Sheffield United Verdict Thread

[Woburn Wolf]

Great result but if Nuno's vision of more dominance had been in evidence we would have gone on to win by 4 or more. Hopefully quality new additions will make that possible going forward. One thing is for sure we need a top RWB, Adama just cannot defend. I know it was his first game but I was not overly impressed by Marcal. Telles please Jeff and Jorge.

 

[sc91]

Great start to the season, a RWB away from having a really complete and full squad.

Saiss was my MOTM, showing again what a fantastic player he is.

We go again vs Stoke.

 

[VAR OUT]

Who said Joao’s set pieces were ineffective? Fantastic performance from our slice of heaven.

 

[Darvo]

Great win against a tough team. What a start. We’re a couple of good signings away from having a right good go this season.

We need to practice how to take a throw in.

 

[rincewind]

Think most could have predicted how the game would play out when we were 2 up in 6 minutes. We managed the game quite well though there were a couple of scares and it might have been different if they'd scored during the 20 minutes of real pressure early in the 2and half.
Great performances from Saiss (MoM for me), Raul, Moutinho and Coady. Steady from the others except Traore as a RWB.
Sheffield looked pretty good to me, their movement seemed to allow them to have overloads on both flanks. They will be ok this season, around upper mid table again.

 

[VAR OUT]

Great result but if Nuno's vision of more dominance had been in evidence we would have gone on to win by 4 or more. Hopefully quality new additions will make that possible going forward. One thing is for sure we need a top RWB, Adama just cannot defend. I know it was his first game but I was not overly impressed by Marcal. Telles please Jeff and Jorge.

Marcal was class imo. Looked like he’d played 100 games for us. Perfect mix of defence and attack.. a la Jonny

 

[AndyY]

Traore is a comedy at RWB.

I wasn’t laughing and I am a Traore fan.
Good job our other 10 players played so well. He was far better when moved up front, as expected really.

 

[Hawkguy]

Anyone know where to find distance travelled stats? I feel like Dendoncker ran 15km lol

 

[WolfInSheep'sClothing]

Who said Joao’s set pieces were ineffective? Fantastic performance from our slice of heaven.

I thought he was back to something like his best again today.

 

[WOMWOL]

Was waiting for the Mike Dean moment... luckily never came...

Saw him twitch a few times. He was READY

 

[Nige100]

Good start to the season that. Let's now smash the clayheads and then take what we can from our free hit next Monday.

 

[SA Wolf]

A game of two halves, one first and another one, second. We started like a train on fire and finished like Thomas the tank Engine. Raul scored a worldie and Saiss climbed well but was fortunate it was Ramsdale in goal for Sheff, rather than Henderson.
Steady debut for Marcal who picked up a booking for something or other.
Great to be looking down on Liverpool, long may it continue, but it won't. How old is Vitinha as he looked about 12!

Ratings:

Rui - 7- Did what he did well enough, but his passing to Doherty let him down.
Boly - 6 - Difficult start as he needed to cover Traore.
Coady - 7- Did well enough in front of the England waistcoat.
Saiss- 8 - Scored one, cleared one off the line and otherwise was our best player. Even shrugged off a damaged achiles.
Dendocncker - 7.5 - Started off so well and covered most of that right side. Faded a little second half, as did most of the team.
Moutinho - 7 - Looked the best player on the park for 20 mins, but less so after that.
Traore - 6 - Not a RWB as we all know, sensational when he went up top with Jimi.
Marcal - 7 - Steady debut and started a good relationship with Saiss.
Neto - 6 - Busy as always, but not much coming off. Shared the dead balls with Moutinho and crossed for the second goal.
Podence - 7 - Superb run and cross to Raul for the first. Getting better game by game.
Jimenez - 7- First class finish and was dynamic for 20 mins. Worked hard as usual, but should have got a second when Saiss' shot came back off the post.

Subs;

Buur - 6 - Did OK.
Vintinha - N/A - Ran a lot.
Neves - N/A- Shored things up.

Delighted with the three points and the clean sheet, but we need to impose our game on the opposition for longer than we did.

