Posh Blade
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2016
- Messages
- 21
- Reaction score
- 176
Been a while since I posted on here. Usually contribute when attending a game at the lane but I guess social media makes forums like this part-defunct nowadays. More importantly I was there yesterday and at the Arsenal game and thought I'd add to the very positive and uplifting contribution with my thoughts on yesterday. I'll give credit to Deadbat as I've nicked his format a bit.
Pre-game:
I was trying to make myself a popular godfather by getting my 5 year old godson some autographs of man utd players on his xmas card when their team bus arrived, sadly the uncles on his mum's side of the family are of that persuasion as is his step dad (my mate) as a 2nd team after posh, both have rubbed off on him big time........anyway, I digress.......I was surprised at how OTT the stewards were in the whole 'get em in and don't stop' thing. Apparently its only for yesterdays game and Liverpool that its been like that.....surprise surprise. I know they don't have all the time in the world but was poor that they just walked in and ignored everyone given loads of people had waited for quite a while and IMO it just makes their players look very arrogant- and my god they looked it coming off the bus- it kinda got me in the 'hope Blades smash em' mentality. It felt busy around the ground even 3-4 hours before kick off, much more so compared to any championship fixture I've been to at the lane eve with 25K+ gates, a sign of what when you've got premiership football to offer perhaps.
Was brilliant to see a sellout crowd at the lane - a first for me tbf! Always fantastic to belt out the anthem before a big game and this was to be the 'biggest/most 'relevant' regular league game I've seen live in this country and only Arsenal come close in terms of the stature of opponent- just buzzing I've seen Blades outplay them both.
1st half:
The Blades did exactly what I wanted them to do early doors, get right in the faces of what is after all still a young and inexperienced Man United side, and just like arsenal, they couldn't live with it. De Gea's save from Lundstram was better than it looked live, as was the one from McGoldrick. The latter should have been the opener but I didn't think it would come back to bite us, we were starting to get room by dragging them around by our use of the ball and movement off it.
When Mousset closed down I thought 'he's going down for another phantom foul' but when he got to the byline he was so composed and via a bit of persistence and good fortune I got the easy of watching the ball roll into the corner from 6 rows back on the kop- Epic! The visitors were rattled and the players in red and white were making the tackles, winning 2nd balls and to be quite honest, Man Utd looked like a poor side. That being partially because Martial and Rashford did nothing and they were dire at the back, Blades just dominated in every area of the pitch and had the crowd behind them and it felt like a case of 'can we go 2-0 up before half time.' The pressure continued no real chances but 1-0 was the least the performance deserved.
2nd half:
I thought man utd would get a total bollocking at HT as they had looked awful and offered next to nothing, they started with more intent with no real openings and I sensed it might peter out into a 'hold on and never look like conceding' affair but the second goal arrived and it was classic of what the Blades have been doing this season. The pressing game hadn't stopped and it forced an error from Pereira the ball was recycled to fleck quickly and the 'long ball team' produced a goal that should be placed on highlight reels for years as Mousset once against showed brilliant composure and picked his moment and spot to double the Blades advantage.
The visitors were doing more but Moore was untroubled and they looked a beaten side. That said I knew we'd be in trouble if they got one back and sure enough the one time someone was left unmarked from a cross, the youngster Williams drilled it home. It was brilliantly struck, I was right behind it and knew it was going in when it got to half way between his foot and the net. From there it felt inevitable that it wouldn't end in a home win and the first time James got into an advanced position and used his space, the sub Greenwood got himself between the defenders and slid in to tap home- heartbreaker. It got worse minutes later as man utd suddenly looked like what the title winning side of old and were tearing the previously rock solid Blades back line apart. It was james once again who exposed the home side and set up the previously anonymous Rashford to slot home and lead a frankly twat-ish and needless celebration in front of the Kop and Kop/South stand corner. The home crowd were deflated but hadn't turned nor given up on their side and it didn't take much of a rally for McBurnie to fire in the leveller past a slight touch from De Gea. When I saw man utd players surround the ref I think we all thought '...sake, you know what's coming now' but thankfully it stood to great cheers and the Uniteds of Sheffield and Manchester shared the spoils in a game the former really should have won if I'm honest.
