Watford vs Sheffield United

EFL Championship Matchweek 26 - Saturday 4th January 2025 - 15:00 - Vicarage Road
Please keep all discussion related to the match within this thread.

Player Ratings:
Matchday Stats/Player Ratings - https://www.s24su.com/forum/match-day/match/watford-vs-sheffield-united.723/

Officials:

Referee: David Webb
Assistants: Rob Smith and George Byrne
Fourth Official: James Linington

Coverage:

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Live TV Coverage:

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[Blade56]

Brewster has to put more effort in, he's making it far to easy for the Watford centre backs, Ohare running his bollocks of and Brewster is sauntering about FFS

He did well defending around front of our box

 

[Th!stledo]

O`Hare needs to be wired up to the national grid. Energy crisis solved.

Agree 100%.
The guy runs on Duracells.
Incredible engine and always gives 100%.
He doesn't always get the credit he deserves.

 

[Mendi]

Good win

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

That might just be the best win of the season

 

[AWetFlannel]

This thread and Shoutbox both smell of stale piss thanks to all that pant-wetting before kick-off.

Unbelievable how negative some of our fans are. Been the best team in the league this season with a threadbare squad and it's just moaning for 90 minutes.

 

[sheff_blade90]

that is a huge victory. how this patched up team keeping playing this well it's incredible

Wilder & those players are performing miracles now. so with squad thats either knackered, injured or ill. we just played 6 games v promotion rivals + millwall away. & we've gained 17pts from last 9 games. arguably should be 20, as we deserved to beat at least West Brom or Sunderland. we are level on points with burnley & 1 off leeds. if i was them id be terrified. as if we have managed to stay in touch despite all selection issues, imagine what we could do when we are back to full strength

 

[ancientblade]

fantastic 3 points 2 weeks now to get the 4 injured back and hopefully 3 new signings interesting that although southampton brought 4 subs on today brereton wasnt one of them surely has to be on his way back to the lane

 

[AWetFlannel]

NOT HIS FAULT
He's a L footed winger/mf who is being stubbornly forced by Wilder to play on R wing - just stupid waste of Brooks by manager.
CW fascination with inverted wingers is driving me nuts.
It can't produce crosses , so why have Onay as CF ?

You know when Brooks scored that goal for us today, he could do that because he was playing on the right. That's why Wilder and EVERY OTHER MANAGER IN MODERN FOOTBALL plays inverted wingers.

You could watch another game of football in any division and learn, but either way, stop repeating this same complaint every game!

 

[BritishSteel]

Agree 100%.
The guy runs on Duracells.
Incredible engine and always gives 100%.
He doesn't always get the credit he deserves.

I genuinely think as soon as the opposition see his name on the team sheet they say " Fucks sake, was hoping for an easy one "

 

[Jimmy Fleck]

You know when Brooks scored that goal for us today, he could do that because he was playing on the right. That's why Wilder and EVERY OTHER MANAGER IN MODERN FOOTBALL plays inverted wingers.

You could watch another game of football in any division and learn, but either way, stop repeating this same complaint every game!

I wouldn’t bother acknowledging the ancient tacticos who haven’t realised the game has changed since 1983

 

[robbiez666]

A magnificent 3 points considering. Had to dig deep and a fighting performance. Very lucky not to give a penalty away at the end. Very end to end game. We looked better going forward than in recent games. Looked like we had a plan but struggled to create. Brooks makes a big difference (or having a winger on). They looked dangerous when running at us.

Cooper - 7 - Very solid game. Did a lot of fairly easy stuff well.
Burrow - 5 - He looked dead on his feet second half and how we can have 2 LBs on the bench and leave him on I don't know. He got done a lot but kept going. Lucky with the handball at the end. Needs a rest.
Robinson - 5 - Terrifying when attackers are running at him. Plugged away but his lack of pace was obvious.
Anel - 6 - Covered well on a couple of occasions. Similar to Robinson but more solid.
Gilchrist - 5.5 - They used width well but he kept at it. Helped having Brooks to support him.
Peck - 7.5 - Desperately needs a rest but somehow found the energy to keep putting tackles in and covering so much ground. Heroic performance.
Davies - 6 - As above. Kept going and going. Not the best game but always wants the ball.
Hamer - 6 - Well taken goal and another who looked tired. Hopefully just a precaution coming off
O'Hare - 7 - Where he gets the energy from I don't know. Even at the end he charging around. Another nice assist and put in a few other clever passes.
Brooks - 7 - Very good goal and he was probably the difference between the teams as he looked dangerous throughout. Made a few bad decisions but put a good shift in.
One - 5 - Missed a chance almost from the start. Put himself about a bit but he's nowhere near ready to be starting at this level.

