Norwich (H) 1-3
The first game of this Saturday-Tuesday double-header saw the Blades take on Norwich, in a game where one side had displayed a concerning level of performance but managed to pick up points, and the other had looked pretty decent while losing three of their first four. There was also an interesting subplot as Andre Brooks and Anis Ben Slimane returned to Bramall Lane.
Michael Cooper - 5
Might’ve conceded three goals, but I’m not sure there was much he could’ve done about them, truthfully, and he was overly exposed in a fragile defensive display.
Hamza Choudhury - 3
Was once again exploited at right-back, with Musaba taking him on with ease throughout the game.
Japhet Tanganga - 4
A poor display from the captain. His movement for Toure’s goal in particular saw him pick up a lot of criticism, and while I’m not sure he could’ve done much about the situation even if he’d played it perfectly, the optics weren’t good.
Liam Kitching - 5
An up-and-down game which saw a couple of frail moments, but also a desire to be ambitious with the ball at his feet, though those attempts were often unsuccessful.
Rhys Norrington-Davies - 5
Made a silly mistake which saw him booked right before he made way, but I actually thought he’d had a solid game up to that point, with Brooks the only man in the Norwich front line failing to get onto the scoresheet.
Jairo Riedewald - 3
A poor display, as Riedewald never seemed to get up to the tempo of the game, getting beaten to balls it felt he might’ve won last season.
Sydie Peck - 5
He came under a little fire for his performance, but I felt that was harsh. He was the midfielder most likely to make something happen in the game, especially in a first half where we looked pretty decent.
Romelle Donovan - 5
Didn’t come off for him going forward, but he continued to show an impressive work rate as he often got back when he had to.
Ben Brereton-Diaz - 5
Pretty quiet game really, but it was his pass that found Campbell for the equaliser, and was an example of the type of pass that will regularly lead to chances. A positive moment.
Tyrese Campbell - 5
Set up the opener, but didn’t really see much of the action.
Patrick Bamford - 5
Again struggled with most of his #9 duties, but did find an excellent finish for the equaliser.
Subs:
Kalvin Phillips - 4
I’ve liked Phillips thus far this season, but this display was sloppy, as he struggled to get control of the game.
Average rating - 4.5
Blackburn (A) 2-1
With all due respect to Blackburn, this was a great fixture to see in the calendar. Following a tough afternoon on Saturday, the last thing we needed was to face another top side, and a heavily depleted Blackburn side is about as comfy as it gets in the Championship, though no away day is too easy. The Blades started awfully, going 1-0 down, and would’ve been 2-0 down if not for an offside, before scoring with our first two shots of the game and seeing out a win in dogged fashion, even if Blackburn’s chances may have warranted a result in their favour.
Michael Cooper - 6
Beaten by a great finish for the first goal, but denied Cantwell early in the second half with a great stop.
Hamza Choudhury - 5
Was heading for another sub-standard performance after a terrible decision to play a ball into a marked Peck, which led to Blackburn’s opener, but he did also deny a certain goal with a clearance off the line after HT.
Japhet Tanganga - 6
Back to a good level of performance from the skipper, as he won most of what came his way and had to do a lot of defending in the box with United looking to see out the game.
Liam Kitching - 6
An equally solid display from the man alongside Tanganga. Another who was important in seeing out the three points.
Rhys Norrington-Davies - 4
Made way at HT in a sub I really liked, as Wilder, despite the scoreline, had clearly recognised there was an issue with our performance. I thought RND looked pretty uneasy when he was in possession in this one, with the odd loose touch among the lowlights.
Sam McCallum - 5
Didn’t have a superb time on the ball, but was another who chipped in defensively.
Joe Rothwell - 7
The best performer during his 58 minutes on the pitch, imo. Rothwell played a number of nice passes, and one of those led to Peck’s goal.
Sydie Peck - 7
Was dispossessed for the opener, though I took more issue with Choudhury’s decision to give it to Peck in that position than with him losing it. Rebounded in the best possible way by playing a huge hand (G+A) in both Blades’ goals.
Romelle Donovan - 5
Had some nice moments of ball control where he kept possession when others might’ve lost it, but ultimately didn’t impact the game too much.
Ben Brereton-Diaz - 5
I really didn’t like a lot of BBD’s early play, as he seemed to treat the ball a bit like a hot potato, but the defensive side of the game, which is still important for a forward, was there, and he helped out massively.
Tom Cannon - 7
Scored with a really nice finish and generally put in a pretty sound display at the top of the pitch.
Average rating - 5.73
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.