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Oh dear oh dear, completely different team to the one we played up in Yorkshire earlier in the season. Better organised and better prepared. I'm afraid I'm another to question changing the formation, it made us far too narrow and meant we kept lobbing long balls for the forwards to run onto. I said when we lost McLaughlin that he'd be a big miss, and knowing that we'd miss the width and the defensive work he used to do, I think I'd have rather seen O'Neill start today.

Sheffield started the game like a 100m sprinter straight out of the blocks and getting the defence under pressure very quickly. I don't see how you can blame Ted for that, or any of the other goals to be fair. Practically all he did all game was pick the ball out of the net - and deal with a terrible backpass from Woody.

However, Cox did well to get a response back in quite a short time. I thought Fortune was our best player overall, and was really surprised that he was taken off because Ranger probably had his worst game for us. Demetriou had a cut on his head quite early on and I did wonder if he had taken a bit of a knock that affected him because he was really not at his best either. We were up in the Centre Circle Lounge today, Christmas present for my dad, and Cokes and Oxley came round before kick off, Ben said he should be back next weekend. I think he may well walk straight back in because both backs had a bad game today.

Smith - 6.5, can't blame him, but he didn't have much to do either
Demetriou - 5, maybe time for White to be given another go
Thompson - 7, best of the defence today
Ferdinand - 6.5, not as composed as normal
Timlin - 6, not his best
Atkinson - 6, fairly non existent
Leonard - 6.5, he won't be happy with himself, but the game was played in the middle third for a lot of the time which meant the midfield had to work harder than normal and with no outlet wide
Wordsworth - 7, probably the best of the midfield, he did at least try to make things happen and had a good shot on target
Cox - 7.5, thought he had a good first half
Fortune - 8, my MOTM, held the ball up well, ran with it, played it with vision
Ranger - 5, not a good day at work

Subs:
McGlashan for Fortune - 7, looked interested when he came on and worked hard for his goal
Hines for Atkinson - not on long enough

Officials:
The ref seemed a bit overly fussy and to favour Sheffield more as the game went on, can't really comment on the linos as barely noticed them.

Some work to do on the training ground this week, we need to be back to winning ways next weekend. I didn't think Sheffield were the best we've seen at RH this season so far, but they'll definitely be up near the top come the end of the season.
 
Not got an issue with changing the formation. Sheffield United were going to be a very tough test and decisions had to be made to counter it. Maybe the changes were the wrong ones but that's hindsight. The team have struggled of late to hit top gear for enough of the ninety minutes but our fatigue has been well enough documented and I cannot see why anyone expected it to be any better today. Against a very useful outfit we were made to settle for second best. We won't meet an outfit of that quality every week. I don't blame the players and, unusually, I don't blame the manager. If Brown had changed nothing I think we would have still lost and people would have questioned as to why he had not prepared better. One defeat after a good run is nothing. The next four or five games will tell us more about the squad, their belief and the clubs ability to bring in some much needed fresh talent.
 
The better team won this match and will probably go up. I didn't think they had any stand out performers but their work rate was excellent and they were in our faces right from the start.

Agreed, although I thought John Fleck was outstanding for them.
 
Like most on here I was a bit dismayed by today's tactical change. Having said that, five minutes before half time I was thinking maybe Brown was right after all. 1-1 (and we'd only conceded through sloppy defending at a set piece), nearly 2-1 to us. If Wordy's shot had gone in we'd have hailed Brown as a tactical genius. .... then we did it again. Awful defending of a set piece from a needlessly conceded free kick. The timing of their second was a killer. Second half we were nervy, giving the ball away and Sheffield showed no mercy, playing with energy, closing us down forcing us to make errors, just like we'd done to teams during our great run. I'm not sure Brown actually admitted he'd made an error in tactics on the radio. He said his big players didn't turn up. Nevertheless I think Sheff Utd would have beaten us however we'd have lined up today with the players at our disposal. They were sharp, fit and playing as a unit. Best team in the division no doubt. If your unbeaten run is going to come to an end there's no disgrace in being beaten by the team at the top of the league.
 
Can't agree with all the "best team we've played by far" rubbish. People have gone to the game today expecting to see the best team in the division, so that's what they're telling themselves that they've seen.

It hurts me like hell to admit but they were comfortably the best team we have played in a long time so i make comment extra rubbish and just bitter
 
Spot on, can't see why people support Brown so much. Sheff Utd were the last team you tinker with your formation against

You can't see because you are blinded by your perculiar love for Sturrock. Shame he never got close to us playing against anywhere near that quality and we were losing to the likes of Barnet instead
 
Really tough game today against a side of quality we have not faced for a long time. We equalled them in the first half but for a couple of poor defending moments but that's what happens when you lapse against the best. They punish you with every opportunity. Second half we dropped our tempo and they took us apart with their quality. If we are to push for the playoffs we need to raise our game.
 
