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ricardo

Ricardo's report v Sheff Utd

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I've been slightly worried about this game all the week so I hoped it was a good sign when  Emi Buendia was announced fit to play on what was a very grey but mild afternoon at Carrow Road. We are getting to the nitty gritty part of the season now and my thinking was that although a win would be great, the biggest concern was make sure we didn't lose it.

City were very quickly on the front foot, winning a corner on the left which was headed clear to Hernandez who caught a sweet volley that Henderson had to go full length to his left to palm away for another corner. Then Godfrey headed down neatly into the danger area only for a Sheffield boot to reach it first and hack away.

It looked like being a full blooded encounter with both teams looking to get forward but it was the home side that looked the neater in possession. In the 11th minute came one of those moves that will live in the memory for a long time. Four or five City players were involved in the build up but it was the quick passing between Vrancic and Pukki and then on to Hernandez that caught the eye. Suddenly the tricky Cuban was clear of the defence and made no mistake slotting the ball past the advancing Henderson to give City the lead. Then in another fine move Buendia couldn't quite get the right connection to trouble the Sheffied keeper when set up by Pukki.

With the crowd now in full voice the home side continued to boss the opening quarter and it was past twenty minutes before a speculative shot from Dowell flew high and wide of Krul's goal. The Blades looked strong and crisp with their passing and seemed to come through their bad patch and started to look much more dangerous as the half wore on. There were a couple of half scrambles in the City area then an almighty one when the ball bobbed about dangerously before Trybull put his foot through it.

With half time approaching the home side appeared to regain the initiative and Buendia almost tricked his way in for a second goal but the door shut at the last minute at the expense of a corner. Then Stiepermann almost did the same thing but ran out of space after beating three defenders. It was almost as if City were trying to score the perfect goal again but it wasn't quite coming off.

Although the nerves jangled due to the odd sloppy pass, there seemed little danger when 3 minutes added was signaled and the ball well down in the Blades half of the field. All that was required was to see the half out for a job well done but somehow, as has happened several times this season, it wasn't to be.  It looked an obvious penalty from my end when Stevens was felled near the byeline  as he darted through and just as obvious that Sharp would score from the resultant spot kick. Oh dear, just the sort of momentum swing that was not required.

The visitors looked much more at it straight from the kick off for the second period. There was a header just over, then a free kick then a shot just wide as City struggled to come to terms with the visitors pressure. Eventually we got some forward movement although the visitors still looked the more likely as the game began to flow from end to end. Just before the hour mark and slightly against the run of play Pukki finally got sight of goal when he latched on to Aarons pass and struck a sweet cross shot that curled away from the keeper and into the top corner of the net to restore the lead.

Straight from the restart Krul made a fine save to deny Madine an equaliser but once again I didn't see it having deemed it the right time to nip down the stairs.😀 For a while I thought we would control the rest of the game but it was obvious to me that both Buendia and Stiepermann were beginning to look like they were running on empty. With the minutes ticking away and McGoldrick now on the Blades were pressing hard it was difficult not to see an equaliser coming. I was still crying out for substitutions when City were over run on the right and Sharp had the simple task to head in from six yards as Zimmerman got himself underneath a cross. All very simple, Sharp doesn't miss from there.

There was still no sign of subs as McGoldrick almost got through again but thankfully fluffed his effort. With three minutes left we finally got Cantwell and Rhodes for Stiepermann and Buendia and although there was a bit of huff and puff in the final seconds it never looked like it would be enough and to my mind it was far, far too late. I don't know if others would agree or why Farke delayed, but that change looked obvious on seventy five minutes at the latest.

In the end only a point but only those with yellow and green tinted glasses would think we were worth more than that. MoM Onel Hernandez

Edited by ricardo
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Fair report as usual Rickyyyyy. My MoM would be Stiepermann but like you say he was running on empty and the blow to his face seemed to knock the stuffing out of him. Emi tired after a high intensity performance and like you I was calling for fresh legs at 70 minutes, however it always seems disappointing when we’ve been ahead twice to only get a point but if the scoring sequence had been reversed we’d all be happy with a hard fought point I dare say.

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Totally agree Ricardo that the important thing today was not to lose and have been saying as much about this game and next week’s since before Christmas.

