Sheffield United 5-0 Post Match Thread

[Koke]

5 hours ago, AKCJ said:

I honestly think Sheffield United performed worse than Southampton did in the game we won 9-0. They were unbelievably bad. 

 

Worse than Southampton and worse than all the Newcastle teams we've faced (5-0, multiple 3-0s). Sheffield United are the worst team we've faced since we've been in the PL.

[foxy boxing]

Not much to say except Sheffield Utd were dreadful.We can only beat what’s in front of us but it was great to see our front three combine so well. And maybe it just felt like an extended training session. Some exquisite passes from Youri and we kept a clean sheet. It just gives us more confidence going into the rest of the season,

[Mendi]

Big win

Edited 15 March 2021 by Mendi

[ARM1968]

7 minutes ago, Mendi said:

Big win

Indeed. 

[steveherbe]

Just watched the motd highlights again (4th time today), we were bloody brilliant. We've got a real team at long last, and should be a top six team for the foreseeable.

[OntarioFox]

10 hours ago, hackneyfox said:

I'm not taking up the 'cause' for Kane but clearly when he's got almost double the number of assists that Vardy has then it's pushing things a tad to claim that Vardy is the best at assists in the league.

 

Sorry for being tedious, I'm all for bigging up our players but not when it clearly can't be supported by the figures.

I should wade back in since I started this argument and say that I was comparing the impact of Vardy and Kane on their respective sides in our title-winning season, not overall.

 

Kane is a world-class finisher, I make no attempt to deny that. In 2015-16 though, he was thoroughly selfish - not necessarily a bad attribute in your main striker, but something that means I'd have far rather have had Vardy leading our line that season than him.

It's well documented that Kane has changed his game since Pocchetino left to become more involved with team play and, while it's ironically coincided with a serious decline in their credentials, he is way less selfish than he used to be.

 

Sometimes being greedy is good for a player, but I can recall occasions that season where that selfishness represented a poor decision that may have ultimately cost Spurs points. It most definitely does happen - I always cast my mind back to that West Brom game in the Great Escape season, when Berahino had a man to his right but opted instead to try and beat Schmeichel. He passes that ball, we probably lose that game. He didn't at 2-1, and the rest was history. It was arguably that one crap decision that led to the butterfly effect that caused everything else to happen. Cheers Saido. 

And yeah, I know it's not exactly fair to compare the golden boot winner of that year to a player who was already a laughing stock and bereft of confidence at the time, but I think the point I'm making is that each one of those decisions to shoot rather than pass to the team-mate with an open goal and 10 yards of space can potentially cost you points in a league as tight as the Premier League. It's why so many of us lost patience with Gray after far too many second chances to be more of a team player instead of trying to beat three men and score a worldie every time he got within 50 yards of goal.

 

Vardy had multiple opportunities to go for glory that season (and indeed in seasons following) where he opted for the killer pass instead. The best example would have to be his pass to Mahrez against Swansea. Tight angle but 1 on 1 with the keeper, he squared the ball to give Mahrez his hatrick, instead of trying for the glory. He was willing to end his record-breaking scoring streak to benefit a team-mate. Kane probably takes that shot in 15-16.

I think we wouldn't have won the league with Kane up front, such was his lack of team ethic at that point. I'd actually prefer 2021 Kane in our side to top of the world 2016-18 Kane, absolutely.

Edited 16 March 2021 by OntarioFox

[sacreblueits442]

17 hours ago, Koke said:

 

Worse than Southampton and worse than all the Newcastle teams we've faced (5-0, multiple 3-0s). Sheffield United are the worst team we've faced since we've been in the PL.

..it us always surprising how often that comment has been made!!!

  It will surely not be the last time we hear this but you would say it might just be a good expression to avoid, due to its originality and the obvious clichéd element.

[Koke]

3 minutes ago, sacreblueits442 said:

..it us always surprising how often that comment has been made!!!

  It will surely not be the last time we hear this but you would say it might just be a good expression to avoid, due to its originality and the obvious clichéd element.

 

I legitimately cannot remember a worse team than them yo come here since we've been in the Premier League this era, 2014 to now. 

[gerblod]

On 15/03/2021 at 15:03, HighPeakFox said:

I believe that two of my favourite people might be arguing over nothing... 

Hmmm - yes, HPF. Agreed.

[gerblod]

On 16/03/2021 at 00:24, OntarioFox said:

And yeah, I know it's not exactly fair to compare the golden boot winner of that year to a player who was already a laughing stock and bereft of confidence at the time, but I think the point I'm making is that each one of those decisions to shoot rather than pass to the team-mate with an open goal and 10 yards of space can potentially cost you points in a league as tight as the Premier League. It's why so many of us lost patience with Gray after far too many second chances to be more of a team player instead of trying to beat three men and score a worldie every time he got within 50 yards of goal.

A really incisive post . My only comment would be that I don't see it so much as selfishness as the player sensing the expectation of everyone around him to do the job he's primarily paid to do. The kind of assists that Vardy provides often lead to goals that are very easy to put away - which is not to say that it doesn't still take nerve to do it, but the hard work has been done by the pass. Even when he's not being the goal machine Rodgers would have no qualms about keeping him in. He makes things happen by his footballing intelligence.

We saw how emotional Kelechi got when he scored his third. Part of that was relief that he'd been able to show the investment in him wasn't wasted and probably in proving to himself that he had 'it' in him. You can see how pleased his team mates were and that's not just about them liking him - goals are the concrete proof that a team is doing its job and strikers are, mostly, the key components in this. Goalies, conversely, are key at the other end of the pitch.

You can see that desperation to vindicate oneself in Ünder as you could in Gray (and Musa and Kramaric and Slimani), so the choice between scoring a cracker and suppressing the impulse in order to give your oppo. (who might have the better chance) isn't as much a conscious choice as we might believe. I guess that Rodgers has had words with  Ünder to stress how important the goal is and not who scores it. Unfortunately, as with Gray, it seems that Ünder isn't able to emulate Vardy's impressive choice-making capability.

[PaulW]

On 14/03/2021 at 17:20, TaggertvsWise said:

Don’t joke he has a 50mill buy back clause doesn’t he?

Only if we want to sell, and it might have expired anyway.