Subs:

Brewster - 5 - Didn't really seem to get involved with the game. Does seem to do a good job at hiding sometimes.
McCallum - 5 - I Came on to sure up the left but I thought he looked a bit sloppy.
RND - 4 - Looked a mile off match fitness and sluggish.

Watford - Always seem to have 2-3 exciting attacking players who look like they've never played together. They caused havoc running at us but invariably slowed the game down or played the wrong pass. Their defence is a real weak point. I can see them failing to reach the play-offs again.

 

[Grey Blade]

This thread and Shoutbox both smell of stale piss thanks to all that pant-wetting before kick-off.

It's so stressful following the game on here. I'd much rather be at the game

 

[Shawy24]

Shhh, your positivity will upset a few again!

Yeah, but he’s got to be correct sometimes! Has he ever said we might lose one?

 

[Sheffsteel]

This thread and Shoutbox both smell of stale piss thanks to all that pant-wetting before kick-off.

Agree….i know many say this but it might just end up being our most important win of the season.

Failure to win today and many Blades would be suggesting the wheels have fell off and how we’ll be lucky to finish in the playoffs.

Also it might affect the decision of future JTW signings if we extended our games without a win streak. Also confidence can be so significant, so it was essential to get back to winning ways.

Think it’s important to realise we’re only 1 point off top and without the 2 point deduction we’d be top.

 

[Keen Blade]

You know when Brooks scored that goal for us today, he could do that because he was playing on the right. That's why Wilder and EVERY OTHER MANAGER IN MODERN FOOTBALL plays inverted wingers.

You could watch another game of football in any division and learn, but either way, stop repeating this same complaint every game!

It was a response to people complaining that Brooks doesn't have a R foot and doesn't go on the outside.

I will defend Brooks in these circs.

And I don't like inverted wingers as a concept ,
Especially when the big CF (Moore or Onay) doesn't suit a "cutting inside" type of play.
Quite why CW signed Moore is a mystery , if he intended to play inverted wingers.
Needs a Campbell type to gel with them.

 

[Keen Blade]

I wouldn’t bother acknowledging the ancient tacticos who haven’t realised the game has changed since 1983

I might be ancient but I see loads of goals scored every week from crosses made from the byline by a winger whose beaten his man on the outside

 

[William Large]

Superb win. Much the better team first half. Second was more even after we got the second but still well deserved win.

Yes, we conceded possession too easily in the last 20 mins and defended too deeply but there were some really excellent performances in there - Peck, Davies and O’Hare stand outs for me but hats off to all of them.

 

[Keen Blade]

I think all but Cooper has slight injuries...might have to field an u21 team or u18. FA would love that!!

Is the rule rigid ?
Like , you have to play a certain number of the team who played in the last match ?

 

[Keen Blade]

Best result of the season

Certainly the most needed , after an unprecedented 3 games for 1 point.
Will do wonders for morale.

 

[AWetFlannel]

I might be ancient but I see loads of goals scored every week from crosses made from the byline by a winger whose beaten his man on the outside

So you watch other football then?

You must have noticed that literally every other team plays with inverted wingers. Other teams also buy big centre forwards and still play inverted wingers.

If you don't like it, that's fair enough. But you're laying into Wilder as though he's doing something wrong, which also means you think Klopp, Pep, Slott, etc are also all clueless. You must recognise that you're the one that doesn't get it, not everyone else?

 

[Eric_Brooks]

All the team should be proud after the run they have had on top of the injuries.

Just hope nobody sits on the bench and looks at the shout box

 

[Rusty]

Huge win. Squad are on their arse. Absolute bare bones and we have SOME of the pettiest fans around. Before pts deduction we have got the most points in this league. Squad was never big enough and now decimated by injuries last few weeks, but still only 1pt off top place. The last 4 fixtures have been very tough and to have only taken 4pts from 12 is disappointing but I feel we deserved at least a couple more.
SOME need to drop the moaning & entitlement, get behind the club or stfu.
UTB

 

[Keen Blade]

He did well defending around front of our box

New role for Brewster ... Sweeper

 

[petcharlie]

Just listened to CW he says Hamer and O hare should not have played ,well the shift they put in no one would have known

 

[Belvedere Blade]

 

[Irv]

Yeah, but he’s got to be correct sometimes! Has he ever said we might lose one?

He’s been correct 16 times this season, I’ll take that.
You seem a little pissed off that we won?

 

[Irv]

Certainly the most needed , after an unprecedented 3 games for 1 point.
Will do wonders for morale.

Hope it does wonders for yours mate!

 

[Belvedere Blade]

 

[Belvedere Blade]

 

[Cassius Kray]

Is the rule rigid ?
Like , you have to play a certain number of the team who played in the last match ?

The rules simply say that "A Club competing in a Competition Match must field a full strength team" - there's no definition, and this is a similar rule to other competitions.