saw enough to suggest he would not feature much.
Villa – They were awful but we made them look so bad. I felt we never gave them a chance to get going. They are a team packed full of experience and lots of ex-Premier League players. Sure, they do not have Terry anymore and some of the new lads were not available or not fit but they still have lots of quality players and probably a wage bill way in excess of ours. They got absolutely destroyed and could not get the ball. They hardly had an attack. They simply could not cope with us. The defence was pulled about, the midfield did not get into the game at all and Kodjia was isolated. I cannot remember a team that has so many decent, experienced players get so embarrassed at the Lane – maybe Spurs 6-0 back in 1993 is the last time and the game reminded me of that and could have been a similar score line. They still will be up near the top and the pace they have in Adomah, Abraham and Bolaise will give them a real zip and glad they did not play today although doubt they would have got a kick but gives them an outlet. They kind of played one up top with the new lad El Ghazi and Grealish kind of supporting Kodjia but it did not work. A few players like Whelan and Hutton look on their last legs.
Opponent man of the match – Not sure there was any. The keeper made some saves but made some howlers. Individually and collectively they were appalling. Kodjia worked hard when he could and I suppose as annoying as he is; Grealish at least got on the ball (when the game was over at 4-0 – where was he then?) and made some things happen. He is a good player but looks for the free kicks way too much. We did kick him a bit but also, we tackled him fairly a lot and he constantly was on the ground and then suddenly jumped up. Surprised he has stayed there and looked frustrated with his teammates.
Weak link – Could be anybody. The goalie made a few poor mistakes and the third goal was really poor and the defence had no confidence in him at all but they were shocking too. The centre halves were poor and Jedinak was all over the place. The full backs could not stem the tide and I barely noticed Whelan and the highly rated McGinn. Their whole team was the weak link today!
Manager Wilder had new signing Connor Washington on the bench but fellow newcomers Marvin Johnson and Martin Cranie signed too late to be included. David McGoldrick started up front with Leon Clarke ruled out through injury. There was a big boost that the returning Paul Coutts was also a surprise inclusion on the bench. Villa had made signings recently in the form of Yannick Bolaise and Tammy Abraham but neither were deemed fit enough to start. Villa were also without Albert Adomah but other injury doubts John McGinn and Jack Grealish started for the unbeaten visitors.
The game started in bright sunshine and United were quickly out off the traps and Norwood and Fleck were prompting very early on. The Blades pinned Villa back with quick possession football that dissected them early and had a few enterprising moves. They won a free kick in the 6th minutes and this led to the opening goal. Freeman was pulled down by El Ghazi and Norwood took the free kick wide on the right. The delivery was perfect and Nyland stayed on his line; O’CONNELL powerfully headed home from point blank range. The marking was poor and the execution was simple. It was a long due goal for the popular centre back and the Lane was rocking with the hat song reverberating around the terraces.
United were back on the attack straight away and Villa had not started at all mainly due to not coping with the intensity of United’s play on and off the ball. Ridiculous defending where the Villa man tried to let the ball go out and it clearly was not going to go over the line. United robbed them and more purposeful football saw the ball pinged about again with Duffy, Freeman and Stevens involved; the ball came across and Norwood hit a low shot that deflected off a defender and hit the post. United recycled play and Sharp was denied by Nyland although he was offside.
The second goal was not long coming though. Henderson had started the attack kicking the ball out and Fleck found DUFFY who strode on holding off McGinn. From 25 yards he went for goal and hit a low shot that bounced just in front of the keeper and into the corner of the net. The goalkeeper will have been disappointed but it was another good goal from United’s point of view.
The Blades were simply buoyant and Villa could not get the ball off them. They kept coming and the Fleck, Norwood and Duffy combination was too much for them. The wing backs and overlapping centre backs kept coming and it was wave after wave. McGoldrick was relenting in his closing down and Villa looked stunned.
The third goal came when Basham was fouled on the right. NORWOOD spotted Nyland moving to his right and went for goal and his clever free kick completely deceiving the keeper and went low into the net. He clearly meant it as turned with his arms aloft to John Street almost before the ball hit the net. United had more half chances and continued to dominate and Villa would have been delighted that the half time whistle came after being destroyed.
The second half saw United on top again and no let up. McGoldrick’s hard work continued and he linked with Freeman for a half chance before the fourth goal came. The keepers’ throw out was intercepted by Norwood’s tackle and he fed Freeman. The wing back put over a cross into SHARP’s path who took a touch, swivelled and hit a high shot into the goal. The keeper got a hand on it but could not keep it out.
Nyland saved well from McGoldrick’s low shot as United broke again and were threatening to run riot. Fleck then fed Duffy for a half chance but it was blocked out.
Villa had barely been in the game but had a spell of the ball with Grealish involved and getting fouled or winning free kicks in a short period. It was the midfielder that set up a goal with their first real attack of the game of note. He played a through ball that dissected the two centre backs who appealed in vain for offside and EL GHAZI coolly rolled the ball home. It was a poor goal and not in keeping with the home performance.