Blades:
It was a performance that encapsulated what Sheffield United under wilder are all about; hard-working, tactically innovative, constantly pressing, solid aside from those 10 mins all whilst having the bravery to take it to a supposed elite level opponent playing a largely attractive style of football. My man of the match would be Lundstram, even though it was he that should have been picking up Williams for the crucial 1st man utd goal he gave the perfect performance to make Gareth Southgate sit up and take notice; industrious, brave both going forward and defensively and smart both on and off the ball and unlucky to not have at least 1 goal to his name. Mousset was instrumental in leading the line and made everyone wonder what the hell people saw in Phil Jones, first big error of Eddie Howe's spell as a premier league manager to let him go. Baldock continues to establish himself as one of the most consistent performers in the top flight, McGoldrick is the definition of proving external doubters wrong, he didnt look at all out of place yesterday, more than makes up for lack of goals with everything else he does. That's the best game I've seen Fleck have in a Blades shirt, aside from the absent Mctominay surely the best scottish player in the league- not saying much I know. I thought McBurnie and Robinson had good cameos and together with fleck both did the damage for the equaliser. Those 10 minutes aside the home side were near-dominant and gave a performance that would have all the experts and opposition fans on twitter who talked them over the summer choking on whatever they were consuming.
man utd:
Aside from 10 mins in which they looked like a title wining side and champions league contender, it feels good to say this; they were awful! They were poor in their own right and were made to look even worse by a side that wanted it more, had greater application and just performed far better for 70 mins. I've said for about 18 months- 2 years that the problem at that club is that a lot of their players are simply not as good as the club and fanbase seem to think they are, the first 70 mins yesterday spelt that out for all to see. Martial and Rashford did NOTHING. I've never seen the hype in the former, I have the latter but he's inconsistent, Pereira looked like another 'answer' that doesn't answer anything, both he and fred were backwards- sideways, no urgency and give the ball away'. Lingard's introduction was vital because it made James get forward more and use his pace, Greenwood was also key as he actually gets into goalscoring positions. I thought OGS would be sacked last night at 2-0. This game showed why they are frankly, miles off top 4 and why playing against them just doesn't carry the tag it used to. I know they had a lot of players out but I think the only one they missed that would have prevented them being dominated for those 70 mins is McTominay, though the chelsea version of Matic would have been very useful too. Jones is truly dire and I dont think he'd look that great in league 1........not even a wind up! Lindleof just isnt good enough, Williams did ok considering his inexperience but even he was made to look exactly that at times, Maguire was 6/10. One thing that shows the problems run deep for them- did anyone else see De Gea giving it the 'Granit Xhaka' to the top at 1-0 1st half......in fact he did it twice in quick succession in reaction to a couple of ironic cheers when he lost his head briefly. When you consider what Deano took at Leeds last season before enacting his revenge at full time, De Gea just made himself look a complete knobhead........a clear sign that he as one of their senior and most experienced players was rattled and frustrated, with the game, his position and more importantly, that of their teams.
officials:
1st half you sensed we were going to get screwed given how they seemed to give every foul they possibly could to the visitors, the mousset 'foul' down the channel was truly baffling and I was surprised they didn't try and VAR-off our 1st goal for a foul. Once that went in I cant really have any complaint with them, especially when they for once didn't bow to 'big club' pressure and let mcBurnie's goal stand. Can't help but feel what happened at spurs was in the minds of those responsible and they feared an official complaint and more bad press.
crowd:
A full house set the tone early given the proportion that got up to protest some frankly AWFUL decisions from the ref and south stand side linesman early on. 1st half the crowd cheered every tackle, set piece won and gave encouragement where needed. This clearly got to the visitors and at 1-0 it felt like they froze and just did what they could to withstand the increasing pressure. 2nd half you could sense the despair but at 2-2 and 2-3 the fans were still with them and spurred them on to the equaliser, taking delight in VAR going our way for once. For all the talk of how man utd have the best away fans in the too flight, I literally only heard them 4/5 times all game, I'm not sure who was worse out of the and arsenal. I only heard them after the 1st one went in, at 2-2 and briefly at 2-3 which maybe tells its own story. When the chips are down they lose heart and fade, bit like their team 1st half.
A contender for game of the season in the prem let alone the seasons of either club involved. I forgot how useless SYP are, whoever decided it was a good idea to 95% block the road from cricketers up to london road whilst putting two horses slap bang in the middle of bramall lane adjacent to this was on one!
This season and looking ahead:
Suffice to say after hearing the experts and some wannabee sports journalists on twitter talk down the Blades chances of even competing let alone staying up, I'm loving this season! To still be unbeaten away is some feat as is 3 defeats in 13 with 2 of those being by the odd goal to the current top 2! The pattern of getting a home win followed by a draw from very tough away games is the hallmark of a side thats going to get top half. Barring a great drop in either side's form I think its between SUFC and Bournemouth for 9th unless 1) Everton sack Silva and/or improve significantly 2) Palace keep Zaha beyond Jan and also improve. Wolves is a very difficult game and a point would be a great return though, the 5 after that are huge and could see premiership status basically retained by the end of the year- 28 points or above and everyone connected with SUFC is laughing. 7 points from the home games vs Newcastle, Villa and Watford and 4 points from Brighton and Norwich away and sheffield united will kick off 2020/21 in the premiership, nailed on!
