Blades helping to sharpen up young City duo
TOMMY Doyle is thriving on loan at Sheffield United, although his City team-mate James McAtee is ‘showing his inexperience’ so far this season.
The Blues’ academy duo are both spending the season in south Yorkshire with the Blades, and have helped them up to second in the Championship after 21 games.
Manager Paul Heckingbottom has used plenty of rotation, especially in midfield, but Doyle is emerging as a key player for him.
That follows a productive loan spell at Cardiff earlier this year for the 21-year-old, and he is reaping the benefits from his earlier Championship loan.
McAtee, however, is playing regular senior football for the first time, and his adaptation has taken longer.
Speaking to M.E.N. Sport, Nathan Hemmingham, Sheffield United reporter for YorkshireLive, has offered an insight into the progress of the City prospects.
“Doyle looks much further on than McAtee,” he said. “His loan at Cardiff in the Championship last season and his experiences in Hamburg have helped and he’s more comfortable in the team right now.
You see them at their best when they are both on the ball, certainly.
“Doyle has done very well. He got his opportunity when John Fleck suffered an injury against Blackburn and has grabbed it with both hands. He has impressed, so much so he has actually been missed in recent weeks when a calf injury has kept him out of the team. He looks after the ball really well and is a player with a very bright future in the game.”
Central to Doyle’s game is a wicked delivery from one-play or dead-ball situations, and Blades fans are getting to see that side of his game this season.
“We’ve certainly seen his delivery on the ball and technique,” Hemmingham said.
“He has produced some excellent crosses into the box, and come close to scoring from distance on a couple of occasions.
“One effort at Stoke stands out when he hit the bar from far out with a lovely curling strike. His first goal seems only a matter of time and the only criticism you can have is that he does not have more goals and assists to his name because the quality of some of his passing and deliveries certainly deserves that.
“He’s a complete midfielder, can play anywhere in the middle and be just as comfortable. “With Sander Berge out until after the World Cup and John Fleck still not at the stage of getting through 90 minutes there will be plenty of opportunities for him if he can shake off his calf problem soon.”
As for McAtee, the scouting report is more mixed, with the youngster struggling to keep a place in the team and he has been limited to cameos off the bench.
In his last appearance, though, the 20-year-old was introduced against Cardiff at half-time and changed the game to inspire a 1-0 win for his side.
“It’s his first loan and, given the fact he had only had a handful of sub appearances at City you could actually go as far as saying this is his
Doyle is a complete midfielder, can play anywhere in the middle and be just as comfortable
first proper taste of senior football,” Hemmingham explains.
“That shows at times in the Championship, a very physical and demanding league and off the ball in particular he has not been able to get to grips with that.
“He has shown glimpses. On the ball, when United can get him into advances and get him on the ball you can see his quality and the fact that he has been schooled at City.
“He delivered a lovely cross for Rhian Brewster from a tight angle to score against Stoke, then delivered the cross at Bristol City that led to Iliman Ndiaye scoring.
“His goal against Blackpool was pleasing with the way he gambled on a knock-down and made the secondman run to get in the box up in support and it paid off as he got on the end of Sharp’s header and slotted past the keeper.
“However, he has been hooked at half-time on two occasions when he has struggled to impose himself on the game and it’s passed him by.
“That tells you where his strengths and weaknesses lie. On the ball, he looks bright, off the ball, he’s not involved.
“United have used him as part of a midfield three with licence to get forward and get into space.
“He’s played in a number of varying roles in the middle, Paul Heckingbottom doesn’t have a set midfield three, sometimes it’s flat, sometimes it has a 10, sometimes it has a deep-lying one with two in front.
“But wherever he plays it’s with licence to try and pick up pockets of space and get on the ball and try and make something happen.”
Sheffield United are in the middle of a four-week break for the World Cup and resume their Championship promotion push at home to Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield on December 10.