Sheffield United Coming Unstuck at the Worst Time as One-dimensional Trend Emerges | OneFootball

Another game, another frustrating night for Sheffield United. This time it was Millwall who dealt the Blades a body blow to their automatic promotion hopes as the Lions saw out a 1-0 win at Bramall Lane.

Millwall struck early in the 21st minute. Billy Mitchell cut through United’s defence far too easily with a sharp low pass. Casper De Norre showed real awareness, flicking it into the path of Josh Coburn, who rifled home his fifth of the season.

United, clearly rattled, almost responded immediately; Ben Brereton Diaz rose well to meet a brilliant Gustavo Hamer delivery from a free-kick, but Lukas Jensen denied him with a sharp save.

At the half, Chris Wilder tried to shake things up. Jesurun Rak-Sakyi came on for Brereton Diaz and nearly made an instant impact. He should’ve scored after getting on the end of a tidy ball from Harrison Burrows, but fluffed his lines from close range. That was the story of the night; half-chances, missed opportunities, and a lack of killer instinct.

Millwall, meanwhile, were disciplined and dangerous on the break. Coburn turned provider late on, playing in Mihailo Ivanovic, who was clean through but failed to beat Michael Cooper.

United’s final shot at salvation came, again, through Rak-Sakyi as a bouncing ball in the box fell to him but Millwall got a heroic block off to divert past the post.

Stats Suggest Sheffield United Are Running Out of Ideas?

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 24: Chris Wilder, Manager of Sheffield United, looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Leeds United FC at Bramall Lane on February 24, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

Sheffield United had 65% possession on Tuesday night, and the Blades launched 33 crosses into the box, mustering up a 19% crossing accuracy. Part of this is largely down to the fact that Millwall had the giant presence of Jake Cooper in the box to head everything away. So it begs the question: why continue to swing the ball into the box in the first place?

This was the fourth game this season where the Blades have had 65%, or more, of the ball. United have lost three of them. The outlier? A 3-0 win over Oxford United at home, a League One calibre side who just so happened to beat the Blades last weekend with the exact same tactics as Millwall.

The possession means absolutely nothing if we don’t know what to do with it, and for the majority of the season, United have only looked good when they can play combinations at speed and explode into gaps, which has not been allowed to happen in the last two games.

Once we concede, we lose our heads, evident by United’s record of winning just twice all season when conceding the first goal. Granted it is a small sample size, but nevertheless, the structure in attack disappears. The play becomes frantic. The crosses pile up because we’ve got no plan B. Outside of Gustavo Hamer, we lack a player that can play intricate passes, and the Blades lack penetration through the middle the majority of the time.

When the Blades just resort to throwing it in and hoping for the best, like Tuesday night and last Saturday, United often lose. There have only been four games this season where Sheffield United have registered over 25 crossing attempts, and to no real surprise, they’ve lost all four of them, and two of those have been within the past few days.

The issue I have is: we have been heavily reluctant to cross the ball for large parts of the season; United have only attempted 333 crosses all season, the lowest out of any team by far. Yet, we’ve now all of a sudden chosen to try and attack teams via this route?

Both Oxford and Millwall have set up in low blocks and waited for United to overcommit. Both have looked comfortable defending us and being dangerous on the counter.

Saturday’s trip to Plymouth Argyle looms. They’re bottom of the Championship, but you can guarantee they’ll follow the exact same blueprint as both Oxford and Millwall. Sit deep, absorb pressure, and wait for us to give the ball away in desperation.

All stats taken from FBref and Opta.