Post by deadbat on Mar 5, 2022 0:58:11 GMT
Podcast to come tomorrow. Report below….
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It was late heartbreak for United, as Forest scored in the 5th minute of stoppage time to deny the Blades the three points on a frantic night of action between two play-off contenders at Bramall Lane. In truth, despite how late the goal came, it was the least Forest deserved for being for the most part the better side in a game where a leggy home side beset with injuries to key defenders never really got going and for the third straight game hung in there more through grit, determination than any fluency or quality on the ball. United should have been behind after Forest missed a penalty and also hit the bar and had a number of other chances in a game where the Blades made error after error with the ball to gift possession back. However, against the run of play, Gibbs White’s magnificent cross and Sharp’s superb back stick header gave United the lead. The Blades improved after this and finally started to have some control of the game and had chances to double the lead but Forest remained dangerous and with a number of strikers on the pitch, won a late corner. From it, poor marking for the second week running saw Ryan Yates glance a header into the far corner to stun the home crowd. It was a well merited point but the manner of it was difficult to take.
United had to make changes again with Baldock not fit and young Seriki coming in for his league debut at right wing back. Fleck, Berge and Gibbs White came back in with Hourihane, Ndiaye and McBurnie being dropped to the bench as Heckingbottom continued to rotate his players with the number of games continuing at a pace. Forest made just one change with Jack Colback in for United loanee Max Lowe who was of course ineligible.
In front of a bumper crowd, Forest began on the front foot but most of their opportunities came from United’s mistakes. Egan was the first culprit with a give away and the dangerous Johnson cut in and took a shot that Foderingham had to push behind. From the corner, the ball came back in and Davis flicked his header wide. Egan and then Norwood gave it away as the poor start from United continued. Johnson, Davis and Spence were showing their power and pace and the home side could not keep the ball. Egan’s poor start continued with two further poor bad touches and the crowd started to become frustrated with the Blades basic mistakes which continued through Fleck and then Norrington Davies.
The visitors won a number of corners and were looking the sharper of the two sides by some distance. Sharp was caught offside twice as United could not really get the ball up the field. Forest won another corner and Worrall had an effort blocked and then Norrington Davies had to concede another as the pressure was ramped up.
However, from a break, the ball was played through from Gibbs White and Berge was able to run through and hit a fierce shot that Horvath pushed away. Forest were able to break away from the corner though and Davis was showing real power and pace and Davies and Robinson struggled to hold him up.
Zinckernagel was the next with a chance for the front foot Forest side and Foderingham had to make the save. Davis then flashed an effort wide. United just could not get going and Fleck’s sloppy touch saw the ball given away again. Gibbs White was trying to get on it but with little attacking threat down the sides, the ball was funnelled into the middle and Forest were dominating this area of the field.
From another corner, Seriki got away with a blatant shirt pull on Davis as he almost wrestled the shirt off his back and it seemed United had to use illegal means to get a grip of the powerful loanee. Berge was struggling to get into things and with Gibbs White’s flicks and tricks not really linking with others, it was the pacy Johnson and Spence that continued to be the threat the other way.
Indeed on 33 minutes, Spence got a one on one with Norrington Davjes and left him for dead with Fleck not able to support and as the wing back drifted across the box, the challenge from the Welsh defender was ill advised. Contact was perhaps minimal but there was enough for Spence to go down and after a fairly long wait, the referee pointed to the spot. Robinson booted the ball away in frustration and was booked.
After saving a penalty just over a week ago at the Lane, Foderingham would have felt confident but Johnson’s effort was woeful driven weakly down the middle and the new hero of the Lane, managed to make the save although had to parry it up and then gather on the second attempt, maybe he was shocked how bad the effort was!
The roars of the crowd seemed to galvanise United for a while and Gibbs White had an effort on goal but some strange refereeing decisions did not help their cause and after a brief spell where they got out, Forest continued to look the far better side. Zinckernagel had an effort blocked by Robinson before Davis once again forced them back with another impressive run.
Garner kicked the ball away after a foul on Berge and the half drifted to a close without further incident but Forest will be wondering quite how they had not led after dominating with possession and chances.
The second half saw Gibbs White win an early corner but this came to nothing before Davis again powered through from half way to win a corner at the other end. The striker than was felled by Davies as the referee judged the first foul and pull was from the on loan Blades defender and he was booked.
