FAN’S VIEW: 24/25 – No.44: SHEFFIELD UNITED AT HOME

Post match mutual appreciation

OXFORD UNITED 1 SHEFFIELD UNITED 0

One post-match caller to Radio Oxford said he thought this was the best ever result we’ve had at the Kassam Stadium and he’s been going ever since we moved there. I know where he’s coming from with this statement. We’ve had all sorts of dramatic matches and experiences in OX4 in the 24 years we’ve been playing there but I don’t think there’s been anything quite like this.

Form suggested we’d get nothing from this game. The Blades were a Premier League side last season and arrived top of the table, in a tight contest for automatic promotion with Leeds and Burnley, having already won 12 times on their travels. We’d been looking at the fixtures trying to guess how many points we’d need to crawl over the survival line and then scratching our heads as to which opponents we had the best chance of picking them up against. This team from South Yorkshire were right at the bottom of the list.

We’ve got some fans who’d concluded before today that “we’re down” and I can see why they’d say that given the way we’ve been playing and lack of points we’ve collected recently. But like me they probably follow the team away too. On the road only Plymouth are worse than us. At home, as my son pointed out after the game, we’ve got quite a good record which he said beforehand led him to conclude that a draw wouldn’t have surprised him – and let’s not forget that Burnley didn’t beat us here. Just Leeds of the top three still to come.

I’ll admit this is something I’d largely overlooked. We’ve now picked up 77.8% of our points at home. We’ve won as many points on our own patch as Middlesbrough (5^th) and WBA (8^th) have on theirs and only one point less than Coventry (7^th). Just think where we might be if we were half decent when we’re out and about.

The journey in might have been crap because of an accident on the A34 but with the sun shining and us attacking from kick-off my positivity levels rose. I’d gone into the game with a nothing to lose attitude knowing that even though we’ve lacked a goal scoring forward line for some time our defence is good enough to ensure that we’re not going to get mullered. Having said that my worry was that they have a mistake in them, however well they’re playing and that can be so costly. On the day though no mistakes were made. The back line were superb.

This is the first time in 11 matches that the Blades have been shut out. Until this game my view has been that Elliott Moore is our best centre half and when fit should come straight back in. Now I wouldn’t change it. We’ve got to appreciate Ben Nelson in the six games left. He’ll most likely be playing for Leicester in the Championship next season and I only hope the team show as much passion and application in those games when he’ll be facing us as an opponent. Not counting any chickens though.

This was a physical game as one would expect from a Chris Wilder side. We’ve now got the players who can stand up to it and give as good as they get. That hasn’t always been the case. Step forward to receive your award for putting your body on the line Mr Ciaron Brown.

Hidde ter Avest also deserves a mention. He patiently bode his time and has now fitted smoothly in.

Even though we had that good start and played way better than we had done at the Riverside, at the end of the day the stats could be used to argue we were not deserving of the three points. But anyone who witnessed what went on will know it wasn’t quite like that.

We only had 26.5% possession and only 17 touches inside the Sheffield box. They had 37 inside ours. They had 15 shots to our nine but only one more on target than us (4-3) – Jamie Cumming again showed what a competent keeper he is saving each and every one of those efforts. The one he kept out by sticking out a leg in front of the East Stand was top stopping.

On the face of it the passing stats are damning. Sheffield 483 in total, Oxford 177. The number that were accurate: Sheffield 380, Oxford 97. Successful passes in the final third: Sheffield 93, Oxford 32.  Total long balls Oxford 63, Sheffield 58.

For all that though the visitors never really opened us up and were playing most of their football in front of us. Unlike some sides we’ve come up against they never found the space that made me think these guys are on a different level to us. Part of that comes from what the players in front of the back line contribute. That Cameron Brannagan was on the team sheet and lasted 87 minutes was likely a big factor. In his last three games we’ve won two at home 1-0 and got a 1-1 draw at Carrow Road. He’s missed two of the last five and they’ve both resulted in 2-1 away defeats.