Great game for the first half. We matched and at times played the better football.

What worried me today was how tired the players looked. We need a rest and possibly 1 or 2 players of quality to come in.

Are we good enough for the play offs. Maybe if we can keep putting points on the board then who knows.

Sheffield utd will undoubtedly be up there at the end of the season. They are a big club who have been in league 1 for 6 seasons. To be in with a shout in our second shows real promise.
 
Blimey, how good were they. I mean, seriously. That was like playing a Championship side on top of their game. That said, as someone pointed out earlier, Chris Wilder was leaping around like a lunatic when they got the third, so they didn't have it all their own way.

RATINGS :

Smith 6.5 - Difficult game for Ted. Didn't do a lot wrong, but he'll feel deflated that they scored four.

Demetriou 5 - Reallly struggled, today. His slip ultimately lead to the first goal. I think he struggled with the slight adjustment to the system, more than most.

Ferdinand 6.5 - Probably his worst game for us, but still had some good elements to his performance.

Thompson 7.5 - Really is the No.1 choice now to pair with Ferdy. Had a tough day, but battled it out well with Billy Sharp.

Timlin 6 - Was a bit over-run at times, in truth.

Leonard 6.5 - Did OK, but wasn't as influential as normal.

Atkinson 7 - Thought he had an excellent first half, but faded with the rest of the team in the crucial first 20 minutes of the second half.

Wordsworth 7 - Pretty much identical to Will.

Cox 8 MOM - Not sure exactly what his role was. Initially I thought he was playing at the tip of the diamond, but then he seemed to pop up almost as a centre-forward. That said, he had a good game and had that shot not hit the bar, it would have taken the roof of the net off!

Fortune 7 - Had a very good first half, but again faded.

Ranger 5 - Had a mare, in truth. Though Basham and Ebanks-Landell really played him well.

SUBS :

McGlashan 7 - How on earth did he score that, after falling over! :thumbsup:

Hines 6.5 - Looked sort of OK.

SHEFFIELD UNITED :

Where do you start. That was about as clinical a display as you could see. I don't think a single player of theirs put a foot wrong. Fleck, Coutts and Duffy absolutely ran the midfield. The two centre-halves were colossal and Sharp is quality, although we stopped him scoring, AGAIN! :thumbsup:

OVERALL :

I wouldn't even put today down to a bad day at the office. They were just better than us. I'd be far more concerned if we'd just lost 4-2 at home to Shrewsbury Town.

Just one of those things we should put behind us. Thank the lord that we haven't got to play them again and, of course, took 3 points off them this season.

It's not hindsight, but this was a strange move to fit this match, of all matches, in after a tough Christmas period and ahead of three other massive home matches in succession.

Onwards! :happy:
 
Great game for the first half. We matched and at times played the better football.

What worried me today was how tired the players looked. We need a rest and possibly 1 or 2 players of quality to come in.

Are we good enough for the play offs. Maybe if we can keep putting points on the board then who knows.

Sheffield utd will undoubtedly be up there at the end of the season. They are a big club who have been in league 1 for 6 seasons. To be in with a shout in our second shows real promise.


Agreed Tommy,

When Coxy scored I said to the people I was with "we get a draw and it's a good point" .....then Sheffield took control.

We looked knackered and as you say need fresh faces quickly.
 
The most disappointing thing for me was how most of the team's heads went down after their third goal, they got the fourth and could easily have got a fifth of sixth through some feeling sorry for themselves. The difference after McGlashen's goal was incredible, suddenly we looked up for it again :nope:.

Demetriou had a shocker, I thought he looked below par in the Charlton game, in the first half today he looked like he was ******** himself. He was badly at fault in giving away the needless corner that led to their first. :sad:

Also was Fortune injured? He was miles better than Ranger today, why was he subbed? If he wasn't injured then Brown made a huge error IMO, it seemed to be a turning point in momentum.

Having said that, despite the scoreline we still played some good attacking football at times. Our first goal was fantastic, a brilliant assist from Fortune and a great finish from Cox. For the next 15 mins we played some fantastic football, what a shame our old set piece frailties came back to haunt us.
 
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I thought Sheffield were the best team I've seen in the league since we were in the championship about 10 years back. They harried and hustled us when we had the ball meaning we looked rushed. When they had the ball made little triangles, found space and but for a couple of poor finishes could probably have hit 6.

I think a few of ours did really well, certainly I'm with others on cox, Thompson and fortune who all competed.

i won't repeat other comments which I have read and agree with, but a couple of things to work on spring to mind. Mcglashan is a liability defensively, falling for any trick someone throws at him. As soon as he comes on we look woefully exposed down our left side. And Atkinson, his endeavour is plain to see, but that 5 vs 3 we had when it was 1-1 was a massive chance and Atko never even got near threading one of the 4 through on goal.

