Watford vs Sheffield Utd 11/28

Nah nah nah nah, I'm a Blade and I'm a Blade. And I live in the U.S. But now, through the wonders of Fox Soccer Channel and Setanta Sports ($11.99 a month on DirecTV -- http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=1100075) I can see most games. Not the Fulham game, cos who'd want to see that bottom of the table, early season snooze-fest? But many of the others. And given the fact I've no local pub, no nearby friends to bitch to, no chat to get involved in, I figured I'd start a blog to expunge my Blades thoughts... Here it begins.

Watford 0 Sheffield Utd 1
I may post a West Ham game blog (http://www.http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=199218&cc=5901), which would act as a prelude to this game, but in the interests of getting on with it... I'll get on with it.

New formation... Rob Hulse finally gets evidence he doesn't have a serious B.O./halitosis/headless chicken problem and gets immediate support from Nade. Why Nade? What does Warnock see in him? Pacy. Sure. Strong. Without a doubt. Knows where the goal is? There's a goal? Goalscoring instinct? Whassat?
Morgan partnering Davis in central defence, Jags moves to midfield. Well, it's more aggressive, for sure. So I'm going the player-by-player direction to give the analysis... if it works.

Kenny -- Hardly challenged. One save to make that he dealt with easily, a couple of crosses he met forcefully. Can only hope he has several other outings as quiet as this one. 6/10.

Kozluk -- Good for him. Another solid outing where the challenges thrown his way were dealt with effectively. Seems to have good instincts to make quality covering decisions, and ultimately will make a tough selection problem for Warnock when Davis, Kozluk, Bromby, Geary, Armstrong, etc. are all fit. Got a break when a let penalty call for handball went our way. 7/10.

Geary -- Did okay against a weak attack, and produced the best quality crosses of the entire game. Why isn't he delivering dead balls? Every cross he made when he went on the overlap was a pearler, yet Gillespie's delivery was appalling. A yard faster and six inches taller and he'd be an international. Without that, he struggles but battles for every ball. 7/10.

Davis -- On the slippery surface his pace should have kept the feeble Watford attack in check. Shown lapses of concentration in several previous games, but not against this lot. Twisted knee will hopefully not see him out for long. NA.

Morgan -- Honestly, equal to Watford's worthless attack. I saw Morgan as the Paul Stancliffe of this promotion... led the line with guts and passion, but was found a yard short of pace and quality just one game in to the First Division campaign. Morgan has been better than I thought. It would be handy if his pace and positional sense didn't force him to make desperation, perfectly timed challenges, but at least his desperation lunge is usually well-timed (Liverpool game notwithstanding, since he did fine and the penalty decision was comically bad). A kick in the head, that he received early, proves the notion that where there's no sense there's no feeling. He was excellent. 8/10.

Quinn -- When is he going to turn the wheels, the hustle, the bustle, the commitment into quality. Failed to deliver a pass or cross of any worth. Covered ground, but to no appreciable affect. Disappointing outing. 6/10.

Jagielka -- It's not the switch to midfield, it's clearly a Jags "thing" but he takes 20 minutes to realize he's playing, wake up, and get in the game. Half a step slow, half a pass short, was worthless in the opening minutes, but then seemed the only Blade capable of making a pass. Head and shoulders smarter or wiser than the rest of the 'tards around him, even if a pass didn't go right, it showed more inventive quick thinking than anything Leg... Legit... that chump could manage. Hopefully we'll see better. 7/10.

Leigeterwood -- Oh dear oh dear. Slow. Sluggish. Slow. Slower. His disinterest in his surroundings is matched only by that of Kazim-Richards, but KZ's is clearly through arrogance that he has talent, and Leigertwood's excuse is...? No idea. Only time we've ever seen life is when he has pushed forward. In the holding role, he's clumsy, and woefully inacurrate with his passing. If he's the best we have for that role... well, his Premiership career is not going to last long. 5/10.

Gillespie -- Possibly the worst dead ball delivery of any game this season. All it needed was quality and he was woeful. Jeez, how hard is it? Geary showed in two runs how to make telling crosses, and Gillespie husteld in defense, but was worthless in attack. Nade had him open on the right side early before he was brought down from behind, but never looked like influencing the game beyond that. 5/10.

Nade -- Looked exhausted after five minutes. Clearly dangerous against weaker defense with his pace and strength, but woefully short of class for the Premiership. If we can ship him to Leeds for half a million, it'd be a good deal. Headed against the post when at this level you have to make the keeper make a save; side-footed high, wide, and ugly with another clear chance; created openings squandered quickly at other times. And it's not just games, experience, practice -- it's clearly talent, and he'll flatter to impress with his work rate, and consistently disappoint with the end result. Seriously, Akinbyi would have had a better day. 5/10.

Hulse -- Impressed with Hulse every game... until this one. Struggled to get his footing, gave up weak free kicks often, hustled, bustled, and failed to achieve anything. He's led the solo line admireably to this point, so I'll give him this one, but has to be disappointed that he didn't make himself a chance against that back four. 5/10.

Subs:
Webber -- He was offside. Clearly. But he was there, and he scored. So that offsets his 10 minutes of headless running.

Bromby -- Solid. Against better Premier opponents he'll struggle, but at least his throw-ins and dead ball delivery make him valuable to have around.


That's the round-up. Good result. Lucky, but deserved, and Warnock should file this against the Liverpool game we didn't deserve to lose.

Up the Blades.