Sharp shooter showing Wilder’s boys can fight
CHRIS WILDER hasn’t set a target for his Sheffield United players this season. He just wants them to have a steely edge and be competitive in every game.
They were the favourites for relegation before a ball had been kicked and they looked every bit the relegation contenders before Billy Sharp reminded everyone in the Premier League that his Blades should never be written off.
For it was Sharp, 33, the lifelong Blade that he is, who scored the equaliser that prevented Bournemouth from recording what seemed for a long time to be a simple win.
Sharp’s goal, a poked effort that deflected off Chris Mepham, who had earlier put Bournemouth ahead, was scrappy but the 1,264 Blades supporters went berserk.
A few even made it on to the pitch to try to mob their heroes. It was a similar scene to a few hours earlier when Wilder and his players were spotted by travelling fans.
‘They ambushed us on our walk through Bournemouth at around 11am this morning,’ Wilder said. ‘ They were trying to get some spare tickets off us. I’m delighted for them.’
The match wasn’t the spectacle t hat s o many expect f r om a Premier League fixture but it was a demonstration of what United can do under Wilder.
Their chances of beating the drop this season won’t have dramatically increased after this showing but a point is a point and, when they are often so hard to come by, this will be celebrated like a win.
Indeed, the Blades players walked over to their supporters at full-time to savour the moment.
‘I won’t be greedy but I think it was the right result,’ said Wilder.
‘We grew into the game. There’s always going to be apprehension in our play. None of our boys have played at this level.
‘When the bullets start flying on the first day, we just have to get on with it. I’m not surprised by the way the team came roaring back.’
A late collapse is not something Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe would have expected.
His Bournemouth side are built on his strong defensive foundations but here they showed that more fine tuning is required.
Howe said: ‘We didn’t play at our best, we are well aware of that.
‘We had the lead but couldn’t get over the line. Small details have cost us. We didn’t make the right decisions with our positioning and we paid the price.
‘ It was a really tight game. It wasn’t free- flowing from either team and I don’t think we played to our strengths enough.’
Let’s also not forget that Wilder’s team had the best defence in the Championship on their way to promotion last season.
There is, however, a concerning lack of depth in the squad despite making 10 signings over the summer which saw them break their transfer record four times.
The £ 17 million spent bringing striker Oli McBurnie from Swansea is likely to produce value for money over the season but he wasn’t risked from the beginning here. He came on in the second half for David McGoldrick but wasn’t able to get into many attacking positions as he was continually hauled back to defend set-pieces.
He was indeed key to clearing Ryan Fraser’s dangerous deliveries that peppered Dean Henderson’s penalty area. A strategy that would only work for so long.
Fraser’s ball from a free- kick after Enda Stevens had sent the Scottish playmaker to the ground would finally present Bournemouth with a chance to strike after failing countless times before.
Philip Billing, who seems a clever buy from relegated Huddersfield, rose to flick the ball on to Nathan Ake. His attempted overhead kick went as far as Callum Wilson but a brilliant reaction save by Henderson denied him. But Henderson wasn’t as fortunate a second later when Mepham put the ball past him from two yards out.
It was an illustration of Bournemouth’s persistence and United’s complacency at the back.
Three times they had chances to eliminate the threat only for them to find out the hard way.
A gritty response was needed and a gritty response they produced.
George Baldock went down the right and sent in a cross aimed at McBurnie. Somehow the striker fluffed his effort, kicking the ball against himself, only for it to bounce invitingly in front of 82ndminute substitute Sharp.
The prolific forward angled his body to make contact, got a left foot on the ball and directed it, via Mepham, past home goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.
BOURNEMOUTH (3-4-3): Ramsdale 6; Mepham 6.5, Cook 7, Ake 6.5; Smith 6.5, Lerma 7, Billing 7, Rico 6; King 6, C Wilson 6 (Solanke 90min), Fraser 7. Booked: Smith, Fraser. Subs (not used): Boruc, Surman, Ibe, Daniels, H Wilson, Simpson. SHEFFIELD UNITED (3-5-2): Henderson 7; Basham 6.5, Egan 6.5, O’Connell 6.5; Baldock 6, Lundstram 6.5 (Freeman 78), Norwood 6, Fleck 6.5, Stevens 6; McGoldrick 6 (McBurnie 63, 7), Robinson (Sharp 82). Booked: Fleck. Subs (not used): Moore, Jagielka, Osborn, Besic. Referee: K Friend (Leicestershire) 6.