Sheffield United find perfect hangover cure to last season’s play-off heartache

Sheffield United’s hangover cure following that bitter 2021-22 play-off denouement at the City Ground in May is stirring the soul instead. No prizes are handed out in late August of course, but testament to the character and quality of this group can be seen in their lofty league position.

Unitedites sang “We’re Sheffield United, we’re top of the league’ at various junctures of an intoxicating Saturday which saw their heroes usurp previous leaders in Blackburn in exhilarating fashion. Without Billy Sharp, without Morgan Gibbs-White.

Good players win games and squads take you all the way. Early days it may be, but should United keep this group of players together and avoid the perils of injury, they should be close to the front by the time the bell is rung for the last lap, given a fair wind.

Paul Heckingbottom spoke beforehand about the need for durability amid a relentless division when resources are severely tested in August when there is a bottleneck of fixtures.

He said it’s all about results and moulding relationships with new players. Fortunately, he has both.

Taking away the relegated sides from the Premier League, this game had an air of the ‘best of the rest’. United did not just comprehensively better their opponents, but outclassed them.

Strong contributions came across the board, with attention also drawn to what was largely kept in reserve for most of proceedings in the likes of James McAtee, Tommy Doyle and Rhian Brewster.

It was Iliman Ndiaye’s wonderful cameo – showcased by a magical third goal – which proved the show-stopper. But then there was also Sander Berge, Oli Norwood, Oli McBurnie, Reda Khadra. Several others too on a day when, as assistant-manager Stuart McCall correctly observed, it was genuinely hard to pick a man-of-the-match in a red and white jersey.

If there was one downer, it was the fact that McBurnie – without a league goal since December 2020 – spurned several glorious opportunities to end his goal drought in his first start since mid-April.

Boxing fan McBurnie – a big friend of unbeaten Leeds featherweight Jack Bateson – may be struggling to land a knock-out blow. Yet there is nothing wrong with his scorecard and he is being judged favourably.

The fact that he was given a standing ovation when he left the fray late on, on a day when his sheer bloody-minded persistence set up the game-breaking second goal and his hunger and work-rate was phenomenal, was the more pertinent development.

Manager Heckingbottom said: “That performance will have done the players who have come into the building the world of good. Whether they have got minutes on the pitch or not, they will have witnessed what we are talking about.

“He (McBurnie) will be gutted and not realise how pleased we are with him. He wants a goal. But there’s lots to him.

“He created so much and if you ask the Blackburn back four, they will not be wanting to play against him again. The supporters are with anyone who wants to be here and try and give everything.”

United were in the mood from the first whistle and the only surprise was that their total dominance in the first half yielded just one goal. But what a goal it was.

The Blades’ brains trust of Norwood, Berge and John Fleck procrastinated over a free-kick routine, before the former got out his nine-iron and struck gold, sweeping home a gorgeous free-kick. For a Burnley lad facing the Clarets’ arch-rivals, it was sweet.

Norwood commented: “It’s actually funny. I was saying to my mates, who are all Burnley fans, it is probably the one game you want us to win this year.

“It was the end of a great week. It was a real professional performance and the first half was as dominant as we have seen in recent times. It was really good.

“We just needed that second goal to make it more comfortable and then Iliman turns into Messi for the third one. Incredible.

“When the boy faces you up, you are in trouble and we just stood back and let him do his thing and it was pretty special. He’s an incredible talent, although we see it every day and it is no surprise to see him do it.”

As for the topic of league position, Norwood is not the sort to be caught out in August.

“We are experienced lads and have played a lot of games in this league and know how ruthless and relentless it is,” he added.

“It is far too early to even bother looking at the table. It is all about May, not now.”

Norwood is one of several savvy streetwise footballers in United’s ranks. They also possess a couple of street footballers in Ndiaye and Khadra, whose mercurial, off-the-cuff skills add lustre, devilment and unpredictability to any side. They possess qualities you simply cannot coach.

Khadra pestered former club Rovers all game and quietened the jeers from the visiting supporters on his full league debut.

The glory went to substitute Ndiaye, whose intrinsic skill in effortlessly ghosting past Harry Pickering and Daniel Ayala before bending in a brilliant shot will be remembered for a good while.

Earlier, Ndiaye had got the final touch to a Berge shot which was otherwise destined to go in. A three-goal margin was more a measure of United’s superiority, which began from the outset.

This time last year, United had just lost a home game to Huddersfield and were second from bottom. Times have changed and Bramall Lane is a place to strike fear again among visiting teams.