Sheffield United 1-2 Plymouth Argyle (A)
A third consecutive defeat as all automatics hopes are dashed.
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 – 4
Beaten twice – not much else to say.
Harry Clarke – 5
Played a couple of decent forward passes but was sloppy defensively to get booked just before he came off. No strong feelings from me.
Anel Ahmedodzic – 5
Had a good 1st half where he was often in the right place at the right time, and I don’t think he’s to be blamed for either goal despite what some have said.
Jack Robinson – 3
Gave it away in dangerous areas more than once, lost out in a battle with Bundu before the corner for their 1st goal and I think should’ve cleared better for the 2nd. The pile on isn’t nice to see, but it was a poor performance.
Harrison Burrows – 5
Pretty average. Didn’t offer much threat around their box but not many did in truth.
Vini Souza – 6
An excellent tackle to spare Robinson’s blushes right before they scored. Referee clearly had something against him with the number of times he was adjudged to have fouled a Plymouth player when there was minimal contact.
Sydie Peck – 5
Fine. Sloppy at times but played an excellent ball out to Rak-Sakyi who really should’ve doubled the lead. Not buying that he meant to do the turn before he played said pass.
Jesurun Rak-Sakyi – 6
Was absolutely delighted when he scored as I’ve long stuck by him, but then gutted when he missed what should have made it 0-2 and possibly game over. Once again things seemed to come to him in and around the area often.
Callum O’Hare – 5
Reflects the quality and enjoyment levels of the game that I have very little to say about COH, either of the full-backs, Peck, and Cannon. O’Hare has had better days He’s also had worse.
Gustavo Hamer – 6
Not buying this narrative that he isn’t turning up. Set up the goal with a nice pass. Shows moments of quality but not helped by other factors.
Tom Cannon – 4
May as well not have been on the pitch. I think I’ve said that once before already.
Average rating – 4.91*
*(generous for how bad the game actually felt)
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.