Overall, I'm not too downhearted by this one as they will beat most of our play off opposition too over the weeks to come.
 
i won't repeat other comments which I have read and agree with, but a couple of things to work on spring to mind. Mcglashan is a liability defensively, falling for any trick someone throws at him. As soon as he comes on we look woefully exposed down our left side. And Atkinson, his endeavour is plain to see, but that 5 vs 3 we had when it was 1-1 was a massive chance and Atko never even got near threading one of the 4 through on goal.

The bit in bold is key for me and I totally agree. It's why I think Brown tinkered with the formation as I think ideally he'd have played the 4-4-2 that has done us so well lately but with McLaughlin out i'm not sure we have the personnel to make it work. McL's defensive work goes largely ignored, but it is an excellent part of his game and something he has greatly improved in his time with us. Hines clearly isn't fit as his 20 minutes showed today, but in time I would think he is the logical choice should McL be unavailable. McG is a good player offensively, offers us something different with his pace and directness and very useful off the bench but defensively the fourth goal was runner getting in behind him (though there were other mistakes in there) and I put the Charlton equaliser down to him the other day.

All in all, no complaints from me. We worked hard and gave the best team I've seen come to the Hall for a very long while (Probably since Premier League Hull in the cup a few years back) a very tough game. To put in into perspective Billy Sharp's weekly wage packet would probably cover our first XI. I thought we showed fight at the end, we're unlucky not to score a second in our spell of dominance in the first half and gave away 2 really poor goals from set-pieces. Great opportunity to bounce back next week and I have no doubt we will do just that.
 
At one stage in the second half I tried to count their players as I could swear they had at least two more than us! Gave up after a while because they were all moving around so much. As said before, no width and little protection for the full backs. Once in the first half they had three onto one against Timlin. Our extra man up front caused them problems at 1.1 when we seemed to be in control of the game, but they held out until half time and after PB's team talk, they and us came out different sides. Their very mobile five man midfield gave them width and the ability to counter attack us with devastating efficiency whereas we looked lost and not sure who was meant to be where.
 
Interesting game today, lots of positives despite the obvious! Yes we lost, and we probably shouldn't have lost 4-2, for me that was a bit of a flattering result for Sheffield united, yet we should have done better... A dichotomy, yes it was.

For me, there were too many in our team who were slightly off the pace. The biggest culprits for me were Demitriou, leonard, Wordsworth, Atkinson and ranger. Ferdinand had a few incidents as well, not least the one that led to their second goal, and Timlin for me, whilst he did okay today would have been far more effective in central midfield to held break things up a bit. For what it's worth, I would have sacrificed Wordsworth or Leonard, moved Timlin into the middle of midfield as a holding man and brought John White on to even things out a bit. Demetriou was having a bit of a mare, which Thompson couldn't help with because Ferdy was having a few issues as well, so it all went a bit pear shaped in defence, and the midfield for me was awol today. What shone out for me was how influential McLaughlin has been recently, and we really missed that outlet and the creativity and space that he serves up.

on the up-side, I thought that despite the score, young Teddy looked more than comfortable, so that was a huge positive. Cox getting on the scoresheet was a high point, and McGlashlan scoring the second completely against the run of play was an unexpected bonus. Thompson has developed into a massive asset and I am so glad we have secured Fortune for another 18 months - that was a master stroke of a signing, he oozes class! On a different day we would have won that game comfortably, as we had spells in where we had them quaking in their boots. They outplayed us on the day we were not at our best, and where we were in an interesting formation. There is also the refereeing issue - who else thought that foul on Cox should have at least warranted a free kick and a yellow?? It was inconsistent again, and that had a bearing as well.
 
Thought they were good opponents, but in terms of best team at Roots Hall this season , I would put them behind Fleetwood.
 
Agreed Tommy,

When Coxy scored I said to the people I was with "we get a draw and it's a good point" .....then Sheffield took control.

We looked knackered and as you say need fresh faces quickly.

I just would like to say that you left with 15 mins remaining , the last 10 mins , granted they had taken their foot off the gas slightly, but we scored once and also nearly scored twice more from great play. As I said in my post , we actually finished positively and strongly. I do agree, we need some fresh faces and legs , but it's really not all doom and gloom !
 
They'll win this league. We are a good side, on a good run and we didn't play badly. They were just better than us. They didn't give us time on the ball, the shut off the service to the frontmen, they attacked us as pace and were clinical. We had a decent spell in the first half, but that late first half goal killed us. I've no doubt Sheffield United will be playing in the Championship next season. They're the best team I've seen at the Hall for some time.
 

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