A turning point for the Toon?
As we sat down on the bus for our shortest away journey of the season to Sheffield United, a friend of mine remarked “I could have been in bed instead.”
After the heady trip of AC Milan away, this sentiment was present amongst a lot of supporters. Not only were some still knackered (and hungover) from that trip of a lifetime, but Sheffield felt like quite the comedown from Italy. By the end of the game, the mood had shifted.
Trips to Sheffield can be strange. My usual coach put seven buses on for Sheffield Wednesday in January because of train strikes. This time, we only had two; but supporters had a myriad of options of getting there. So please don’t believe the Twitter hype that nobody was there – the away end was packed.
We headed to the same social club in Brinsworth that we flooded in January; but with five fewer buses, the enormous working men’s club felt quiet in comparison. Not only was it considerably less packed, but the atmosphere felt slightly flat; were we really on a Milan comedown?
We needn’t have worried once we got to the ground because the concourse was bouncing. After queuing for 20 minutes for a beer, we bumped into a merry John Beresford who was getting in on the away day action.
The team selection was somewhat expected. We’ve come to expect Callum Wilson in Premier League games around the chaos of both Champions League and League Cup fixtures, and it’s welcome to see him start more often when the competition for forward positions is so fierce. It was good to initially see Barnes get some more game time too, but devastating to hear of his injury.
The first 20 minutes of the match were sticky and truthfully could have gone either way. A worry of not putting away chances rippled again. Until Sean Longstaff bagged a much-deserved goal. The away end went daft – and perhaps a few sighs of relief were let out.
Sheffield United still looked like they could get back into it in the next 10 minutes, but as soon as my guy Dan Burn put away a belting header, it was game over. The goals came thick and fast. The away end erupted with the same vigour every time. Barnes’ injury is gutting, but Anthony Gordon was by far and away our best player and pushed us forward from the moment he came on. I’m hoping he gets the opportunity to rest on Wednesday – but what a far cry from the player who admitted he was struggling with fitness last season!
It got to the point in the second half where all we could do was laugh, much in the same way as our five goals in 21 minutes against Spurs. What I really enjoyed is that the team never let up. After the fourth – or even arguably half-time – the lads could have very much eased their foot off the gas and conserved energy. But that clearly wasn’t the instruction from Howe.
I’m glad it wasn’t either. While I couldn’t see a scenario where Sheffield United pulled back from being three or four goals down, stranger things have happened – and in the recent pre-Howe past, we were notorious for sitting back and allowing ourselves to be punished from winning positions.
This result and performance was exactly what we needed. We’d had a fantastic week, with a hard-fought (but at times frustrating) win at home to Brentford and a hugely valuable and valiant point at the San Siro. But since the first day of the season, we’ve looked toothless. Promising attacks have resulted in nothing, easy chances haven’t been put away. The midfield looks barren at times, despite excellent individual performances from midfielders including Tonali and Bruno in individual games.
It felt like a result like this has been brewing for a little while. We fought for our lives at the San Siro and the priority was keeping a world-class attack at bay, while we looked lethargic going forward. The Brentford game was a frustrating one, but we were robbed of at least one goal in that. Brighton was simply a bad day at the office all around, and we were too lackadaisical against a ten-man Liverpool
It was only Sheffield United, some will say – which is disrespectful to the Blades. Nobody will remember it in 10 years, cry Liverpool supporters. But who cares? NUFC supporters certainly will.
We all expected to come back down to earth with a massive bang on Sunday, but instead we were treated to a record-breaking eight goal thriller. I can’t tell you how happy I am to have been at that game.
Let’s hope we can take this level of confidence into Manchester City on Wednesday!