 

[jrpb-3]

after one game the tables not looking bad Wolves 4th West Brom 20th

 

[SA Wolf]

Saw him twitch a few times. He was READY

Thought Mike Dean did OK to be fair.

 

[Wolf in Kenilworth]

A great performance but please do not let Adama play RWB ever again. We looked better with Buur there. Marcal looked solid and is a more defensive LWB. Great option.
For those questioning Vinagre not playing, he is off. Very clear.

However Adama looked unplayable as always when he moved position.

We are a couple of wing backs away from a real crack at it this season.

Romain Saiss, what a ****ing hero. Proper bloke.

 

[Pessimistic Wolf]

Thought Buur managed pretty well. Sensible, tidy and good positional awareness.

 

[AndyY]

..... I was not overly impressed by Marcal.

Interesting. I though he played pretty well and looked very comfortable in our system. Not that SU were a great test.

 

[Leominster_Wolf]

True, but I also sadly thought that Donk's haircut made him look like Jim Carrey's character in dumb and dumber.

Great result though.

I thought no one has told Donk lockdown is over and he can go to the barbers. His mrs is still doing it with a pudding basin

 

[Incognito]

Brammall Lane is always a tough place to go - whatever the division - as we've all come to know over the years. To win there off the back of zilch pre-season and next to no break after a long hard last season, is something to be proud of and celebrate (hic). Nuno, his backroom staff and, most of all, the players deserve all the credit in the world. Fantastic from start to finish, for different reasons. The clinical attacking play at the start complimented by some solid defending. They were unlucky not to get a goal but then we were unlucky not to add to our two goals. Marcel assured on his debut. Some typically nice Brazilian play from him too at times. Podence showing again something different to anyone else we have, with such soft feet. He is gonna be massive, footballing wise. Raul, a wonderfully taken side footed goal. MotM, though, for me, goes to the beast that was Romain Saiss today (are you watching Britney Spears)! He gets a goal, somehow adjusting his head backwards and still generating immense power to beat their goalie. Defends like there's no tomorrow, making a clearance off our goal line. Gets stamped on, which could have ended nasty for him. (By the way there was a bit of dirtiness from SUFC today.) Then he recovers from that, defends admirably for the remainder of the match, playing some neat passes out, and still found time to be on the end of the breakaway attack, unluckily hitting the post, only for Raul to then miss virtually an open goal! Saiss, as anyone who cares to read my posts, and as Britney Spears knows, has always been one of my faves, even back when Lamberk (god's gift to German football) treated him so harshly early on in his Wolves career. He continues to prove the doubters wrong. Well done Romain. Top man! Get in the old gold n black!

 

[old wittonian]

Thought Mike Dean did OK to be fair.

Anonymous. He was great.

 

[Jonzy54]

A game of two halves, one first and another one, second. We started like a train on fire and finished like Thomas the tank Engine. Raul scored a worldie and Saiss climbed well but was fortunate it was Ramsdale in goal for Sheff, rather than Henderson.
Steady debut for Marcal who picked up a booking for something or other.
Great to be looking down on Liverpool, long may it continue, but it won't. How old is Vitinha as he looked about 12!

Ratings:

Rui - 7- Did what he did well enough, but his passing to Doherty let him down.
Boly - 6 - Difficult start as he needed to cover Traore.
Coady - 7- Did well enough in front of the England waistcoat.
Saiss- 8 - Scored one, cleared one off the line and otherwise was our best player. Even shrugged off a damaged achiles.
Dendocncker - 7.5 - Started off so well and covered most of that right side. Faded a little second half, as did most of the team.
Moutinho - 7 - Looked the best player on the park for 20 mins, but less so after that.
Traore - 6 - Not a RWB as we all know, sensational when he went up top with Jimi.
Marcal - 7 - Steady debut and started a good relationship with Saiss.
Neto - 6 - Busy as always, but not much coming off. Shared the dead balls with Moutinho and crossed for the second goal.
Podence - 7 - Superb run and cross to Raul for the first. Getting better game by game.
Jimenez - 7- First class finish and was dynamic for 20 mins. Worked hard as usual, but should have got a second when Saiss' shot came back off the post.

