Sheffield United lesson is clear after QPR draw as Chris Wilder looks to sharpen the Blades
The lesson Sheffield United should learn from their goalless draw with Queens Park Rangers is a simple one - sharpen up going forward.
Chris Wilder and his coaching team will pore over footage of the stalemate and fans will dissect well into the international break. The idea of doing so may even prove more appealing than watching England in dead rubbers.
Many will find themselves coming to a fairly simple conclusion - the Blades were nowhere near slick enough in attack. The hosts registered 20 shots, just three of which were on target.
Bramall Lane should be - and once was - a tough place to go. Bottom-half QPR were thoroughly unremarkable yet still went back to London with a point in the bag.
‘Not as frantic’
“There's no negativity in terms of our approach to try and win a game of football,” said Wilder. “We wanted to go and win a game of football, whether it was the first minute or the 94th or 95th minute.
“Hopefully, if we keep doing what we've done over the games, not shooting ourselves in the foot, being a bit more calmer, not as frantic, finding that quality that we think we've got, then, as I've always said, goals change atmospheres, outcomes, and everything feels a lot better.”
Making everything feel a lot better will take time. The reversal of progress since last season’s Wembley heartbreak has been soul-destroying for those involved with the club and the wires are still being untangled.
For now, fans will take pleasure in the simple things. That might be a 33-year-old Danny Ings busting a gut to press QPR defenders with the gusto of a spring chicken. It might be Femi Seriki snuffing out a potential QPR counter with a tackle-come-clearance reminiscent of Peter Kay in that John Smith’s advert.
“We understand what's gone off over the last three or four months,” Wilder said. “The fans will be as frustrated as I am in terms of the situation that we find ourselves in, but we are in this situation, and I thought they gave everything to try and help us get a win.”
Striking the balance
As the Blades surged forward, they had to remain wary of the speed QPR are blessed with on the break.
Out of possession, the Rs were happy to soak up pressure with men behind the ball, but it was a different story when they were in possession. Releasing the tricky customers they had out wide and up top - and doing so quickly - was a priority.
“The balance is always a tricky one,” said Wilder. “Especially when you play against a team that's mobile at the top of the pitch and that can counter pretty quickly, you over-commit, you get done.”
It was a game in which Sheffield United had a grip on some of the fundamentals, particularly defensively. That is not high praise but the bar has been lowered at Bramall Lane.
The next challenge they face is maintaining this newfound solidity - and managing to sharpen up their attack at the same time.
Tyrese Campbell’s puzzlingly poor form continued, while Ings huffed and puffed to no avail.
Callum O’Hare and Andre Brooks endured frustrating afternoons and it was the full-backs - Femi Seriki and Sam McCallum - who were the primary outlets.
Foundation laid
Had Sheffield United won, would many have been convinced a page had been turned? The Blades appeared to have done so last month, only to then suffer three straight defeats. Their first draw of the season extended the winless run to four games.
The international break presents a chance to regroup and reassess, but the Blades quite simply cannot go back to losing ways when club football resumes.
If they do, they may find themselves needing not just a January reshuffle but a miracle.
"There's not a blame culture here,” Wilder said. “We all understand where we are and the position we're in, and we're humble enough to accept it on every level. We've just got to dig in and do it together.
"We're nowhere near where I want it to be, of course, but we're working towards that, and the only thing you can do is work hard at your profession individually and as a team, and believe what you're doing is right and it's going in the right direction.”
Sheffield United: Cooper, Seriki, Tanganga, Mee (McGuinness 45), McCallum (Burrows 81); Peck, Riedewald (Davies 56); Brooks (Ogbene 68), O’Hare; Campbell (One 81), Ings.
Unused substitutes: Davies, Shackleton, Soumare, Cannon.
Queens Park Rangers: Hamer, Dunne, Cook, Mbengue (Morgan 78), Field; Varane, Madsen; Dembele (Vale 72), Burrell, Chair; Kone (Frey 78).
Unused substitutes: Nardi, Morrison, Esquerdinha, Jaudem. Saito, Smyth.
Referee: Lewis Smith (Lancashire)