History has a funny way of repeating itself with Sheffield United now failing to win promotion via the Championship playoffs despite reaching a grand 90-point total, much like their foes Leeds United before them.
However, there would be no chuckles at the full-time whistle when the Blades’ fate was confirmed, with Black Cats hotshot Tommy Watson the player to unfortunately stick the dagger in when scoring late on to gift Regis Le Bris’ men a dramatic 2-1 win.
The United players all stood around stunned as Watson wheeled away in celebration, considering the Blades had been leading the crunch game for all of 76 minutes, before Eliezer Mayenda initially began the triumphant Sunderland turnaround.
Now, it’s back to the drawing board for Chris Wilder and Co. after this staggering tenth playoff heartbreak, with a number of underperformers letting their passionate manager down and the expectant United masses watching on.
Sheffield United underperformers vs Sunderland
Of course, United will hope they can emulate Daniel Farke’s Whites further by going on to win the title next season.
But, in the here and now, it’s time to watch over the display and pinpoint what went wrong, with United’s wastefulness costing them dear when looking at the numbers.
Only Tyrese Campbell would be able to beat Anthony Patterson, but Wilder’s men would boast a heftier xG of 1.46 at the full-time whistle next to Sunderland’s 0.71, which highlights just how much their lack of a clinical edge was their undoing.
Rhian Brewster wouldn’t even register a single shot at Patterson’s net during his lacklustre 65-minute run-out, whilst Sydie Peck also looked out-of-sorts as a midfield battler – away from United’s stunted attacking might – when uncharacteristically losing out on three of his four ground duels.
But, away from those mentioned, there was one attacker who struggled in every aspect of his individual game at Wembley, meaning he could now be sold this summer as Wilder’s men attempt to quickly patch up their wounds.
The 6/10 United star who must never play again
During such a high-stakes affair, moments of madness can occur.
With the clock ticking over into extra time, Kieffer Moore unfortunately experienced one of those erratic instances as his miscued pass fell straight to the feet of Watson to hammer home a 95th-minute decider.
Ultimately, this moment would kindly hand Sunderland a path up to the Premier League, but Moore struggled throughout the game, away from just inexplicably setting up the Black Cats’ last-gasp winner.
Indeed, the towering Welshman would frustratingly fail to get on the scoresheet early on as one of his two efforts on the day was heroically saved by Patterson, on top of further displaying his rash approach on the ball across the full 90 minutes when he only completed nine accurate passes in total.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
37
Accurate passes
9/24 (38%)
Possession lost
20x
Shots
2
Big chances missed
1
Successful dribbles
0/1
Accurate crosses
0/1
Accurate long balls
0/1
Total duels won
12/22
To add insult to injury, the table above doesn’t make for pretty reading either, with Moore also squandering possession 20 times alongside failing to complete a single successful dribble during what was an extremely bad day at the office for the Welshman.
With only six goals scored across the entire season, it could be time now for United to reassess whether the 6/10 dud – as he was rated post-match by journalist Leon Wobschall – is the best possible option in the centre-forward areas moving forward or whether a fresh face up top is now needed.
On the evidence of Saturday’s display, it looks like his time could be up in a Blades shirt, ahead of the looming summer window.
Whatever does take place, it’s going to be a bumpy summer for all those with connections to Bramall Lane as another season in the unforgiving Championship is depressingly on the cards.
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