"Best of bad bunch" sums up Sheffield United player ratings as Blades shoot themselves in foot v Derby County
"Best of bad bunch" sums up Sheffield United player ratings as Blades shoot themselves in foot v Derby County
Sheffield United supporters suffered a familiar feeling of frustration as their side lost 3-1 at home to Derby County this afternoon. The Blades shot themselves in the foot for all three goals, as Carlton Morris bagged a hat-trick.
The first was a free header from a corner; the second an absolute gift as Sydie Peck’s backpass sent Morris clear on United’s goal just seconds into the second half. He sealed the matchball from the penalty spot after Alex Matos was adjudged to have handballed as he looked to shepherd the ball to safety, just moments after coming on to the pitch.
Callum O’Hare pulled one back to get United on the board but it was too little too late in terms of getting back into the game, as United remained in the bottom three ahead of Tuesday’s trip to league leaders Coventry City.
Here’s how we rated United’s players on the afternoon...
Michael Cooper 5
Apart from picking the ball out of his net three times Cooper didn’t have a great deal to do, apart from one smart save in the first half to deny his former teammate Brereton Diaz after he turned in acres of space and decided to try his luck from distance. Left horribly exposed by those in front of him for all three goals
Japhet Tanganga 4.5
Defensively he, like the rest of United’s defenders, struggled to match the physicality of Agyemang, the big American who was a constant threat to United all afternoon but didn’t get the goal his performance perhaps warranted from Derby’s perspective.
For his part Tanganga could, and probably should, have levelled the scores as the time ticked over the half-hour mark as he ghosted round the back and benefitted from a Mee block to meet Peck’s free-kick unmarked, but he could only plant his header straight at Zetterstrom from a slightly tight angle and the Derby ‘keeper gratefully held on.
The United skipper had another similar chance at the other end but was again denied by Zetterstrom and when he got forward he couldn’t find the quality United needed, sparking frustration amongst Unitedites with an overhit cross from a good position down the right.
Mark McGuinness 4
At 6ft 4in you’d expect the centre-half to win more than his fair share of duels and battles but he really struggled here against the physicality of Morris and Agyemang, the latter simply shrugging him off early in the second half before Ward fired over a golden chance for 3-0 and game over.
Made way for Matos as the Blades looked to try and shore themseves up a little but it won’t be an afternoon he remembers with any real fondness
Ben Mee 4.5
Even the experienced Mee didn’t look entirely comfortable dealing with Morris and Agyemang all afternoon. Booked later on after being adjudged to have prevented Zetterstrom launching the ball forward to start a counter-attack after a McCallum corner landed tamely in the Derby ‘keeper’s arms.
Sam McCallum 5
Came back into the side at left-back over Burrows and put a real shift in down the left flank, just not finding the quality that United needed. He did have United’s best chance before they got on the scoresheet when Ogbene’s chipped cross picked him out at the back post but he perhaps didn’t get the purchase on the header he would have wanted.
But Zetterstrom still had to do well to get across and block with his body. McCallum later made way for Burrows with 12 minutes left
Sydie Peck 3
Any positives from the young man in midfield were truly undone and forgotten with a nightmare moment just seconds into the second half when his misjudged pass sent Morris free on United’s goal to double Derby’s lead.
Earlier he hadn’t done enough to prevent Morris from heading Derby ahead from a routine corner, although it wasn’t immediately obvious if Peck was the man that Morris lost in the box before rising unmarked and nodding past a stranded Cooper
Djibril Soumare 6
Got the nod again in midfield over Riedewald after the Dutchman came in at Preston and to be fair to Soumare he was one of the better United performers, although that was a very low bar on the afternoon. To be relying on 21-year-old Peck and a player in his ninth game in English football, in such a key area, is a daming indictment of where United are at the minute. Made way for Davies as he made his return from injury.
Chieo Ogbene 7
Had a couple of opportunities to run at Forsyth early on and took them, including a lovely give-and-go with O’Hare before he saw a half-decent penalty shout turned down. Replays showed that the Derby defender had two hands in Ogbene’s back but the fact that the winger seemed to be off-balance already may have counted against him.
Took a pretty hefty-looking whack from a late challenge from Forsyth which earned him a deserved yellow card and left Ogbene feeling the after-effects for a while but he ended the first half by creating United’s best chance of it, picking out Campbell in the middle but he headed over.
Opinion is split on the Ipswich loanee’s contribution but for my money he was the best of a bad bunch here, having earlier won the free-kick from which Tanganga headed at Zetterstrom and then later picking out McCallum to test the Derby ‘keeper with another great cross, and O’Hare to force Zetterstrom into a smart save down to his right.
To have created four of the side’s best chances, apart from their goal, on an afternoon when not much else went right marks him out as a deserved joint star man with O’Hare, before he made way for Danny Ings with 12 to go
Callum O’Hare 7
Had a great opening just before the hour mark when Ogbene picked him out with an eye-of-the-needle pass inside the Derby box but O’Hare seemed in two minds whether to shoot or cross and when he did the latter, blasting it across goal, there was no-one in a position to get anywhere near it and the chance went begging.
But he kept plugging away and got on the scoresheet again with a consolation strike for the Blades, showing his trademark close control in tight areas to steer the ball wide of Sanderson and Clarke before finding the roof of the net.
He went close to doubling his tally soon after when he was picked out by Ogbene but Zetterstrom made a smart save down to his left to keep it at 1-3. Kept going right until the end and trying to get the Blades back into it, albeit in vain
Andre Brooks 4
Kept his place after scoring at Preston and if the challenge was to keep those levels, then it was one he didn’t reach here. Of the 10 outfield starters only Campbell had fewer touches of the ball and apart from a few moments when he picked the ball up deep and looked to run at the Derby defence, Brooks couldn’t get in the game before he made way for One
Tyrese Campbell 4
Had United’s best chance of the half right at the end of it as Ogbene’s cross picked him out in space between Derby’s centre-halves, but he planted his header into the Derby fans behind that goal as frustration began to grow around Bramall Lane.
That only increased in the second half as Derby took charge and Campbell remained on the periphery of the game, as highlighted by his 29 touches over the entire game. Of the United players who played the full hit, O’Hare had the second fewest with 63
Subs: Alex Matos
Talk about coming on and making an impact, albeit not the one he would have wanted. The former Chelsea man came on for McGuinness and lined up at right-back. He’d been on the field barely two minutes when he was penalised for handball, after falling on the ball after feeling a hand in the back from Agyemang.
Ref Salisbury didn’t feel it was enough for a foul and instead pointed to the spot, with Morris stepping up to convert and seal his hat-trick in front of a jubilant away end.
Also used: Ings, Burrows, Davies, One