Subs;

Buur - 6 - Did OK.
Vintinha - N/A - Ran a lot.
Neves - N/A- Shored things up.

Delighted with the three points and the clean sheet, but we need to impose our game on the opposition for longer than we did.

You are right about Rui .He really struggled to hit it to Doc 200 miles away in London

 

[AndyY]

For those questioning Vinagre not playing, he is off. Very clear.

He may be off, I don’t know, but we will still need LWB cover/ competition which we don’t have for the next few months if he goes without replacement. I prefer to think that our system usually has/ had one attacking WB (Doc and now Traore) and one defensive WB (Jonny and now Marcal) so maybe it would have been too much of a risk to have had two attacking WBs on the pitch together?

 

[Olivergoldblack]

Only Coady should be involved vs Stoke .. rest needed as im Sure the bruises from tonight will be many and very sore

Lol yeah he's not allowed to miss a single minute of any match. He probably plays all the reserves and youth matches, then puts a wig on and turns out for the women's team too.

 

[clivewolves]

The first half was a terrific all-round performance from the team. Sheffield Utd were always going to throw everything at us in the second half, but we stood up to it well.

Marcal slotted in the team seamlessly. He seemed to have a good understanding with Saiss and will fill the Jonny sized hole in the coming months.

It was good to see Vitinha get a few minutes towards the end.

Jimenez my man of the match. He looked refreshed even with such a short break. A difficult finish made to look easy for the goal. Could he get 20+ league goals this season?

 

[George AlooGobi]

Only Coady should be involved vs Stoke .. rest needed as im Sure the bruises from tonight will be many and very sore

I wouldn't object to Buur getting some minutes in case we don't strengthen at rb

 

[Gold Blood]

Best half of football the team have played since the restart last season. Looked a lot fresher even with only a short break. That first goal oozed quality from start to finish.

 

[Black Country Wanderer]

Thought we looked very good for half an hour then tired visibly. No surprise Neto was subbed first as he looked sagged after half an hour. I was a bit nervous that we might concede early in the second half and then fall away and we nearly did but then we steadied ourselves and despite playing some lazy and tired passes at times rode it out quite comfortably in the end.
Marcal has been bought in to do a job and you can see that he is safe pair of hands. Vininha was busy but got slightly lost at one point and didn't pick up anyone which led to blades getting a cross in that Coul have hurt us. He needs time to learn our system.
All in all a good start though. Hopefully we will have plenty of first teamers out against Stoke to get the fitness up.

If you think Vitanha was lost where was Traore for an hour?
He was great when moved up,but why on earth does he not learn to pass?
We all know we need a RWB and how that showed tonight,hopefully we will get one in in the next few days and what a difference it will make
Boly didnt know whether to stick or twist at times with Traore either stationary or too far away from his man,he is so immobile at times
Anyway enough of the negatives,overall great first half hour looked really sharp up front
Sheff Utd came back into it,or rather we let them, without looking that dangerous really,they are a bunch of Neanderthals arent they lol
They will be difficult to beat with their energy and clogging,but i can see them struggling this time round
Marcal looked steady,good in defence but not so much going forwards
Neto ran himself into the ground, will only get better as the season goes on, he is a player though
Podence electric first half faded a little after but again a real talent
Raul excellent throughout would have had 3 but for being too close when it came off the post and Traore not passing
Donk all over the pitch again looked knackered last 10 minutes
Saiss brilliant in defence and so unlucky not to get 2 goals MOTM
Coady martialled the back lines with his usual calm,Southgate were you watching?
Buur looked assured when he came on and we looked so much better moving Traore upfront
So performance wise 8/10 result wise 11

 

[modenawolf]

This was a great result considering we've practically not had a pre-season. Gave the ball away too much in the second half but a well-deserved three points and clean sheet. Saiss absolutely immense.

