Sheffield United 1 Bristol City 4: Unbalanced Blades pay high price for being fun to play against
As a neutral it was fun to watch at times, but as an opposing team, Ruben Selles' Sheffield United were even more fun to play against in the Spaniard's first competitive game as manager. If you were a Blades fan, seeing your team beaten 4-1 at home to Bristol City was absolutely no fun whatsoever.
They had won their previous Bramall Lane game of last season, easing off the gas when they could easily have had more than 3-0. That was also against Bristol City.
A lot has changed since but when it comes to the Blades' squad, things have only got weaker.
With a lack of goals in their team and a relegation battle to fight, Selles' Hull City were grimly pragmatic at times. On his competitive debut, the Blades were anything but.
Unfortunately it backfired badly.
With their squad still not fully assembled, they went into the game with a midfield featuring Sydie Peck at its base – sometimes dropping between the centre-backs – and Gustavo Hamer and Callum O'Hare pushed on either side of them.
Djibril Soumare, only signed on the Monday to be the holding midfielder, was unused from the bench.
With left-sided centre-back Rhys Norrington-Davies encouraged to carry the ball forward at times and full-backs Harrison Burrows and Femi Seriki always seemingly at their happiest bombing forward, it was an attacking approach and the pros and cons were quickly laid bare.
But whilst the match statistics made it look as though they had played quite well, there was no question which carried more weight.
On the minus side Peck, not a natural holding midfielder, was swamped by a Robins side who played Scott Twine and Anis Mehmeti behind Emil Riis in the area he was bodyguarding.
In fairness, free-kick specialist Twine's first goal came from a dead ball after Hamer, tracking back, committed a foul in a very dangerous area. The curling delivery, five minutes in, left Michael Cooper flat-footed and helpless.
But their second goal, after Tyrese Campbell equalised, had everything to do with the freedom the inside-forwards were allowed. Mehmeti broke down the left on the counter-attack, and it was Twine who slipped the ball through to Ross McCrorie – up from right-back – to apply an excellent finishing touch.
At 1-0, Seriki had to close Twine down to stop him scoring his second after robbing Norrington-Davies.
When the Blades had the ball, which for the vast majority of the game they did, it was a joy to watch at times.
As well as playing some lovely passes, Hamer, and in the case of the equaliser, O'Hare, hungrily won the ball back high up. When he did, Hamer got it back to him to thread an excellent ball Campbell dispatched.
Hamer played two wonderful ones of his own soon afterwards, the first a reverse pass to the overlapping Seriki, the second from deep to Burrows. Both just ran out of grass.
Peck released Seriki with another, only for Adam Randell to put the pull-back behind for a corner – but very nearly an own goal.
Burrows had a shot saved after O'Hare robbed Jason Knight and Hamer played the pass, and Louie Barry forced a brilliant tip around the post by debutant Radek Vitek.
Barry had three more efforts to add to his team's 12 first-half shots to their visitors' three, but they still went into the break behind.
And straight after it, they subsided, Mehmeti peeling off Norrington-Davies to convert Riis' pull-back after just 39 seconds, and Twine deflecting a second in off Tyler Bindon to a backdrop of boos.
It was no great surprise to see Selles make a triple substitution before the hour but a big shock that all three changes were like-for-like positionally, leaving the same flaws exposed.
There were ironic cheers when Norrington-Davies was one of those replaced but the sale of Anel Ahmedhodzic and the end of Rob Holding's loan – he has joined Major League Soccer side Colorado Rapids – centre-back is just one area where the squad looks short, even for Tyler Bindon's loan.
O'Hare, Hamer and substitute Sam McCallum had efforts at goal, Jack Robinson hurled in one
of his trademark long throws, and Mark Sykes and Vitek heroically blocked efforts by Tom Cannon and Peck respectively.
But at no point was there any real belief a result could be rescued. The Robins were stll dangerous on the counter-attack, Riis' head in his hands after failing to score a fifth. Greedy.
Cooper denied Sinclair Armstrong from a stoppage-time counter-attack.
"Easy! Easy!” chanted the away fans at the full-time whistle.
The only good thing that could come of a sobering evening is if it persuades the Blades board to sign off their first transfer fee of the summer – artificial intelligence-identified obscure youngsters apart – and address the imbalances in this squad.
It clearly needs to happen.
Sheffield United: Cooper; Seriki (McCallum 74), Bindon, Norrington-Davies (Robinson 57), Burrows; Peck; O'Hare, Hamer; Brooks (Cannon 57), Campbell, Barry (One 57).
Unused substitutes: Davies, Soumare, Ukaki, Marsh, Sasnauskas.
Bristol City: Vitek; McCrorie, Tanner, Vyner, Atkinson Hirakawa (Sykes 74); Knight, Randell; Twine (Bell 70), Mehmeti; Riis (Armstrong 82).
Unused substitutes: Lumley, Knight-Lebel, Roberts, Yeboah, Cornick, Murphy
Referee: J Smith (Lincolnshire).