Forest won two more corners and from the second Cook’s powerful header flashed off the bar and United scrambled clear. It was another let off for the Blades. United had to try and change something and so made a double change and Osborn and Jebbison came on for Seriki and Norwood. Instantly Osborn made an interception and Jebbison was putting the defence under pressure as the Blades looked to find a footing in the game. Slowly, the home side started to see more of the ball and Berge in a deeper position began to finally see some of the ball but Gibbs White now was getting into little pockets of space. The game was more even at this stage but the opening goal still was unexpected as United had not really had a chance all game, aside from the Berge effort.
It came from Osborn down the right, who found Gibbs White and his clever stop and wait move saw him then deliver a gorgeous cross to the master marksman SHARP who peeled off his man and headed down and across the keeper and in off the post. A classic finish from the Blades legend who celebrated in front of the Kop.
Clearly fired up, the striker was then penalised for a foul soon after as the crowd were really now coming to life. Zinckernagel had another effort blocked by Robinson and then Davis again ran through before the Blades crowded him out. However, United were now much more of a threat the other way and after neat play, Gibbs White had a shot blocked before the ball ricocheted around off a defender following the rebound. Sharp then had a headed effort saved and Ben Davies could not follow up with a shot saved as finally it was the Blades looking the better side.
Surridge came on for McKenna and Mighten for Zinckernagel before Sharp departed after getting a whack with McBurnie on his place. Forest were now throwing men forward and United broke with a great chance but Jebbison made a total mess of the pass when two on one with Gibbs White over and clear. After this another silly free kick give away from Norrington Davies saw a chance for Forest but the free kick seemed to miss everyone with Foderingham going down injured. The referee adjudged there had been a touch and another corner but United cleared. Lolley came on for Colback as the game entered 5 minutes of stoppage time.
United could have sealed it as Jebbison was slipped in by Gibbs White but his shot was saved. Fleck won the corner soon after but McBurnie failed to keep it in the corner for more than a few seconds with needless foul and then compounded it by getting booked for kicking the ball away (arguable to the right spot where it should have been taken). The ball was knocked forward and Norrington Davies struggled to hold up Spence again and the corner was won. Garner swing it over and once again for the second week running, a completely free header comes in from YATES and it gave Foderingham no chance as it nestled into the corner. Cue wild celebrations at the visitors end of the ground as they had snatched a late, late draw.
The only remaining incident was McBurnie giving away another needless foul as he struggled again with the physical aspect of the game as a decent ball came in. The final whistle went soon and what had looked like a crucial three points saw the old habit of poor defending from set plays late in games come back to haunt United.
United – I have to say Hecky and United have been fantastic really both sides of Xmas and been on a great run. To go from where we were to now being in the mix is a remarkable ascension in results and performances. With the number of games and injuries to key men, we have done so well. However, I do feel we have looked weary and completely lacked fluency for a good period of games now. We have still picked up points but outside of the Swansea game, I feel against Huddersfield, Hull (to an extent although bad finishing), Blackburn, Millwall and today we have not had the level of control and play of games we had in that great run. We were not as good as everyone made out v Blackburn and you can argue they easily could have won that game (not helped by the red). We were poor on Saturday at Millwall with the squad rotation of course not helping as we were bereft of flair and our better technical players.
Tonight, I have to say I felt we were pretty woeful and with better finishing and maybe composure, Forest win that game by 2 or 3 clear goals. They had more possession, chances and had so many corners. Cooper was right in saying they by far the superior side. They are one of the better sides seen at the Lane but we did not help with cheap give aways from the start. Egan, Norwood, Fleck, Norrington Davies all guilty of awful passes/touches. We could have conceded two in the first two minutes. They looked up for it and had a number of young, fast and athletic players. We looked weak, small and slow sadly and maybe with the changes to the backline unbalanced. However, a lot will be made of players out but in reality, we are missing Baldock or Bogle and Bash. The others have been regular ish – Davies or Robinson, Egan and RND. Also, the front 5 might be our strongest in those areas currently. We just looked way off and you felt it was a matter of time before they scored as they dominated for an away side. We could not get up the field, they forced out wing backs into defensive areas and they just cleaned up the middle of the field.