 

Whilst today was a great point, it’s disappinting to concede twice at home from a winning position, as it was against Derby.  I trust the Board see the same concerns and don’t try and be too clever, thinking we can middle through. 

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1 hour ago, ricardo said:

I've been slightly worried about this game all the week so I hoped it was a good sign when  Emi Buendia was announced fit to play on what was a very grey but mild afternoon at Carrow Road. We are getting to the nitty gritty part of the season now and my thinking was that although a win would be great, the biggest concern was make sure we didn't lose it.

City were very quickly on the front foot, winning a corner on the left which was headed clear to Hernandez who caught a sweet volley that Henderson had to go full length to his left to palm away for another corner. Then Godfrey headed down neatly into the danger area only for a Sheffield boot to reach it first and hack away.

It looked like being a full blooded encounter with both teams looking to get forward but it was the home side that looked the neater in possession. In the 11th minute came one of those moves that will live in the memory for a long time. Four or five City players were involved in the build up but it was the quick passing between Vrancic and Pukki and then on to Hernandez that caught the eye. Suddenly the tricky Cuban was clear of the defence and made no mistake slotting the ball past the advancing Henderson to give City the lead. Then in another fine move Buendia couldn't quite get the right connection to trouble the Sheffied keeper when set up by Pukki.

With the crowd now in full voice the home side continued to boss the opening quarter and it was past twenty minutes before a speculative shot from Dowell flew high and wide of Krul's goal. The Blades looked strong and crisp with their passing and seemed to come through their bad patch and started to look much more dangerous as the half wore on. There were a couple of half scrambles in the City area then an almighty one when the ball bobbed about dangerously before Trybull put his foot through it.

With half time approaching the home side appeared to regain the initiative and Buendia almost tricked his way in for a second goal but the door shut at the last minute at the expense of a corner. Then Stiepermann almost did the same thing but ran out of space after beating three defenders. It was almost as if City were trying to score the perfect goal again but it wasn't quite coming off.

Although the nerves jangled due to the odd sloppy pass, there seemed little danger when 3 minutes added was signaled and the ball well down in the Blades half of the field. All that was required was to see the half out for a job well done but somehow, as has happened several times this season, it wasn't to be.  It looked an obvious penalty from my end when Stevens was felled near the byeline  as he darted through and just as obvious that Sharp would score from the resultant spot kick. Oh dear, just the sort of momentum swing that was not required.

The visitors looked much more at it straight from the kick off for the second period. There was a header just over, then a free kick then a shot just wide as City struggled to come to terms with the visitors pressure. Eventually we got some forward movement although the visitors still looked the more likely as the game began to flow from end to end. Just before the hour mark and slightly against the run of play Pukki finally got sight of goal when he latched on to Aarons pass and struck a sweet cross shot that curled away from the keeper and into the top corner of the net to restore the lead.

Straight from the restart Krul made a fine save to deny Madine an equaliser but once again I didn't see it having deemed it the right time to nip down the stairs.😀 For a while I thought we would control the rest of the game but it was obvious to me that both Buendia and Stiepermann were beginning to look like they were running on empty. With the minutes ticking away and McGoldrick now on the Blades were pressing hard it was difficult not to see an equaliser coming. I was still crying out for substitutions when City were over run on the right and Sharp had the simple task to head in from six yards as Zimmerman got himself underneath a cross. All very simple, Sharp doesn't miss from there.

There was still no sign of subs as McGoldrick almost got through again but thankfully fluffed his effort. With three minutes left we finally got Cantwell and Rhodes for Stiepermann and Buendia and although there was a bit of huff and puff in the final seconds it never looked like it would be enough and to my mind it was far, far too late. I don't know if others would agree or why Farke delayed, but that change looked obvious on seventy five minutes at the latest.

In the end only a point but only those with yellow and green tinted glasses would think we were worth more than that. MoM Onel Hernandez

I agree with you Ricardo, 2 -1 up 15 mins to go and a number of players looking very tired he should have brought on fresh legs then, not giving them 5 mins to try and influence the game. Good news is we didn't lose and are still second.

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Mention for Trybull, my MOM

Seemed to be constantly involved in managing the game, on the ball, making tackles, passing and a good few interceptions as well. 

Alex will struggle to get his place back, good position to be in for the manager.

