I went to Watford last night. We were garbage. Not going to hide behind anything. Not good enough. We MUST bounce back on Saturday.
However, the one thing that I really couldn't understand was how quite a large minority of Blades fans see things that blatantly aren't happening, just to suit their own opinion.
The instance here is in formation. Make no mistake, last night United played 4-4-2. Ward & Quinny wide, Monty & Harper in the middle and Hendo & Cress down the middle up front. This was Blackie's 1st mistake. By and large 4-5-1 has been effective away from home in the last 18 months but last night we were outnumbered in midfield and Ward & Quinn didn't know whether to stick or twist. They didn't know whether to come inside to help out or stay wide. At no point did Cresswell stay out left. He occasionally dropped a bit deeper to help out but largely stayed down the middle with Henderson. Long balls weren't working as Taylor ate everything thrown at him. With 5 across the middle, we'd have had an extra man in the middle (primarily to pick up the 2nd balls which we were losing) and the wide men could hug the touchline to give us width. As it was they were stuck between two stools and after the first 15 mins Watford bossed us.
However, a section of the Blades fans started chanting "4-4-2" in the 2nd half as if they thought we were playing 4-5-1 or something. I couldn't understand this. Were they just seeing something different just because we were awful? Its as if they thought "we're playing crap so it must be 4-5-1" instead of looking at what was happening. We played 4-4-2. It didn't work. Fans wrong. Blackwell wrong.
There seems to be quite an arrogant element to the Blades fans who think that they know better than the manager at all times. They seem to think we should always play 4-4-2 as if this is some kind of magic attacking formation that we would always win by playing. One thing last night proved to me, is that we should stick with 4-5-1 away from home and not go 4-4-2, but to have a plan B if whatever style we're playing doesn't work.
It was obvious we needed that bit extra but we didn't even try to change the formation or style of play. Williamson or Camara for Henderson would have been better instead of Evans which was more like-for-like. For that Blackie deserves some criticism.
Anyhow, Saturday is now massive. Win and we can forget about last night. Don't win, and I fear we'll have another run like earlier in the season when the injuries struck.
However, the one thing that I really couldn't understand was how quite a large minority of Blades fans see things that blatantly aren't happening, just to suit their own opinion.
The instance here is in formation. Make no mistake, last night United played 4-4-2. Ward & Quinny wide, Monty & Harper in the middle and Hendo & Cress down the middle up front. This was Blackie's 1st mistake. By and large 4-5-1 has been effective away from home in the last 18 months but last night we were outnumbered in midfield and Ward & Quinn didn't know whether to stick or twist. They didn't know whether to come inside to help out or stay wide. At no point did Cresswell stay out left. He occasionally dropped a bit deeper to help out but largely stayed down the middle with Henderson. Long balls weren't working as Taylor ate everything thrown at him. With 5 across the middle, we'd have had an extra man in the middle (primarily to pick up the 2nd balls which we were losing) and the wide men could hug the touchline to give us width. As it was they were stuck between two stools and after the first 15 mins Watford bossed us.
However, a section of the Blades fans started chanting "4-4-2" in the 2nd half as if they thought we were playing 4-5-1 or something. I couldn't understand this. Were they just seeing something different just because we were awful? Its as if they thought "we're playing crap so it must be 4-5-1" instead of looking at what was happening. We played 4-4-2. It didn't work. Fans wrong. Blackwell wrong.
There seems to be quite an arrogant element to the Blades fans who think that they know better than the manager at all times. They seem to think we should always play 4-4-2 as if this is some kind of magic attacking formation that we would always win by playing. One thing last night proved to me, is that we should stick with 4-5-1 away from home and not go 4-4-2, but to have a plan B if whatever style we're playing doesn't work.
It was obvious we needed that bit extra but we didn't even try to change the formation or style of play. Williamson or Camara for Henderson would have been better instead of Evans which was more like-for-like. For that Blackie deserves some criticism.
Anyhow, Saturday is now massive. Win and we can forget about last night. Don't win, and I fear we'll have another run like earlier in the season when the injuries struck.