There’s no doubt he’s influential. A player with the winning mentality. A bit of a way off his very best but that’s to be expected with the need for an injection or two and careful management of his injury and therefore minutes on the pitch. Quite likely he’ll miss some of the last six matches I would have thought.

One thing I couldn’t quite work out was our pressing at the top end of the pitch. It always looked like a futile task with our presser or pressers always being out-numbered by the opposition making it very easy for them to keep possession. A waste of energy from our guys? Mark Harris was running from one opponent to another and even if he had help from Ole Romeny or Shemmy Placheta Sheffield still had an extra player or two around.

Trends and tactics come and go in football. The stats published for general consumption now cover so many things but do not include throw-ins launched into the box. I can’t recall any players employing this tactic since Dave Challinor and Rory Delap and those two retired well over ten years ago – until this season. This method of attack is now much more common place and as far as we’re concerned our number one weapon. How many throws did Will Vaulks deliver into the heart of the Sheffield defence? I’d guess at double figures.

In the 38^th minute another one was thrown into the danger area. As was often the case, Ben Nelson got his head on the ball, flicking it high into the air once more. With so many bodies about it’s hard to tell for sure who got the next touch but I think it came from a white shirt. They weren’t comfortable with what they were facing. It’s quite chaotic. It’s a percentage game. Siriki Dembele nipped in front of Tyrese Campbell, controlled the ball and expertly side footed home.

When Dembele and Shemmy Placheta set off down the wing I wonder if their aim is to win a throw. In the latter’s case he usually goes so fast that no team mate keeps up with him so a throw is probably much the best outcome anyway. His striking of the ball when attempting to shoot though hasn’t been the best. In fact that is something the whole team needs to practice. I can’t remember the last time when I said “that’s a good shot”. We’re more likely to mishit it than get a clean connection.

Leading at half time and leading when the final whistle goes are two different things. I’ve been told we’re the second worst team in the Championship at letting points slip through our grasp from a winning position.

But we got over the line unscathed in this. Not only such a welcome three points but a clean sheet to boot. We’ve now played 21 home fixtures and the most common score our opponents have returned home with is NIL. That’s happened eight times. We’ve let in one on six occasions, two on four occasions and we’ve been breached three times twice. Leaving the outlier when Middlesbrough did us six times. Not that shabby at all.

With what Gary Rowett has at his disposal, the way he sees the game and how the team was set up we were never going to push for a second goal. If an opportunity came along then fine but the focus was on keeping the Blades out. Vaulks was still putting those long throws in but as the game wore on we were putting fewer bodies in the box to get on the end of anything that might drop kindly.

Unlike seven days earlier, this time the substitutions made were mostly effective. Alex Matos came on for Romeny. Our freshly capped Indonesian international who impressively scored in both games during the international break obviously has something about him but we’re yet to see that in an Oxford shirt. Be patient I’m telling myself. Matos did what was necessary and looked much less likely to fly in and give away free-kicks than he’s done previously.

In the 81^st minute Tyler Goodrham and Joe Bennett came on for Placheta and Dembele and six minutes later Harris and Brannagan were swapped for Tom Bradshaw and Idris El Mizouni.  

The importance of such changes cannot be over emphasised. On such alterations points are won and lost. Players have a job to do whether they’re on the pitch for 97 minutes or nine.

I was very disappointed in Goodrham and Bradshaw at Middlesbrough. Not so here. TG looked lively.  TB looked fitter and his experience showed in this cameo role. It was those two who worked well together and down the right fashioned a chance that should have led to a second goal in the 88^th minute. El Mizouni cocked up completely. He ended up with the ball at his feet just inside the penalty area with either time to take a touch and get a shot away or set up Matos to his left. As Goodrham’s pass was slightly behind him moving the ball on was the better option. The pass he made was half-hearted. He looked like he wasn’t concentrating and having just come on wasn’t attuned to the game. It wasn’t just that about him that got my anger going. Tracking back he looked like he was running through treacle. He’s got to be better than that. Sometimes these things happen – he is better than that. I don’t normally slag players off during a game but knowing that if they weren’t all bang on it for the entirety the chances of throwing points away was greatly increased, I declared the Tunisian to either be “sh*t” or “playing sh*t.” I know he’s not the former. By now the tension was absolutely unbearable so I was probably coming out with all sorts of gibberish. I couldn’t sit still. Fidgeting took over. I moved to the edge of my seat, literally. Half stood up and leant against the back of it. Stood up. Sat down again. All seater stadiums and enforced sitting down has never worked at football and can never work for me. I’m old so imagine how much moving about fans a quarter of my age would be doing.