For all that, they were given a big helping hand by us being so sloppy and ponderous in possession. Davis up top caused us all sorts of issues and then Spence too. The penalty might be a bit soft but there is contact and he is costing us weekly with stupid fouls, Norrington Davies. He struggles hugely with the defensive side and showed versus pace he is not a good defender and has to resort to fouling. Seriki found it really tough on the other side but our younger players were not helped by experienced players like Egan, Fleck and Norwood having awful games in the first half. The penalty save should have been the cue for us to get going but did not really happen and they continued to dominate. We had one Berge chance but they had maybe half a dozen. Even after the break they looked more threatening even if Gibbs White started to be a threat. They hit the corner and Davis was simply bulldozing through us with pace, power and skill. We had no answer for him all night as he helped them stay up the field.
We had to make changes and even though they were unusual, they at least gave us some energy and Osborn did well out of position. We scored a really good goal and then for 10 minutes player much better with a few other half chances and kept the ball well finally. Still, we never really had control of the game and they continued to cause issues and put loads of strikers on. Still Jebbison has two chances to finish the game and then Mcburnie has to just keep the ball for 30 seconds in the corner but meekly gets shoved off it and before you know it, they have another corner. Once again terrible marking and a late goal goes in (how many now have we conceded right at the death and from such basic defensive mistakes). I was annoyed but it was the least Forest deserved. We were second best most of the night save for a 15-minute spell after the goal. I am not sure I agree with Hecky that they had the first half and we had the second. The first half they were much better and the second was more even but they really deserved to win maybe 2 or 3-1 over the game. United looked very leggy and as I say whilst a lot will be made of the injuries and games, Forest also are missing key men too and have played a lot. I thought in a big game tonight we did not really do anywhere near enough and Forest had better individuals nearly to a man outside of some improvements from Gibbs White, Sharp and Osborn. Robinson had another steady game too.
They looked more powerful, quicker and overrun us at times. They did make poor decisions when in good areas but on another day, they score the penalty and the header goes in too. They also had countless other chances when they went through us too easily. In the end a point was a fortunate one even if the manner makes it feel like a loss. United have to dust themselves down but we need to somehow rediscover that level of play and control we had until the last few weeks. We seem to not look the same side we were and it is more on an effort type showing than any kind of control of the ball, possession and dictating games. I feel two sides Blackburn and Forest have actually come to the Lane and looked more likely to be the teams that push on and secure top 6 place based on how we have responded and yes, we got 4 points but we were actually second best in both games. We need to find a lift but I worry with the players like Sharp (age), MGW and Berge (fitness) being relied on that we may struggle to last the pace. We somehow need to get to the next break, stay in touch and hopefully get Baldock and maybe Basham back. We ended up with 4 left sided defenders on the field to end and it was really a bit of a patched-up end with who finished the game.
Tuesday night will be another lively night but a number of senior players need to improve after doing great for an excellent few months, I feel individually and collectively we have gone off the boil a bit, even if we have picked up some points. Norwood, Fleck, Egan and Berge need to have big games next Tuesday and be more careful with the ball and not be dictated to at our home ground. Gibbs White also needs to be at it from the start and not do it in patches. Maybe I am moaning too much and still should be glad we are in with a shout but do I get a sense the players don’t quite have the same belief they maybe had a month ago and perhaps it is down to just fatigue?
Ratings:
Foderingham 8/10 – Made a good early save and then a few other routine ones but then another penalty save. Love to see a keeper wait and take that chance as often players do go down the middle. He continued to take crosses although did flap and miss a few too so was not perfect tonight but he looked pretty commanding most of the game and seemed set to keep another clean sheet till the late anguish at the death. A real talisman for us at the moment and what an unexpected lift he has given us.
Seriki 4.5/10 – I may get hammered for such a low mark but thought it was a real struggled and he looked woefully out of his depth. Defensively they got past him routinely and he was rarely able to find a red and white shirt. Lucky to get away with a blatant penalty for a shirt pull. Over run it out a few times and his touch just bounced off him. Looked so nervous and in the end, they had to take him off. We improved massively when he went off with Osborn in there. A lot were saying why were Beerschot not playing him but maybe we saw why – he looks a long way off the level he was pitched in at tonight. Maybe needs to go out League Two next season and it is only one game but he did not take his chance tonight sadly and doubt we will see him the rest of the way even if we do play people out of position.
Norrington Davies 5/10 – He had improved last few weeks but did not have a good game at Millwall and his foul led to the goal. Tonight, he carried this on and he struggled from the off with poor touches and Spence running at him. Conceded possession and then when he got run at dangled a leg after getting run past. Sure, he may have gone down easy but there looked contact to me. No need to do it at all. He then started diving in a few times and seemed to lose his head and got away with a few things too. Second half he actually did a bit better and won a few tackles and interceptions to be fair but still struggled when faced up one v one and then towards the end he once again gave away another silly free kick and then corner and I may be wrong but seemed to be his man on the goal? I was quite pleased to see him come back in the summer but I have seen enough so far to realise he is not the answer any more than a hopelessly out of form Stevens. Osborn goes in there for me when Baldock is back.