 

[reanswolf]

Brammall Lane is always a tough place to go - whatever the division - as we've all come to know over the years. To win there off the back of zilch pre-season and next to no break after a long hard last season, is something to be proud of and celebrate (hic). Nuno, his backroom staff and, most of all, the players deserve all the credit in the world. Fantastic from start to finish, for different reasons. The clinical attacking play at the start complimented by some solid defending. They were unlucky not to get a goal but then we were unlucky not to add to our two goals. Marcel assured on his debut. Some typically nice Brazilian play from him too at times. Podence showing again something different to anyone else we have, with such soft feet. He is gonna be massive, footballing wise. Raul, a wonderfully taken side footed goal. MotM, though, for me, goes to the beast that was Romain Saiss today (are you watching Britney Spears)! He gets a goal, somehow adjusting his head backwards and still generating immense power to beat their goalie. Defends like there's no tomorrow, making a clearance off our goal line. Gets stamped on, which could have ended nasty for him. (By the way there was a bit of dirtiness from SUFC today.) Then he recovers from that, defends admirably for the remainder of the match, playing some neat passes out, and still found time to be on the end of the breakaway attack, unluckily hitting the post, only for Raul to then miss virtually an open goal! Saiss, as anyone who cares to read my posts, and as Britney Spears knows, has been one of my faves, even back when Lambo (god's gift to German football) treated him so harshly early on in his Wolves career. He continues to prove the doubters wrong. Well done Romain. Top man! Get in the old gold n black!

Yes I was admittedly one who doubted his temperament and his mobility. But Romain, you have been superb last season and today. I am eating my words and delighted to do so.
Fantastic performances and that centre back place is rightfully yours.

 

[Sketchead]

Solid performance. First half was very straight forward, loved the way we started. That first goal, right from Marcal's header down to Moutinho around our own box, was superb from start to finish.

They were always going to look stronger at 2-0 with nothing to lose but we held out pretty well. Saying that Saiss/Jimenez should've scored and Traore had a couple of openings he could've done better with to make it three and four.

Thought Coady, Saiss and Raul were absolutely superb. Marcal, Boly and Dendoncker very good. Podence and Neto worked well around Raul for decent spells. Saw a comment or two saying Marcal wasn't impressive... yes a couple of times their overlapping CBs got behind him but overall he had a very solid game IMO. Made many crucial interceptions both on the floor and in the air. Didn't get forward too much but didn't really need to.

Overall, happy start to the season. Our quality shone through at key moments at both ends of the pitch.

 

[goldfish]

Main takeaways for me:

1. Marcal looked every inch the Jonny clone (apart from being left-footed).
2. Saiss was outstanding.
3. Traore's positioning is the big issue when he plays defensively. That dragged Boly out of position and that destabilised the whole defence, though Dendoncker covered to an extent.
4. Neto playing in the hole/as attacking central mid is promising.
5. I liked Buur. Kept it simple in possession but there was an outstanding, Doherty-esque curved run off the ball within 30 seconds of coming on and he was almost picked out by Moutinho (I think?): he'd have been in if that wasn't cut out. Given his lack of action you'd think he might be a bit worried about going for it, but every time I see him he does something unexpected.
6. No Kilman on the bench: would like to see him get a loan if another defender comes in (doesn't need to be a CB as Donck/Marcal can drop in).
7. Vintiha's got a lovely touch.
8. We looked very dangerous from set pieces against a big strong team.

 

[Blackpool Wolf]

Absolutely delighted with result - wish we would attack a bit more - if their shot that hit the post had gone in I’m not sure my heart could have taken last twenty mins

 

[sheffwolf]

Looking forward to work tomorrow!

 

[luiandlui]

Forgot to add that SU looked good again tonight. No way they'll be struggling this season. They lack quality but quality costs. Their work ethic will see them safe

Absolutely, they looked a good side. They’ll be comfortably top half again this season. Good win.

 

[Incognito]

Looking forward to work tomorrow!

I bet. Nice smug smile the order of the day. Enjoy.

 

[Sampford Wolf]

Observations in no particular order: -

We don't need to spend loads on a new CB when we have Saiss.

Adama is no RWB. I felt sorry for both him and for Boly who had to try to play two positions.

