Sheffield Utd verdict

[Northampton_wolf]

Should we have had a pen for handball?

No would have Been very soft poor control from gomes and going away from.goal

 

[Contrarian]

While the second half was poor, I can't agree that it was the worst half of the season, or even anywhere near. We've had plenty of halves where we've had not one real shot and have conceded one or two goals. First half v Man U only 3 weeks ago, we were 0-2 down at half time and it could easily have been 0-4, we were that bad. Both halves of the West Ham 0-3. First half v Arsenal.. Even at Sheff U, our second half was worse than today. We're a mid table team and form goes up and down, that's how it is.

 

[Madmalc]

Ugly wins are still a win.
8th place looks good.
We're definitely looking upwards.
I expect Newcastle and Fulham to be a better watch, as it takes two teams to make a good match to watch.
Also wouldn't be surprised if Brentford trip both West Ham and Chelsea up

 

[Wolf316]

Was blatant hand ball for me

Looked like it to me but I was at the other end so couldn’t tell if it should have been given.

 

[Fifty Niner]

Yet again struggled against a bottom end of the table team but at least we got 3 points out of this one, unlike v Brentford. Not sure why they can’t play consistently well over the 90 minutes to beat these teams nor why they think slow crab football is the answer but we’re currently 8th.

 

[Jefe]

Should we have had a pen for handball?

Not for me. It was close and his arm wasn't abnormally placed. Let's just say though it would've been given against us when the refs were making a sport of shafting us... you know, before it reached national attention, and the referees mysteriously stopped shafting us overnight...

 

[North West Wanderer]

Should we have had a pen for handball?

no way. we’d be fuming the other way if it was given.

 

[sillytuna]

Just got back. Good god that was awful. First half utd missed easy chances and we barely created any, but for the excellent goal.

Second half - wow. Started badly and got worse and worse. We had everyone back for the last 30 minutes so had no out ball, and when we did pass it we were woeful. Utd spent the half just waiting for us to give the ball away in dangerous places.

Kilman, my god - not a captain's performance.

A bad, bad day at the office and very lucky utd were awful in the box. Last two home games truly dreadful.

 

[wwbug]

Did GON tell us to sit back in the second half . Reserving energy for Wednesday night ?
My only explanation for a very poor second half.

 

[wwbug]

In matches like these Hwang offers very little.

 

[Darvo]

‘Interesting’ to see Lemina playing in an advanced role today with RAN tucking into midfield.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but maybe we would have had more control over the game if we had switched back to normal straight after our goal.

We got away with one today.

 

[Kebab Warrior]

In matches like these Hwang offers very little.

Hwang way off it, doesn’t look fit or sharp, understandable.

 

[Streathamwolf]

Second half easily the worst of the season, but this side have more than enough credit in the bank for us to be happy to take the 3 points and move on. No need for some huge postmortem.

Also, not excusing it, but Sheffield’s away results don’t contain the hammerings that they seem to get at home. Was always going to be relatively close.

Think the fact that we jumped up to 8th with a win and suddenly are genuinely European contenders actually played on the players minds too. That’s something GON has to solve, as it’s a big mindset change from where we have been so far under his tenure.

Only real gripe from me is that in games like the we really need to see more from Kilman, he is just so passive, really frustrates me.

All said and done though, 3 huge points and that league table looks quite simply incredible.

Let’s be pleased with the win and accept it as a relatively poor day at the office.

Well said, good summary.

 

[sillytuna]

Did GON tell us to sit back in the second half . Reserving energy for Wednesday night ?
My only explanation for a very poor second half.

I assume to some extent. First 15 both teams just tried to wait it out, then utd pressed a bit more and we went all out defence.

Unusually, the few counters we could have had fell apart through poor or very ponderous passing.

We got the win but the last two home games have shown some frailties we need to cut out. I was annoyed at Kilman. Not only did he play poorly but he never showed any leadership. At one point we saw dawson trying to sort him out after he'd played us into trouble for the nth time.

 

[Timberwolf]

To be filed under the never to be thought of again draw.

No one comes out of that with any credit

Sarabia?

 

[SquaddieWolf]

Should we have had a pen for handball?

I don't think it should of been a pen but I do believe with Gillet on VAR it would have been given against us

 

[brianm]

To be filed under the never to be thought of again draw.

No one comes out of that with any credit

RAN and Sarabia combined for the kind of decisive quality Blades lacked. That was a peach of a cross and a deft finish.

Past that, it was a muddled game.

 

[wolvesaywe]

Absolutely horrendous performance

What on earth is he thinking if he thinks Dawson standing on the ball for 30 seconds is the way to break down a team

Always first out of the blocks with OTT criticism

 

[Bryce]

Massive shout to the ref. Excellent performance

 

[Sir Ron]

Reminds me of the Michael Branch incident against nottm forest many years ago when the ref waved play on after dave beasant decided to put the ball out with a forest player down but didn't reach touch, we played on and scored. Beasant ran up to the halfway line for the restart and was screaming at Branch.

Yes and kicked the ball out the ground next time he got it I bet Branchy can still hear him screaming in his ear

 

[Streathamwolf]

Would have liked to see Fraser for Hwang in the second half.

I can see not wanting to put him into a 1-0 game though.

Overall, the first half was pretty good. The second half wasn't, but people are really doom-mongering. Statistically it was more of a flat half that the team rode out than anything.

Need to have a little respect for Premier League teams. After getting battered 5-0, they were playing for pride, especially in the second half.

Hopefully Gary has some more good film to go over to try to work out a better response to whatever Blades were doing there.

