Sheffield United head into the Championship’s latest round of fixtures later today keen to get back to winning ways and eager to ensure Burnley’s stay at the very summit is premature.
Indeed, the Blades fell to an unexpected 1-0 defeat at the weekend away at relegation-threatened Oxford United, with a Siriki Dembele strike for the U’s the difference between the two sides.
Now, it’s up to Chris Wilder to inspire his troops to a win back on home turf, with Scott Parker’s Clarets only one point ahead at the top.
Millwall will be a stern opponent in South Yorkshire, but the United boss will know if he can get the very best out of certain key individuals, a much-needed three points will be heading their way.
Best summer signings at Sheffield United
Wilder should be commended – regardless of what happens this season – with how quickly he’s got his team back believing in themselves, considering they dropped out of the Premier League bottom of the pile last campaign.
Of course, he was helped last summer by a whole host of positive new additions entering his camp, with the £2m signing of Michael Cooper in-between the sticks proving to be a particularly inspired pick-up.
The former Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper has settled in swimmingly to his fresh South Yorkshire environment, with Cooper conceding just 28 goals from 38 Championship encounters, leading to a high 19 clean sheets piling up.
Moreover, away from how few goals are being conceded, Tyrese Campbell – who entered the building last summer on a free transfer – is ensuring there are plenty of strikes hitting the back of the opposing nets, with the ex-Stoke City attacker boasting ten Championship goals.
Whilst Campbell and Cooper are both undoubtedly transfer success stories, the South Yorkshire outfit have fallen foul to some blunders in this department, with one high earner often in the treatment room instead of playing on the Bramall Lane pitch.
The "outstanding" United striker who could be axed
Wilder would have expected this signing to be a rip-roaring success, considering the striker in question’s glittering goal record in the EFL.
Before joining the Blades, Welsh talisman Kieffer Moore had tallied up 56 career goals in the Championship alongside 33 League One strikes, but his time with the promotion chasers to date has been bumpy.
Games played
23
Goals scored
5
Assists
0
Games missed through injury
17
Days missed through injury
82
Wage per week
£25k-per-week
Looking at the table above, it’s clear to see that the ex-Cardiff City striker’s stay at Bramall Lane has been severely disrupted by injury, with Moore out of action for both club and country this season for a bumper 17 clashes.
Annoyingly, the experienced EFL head has shown spurts of his obvious quality when injury-free – with his five goals this campaign even seeing Wilder herald the 6 foot 5 attacker as “outstanding” – but Moore’s long absences from the side still fail to justify his steep £25k-per-week pay packet.
The United number nine’s wage looks even more extortionate when you consider both Campbell and Cooper earn less at £15k-per-week and £17.5k-per-week respectively, despite being concrete parts of Wilder’s starting XI during these last few crunch months in the tricky league.
With Moore not getting any younger either, it could be time for the Blades manager to consider the Welshman’s long-term future, with the signing so far going down as a slight misfire, despite some promising early performances from the unlucky centre-forward.
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