Where does Billy Sharp rank?

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Scooter_mcgavin said:
Not really. He scored twice yesterday - happy days. But before the penalty he'd not touched the ball once.
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It's astonishing how blinkered some fans can be to the contributions players make. This guy could be describing the practical input of Jordan Rhodes during a typical 90 minute effort (apart from the fact that no Manager is daft enough to play him for anything like that length of time in any game) but no - he's supposed to be pontificating on Billy Sharp's contributions. There's no point whatsoever even trying to explain what Billy brings to the team, apart from his amazing goal-scoring skills of course.
 
Blend-it-like-Harris said:
It's astonishing how blinkered some fans can be to the contributions players make. This guy could be describing the practical input of Jordan Rhodes during a typical 90 minute effort (apart from the fact that no Manager is daft enough to play him for anything like that length of time in any game) but no - he's supposed to be pontificating on Billy Sharp's contributions. There's no point whatsoever even trying to explain what Billy brings to the team, apart from his amazing goal-scoring skills of course.
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Paul Merson was commentating on the Norwich match and his comment towards the end of the match was
“Sharp has scored 2 goals but I think he’s only touched the ball 3 times. He’s simply a goal machine”

Sharp reminds me so much of Keith Edwards, brilliant finisher but thats his game, he lives for scoring.

Best finisher in the past 40 years I’d put Edwards in front of Sharp but Sharp is a better allround striker. Also no one really mentions the massive positive influence Sharp has probably had in the dressing room making the whole team try harder and play better. It was a different game then but Edwards would struggle to play in today’s football as his workrate was poor, didn’t close down players and a poor tackler. These days strikers need to defend from the front.

Best overall Blades striker in the past 40 years has got to be Brian Deane surely (although I preferred Agana’s more silky style).
Deane had physical presence, great at heading, great target man, good temperament, good worker, decent pace and good dribbler and used to score the odd spectacular goal. Also when running towards the corner flag he used to whip in some great crosses.
 
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Sheffsteel said:
Paul Merson was commentating on the Norwich match and his comment towards the end of the match was
“Sharp has scored 2 goals but I think he’s only touched the ball 3 times. He’s simply a goal machine”

Sharp reminds me so much of Keith Edwards, brilliant finisher but thats his game, he lives for scoring.

Best finisher in the past 40 years I’d put Edwards in front of Sharp but Sharp is a better allround striker. Also no one really mentions the massive positive influence Sharp has probably had in the dressing room making the whole team try harder and play better. It was a different game then but Edwards would struggle to play in today’s football as his workrate was poor, didn’t close down players and a poor tackler. These days strikers need to defend from the front.

Best overall Blades striker in the past 40 years has got to be Brian Deane surely (although I preferred Agana’s more silky style).
Deane had physical presence, great at heading, great target man, good temperament, good worker, decent pace and good dribbler and used to score the odd spectacular goal. Also when running towards the corner flag he used to whip in some great crosses.
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Given Higuain has finally come to the PL, I was trying to work out why he’s so effective (in case my mates asked as I watched Serie A last season) and it struck me that he’s very similar to Sharp in that he’s got no stand out attribute, he doesn’t dribble much, doesn’t hit too many worldies, isn’t a giant with good aerial skills but knows exactly what to do and where to be in the box, it’s all about the runs he makes and the positions he takes. (I’m not saying Billy is as good as Higuain).
 
Billy's workrate is tremendous; he's a constant thorn in defenders' sides and is a nightmare to play against. He drops out of the line and drifts both left and right in the Blades system, and it suits him perfectly. As there's so much movement off the ball and over-loading with both defenders and wing-backs pushing forward he takes the opportunity to shift position and keep central defenders guessing as to where he's going to make his runs from and to. Mention has rightly been made of Brian Deane's crossing ability, but Billy can get decent crosses in too, and is very effective attacking along the by-line from either flank.

He runs the channels well also and is by no means just a one-trick pony/6 yard box striker. When he played alongside James Beattie I would have taken Billy over Beattie anytime because I thought his effort/workrate and all-round game offered more, despite Beattie's record and reputation. He has decent heading ability too - despite being short for a central striker, and has scored a creditable number of headers. Joe Shaw was short for a centre-half, but his instinct and positional sense was phenomenal; not many tall strikers got the better of him (not many of any strikers to be honest!) and Billy's instincts and positional nouse are bloody good too.

"Fans" saying he offers goals and not much else are either short-sighted, lacking basic soccer insight, or Wendy fans in disguise.
 
