Just did enough, Rodrigo looked well off the pace, Raphinha not his usual performance, Llorente is class, reading of the game, interceptions and distribution is first class, plus he knows how too to put a tasty challenge in, Meisler handling was secure but that comes when the defence infront of you look solid and confidence grows throughout the team.
Meslier - 7. Not much to do. Distribution excellent. Came for crosses when he could and looked in control of his area. Ayling - 7. Finding a bit of form at RB after a dip when shifting back there from CB earlier this season. Solid. Very vocal. Cooper - 7. No rustiness from the captain. Worked well with Llorente. Llorente - 9. Cool as you like. Mopped up everything at the back and sent us on our way up the other end of the field at ease. Made it look easy. Alioski - 7. Some exceptional support play interspersed with the obligatory Alioski brain farts. One very good volley early on and forced another block late in the game. Fantastic effort levels. Phillips - 9. Players player of the match I imagine. Showed no signs of fatigue after his three starts for England and quietly dismantled Sheffield United attacking threat whilst allowing others to bomb forward. Must be a dream to play with. Dallas - 8. Ran.... alot. Led the midfield press with great skill and energy. Forced a good save first half, hit the woodwork second half before dragging his shot wide near the end. A colossus defensively. Roberts - 8. His progress continues. A big hand in both goals and played balls in behind Sheff Utd at will. His influence waned after the hour mark but a very impressive performance. Maybe his best for the first hour. Raphinha - 6. Yes, I know he had an assist. Yes, I know he had moments of genuine world class skill in the final third. Big marks down today for him due to continually giving the ball away cheaply during transition from defence in to attack. He cost us a goal and the majority of Sheff Utds best moments were after he failed to keep possession. If he fixes that issue he will play for Brazil for years. Harrison - 9. Goal and assist says it all. Jack looks back to his best. A little unlucky with the 1v1 first half but I love watching him have the confidence to run at players and shoot. Him on one side and Rapha on the other must be a nightmare when they are on it. Bamford - 6. Not his day. Won a couple of flick ons and nearly scored 2nd half with a volley. That was about it for the afternoon. Was it the service or was it Bamford. I'll give him the benefit and say that his movements gave space for the others to take the shots. Subs. Klich - 6. Neat and tidy but looks to be struggling to get up to full sprints. Something not quite right with him. He hasn't turned in to a bad player, just seems a yard off the pace. Did what he had to do. Rodrigo - 6. Looks a little rusty. Couple of touches let him down but he did make some really good runs in behind which weren't played in to him. Game had gone flat by the time he came on. Koch - n/a - Continues on the comeback trail. Might be a while before he gets back in to the starting XI. Good to see him eased back in slowly.
I thought we controlled the game and deservedly won. but, made it harder than it should of been. Game should of been won at HT. Our effort was there, I think we only gave them one sniff on our goal and they scored from it. Our Final ball (Decision Making) & shooting were not there today. We really should of chalked about 4 in that game at the very least. End of day if it was 5-1 or 2-1 we still gonna get the same 3 points. So we can't complain. Now onto the tasty games. We just need to make our decision making better. if we do, we are going to give these so called " Top 4 Sides" one hell of a game.
Rthanks bud as i missed the game. One poster was saying harrison missed some decent chances. That would mark him down if i was rating him. Can Roberts go a whole season without scoring?.
Our shooting has been iffy all season compared to the chances created. A player either has it or not and a good coach will be ruthless and bring new guys in.
My only real disappointment today was that we weren't going to give one of the kids a chance. Now that the game's over, 2 things have changed my mind. The first is Bielsa's interview, where he refused to accept that 42 points was safety, when 24 points were available. On the face of it, he seems over-cautious, but on reflection, this season has thrown up all sorts of unexpected results, so previous assumptions are just not valid. Baggies 5-2 Chelsea is a classic example. Week after week we're getting all sorts of unexpected results. Next was actually reading Emu's ratings post, when I realised that the word 'rusty' did indeed apply to all 3 subs. And the penny dropped that we have greater priorities than blooding the kids. Today would have been a nightmare for them anyway, I guess.
For me personally, Raphinha was still head and shoulders above Harrison today. Roberts and Dallas were better than the pair of them. I think the Amazon mom was Dallas
Yes Stuart has really upped his game and i think without Bielsa he would just be an average championship player. Harrison is the longest loan player i have ever known. Just wish he would be more consistent. Too many poor games and he is not alone. We must have some quality mids lined up as i feel we need two.
I would say going forward Raphinha looked our most dangerous player. He always does. The reason he was marked down was that he needs to learn to stop playing in the defensive third like he does in the attacking third. Especially in Bielsaball. He has done it regularly since he came but today he did it numerous times and it always resulted in a Sheff Utd set piece which we are horrific at defending or a shot at goal. There's a time for flicks and backheels and a time for simple ball retention. He needs to learn this both for his career and for the team. He has all the talent in the world. It's such a simple fix. He could be one of the top few players in the world if he fixes it. He was lucky today that only one goal resulted from it. He's young and will learn. I agree that going forward he was committing numerous defenders every time. That's priceless BTW.
Missed the game. Went over to see my mate for garden beers for the first time in an age. Will watch this evening. But job done much earlier in the season than I could have hoped for. Tough games coming up but the team can relax and give it their best shot. We’re safe now
I’m starting to wonder if we’ll ever see Dallas back at LB as his work rate in midfield is monstrous. Dallas, Phillips and now Roberts are real work horses in the middle. Throw in the CBS and the team is looking very balanced and strong through the middle. I wouldn’t mind us not going through with the permanent signing of Harrison, I prefer him over Costa but agree with you, Harrison just isn’t consistent enough which is a shame because he is always finding himself in a good position and he does see a lot of the ball
Wasn’t questioning how you scored the players or viewed the game mate We all look for different things and it’s what makes the discussions great as other opinions get you looking out for different things. A few games back I’d have shipped Roberts out on a free transfer now I’m starting to see what he brings to the table. A couple of months back I was scratching my head at those defending him saying he needs a run and more time.
Not sure I can agree with that. Bielsa has taken mid table championship players and made them mid table premier league players in two seasons
If we've agreed 11 million for him I think we could take and sell for a profit no problem but I like him, no winger is that consistent
You can only beat who's in front of you, and being a local derby it was never going to be a classic but overall I was disappointed by our display. We were so much more dominant than the scoreline. On the very odd accession the Blades were attacking, they looked dangerous, and they shouldn't.