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I didn't like the way we tried to "game manage" from about the 30th minute. I'm also not sure what Krul was on today - his behaviour before the pen and particularly with time wasting at 2-1 up in the second half was just embarrassing. He really should concentrate more on trying to do his job - like claiming a bloody cross once in a while and helping out his centre backs by actually having some control over the 6 yard box.

I know I'm not supposed to dislike our players but I find it hard to do otherwise when he not only behaves like a **** but plays like one. He may well be our best goalkeeper but only because the other options are so poor.

If we don't keep clean sheets we will not go up - it really is that simple. All this nonsense people spout about scoring more goals than the opposition of course only works until you don't - like Forest, Derby and now Sheff Utd. We have conceded so many goals at home and yet Farke persists with the same defensive line up who make the same mistakes game after game. 

Going forward we are awesome - defensively we are a shambles.

Stieperman was MOM by an absolute mile today - how the sponsors could give it to Zimm when he completely lost Sharp for the second goal is beyond me - he must have been very embarrassed to accept the champers.

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Another great report Ricardo - always appreciate it.

 

Regarding Farke's late subs, I think that he is waiting to see what position we are in in the last 5-10 minutes before deciding how he can influence the game. For example, if we need a goal, then he can make attacking subs and change the formation to really go for it. If we are winning, he can make three separate subs to slow down the play and waste time. 

If you cast your mind back to the comebacks this season, Farke got huge praise for his tactical tweaks, formation changes and subs having an impact. 

Unfortunately today wasn't one of those days and, like you mentioned, it was clear to see that a few of those players were struggling and needed to be replaced.

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9 minutes ago, sgncfc said:

I didn't like the way we tried to "game manage" from about the 30th minute. I'm also not sure what Krul was on today - his behaviour before the pen and particularly with time wasting at 2-1 up in the second half was just embarrassing. He really should concentrate more on trying to do his job - like claiming a bloody cross once in a while and helping out his centre backs by actually having some control over the 6 yard box.

I know I'm not supposed to dislike our players but I find it hard to do otherwise when he not only behaves like a **** but plays like one. He may well be our best goalkeeper but only because the other options are so poor.

Can someone please reassure me this is not a serious post?

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That cross went an awfully long way before Sharp had a free header. Haven't seen the replay but could he have come for the cross?

Edited by Capt. Pants

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Spot on Ricardo, my thoughts exactly. If we don't go up, today ain't the reason. Sheff UTD squandered a big chance to catch us up

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I think sgncfc is spot on with his criticism of Tim Krul. He was way over the top with his silly antics re the penalty and why on earth  was he time wasting when we were drawing - both at 1-1 and 2-2. I recall he was booked over the penalty incident and he could have easily been sent off later in the game.  He should have come for the cross which Sharpe headed in. His big weakness is he hardly ever leaves his line. I am not particularly singling him out for criticism, but he had a poor game today.

As for the result,I thought United were much better than expected and deserved the draw. They closed us down in midfield very quickly and never gave our attacking players much freedom. Thought our younger players, who have performed superbly this season, looked very tired for the final 15 mins. It was a big match and understandably they were experiencing a lot of pressure. The subs should have been introduced much earlier, but the two great goals were worth the admission money. We are the best footballing side in the division but defence is not very compact and they are not comfortable with high crosses.

 

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Be careful everybody, we’re not allowed to criticise any City players. Especially Krul.

Fair report Ricardo. Thought Farke’s timing of the subs was near farcical today; a couple of our players were dying on their a rse on 70 minutes and surely it was logical to freshen it up?

Glad to have avoided defeat though.

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A joke of a goalkeeper and a head coach with farcical substitutions. 

Not looking forward to League One next season.

 

 

Oh wait.

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1 hour ago, Hucks6 said:

Thought the crowd were quiet today 

there was a nervousness about the game that turned out to be fully justified. I think we could all see how things would pan out, virtually from the time of the penalty equaliser. At no time in the second half did i feel we would win.

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42 minutes ago, hogesar said:

A joke of a goalkeeper and a head coach with farcical substitutions. 

Not looking forward to League One next season.

 

 

Oh wait.

So you don’t think we should’ve made subs earlier then?

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Krul has left his line, usually to good effect, more often than any keeper we've had recently, including JR and AG. And it's an interesting idea that TK needs lecturing about what to do when facing penalties. Clearly nobody told Van Gaal that, I mean when he brought TK on in place of Cillessen in the last moments of Extra Time in the 2014 World Cup specifically for the penalty shootout! 

