Player Ratings: Sheffield United 4-0 Stoke

Player Ratings from Riley following the biggest win of the season.

Riley Roberts

Michael Cooper - 5

Similar to large parts of last season where he didn’t have much of a job to do, with just the one save that was down the middle of the goal. An expected save.

Femi Seriki - 9

I’m just delighted for this lad at this point. A stunning goal and assist in a tremendous all around performance.

Mark McGuinness - 7

Dealt with all the defensive work he had to, including injuring his ankle in the process. Opened the scoring, and probably could’ve had a hattrick before his HT substitution such was our dominance from corners.

Japhet Tanganga - 8

A completely dominant display. Defended every ball into the channel with ease combining pace, strength, and wits to provide a superb defensive performance.

Sam McCallum - 7

Always a threat down the left, getting involved in a lot of our neat attacking play, but also very solid defensively up against a tricky winger in Manhoef.

Jairo Riedewald - 6

Felt fairly uninvolved in the game, but found a couple of nice passes when he needed to and never really put a foot wrong.

Sydie Peck - 5

Could be a contender for my harshest rating of the season, but I thought Peck was really sloppy on the ball with a couple of loose passes allowing Stoke to win possession in decent areas. I will say that his reaction/celebration to Tyler Bindon’s 2nd half block was a really nice moment that showed what kind of excellent character Sydie Peck is.

Andre Brooks - 7

Frustrated when he was unable to get on the scoresheet after Bamford’s cutback, but he didn’t need to score to have to get his positive contributions recognised, winning the penalty and also providing some good defensive support when needed.

Gustavo Hamer - 7

Had a couple of loose touches in the middle but also some brilliance in taking on 2 Stoke players in our own half, and then giving a masterful showcase on how to take a corner with just the 1 assist feeling underwhelming in the end.

Patrick Bamford - 8

Another very good performance as he got on the scoresheet for the 2nd time in 2 home games, but that wasn’t all. He was regularly involved in the attack linking the play well, and winning the corner for the 1st goal.

Tyrese Campbell - 5

Quiet, and mostly offside, Campbell has had better days, but salvages a 5 with an unbelievable little pass to Brooks right before the penalty was won.

Subs:

Tyler Bindon - 6

Coming on as an enforced HT sub, having not played a league game in a quarter of a year is hardly the ideal scenario, but Bindon can be really happy with that 45 mins as he made a superb block and generally didn’t look at all out of place in a side that is much improved from the one he was regularly starting in.

Average rating - 6.67

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.