Are Sheffield United back? Three wins, one draw, one defeat after the international break, steadily climbing underlying numbers, and one of our best halves of football at 11v11 all season. The line-up may have raised a few eyebrows, but this looked like a side that actually had a clear idea of what it wanted to do with the football, limited the opponent to very little chance-wise and was ultimately rewarded with a very deserved three points.
Michael Cooper - 6
Had very little goalkeeping to do for most of the game, but he impressed me when coming for crosses and also had some brilliant distribution, with a quick ball in behind for Ayew leading to a chance being the clear highlight.
Hamza Choudhury - 5
Solid, steady showing for Hamza. Was never really tested too much by Wrexham’s left-hand side, but did his job fairly well.
Japhet Tanganga - 6
Played the ball into Ayew which led to the only goal of the game and, with Wrexham posing such little threat, both centre-halves’ games were characterised more by what they did with the ball than without it.
Liam Kitching - 5
Annoyingly picked up a fifth yellow card in just nine matches, meaning he’ll serve a one-game suspension, but he, like Tanganga, showed some good moments with the ball, with a couple of really nice line-breaking passes through the middle. Did, however, get skinned out on the left when he was indecisive about rushing into a challenge while already booked.
Harrison Burrows - 5
Involved in a lot of our good play in the final third. I actually thought at the time that Burrows hadn’t been great, with what seemed to me like a fair few sloppy moments in possession, but looking at the numbers, he only miscued three passes all night. I’ll never use data to change my ratings, but I can admit it suggests this one may be harsh.
Kalvin Phillips - 6
Another who had some very dodgy moments with the ball and was very fortunate that they didn’t potentially lead to more. Still, the game pretty much ran through him, so I suppose with such a high volume of touches, you’re bound to make some mistakes.
Sydie Peck - 6
An impressive performance from Peck, where he covered a load of ground and seemed to be in the right place at the right time more often than not.
Tahith Chong - 4
Was unable to really get anything going, as most of our play came down the other side.
Romelle Donovan - 6
Was dominant in the first half, with Wrexham’s defence left with no option but to resort to fouling him. His impact waned in the second half, but it was still a positive performance in what was a much-overdue return to the starting XI.
Ben Brereton-Diaz - 6
Got the all-important goal and looked to have more joy playing on the left side of a front two.
Jordan Ayew - 6
It was his shot which was initially saved that saw BBD with a tap-in, and he was generally impressive throughout, though he needed to get his shot away quicker when he was released by Cooper in the second half.
Average rating - 5.55
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.