Davies 6.5/10 – He began with a few loose touches and his inability to use his right foot came to the fore and often saw balls intercepted due to poor passes. He did settle down and made some decent interceptions but all the defence were careless to being with and first half we were constantly on the back foot. I thought with the rest of the team he did start to at least win some more battles but then got booked (harshly?) after a grapple with Davis. Towards the end though he seemed to use the ball well and made some decent interceptions and thought one of our better players second half.
Robinson 7/10 – Another decent game overall but he, like the rest of the defence, made some howlers too with short passes or dangerous balls across and got robbed. Still, he made some blocks, tackles and read it well and as the game went on, he became our best defender yet again. He has been really good in the recent run especially with so many changes around him. Never thought he would be one of our most consistent players.
Egan 4.5/10 – Had an absolutely appalling first half. The first 5 things he did were all telegraphed passes/touches straight to them and put them on the attack or almost in on goal on a couple of occasions. Looked like he had been in the pub before the game! He continued to struggle with the muscular Davis who ragged the whole defence around. Second half at least won some challenges and headers but we lost two or three key ones too and they could have scored with the one off the bar and then of course at the end we lose a basic header again – not saying it is him of course but two goals that have been basically balls in and free headers have cost us vital points. We did this earlier in the season and we saw it again tonight.
Norwood 5/10 – Error strewn all night. Give aways from the off with balls straight to them or loose touches. He never got control of the game and they pressed him causing him to go long. He did have a better spell just before the break and then was actually at least having some accuracy in his passing but he also wasted a short corner and several other crosses. They ran through us a lot too (that moment when Davis just swatted him aside like a fly as an example!) and in the end, he felt we may as well have some younger legs on and drop Berge back in to his position. We did improve actually after he went off.
Fleck 4.5/10 – Some woeful touched and passes from start to finish mixed in with one or two nice ones but for the most part he set them on the attack more than his own players! Just dribbles or comes into trouble and then we are running back. Looks so leggy and the dynamism we saw from him 2 or 3 years ago has gone for me. We see the odd burst but he is knackered after an hour and then he drags his man down or cannot run back. Rarely do we see those ling bursting runs we used to – once he ran through but was so slow, they got back and tackled him as he dithered. I do wonder if we will ever see the Fleck we used to as now it has almost been 2 seasons since he had any run or consistent stretch of form. He shows bits and pieces but has more ineffective games than good ones, even at a lower level. Today Forest bossed the game in this area save for a brief spell from the hour mark till maybe 80 minutes.
Berge 5.5/10 – Our best midfielder but that is by default really as he was mostly anonymous. He showed some neat touches and passes but has to do much more when we need him to be a big player. First half other than one run from deep and another he drove the right but then passed it out, we saw little. He seemed to be back to the Berge who was waiting for the game to come to him, rather than making things happen. Did not help Seriki out at all the other way. When he went central, he started to get stuck in, use it better and help us get some level of control after not having any really. Need much more in these big games though than a rather ordinary ambling performance for the most part.
Gibbs White 7/10 – Thought he had a really bad first hour of the game and everything he tried did not come off or he lost the ball but still looked the main chance of anything happening. Then he gets involved in the goal with a wonderful cross and comes to life with some good runs, dribbles, bits of skill and looks a constant threat for a spell. They started to get worried every time he got it and you felt he could make things happen. He was the only forward player where you thought might make us a chance even if he was nowhere near his best.
Sharp 7/10 – Thought first half he was poor and too involved in tussling and looking for fouls than playing the ball and caught offside too much but 2nd half he was much better. Held it up, ran the channels and got us up the field. Never gave them a minute and when Jebbison came on, at least had another willing runner too. He took his goal brilliantly and then started to want to fight everyone after this. Took a bad knock but was coming off anyway. Worked really hard and some of the other more senior players should look at his desire 2nd half and wonder if they could have done more?
Subs –
Osborn 7/10 – Thought he was really good when he came on. Defended well, made tackles and interceptions and helped shore up this side defensively even with it being the wrong side. He also looked neat and tidy going the other way and was able to link with others and help us finally keep the ball. One of our better players even in that brief spell.
