No need for Sheffield United panic just yet - but Middlesbrough’s Cameron Archer shows Blades what could have been

Yes, Sheffield United were second-best for the vast majority of their crunch clash against Middlesbrough on Wednesday evening.

Yes, the visitors did look very, very good; by common consensus, the best away side to visit Bramall Lane this season.

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And yes, beating the Blades 3-1 will further renew their belief that they can claw back the now-seven-point gap between the sides and claim automatic promotion.

But some of the reaction to the result is surely a little over the top? A smattering of boos from the Kop at full-time, with thousands voting with their feet and leaving well before the end.

Social media outpourings of doom and gloom. Questioning the manager, decrying the tactics, abusing the players that have – despite everything going on behind the scenes at Bramall Lane – absolutely excelled so far this season.

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United, for clarity, are still seven points clear of Boro in the table. Their superior goal difference effectively can make that eight, and United still have a game in hand. Past experience has taught us to not take those for granted – the first League One season, anyone? – but is it really time to throw the baby out with the bathwater after one, albeit chastening, defeat?

For context United have now lost one in 14 games in all competitions and six all season in the league – second best to Burnley’s frankly-ridiculous two reverses so far.

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That isn’t to say that Unitedites aren’t right to have some concerns. Their side have not seemed to play with the same joie de vivre that oozed out of them earlier in the campaign and Iliman Ndiaye has not hit his early-season heights of late, either.

The two are very possibly linked, as teams target him with extra-special attention to avoid becoming his latest victims. In fairness to Ndiaye, and to his great credit in fact, he refuses to hide and always takes the ball and looks to create a moment of magic. Is he almost a victim of his own success? He has certainly set his own very high standards, and is now held to them every time he pulls on the red and white shirt. There will always be peaks and troughs with young players; and at 22, and a late starter to professional football, Ndiaye still fits that category. But you know what they say about form and class.

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The same applies for United, and their dressing room packed with characters, leaders and, let’s not forget, promotion-winners. For all the doom and gloom after Wednesday night, let’s not forget that 22 other teams in the league would swap places with Paul Heckingbottom’s men in an instant.

A penny for Heckingbottom’s thoughts when he looks at Boro’s enviable forward line, though. Chuba Akpom looks a man transformed this season, with 15 goals in his last 19 games, while Cameron Archer had two big chances and netted twice at Bramall Lane.

Seen by many Blades as the ideal replacement for Reda Khadra after his loan departure last month, United – hamstrung in the transfer market by their EFL embargo – watched him move to their rivals instead on loan from Aston Villa and must now hope it isn’t a loss that comes back to haunt them.

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