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16 minutes ago, westcoastcanary said:

Krul has left his line, usually to good effect, more often than any keeper we've had recently, including JR and AG. And it's an interesting idea that TK needs lecturing about what to do when facing penalties. Clearly nobody told Van Gaal that, I mean when he brought TK on in place of Cillessen in the last moments of Extra Time in the 2014 World Cup specifically for the penalty shootout! 

Thank god.

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20 minutes ago, Hoola Han Solo said:

So you don’t think we should’ve made subs earlier then?

Well, actually, yes, I think so.

But you made a sarcastic comment regarding not being able to criticise and i didnt want to disappoint. :classic_biggrin:

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1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said:

That cross went an awfully long way before Sharp had a free header. Haven't seen the replay but could he have come for the cross?

Well clearly he could have come for it, but whether it would have been the correct thing to do given the direction of the cross and the positions of those in front of him is another matter. 

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3 hours ago, hogesar said:

Can someone please reassure me this is not a serious post?

Very serious. I don't rate Krul. At best he is a very average Championship keeper. Thought he was poor again today. 

Got nothing to do with finding scapegoats or not supporting the team - he's just not a very good goalkeeper.

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3 minutes ago, sgncfc said:

Very serious. I don't rate Krul. At best he is a very average Championship keeper. Thought he was poor again today. 

Got nothing to do with finding scapegoats or not supporting the team - he's just not a very good goalkeeper.

Very average, lol.

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Long time, no post (that is an understatement!) but just wanted to say cheers Ricardo for another cracking match repot. At the end of the day games like this are ones where losing is not an option. Whilst I am gutted we couldn’t hold on for 3 points we have almost seen out our toughest fixtures and still remain in a commanding position. If we can avoid defeat at Elland Road next week then an automatic spot is well within our grasp. 

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Up to Christmas we were so much a second half team that issues were never highlighted RE our game management, but in recent fixtures where we have come out of the blocks full force and got a good lead - we look a bit clueless as to what to do next. I personally think we are at our best attacking with a high tempo, but we seem reluctant to do this when we have a lead. We favour holding on to possession. I felt this several times in today's game where we could've broke forwards fairly easily but instead chose to cut back and play across the defence. If we were a good defensive unit then this would be more understandable but I don't see the approach we take as being natural or effective in any sense. Whilst many on here seemed happy with the second half in the Birmingham game, that was played at a snails pace, I thought we were asking for trouble and did not seem comfortable. It definitely feels like there is a mentality conflict when we are in a good position in a game where we do not seem willing to take risks - despite those risks being the reason we got in to that good position in the first place!

I think Farke will need to look at this going forwards. I also think he needs to be a bit more proactive with his substitutions - which seem to be either really good or really bad depending on the situation of the game. On one hand, when we are behind and need to make something happen (WBA away, Forest at home etc) he has been willing to roll the dice and change the game (going three at the back) exactly when we need to make that move. But on the other hand, in tight situations where we are in front narrowly, he doesn't change things until something goes wrong. It was painfully obvious today that we needed fresh legs, particularly after the Sheff Utd double sub, yet we continued and their equaliser could not have been more unsurprising. I don't want to criticise too much as things have been fantastic this season but this can easily be improved upon imo.

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7 hours ago, sgncfc said:

Very serious. I don't rate Krul. At best he is a very average Championship keeper. Thought he was poor again today. 

Got nothing to do with finding scapegoats or not supporting the team - he's just not a very good goalkeeper.

I mean I can accept someone not rating a player but your rant about his penalty 'antics' and not being able to like him because he 'acts like a ****' was ridiculously over the top, ignoring a few facts and certainly seemed on the scapegoat line..

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16 hours ago, ricardo said:

I've been slightly worried about this game all the week so I hoped it was a good sign when  Emi Buendia was announced fit to play on what was a very grey but mild afternoon at Carrow Road. We are getting to the nitty gritty part of the season now and my thinking was that although a win would be great, the biggest concern was make sure we didn't lose it.

City were very quickly on the front foot, winning a corner on the left which was headed clear to Hernandez who caught a sweet volley that Henderson had to go full length to his left to palm away for another corner. Then Godfrey headed down neatly into the danger area only for a Sheffield boot to reach it first and hack away.

