Player Ratings: Sheffield United 3-0 Birmingham City (H)
The Blades returned to winning ways with a sharp victory over Birmingham
Riley Roberts
Michael Cooper - 4
Might feel harsh, but he had little to do in terms of shot-stopping and looked uncomfortable on a few crosses.
Femi Seriki - 7
Had little luck when trying to cause damage at the top end of the pitch, but was always available for the ball, exceeding 100 touches and made a few big defensive interventions, one of which almost directly led to the Birmingham red card.
Japhet Tanganga - 8
Absolutely colossal - with a tackle on Demarai Gray halting a breakaway being the highlight of a classy performance.
Tyler Bindon - 8
Probably looked the most at ease he has in his short Blades career thus far and even found himself on the score sheet with a bullet header.
Sam McCallum - 6
A solid display in which he showed both his quality and work rate, despite having probably the least notable performance of the back four.
Jairo Riedewald - 7
A classic Riedewald performance, with little in the way of huge moments, but a consistent ability to be in the right place at the right time, making everything around him better.
Ollie Arblaster - 6
Started shakily with a couple of losses of possession in his own half, but soon shored up and found some quality passes as we dominated the game 11v10.
Tahith Chong - 5
Unspectacular. Had a couple of opportunities to pull the trigger, which he declined, but put in a generally solid performance.
Callum O’Hare - 7
Might not have been amongst the goals or assists, but worked mightily hard out of possession and played a couple of lovely backheel passes.
Gustavo Hamer - 8
Looked well up for it after a poor display last Friday. Played a scarcely believable ball with the outside of his right foot to Bamford, which just about summed up his day, with a goal and assist not even telling the full story.
Patrick Bamford - 6
Did very little in the game, truth be told, but took his chance instinctively when the moment arrived, and for that, he earns a positive mark.
Average rating - 6.55
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.