Pre-game:
I was trying to make myself a popular godfather by getting my 5 year old godson some autographs of man utd players on his xmas card when their team bus arrived, sadly the uncles on his mum's side of the family are of that persuasion as is his step dad (my mate) as a 2nd team after posh, both have rubbed off on him big time........anyway, I digress.......I was surprised at how OTT the stewards were in the whole 'get em in and don't stop' thing. Apparently its only for yesterdays game and Liverpool that its been like that.....surprise surprise. I know they don't have all the time in the world but was poor that they just walked in and ignored everyone given loads of people had waited for quite a while and IMO it just makes their players look very arrogant- and my god they looked it coming off the bus- it kinda got me in the 'hope Blades smash em' mentality. It felt busy around the ground even 3-4 hours before kick off, much more so compared to any championship fixture I've been to at the lane eve with 25K+ gates, a sign of what when you've got premiership football to offer perhaps.
Was brilliant to see a sellout crowd at the lane - a first for me tbf! Always fantastic to belt out the anthem before a big game and this was to be the 'biggest/most 'relevant' regular league game I've seen live in this country and only Arsenal come close in terms of the stature of opponent- just buzzing I've seen Blades outplay them both.
1st half:
The Blades did exactly what I wanted them to do early doors, get right in the faces of what is after all still a young and inexperienced Man United side, and just like arsenal, they couldn't live with it. De Gea's save from Lundstram was better than it looked live, as was the one from McGoldrick. The latter should have been the opener but I didn't think it would come back to bite us, we were starting to get room by dragging them around by our use of the ball and movement off it.
When Mousset closed down I thought 'he's going down for another phantom foul' but when he got to the byline he was so composed and via a bit of persistence and good fortune I got the easy of watching the ball roll into the corner from 6 rows back on the kop- Epic! The visitors were rattled and the players in red and white were making the tackles, winning 2nd balls and to be quite honest, Man Utd looked like a poor side. That being partially because Martial and Rashford did nothing and they were dire at the back, Blades just dominated in every area of the pitch and had the crowd behind them and it felt like a case of 'can we go 2-0 up before half time.' The pressure continued no real chances but 1-0 was the least the performance deserved.
2nd half:
I thought man utd would get a total bollocking at HT as they had looked awful and offered next to nothing, they started with more intent with no real openings and I sensed it might peter out into a 'hold on and never look like conceding' affair but the second goal arrived and it was classic of what the Blades have been doing this season. The pressing game hadn't stopped and it forced an error from Pereira the ball was recycled to fleck quickly and the 'long ball team' produced a goal that should be placed on highlight reels for years as Mousset once against showed brilliant composure and picked his moment and spot to double the Blades advantage.
The visitors were doing more but Moore was untroubled and they looked a beaten side. That said I knew we'd be in trouble if they got one back and sure enough the one time someone was left unmarked from a cross, the youngster Williams drilled it home. It was brilliantly struck, I was right behind it and knew it was going in when it got to half way between his foot and the net. From there it felt inevitable that it wouldn't end in a home win and the first time James got into an advanced position and used his space, the sub Greenwood got himself between the defenders and slid in to tap home- heartbreaker. It got worse minutes later as man utd suddenly looked like what the title winning side of old and were tearing the previously rock solid Blades back line apart. It was james once again who exposed the home side and set up the previously anonymous Rashford to slot home and lead a frankly twat-ish and needless celebration in front of the Kop and Kop/South stand corner. The home crowd were deflated but hadn't turned nor given up on their side and it didn't take much of a rally for McBurnie to fire in the leveller past a slight touch from De Gea. When I saw man utd players surround the ref I think we all thought '...sake, you know what's coming now' but thankfully it stood to great cheers and the Uniteds of Sheffield and Manchester shared the spoils in a game the former really should have won if I'm honest.