Jebbison 5/10 – Bit of a headless chicken sadly. Ran around without really doing much at all but supposed he pressed which is something. He chased and harried but did not help us keep it sadly when it mattered. Had a golden chance with a 2 on 1 and made a complete mess of the pass. Then had a chance at the end but hit it too close to the keeper. Does better with either of these and we win the game. Also on the goal he seems to be marking no one and the ball comes over his head. Not the best of cameos and need a lot more quality.
McBurnie – As with above, we needed him to hold the ball and help us keep it up the pitch. He mainly fouled and argued. We got a corner and all he has to do is keep it down there for 30 seconds and he managed to weakly get outmuscled, give away a stupid foul and then argue about it (yes it was not in the right place but soon as you mess with the ball you get booked) and this led to the corner. Watching Forest’s main striker tonight, granted on loan, and you only dream of him having some of those strengths. Sharp will have to play a lot of games and be our main threat which will be hard on his legs after seeing those two tonight and what they contributed. Both looked like bambi on ice and did not offer any hold up or goal threat.
Manager :
Heckingbottom 5/10 – Maybe a harsh mark but we looked so slow to get out of the blocks and before you know it Forest have complete control and are dictating things. Not sure he changed things at all and the threats down the side were not nullified. They could have been out of sight before half time. He did eventually make changes and credit to him but this seemed more just let’s throw on some fresh legs and take the struggling Seriki out of things. Did work to be fair as we improved and we had some energy but then at the end I am not sure who we are designating to mark on corners currently but players are getting free headers (one that hit the bar seemed free too) to score. Basic stuff that needs addressing urgently as was happening a lot under Slav too. The mentality of the team at the end of games is still desperately weak. Good teams who are going for promotion see that game out -they manage situations but we had countless chances to do that but failed – it was not one moment.
Forest – Of course improved hugely under Cooper and surged up the table and doing well in the cup. Like us, is it down to the previous manager being so negative and not getting his ideas across or is their replacements just doing a really good job? Maybe it is a combination of both. They have looked good in the cup games I have seen and although are relying on loan players, look a side that could go on a run and make the top 6. They have a lot of energy, power and pace and in Johnson, Spence and Davis, there is real threats to any defence. The defence still seems a bit static and clumsy down the middle and feel with pace Cook/Worrall and McKenna can be got at. However, today they were very good, helped by our giveaways and so many being off the game. Should have led well before we scored but Johnson’s penalty was horrific. After we scored, they sort of lost their way and chucked loads of forwards on but actually United could have sealed it. They did of course get the late goal and certainly would have been really harsh if they had lost as for the most part, they looked the better side. United did have a makeshift defence somewhat but we also had our better forwards playing and they looked far more dangerous with the options they had, albeit Sharp still only needs that one chance. I do fancy them to get in as they have the momentum. We kind of had it but the games being postponed and injuries means we do not seem to have the same level of performance and fluency we had. I think on tonight they look a better bet to make the top 6 than us but that is only one game of course.
Opponent Man of the Match – Davis. Superb performance where he looked like the second coming of Ronaldo (fat old one) and Lukaku rolled into one. We could not hold him and he ran at us time and time again. He could not quite deliver the end product but everything good they had come from his hold up and powerful and skilled dribbles. Spence also was a real threat and won the penalty and got behind us a number of occasions.
Opponent Weak link – Johnson showed flashes but goes to ground too easy and of course took the poor penalty. I felt the back lines struggled at times and Colback particularly showed he is not really a full back. He was clearly the one who we got some joy out of 2nd half down that side.
Referee/Officials – Another less than impressive performance. The penalty was maybe right but he gave some odd decisions and for a spell it seemed like players could clout each other and then he was being fussy. Saw some say 5 minutes was a lot of stoppage time but Foderingham time wasted twice for me (goal kick and injury – if it was one) and there were also 6 subs. It was fair enough. Still, he was just a very strange ref who seemed to not have any consistency in terms of the level of contact. A few times players went down and he gave free kicks for nothing and then wild tackles were let go – for both teams.
Matchday/Crowd – Better atmosphere. Still think the United crowd could do more but at least there was some noise and it was bit fuller than it has been. Nice to see the support for Ukraine pre match from four sides of the Lane -good to see Kell Brook paraded pre match too. Surely Tuesday should not need any kind of motivation for supporters to really create a fair bit of noise.