It looked like being a full blooded encounter with both teams looking to get forward but it was the home side that looked the neater in possession. In the 11th minute came one of those moves that will live in the memory for a long time. Four or five City players were involved in the build up but it was the quick passing between Vrancic and Pukki and then on to Hernandez that caught the eye. Suddenly the tricky Cuban was clear of the defence and made no mistake slotting the ball past the advancing Henderson to give City the lead. Then in another fine move Buendia couldn't quite get the right connection to trouble the Sheffied keeper when set up by Pukki.

With the crowd now in full voice the home side continued to boss the opening quarter and it was past twenty minutes before a speculative shot from Dowell flew high and wide of Krul's goal. The Blades looked strong and crisp with their passing and seemed to come through their bad patch and started to look much more dangerous as the half wore on. There were a couple of half scrambles in the City area then an almighty one when the ball bobbed about dangerously before Trybull put his foot through it.

With half time approaching the home side appeared to regain the initiative and Buendia almost tricked his way in for a second goal but the door shut at the last minute at the expense of a corner. Then Stiepermann almost did the same thing but ran out of space after beating three defenders. It was almost as if City were trying to score the perfect goal again but it wasn't quite coming off.

Although the nerves jangled due to the odd sloppy pass, there seemed little danger when 3 minutes added was signaled and the ball well down in the Blades half of the field. All that was required was to see the half out for a job well done but somehow, as has happened several times this season, it wasn't to be.  It looked an obvious penalty from my end when Stevens was felled near the byeline  as he darted through and just as obvious that Sharp would score from the resultant spot kick. Oh dear, just the sort of momentum swing that was not required.

The visitors looked much more at it straight from the kick off for the second period. There was a header just over, then a free kick then a shot just wide as City struggled to come to terms with the visitors pressure. Eventually we got some forward movement although the visitors still looked the more likely as the game began to flow from end to end. Just before the hour mark and slightly against the run of play Pukki finally got sight of goal when he latched on to Aarons pass and struck a sweet cross shot that curled away from the keeper and into the top corner of the net to restore the lead.

Straight from the restart Krul made a fine save to deny Madine an equaliser but once again I didn't see it having deemed it the right time to nip down the stairs.😀 For a while I thought we would control the rest of the game but it was obvious to me that both Buendia and Stiepermann were beginning to look like they were running on empty. With the minutes ticking away and McGoldrick now on the Blades were pressing hard it was difficult not to see an equaliser coming. I was still crying out for substitutions when City were over run on the right and Sharp had the simple task to head in from six yards as Zimmerman got himself underneath a cross. All very simple, Sharp doesn't miss from there.

There was still no sign of subs as McGoldrick almost got through again but thankfully fluffed his effort. With three minutes left we finally got Cantwell and Rhodes for Stiepermann and Buendia and although there was a bit of huff and puff in the final seconds it never looked like it would be enough and to my mind it was far, far too late. I don't know if others would agree or why Farke delayed, but that change looked obvious on seventy five minutes at the latest.

In the end only a point but only those with yellow and green tinted glasses would think we were worth more than that. MoM Onel Hernandez

Thanks Ricardo. Once again you have captured the feel of the game. I thought some of our football was exquisite- and our two goals outstanding . I couldn’t understand why we tried to “manage” the game so early - it seemed to slow our tempo and suited the first half tactics of SU. 

We clearly cannot keep needing to score 3 goals to win at home though. And against Derby even that wasn’t enough! We look wide open at times - and the old cliched “second ball” was Seemingly always won by SU. 

A word on Kruls behaviour. We need to be more like this. We need to try and influence these moments. We had a ref yesterday who gave decisions based on falling to the floor - when a player hit the deck they got a foul - contrast this with Steiperman who tried to stay on his feet and got nothing . Krul did exactly the right thing. Get in the mind of the player and the ref . Make him re spot the ball . Stand big . Make some noise . And we need more players in the refs ear . On this subject I would offer the legend that is Holt - a master of it! 

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Thanks Ricardo.

Disappointing after we up twice, but as you say it was crucial not to lose. 

Agree with you GPB - it didn't work this time but Krul was exactly right to try to put doubt into the mind of Sharp. 

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