Agreed, the first half was very decent and tbh we never looked like losing. Most comments on here reflect the second half performance and how disappointing it was! Onwards and upwards

 

[Tettenhall wulf]

Sarabia?

Semedo was very good again.

 

[Streathamwolf]

You mightn’t have posted this if Sheffield had scored……they came very, very close.

Oh No they didn't!

 

[JadeWolf]

Awful game but I’ve seen us lose those plenty of times. Sheff Utd are absolutely awful but they dragged us down into a scrap second half. Clean sheet will be good for confidence but we’ve got to be a lot lot better if we want to stay 8th. Still to be 8th with 12 games left is phenomenal, so no complaints from me. 12 more scrappy 1-0 wins would be lovely!

 

[Adrian_Monk]

I thought criticism for the first half was unfair - we were loose and wasteful, but we were playing on the front foot at a great tempo, and were clever and fluid in midfield, with Lemina and Ait-Nouri particularly impressive. Almost every pass was forward, and there were a couple of lengthy periods where our foot was firmly on their throat. A world away from much of the dross of the last couple of years.

Second half, criticism is fully justified. We came from half time like we were heavily sedated, never really got any better, and then some 10-15 minutes from time the entire back line decided to mentally combust and not want to play a single ball towards the opposition goal. Inexplicable. One can only assume the drastic slowing of tempo was deliberate, but it was stupid, and a better team than Sheffield would have happily eviscerated us. Not the first time we've done it, it makes no sense, but we got away with it.

Eighth, and happy, but still plenty to work on.

I agree. I liked that we played with intent and moved the ball quickly. Granted, we were sloppy, especially in the final third and could have conceded a few on the break, but at least we looked like the team that has been in such good form recently.

Second half was baffling. Pinned back the entire half, barely able to get out of our own half for the remaining 20 minutes. This was the kind of game where O'Neil needed a forward to give us an alternative option, but as we know, he wasn't given one.

Dawson MOTM. Very poor from Neto and Hwang in particular.

 

[Leigh72]

no way. we’d be fuming the other way if it was given.

They have been

 

[arctic rime]

Bloody great win !

 

[SA Wolf]

I agree. I liked that we played with intent and moved the ball quickly. Granted, we were sloppy, especially in the final third and could have conceded a few on the break, but at least we looked like the team that has been in such good form recently.

Second half was baffling. Pinned back the entire half, barely able to get out of our own half for the remaining 20 minutes. This was the kind of game where O'Neil needed a forward to give us an alternative option, but as we know, he wasn't given one.

Dawson MOTM. Very poor from Neto and Hwang in particular.

I agree re-Dawson. I thought he was excellent, especially second half when he repelled everything. The commentary team also mentioned his display. Others on here have criticised him, so I thought I'd seen something that wasn't there, so nice to be vindicated by another fan.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

Why did we kick the ball out for them when we had an open goal?

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

I agree re-Dawson. I thought he was excellent, especially second half when he repelled everything. The commentary team also mentioned his display. Others on here have criticised him, so I thought I'd seen something that wasn't there, so nice to be vindicated by another fan.

Fine defensively but with the ball him and kilman were the reason we were so bad second half

Zero urgency

 

[wwbug]

I assume to some extent. First 15 both teams just tried to wait it out, then utd pressed a bit more and we went all out defence.

Unusually, the few counters we could have had fell apart through poor or very ponderous passing.

We got the win but the last two home games have shown some frailties we need to cut out. I was annoyed at Kilman. Not only did he play poorly but he never showed any leadership. At one point we saw dawson trying to sort him out after he'd played us into trouble for the nth time.

We should have given GON a few options, by making some replacement additions in January.
Its Hwang, Neto and Sarabia now, so expect more tired performances.

 

[Ned]

Loved the GON interview when asked about Europe. You could tell he was fuming at the second half, still.

 

[VancouverWolf]

Oh No they didn't!

I beg to differ……remember their ball that only needed a toe poke to roll it over our line?

 

[Wolf in Kenilworth]

Fine defensively but with the ball him and kilman were the reason we were so bad second half

Zero urgency

Passing it around at the back was horrendous today. Like snails.

 

[Liskeard wolf]

Was a hard watch. But 3 points. It'll do.
Highlight of the day: The fella who won the money at half time.
Should've brought him on for the last 10

 

[Dingle Chris]

3 points, I’ll take it but if we play like that against Brighton we’re out the cup.

 

[WW1963]

Had a one hour nap that turned into a seven hour coma. Checked YouTube, saw we narrowly won in the title and so watched the highlights.

Sheffield could have had five and should have scored at least three. It's a good job they are useless.

Thought our goal was class in its simplicity and execution. Great ball by RAN, perfectly timed run by Sarabia and gave the keeper no chance.

Winning ugly is always better than losing beautifully. It's not like we make a habit of playing badly.

Happy.

 

[SingYourHeartsOut]

Why did we kick the ball out for them when we had an open goal?

Sportsmanship as their keeper was kicking it out. I know it's a forgotten concept.

 

[Starsky]

Why does H Bueno not get any minutes any more? Really hope we don't sell him in the Summer, given the interest in him from Leipzig last year.

 

[Corporal Hicks]

First half - in control, could have done with a few more chances and another goal but imo looked like only one team were going to win the game.
Second half - what happened? Went from comfortable and in the bag to looking like they never seen a football lol. Everything that went right/for us in the first half didn’t in the second. Can only think they thought it was done and dusted and switched off cos it wasn’t pretty.

Overall though, proper chuffed with a win against a team we’d usually struggle against and up to 8th. Well done Gary and team, you’re doing a fantastic job, keep it going and don’t let it slip.

#thumbs up.