Sheffield United 0-1 Boro (A)
The Blades suffered their second defeat in as many games. Here's how Riley Roberts scores the latest performance against Middlesbrough.
These ratings will follow after every game of the Championship season, and they will — depending on your outlook — be harsh or too kind. Any 1-10 rating should make use of every number, and as Riley explains below, the ratings system starts at a 5 (when a player enters the field) and goes up or down depending on their contribution.
Riley Roberts
Michael Cooper – 7
Made some good saves. Our best performer no doubt.
Alfie Gilchrist – 5
Torn between a harsh 5 and a generous 6. He made that one truly exceptional block which surely saved a goal. However, he also made some very poor decisions and executions of passes. Struggled to read aerial balls too.
Harry Souttar – 6
Also made a good block while having some poor passes. Saw a lot of the ball.
Anel Ahmedhodzic – 7
An intelligent performance. Was in the right place at the right time a lot.
Sam McCallum – 4
Had some moments but not enough to make up for him getting skinned by Doak repeatedly.
Sydie Peck – 4
Started off quite well but as Boro grew, he struggled to keep up. Very hard place to go and play as a young lad but he showed his inexperience tonight.
Oliver Arblaster – 5
Didn’t have his best game but I think people are criticising him a tiny bit too heavily. Played some nice passes and had a lot more impact than Peck. Would be a 5.5 if I was that way inclined.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi – 6
Threatening. Gave Boro a lot to think about and unlucky not to have found the back of the net.
Callum O’Hare – 4
Just so ineffective again. Had a few little flashes but still no better than any other game.
Rhian Brewster – 5
Not really involved much but looked more like doing something than O’Hare or Moore. A very good piece of defending away from an assist.
Kieffer Moore – 4
May as well have not been on the pitch.
Average rating – 5.18
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.