Fleck had taken a knock and limped off to be replaced by Lundstram whose first act was to play a lovely ball across for McGoldrick but he was denied a 5th by a great save from the keeper. Sharp was then in but deemed offside as he rounded the keeper and scored after more great work by the hard working McGoldrick. Lafferty replaced Duffy before Washington came on for Sharp. Villa had most of the ball now but were not doing much with it and Grealish was tacked superbly by Lundstram setting United on the attack but McGoldrick could not quite get his shot away. United saw out time professionally and managed to slow things down with a few stoppages to break things up and Villa knew there was no way back as the game entered stoppage time. Washington ran a defender down and won a corner which won him applause from the home fans on his debut and soon after the final whistle came and United rightly took acclaim from all sides of the Lane for an absolute masterclass.
United –
Wow. Not sure what other word sums up that. The whole performance was almost perfect. The first half was unbelievable and we absolutely smashed a previously unbeaten Villa. A side that is on huge wages and still cost a hell of a lot more than our side. They have some really good players despite a few new ones not playing and them losing some in the summer; they are a side you expect to be around the top 6. We absolutely destroyed them. Make no mistake they were not great but we made them look so poor. It had everything you would want of a United team. Passion, energy, guts, tackling, pressurising and total effort. Then on the ball we were superb, moving it quickly at pace, combination play, clever football. The whole team were involved in most moves and there was not one weak link. It was 3-0 and could have been a lot more. It was simply scintillating stuff. On the rare occasions when they did have it; the home side swarmed all over them and got it back and it was soon in the last third of the visiting half again. Every single United player were bang at it and the possession one touch stuff was a joy to watch. It was all done at pace too.
My descriptions may seem hyperbole but I am not exaggerating and those that saw it will clearly agree. It was as good as anything I have seen down there for a long, long time. That is saying a lot with some great performances under Wilder’s tenure. Individually there were some great performances but this more about the team and the collective unit. We scored three good goals but the keeper made saves, we hit the post and it could have been more. The referee was pretty rubbish too and could have sent off a Villa defender for a blatant trip on McGoldrick. Villa barely got into our half and looked shell shocked.
The first half was so good, you expected a come down but we still played well second half but a different kind of performance. We scored and you sensed it may be a cricket score but then inevitably they would have spell and Grealish started to pull the strings a bit. A great player but very sulky and constantly looking for fouls. We eased off and were probably tired from all the effort in the first hour of the game and the game sort of petered out which helped us in the end. We dug in and stopped them coming back any further and saw out the game professionally. We committed quite a few fouls today which I liked. If they had a chance of getting anywhere the few times we did not tackle them; we shut them down other means and were not a soft touch at all. We were so hard to play against. Villa probably could not wait to get off the field.
We are now up to third and with Coutts on the way back, a few new signings; things are very much on the up/ Hopefully Fleck was not hurt too badly and also Clarke will be back. We have a few weeks to get them fit and time to get Coutts even closer. We have a few tough games coming up I feel but the start now has been excellent and mirrored last season when we lost a few early and then went on a run. Just before the international break; we did the same to Derby in a statement win and I felt today was very much the same. We have simply hammered two sides in consecutive weeks now. Norwood has made a huge difference, being man of the match in every game and the Evans-Norwood manoeuvre was a master stroke. Credit to Wilder in that he shuffled things around and also for admitting that the January signings did not work. He has not hung around and also made a profit. I felt Leonard had done ok this season but Wilder saw enough to suggest he would not feature much.
Villa – They were awful but we made them look so bad. I felt we never gave them a chance to get going. They are a team packed full of experience and lots of ex-Premier League players. Sure, they do not have Terry anymore and some of the new lads were not available or not fit but they still have lots of quality players and probably a wage bill way in excess of ours. They got absolutely destroyed and could not get the ball. They hardly had an attack. They simply could not cope with us. The defence was pulled about, the midfield did not get into the game at all and Kodjia was isolated. I cannot remember a team that has so many decent, experienced players get so embarrassed at the Lane – maybe Spurs 6-0 back in 1993 is the last time and the game reminded me of that and could have been a similar score line. They still will be up near the top and the pace they have in Adomah, Abraham and Bolaise will give them a real zip and glad they did not play today although doubt they would have got a kick but gives them an outlet. They kind of played one up top with the new lad El Ghazi and Grealish kind of supporting Kodjia but it did not work. A few players like Whelan and Hutton look on their last legs.
Opponent man of the match – Not sure there was any. The keeper made some saves but made some howlers. Individually and collectively they were appalling. Kodjia worked hard when he could and I suppose as annoying as he is; Grealish at least got on the ball (when the game was over at 4-0 – where was he then?) and made some things happen. He is a good player but looks for the free kicks way too much. We did kick him a bit but also, we tackled him fairly a lot and he constantly was on the ground and then suddenly jumped up. Surprised he has stayed there and looked frustrated with his teammates.
Weak link – Could be anybody. The goalie made a few poor mistakes and the third goal was really poor and the defence had no confidence in him at all but they were shocking too. The centre halves were poor and Jedinak was all over the place. The full backs could not stem the tide and I barely noticed Whelan and the highly rated McGinn. Their whole team was the weak link today!
) but the whole Spurs day out (pre-match beers close to Euston with fellow Blades, the fantastic new stadium complete with up-filling beer glasses, such a complete performance and even the 5+ minutes L’s big toe VAR) was one that is right up there in my 50+ years of following the Blades. And could have been even better if my only ticket option hadn’t been Stubhub - in the Spurs section closest to the Blades fans. Seems like distant memories atm though 