I cannot remember the whole home crowd at the Kassam ever being behind the team in the way it was here. Noise from the North Stand. Noise from the East stand. Noise from the South Stand. All positive noise. Don’t anyone dare say there’s no passion in the SSU. The crowd feed off the team. The team feed off the crowd. Those in the stands helped those on the field of play get over the line.

For all this euphoria we’re still only four points above the drop zone. The task at hand is far from being completed but our beating of the Blades will have pissed off all the other teams below the Owls in the table.

As it stands reading up from the bottom with six to go:

23^rd Luton. They’ve picked up 11 points from the last six games but are still six points behind us and with an inferior goal difference. They drew with Leeds on Saturday. Not quite the feather in the cap it would have been earlier in the season. Leeds have started to falter a bit now. Pressure telling? Best relegation odds for the Hatters 8/13. They’re still to go to Stoke and Derby.

24^th Plymouth. They beat Norwich on Saturday but are eight points behind us. Seven points won in the last six games. Best relegations odds 1/9. They’re gone aren’t they? Every fixture is an interesting one. Both Sheffield United and Leeds are still to visit Home Park but seemingly now any team can beat any other team in this league. It’s what makes it so gripping, as does the fact that the jeopardy is so widespread with so many teams still with so much to do to ensure safety. Three won’t make it of course.

22^nd Cardiff. They’ve only got five points from the last six matches. They may be unbeaten in the last three but they’ve come up against teams on poor form: Blackburn, Sheffield Wed and QPR. We’re four points better off than them. Their relegation odds are 5/4.

21^st Derby. They put together a four game winning run but that came to an end on Saturday when they lost at Swansea. They’re still four points behind us but do have a better goal difference. Next up for them is Burnley and they have yet to face others battling the drop: Stoke, Hull, Luton and Pompey although I think some of it will be done and dusted before the fixtures take place. Their odds for going down are 6/5.

20^th Stoke. Bagged eight points from the last six games and look to be doing okay but of the games left all but one are against teams going for automatic promotion (Leeds and Sheffield United) or those really in the dog fight (Luton, Cardiff and Derby). Relegation odds 4/1.

19^th Hull. Eleven points from the last eight games and they’re within a point of us with a better goal difference. I’d be surprised if they went down but they do have the worst home record in the division and that’s reflected in their relegation odds of 16/1.

18^th The Mighty Yellows. If we were to get seven points from the final six games which is our current hit rate that would be enough. Our relegation odds are only 7/2. Not good value for money for a serious punter.

17^th Portsmouth. They’re on the same points as us and seem to have gone under the radar a bit recently when the relegation debate takes place. They’ve won two and lost four of their last six games but I think their remaining games are quite kind to them. Relegation odds 12/1.

16^th QPR. They’re on dreadful form only picking up two points in their last six games. Take nothing for granted of course but if we beat them on Wednesday we leapfrog them in the table. I don’t understand why a betting man can still get 25/1 on them going down. Their remaining games are challenging.

Swansea and PNE in 14^th and 15^th positions are only three points above us.

This is going to be some end to the season.

And finally a quick mention of the half time entertainment this Wednesday. Apparently the crossbar challenge has been thrown down to the following Oxford United walking footballers. Tim Brown, Simon Jaggs, Ken Wroe, Barry Coote and Marisa Corbett. Good luck boys and girls. Wonder what odds the bookies would give on this?