Is it the next round already?
Sheffield United have played two league fixtures between the third and fourth round of the FA Cup. Headlines were made with their first league victory of the season over Newcastle, building on the positive boost which will have come from their win at Bristol Rovers.
There was a considerable amount of luck which helped the Blades. All concerned might well claim they’re due a bit of that. Steve Bruce’s much-discussed tactics must have lifted the confidence in South Yorkshire. Someone somewhere has surely already called it a Brucey Bonus. This said, Sheffield United’s goal came from a penalty widely described as “controversial” and until then it looked to me as if neither team were going to find the net.
How they didn’t concede a calamitous own goal right at the end is a mystery. A Blades defender tried to pass back to keeper Ramsdale, realising too late that his teammate was rushing out of his goal. The ball rolled agonisingly wide and Sheffield United avoided throwing away two of their three points in a style difficult to forgive.
It’s still hard to see how this win can be the start to an unlikely escape from inevitable relegation. Losing to Tottenham wasn’t a surprise. More worrying is quotes from Chris Wilder after the match. Responding to his players repeatedly giving the ball away, he said in a BBC interview that he was “finding that difficult to coach”. He added he’d leave that for us to interpret.
Is the important part of that statement the manager or the players? Is Wilder running out of ways to get his message across? With so many defeats this would be understandable. Or, have his players dropped their standards to a point that they’re ability to concentrate and make the right decisions during matches is no longer there?
Much is made of the extra boost the support of the Sheffield United fans gave to their players last season. I referred to it too in an earlier post. However to be so far behind everyone else and to have only one win at the halfway point in a season, there must be more to it than that.
As we saw with the win over Bristol Rovers, a victory anyhow, anywhere can help to build back confidence. Plymouth, who knocked Championship Huddersfield out in the previous round won’t be easy. They also have their first away win of the season in their last game. Devon to Sunderland and back on a Tuesday night is a hell of a trip anyway, but for a while the match was in doubt because of bad weather. Imagine making that journey during a pandemic only for it to be called off?
The win was a test of resilience, as Sunderland had much more possession and shots. This suggests mid-table League 1 Argyle will be tough opponents this afternoon.
Glory Hunting 