Moutinho is still football heaven as far as I am concerned and does not need replacing.

I pity opposing right wingers if Marcal and Saiss are regulars in our team this season.

We have beaten a very good team but I still think Nuno will want us to dominate the game and retain the ball better.

If we do sign a top RWB then we should do well. It is an obvious upgrade opportunity.

 

[Adrian_Monk]

Comfortable victory. Coady clearly buoyed by the England call-up, looked like Bully did against Oldham when he came back from Italia 90. Showed great leadership and his positioning seems to have upped a notch, his confidence no doubt aided by the praise he received from Southgate and the fact he was in the "crowd" watching. I thought it was telling he looked to get Buur on the ball very early on to help him settle into the game. It's especially encouraging that Boly doesn't stick out like a sore thumb in almost carrying our defence single-handedly any more- at least he didn't tonight.

Thought Traore did OK in the first half but he's evidently not comfortable when targeted, to not have a more natural right wing-back while we wait for Jonny to return would be a huge gamble. Boly covered him reasonably well but better teams would have punished us. When pushed into an attacking position he looked far more effective, underlining that securing a RWB before the end of the window is crucial.

Podence carried on where he left off at the end of last season, looked comfortable when he moved into the number 10 position, and showed decisiveness with the assist for the first goal, emblematic of a lively performance. I was surprised to see Neves start on the bench, but thought Dendoncker and Moutinho had solid games. Dendoncker in particular is clearly starting to find his sea legs in the premier league, and Moutinho's dead-balls were back to where we expect them to be. I thought it was telling that he got better as the game went on - just as he did when he was at his best pre-Covid. Neto ran himself into the ground, and although he rarely looked dangerous in the final third, he occupied Sheffield's defence, in particular in the first half, not giving them a moments rest.

Saiss edged man of the match from the excellent Raul, he's clearly missed playing football. Defensively he was everywhere, took his headed goal effortlessly and deserved a second. Raul's finish was superb - he also deserved a second, and also put in an incredible shift.

Last word is for our new boys - Marcal had an assured debut, albeit without having too much of the ball, but when he did, he did not look out of place. Vitinha was not on for long but he looked incisive and confident - don't think he will have any issues settling into life at Wolves.

Patricio 7
Saiss 8
Coady 8
Boly 7
Traore 6.5
Moutinho 7
Dendoncker 7
Marcal 7
Neto 6.5
Raul 8
Podence 7

Subs:
Neves 6.5
Buur 6.5
Vitinha 6.5

 

[Tring Wolf]

Absolutely fabulous result and a very decent performance given our lack of preparation. Electric going forward, particularly in the first 30 minutes before we understandably tired a little in the second 45.

Just about managed to ride out the storm at the start of the second half then some excellent substitutions meant we were able to see out the game relatively easily.

Some fantastic individual performances with Coady commanding, Dendoncker excellent, Moutinho giving his best display for a number of months, Podence and Neto both lively and Raul looking every inch a £70m striker.

And as for Saiss, I can’t recall many better all round defensive performances than that. A goal, hits the post, great distribution, colossal defensively and an incredible goal saving clearance off the line.

Patricio 7
Boly 7
Coady 8
Saiss 9
Traore 7 (great going forward but understandably struggled defensively. Can’t take throw-ons).
Dendoncker 8
Moutinho 8
Marcal 7
Neto 7
Raul 9
Podence 7

Buur 7
Neves 6
Vitinha N/A

Had a lovely balance going forward and was impressed with Marcal who was aggressive in the tackle and kept his shape well. Obviously our priority is now a RWB to release Adama back to his best position.

Overall, we couldn’t really have asked for much more than that...

...even the new kit looked great.

Great stuff boys, well done!

 

[Henry Palfrey]

I don't think Bramall Lane is that hard a place to go when it's empty. Home advantage ain't what it used to be.

 

[Andywolf74]

3 valuable points from a game we lost last season. Superb finish from Raul and Podence looking to be a major player for us this season. Invited pressure by sitting back a bit much but fortunately the post and Sharp failing to set up a sitter early second half stopped them getting back in the game.