Player Ratings 26/27: Blades 0-0 Birmingham (H)
Every Monday, Riley Roberts rates every Sheffield United player out of ten and picks through the good, the bad and everything in between.
Opening day might well be the most exciting day of the year, but I think a few neutrals who caught this one on Sky might beg to differ after a chance-light 0-0 draw. For the Blades, it was the defensive performers who provided the highlights, as a Gus Hamer-less side struggled to create, with a pair of Bamford efforts either side of the break the closest we came to something to cheer about.
Michael Cooper - 7
Is Michael Cooper back? I think he might be. Saved what he had to, and made numerous good claims from balls into the box.
Femi Seriki - 4
Didn’t have a great game, imo. Passed straight out of play when trying to link with Donovan on a couple of occasions and, despite showing the right intent, lacked quality in his passing/crossing.
Japhet Tanganga - 7
My MOTM. Made a big defensive intervention in the first half when beating Priske to a cross, and that summed up his game, with good positioning and timing allowing him to cut out danger throughout.
Mark McGuinness - 5
Had a solid game, though I think people’s desire for a redemption arc may have clouded judgements a little. There were still a few occasions where his body positioning allowed their CF to get ahead of him in aerial duels, and a couple where this resulted in him having to drag his man down.
Sam McCallum - 6
Another, like Cooper, who it was nice to see back in action, and he had a pretty standard, solid Sam Mc game.
Joe Rothwell - 4
Per below.
Sydie Peck - 4
These feel like harsh ratings for the two in midfield, but I felt it was Birmingham’s midfield who had a better hold over the game. Both had good moments during the first 10 minutes, in which we started the brighter, but the progression from defence/midfield to attack was a weak point for me.
Romelle Donovan - 5
Didn’t have the required impact at the top end of the pitch, with 0 shots or chances created, but he dug in defensively when he had to, and I found that commendable for a 19 y/o loanee.
Callum O’Hare - 5
Struggled to impact the game off the left, and played a disappointing ball when he could’ve released a dangerous pass in behind, but then did find the correct pass when creating our biggest chance of the game, which Beadle denied Bamford from.
Tom Cannon - 3
Struggled to make it stick when receiving it up top, and was caught flat-footed in the box in the first half when a cross came into the near post. Not his day.
Patrick Bamford - 5
Had our two biggest chances of the game, but was also bested by Birmingham’s defenders when he had to play the role of focal point.
Average rating - 5.00
Ratings system:
0 – Reserved for anyone who has a wayward effort at goal smash me in the face, unlikely to ever happen.
1 – Worst of the worst. Saved for disastrous performances, with result-altering mistakes.
2 – A terrible performance. Performances where a player offers very little and has many unsuccessful actions, ultimately proving to be a major detriment to the team’s overall performance.
3 – A bad performance. Negative contribution. Like a 2, just a bit less rubbish.
4 – A below-average performance. Not necessarily having a negative impact on the game; it could just be a player who struggled to impact the game at all.
5 – The baseline rating. All players go into a game starting on a 5 — it’s bang average, given out for an unremarkable yet solid performance, for a postman delivering the post.
6 – A decent performance. A player who gets a 6 has positively contributed to the game, and at the very least has had some impressive moments while being generally solid outside of them.
7 – A good performance. Awarded for players who had a noticeable positive impact on the game.
8 – A very good performance. A player who made significant contributions to the outcome of the game with their performance and consistently displayed a high level throughout.
9 – An outstanding performance. To score as high as a 9, a player needs to be dominant throughout the match, performing at a level well above the standard and/or making multiple game-changing contributions.
10 – A perfect 10, unlikely to ever see the light of day as nobody has a flawless game. For me to even think about giving out a 10 it would probably have to be a player doing something historic or unheard of.