BushBlade said:
Given Higuain has finally come to the PL, I was trying to work out why he’s so effective (in case my mates asked as I watched Serie A last season) and it struck me that he’s very similar to Sharp in that he’s got no stand out attribute, he doesn’t dribble much, doesn’t hit too many worldies, isn’t a giant with good aerial skills but knows exactly what to do and where to be in the box, it’s all about the runs he makes and the positions he takes. (I’m not saying Billy is as good as Higuain).
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Excellent point, agree Higuin does appear limited in many ways however his movement/ intelligence was superb.

I always think traditional English football is knock the ball over the top or in to space for the forward to run into, like we used to do with Deane and Alana. I think if a team played that way with Billy up top, then him and Higuin would struggle and look poor. Sharp looked poor under Blackwell, now we know he needs the ball directly to his feet and someone creative to read his movement.

Both Sharp and Higuin rely on top class service from clever players.
The good news for us is that Sharps style doesn’t rely on pace, so even though he’s getting older he might still have 2 or 3 years left however It’s very dependent of having good Duffy type players around him.
 
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Sheffsteel said:
Both Sharp and Higuin rely on top class service from clever players.
The good news for us is that Sharps style doesn’t rely on pace, so even though he’s getting older he might still have 2 or 3 years left however It’s very dependent of having good Duffy type players around him.
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Good points. Do Sharp's goals - mostly scored in the lower leagues - count less than, say, Kane's or Hazard's? I don't believe they do because the likes of Kane & Hazard are surrounded by world-class players.
 
Anyone know how many he has in all comps?

My not very thorough research puts him on 98...

Edit - for blades of course.
 
grafikhaus said:
Good points. Do Sharp's goals - mostly scored in the lower leagues - count less than, say, Kane's or Hazard's? I don't believe they do because the likes of Kane & Hazard are surrounded by world-class players.
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And works class defenders
 

The astonishing thing about Sharp is, that you can almost guarantee that in the opposition changing room, both pre-match and half-time, there will be a full and frank warning and discussion about Billy Sharp, with the entire defensive block being told again and again and again not to give him any space whatsoever.

And despite that, in pretty much every match he plays, on at least one occasion and usually more, he finds himself in a position like the one below. He's not just free of his marker, he's practically in a different postcode. It's almost supernatural.

SHARP NORWICH.png
 
I honestly never thought I'd see a player score more goals for us than Brian Deane.

It's inevitable now.
 
Nice gesture before kick off from Billy,, whilst shooting in he hit the ball over the bar and it hit a young lass on the Kop a right whack on the head, she didn’t seem badly hurt but Billy called her to the pitch side and gave her his training top.

He is a top quality fella.
 
Sharp and McGoldrick up front.
Like listening to Frank Sinatra and Marvin Gaye
Or having the whole world smell of fresh paint. Like the Queen does.
 
zablade said:
Nice gesture before kick off from Billy,, whilst shooting in he hit the ball over the bar and it hit a young lass on the Kop a right whack on the head, she didn’t seem badly hurt but Billy called her to the pitch side and gave her his training top.

He is a top quality fella.
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Blade for Sale said:
The astonishing thing about Sharp is, that you can almost guarantee that in the opposition changing room, both pre-match and half-time, there will be a full and frank warning and discussion about Billy Sharp, with the entire defensive block being told again and again and again not to give him any space whatsoever.

And despite that, in pretty much every match he plays, on at least one occasion and usually more, he finds himself in a position like the one below. He's not just free of his marker, he's practically in a different postcode. It's almost supernatural.

View attachment 48853
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As with many of his goals , it's very easy to underestimate the positional sense , timing and absolute precision required to execute the one you show .

The reality is that the ability to do so is the preserve of only the very best English strikers the game has ever seen .

For my money , Billy Sharp fits comfortably into that category and rather than being past it as some predicted would be the case , I believe he is more lethal now than at any point in his career so far , and long may that career continue ( as a Blade , of course)
 
I bet he wishes he’d played for Wilder at 22 instead of 32. To think Blackwell couldn’t do owt with him.
 

zablade said:
Nice gesture before kick off from Billy,, whilst shooting in he hit the ball over the bar and it hit a young lass on the Kop a right whack on the head, she didn’t seem badly hurt but Billy called her to the pitch side and gave her his training top.

He is a top quality fella.
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Yep. That was my daughter. I accused her of doing a Neymar to get the shirt. She has a thick head ( like her mother) so no damage done....except to the ball !!!
 
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