Blades:
It was a performance that encapsulated what Sheffield United under wilder are all about; hard-working, tactically innovative, constantly pressing, solid aside from those 10 mins all whilst having the bravery to take it to a supposed elite level opponent playing a largely attractive style of football. My man of the match would be Lundstram, even though it was he that should have been picking up Williams for the crucial 1st man utd goal he gave the perfect performance to make Gareth Southgate sit up and take notice; industrious, brave both going forward and defensively and smart both on and off the ball and unlucky to not have at least 1 goal to his name. Mousset was instrumental in leading the line and made everyone wonder what the hell people saw in Phil Jones, first big error of Eddie Howe's spell as a premier league manager to let him go. Baldock continues to establish himself as one of the most consistent performers in the top flight, McGoldrick is the definition of proving external doubters wrong, he didnt look at all out of place yesterday, more than makes up for lack of goals with everything else he does. That's the best game I've seen Fleck have in a Blades shirt, aside from the absent Mctominay surely the best scottish player in the league- not saying much I know. I thought McBurnie and Robinson had good cameos and together with fleck both did the damage for the equaliser. Those 10 minutes aside the home side were near-dominant and gave a performance that would have all the experts and opposition fans on twitter who talked them over the summer choking on whatever they were consuming.
man utd:
Aside from 10 mins in which they looked like a title wining side and champions league contender, it feels good to say this; they were awful! They were poor in their own right and were made to look even worse by a side that wanted it more, had greater application and just performed far better for 70 mins. I've said for about 18 months- 2 years that the problem at that club is that a lot of their players are simply not as good as the club and fanbase seem to think they are, the first 70 mins yesterday spelt that out for all to see. Martial and Rashford did NOTHING. I've never seen the hype in the former, I have the latter but he's inconsistent, Pereira looked like another 'answer' that doesn't answer anything, both he and fred were backwards- sideways, no urgency and give the ball away'. Lingard's introduction was vital because it made James get forward more and use his pace, Greenwood was also key as he actually gets into goalscoring positions. I thought OGS would be sacked last night at 2-0. This game showed why they are frankly, miles off top 4 and why playing against them just doesn't carry the tag it used to. I know they had a lot of players out but I think the only one they missed that would have prevented them being dominated for those 70 mins is McTominay, though the chelsea version of Matic would have been very useful too. Jones is truly dire and I dont think he'd look that great in league 1........not even a wind up! Lindleof just isnt good enough, Williams did ok considering his inexperience but even he was made to look exactly that at times, Maguire was 6/10. One thing that shows the problems run deep for them- did anyone else see De Gea giving it the 'Granit Xhaka' to the top at 1-0 1st half......in fact he did it twice in quick succession in reaction to a couple of ironic cheers when he lost his head briefly. When you consider what Deano took at Leeds last season before enacting his revenge at full time, De Gea just made himself look a complete knobhead........a clear sign that he as one of their senior and most experienced players was rattled and frustrated, with the game, his position and more importantly, that of their teams.
officials:
1st half you sensed we were going to get screwed given how they seemed to give every foul they possibly could to the visitors, the mousset 'foul' down the channel was truly baffling and I was surprised they didn't try and VAR-off our 1st goal for a foul. Once that went in I cant really have any complaint with them, especially when they for once didn't bow to 'big club' pressure and let mcBurnie's goal stand. Can't help but feel what happened at spurs was in the minds of those responsible and they feared an official complaint and more bad press.
crowd:
A full house set the tone early given the proportion that got up to protest some frankly AWFUL decisions from the ref and south stand side linesman early on. 1st half the crowd cheered every tackle, set piece won and gave encouragement where needed. This clearly got to the visitors and at 1-0 it felt like they froze and just did what they could to withstand the increasing pressure. 2nd half you could sense the despair but at 2-2 and 2-3 the fans were still with them and spurred them on to the equaliser, taking delight in VAR going our way for once. For all the talk of how man utd have the best away fans in the too flight, I literally only heard them 4/5 times all game, I'm not sure who was worse out of the and arsenal. I only heard them after the 1st one went in, at 2-2 and briefly at 2-3 which maybe tells its own story. When the chips are down they lose heart and fade, bit like their team 1st half.
A contender for game of the season in the prem let alone the seasons of either club involved. I forgot how useless SYP are, whoever decided it was a good idea to 95% block the road from cricketers up to london road whilst putting two horses slap bang in the middle of bramall lane adjacent to this was on one!
This season and looking ahead:
Suffice to say after hearing the experts and some wannabee sports journalists on twitter talk down the Blades chances of even competing let alone staying up, I'm loving this season! To still be unbeaten away is some feat as is 3 defeats in 13 with 2 of those being by the odd goal to the current top 2! The pattern of getting a home win followed by a draw from very tough away games is the hallmark of a side thats going to get top half. Barring a great drop in either side's form I think its between SUFC and Bournemouth for 9th unless 1) Everton sack Silva and/or improve significantly 2) Palace keep Zaha beyond Jan and also improve. Wolves is a very difficult game and a point would be a great return though, the 5 after that are huge and could see premiership status basically retained by the end of the year- 28 points or above and everyone connected with SUFC is laughing. 7 points from the home games vs Newcastle, Villa and Watford and 4 points from Brighton and Norwich away and sheffield united will kick off 2020/21 in the premiership, nailed on!
