Sheffield United May Be Forced Into Striker Change, But It Could Be For The Best – Opinion | OneFootball

On Wednesday evening, in a 3-1 win over Middlesbrough, Sheffield United served up arguably their best overall performance since the colossal Harry Souttar went down with a season-ending Achilles injury.

It was a performance that supporters had been crying out for for weeks, and to do against a playoff chasing team, Middlesbrough, makes it even better. The Blades limited Boro to a little over 1.2 expected goals, baring in mind that 0.78 of that will have come from the penalty spot, that is some going for a team that has looked shaky at the start of 2025.

Additionally, the Blades created a whopping five big chances, the highest tally in a single game all season, and the most since the 3-0 win over Oxford United back in late November.

Everything was an improvement from recent weeks on Wednesday night. The only negative aspect was the concerns over Tom Cannon, who was forced off at half-time and the striker was seen in a protective boot after the game. Wilder admitted in his post-match interviews that the £10m man has an ankle injury which will be further assessed this week.

Sheffield United to be Forced Into Striker Change With Cannon’s Injury?

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 12: Chris Wilder, manager of Sheffield United looks on prior to the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Middlesbrough FC at on February 12, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

Chris Wilder will likely be without his January signing at least for the next few games, which could pave the way for the return of Tyrese Campbell or Rhian Brewster to the starting eleven.

In truth, Cannon, for a £10 million signing, has not had the best of starts to his Sheffield United career. While he registered an assist against Derby County for the winning goal, you’re clutching at straws to name anything else he had done thus far.

In his four starts for United, he has registered a little under 18 touches per game and has averaged a 65% pass completion rate. Plus, he has only won five successful total duels out of 21 ground and aerial duels combined (less than 25% success rate). He has lost possession a total of 24 times, averaging six per game. This is a difficult one to measure because this metric could mean his passing is poor, or his hold up play is poor due to miscontrolling it, judging from what I’ve seen with my own eyes, I’d say it’s both.

Lastly, Cannon has shown that he likes to pull the trigger in a Blades shirt, averaging two shots a game. But, he has only hit the target once out of eight attempts – a shocking 12.5% shot accuracy.

In contrast, Tyrese Campbell has been excellent in all phases of play when he’s played. He has electric pace to stretch a defence, he is strong in duels, and has great vision and technical ability to link play and in front of goal he has been deadly.

The former Stoke City man has a 27% conversion rate in front of goal. That is third-best in the whole of the Championship when comparing players with at least 20 attempts, compared to Cannon’s 10% from open-play. While Cannon has created three more chances than Campbell (13 vs 10), it is worth noting that the former Leicester City man has played over 1200 minutes more than Campbell.

Lastly, Cannon is clearly flawed in terms of a physical/aerial battle, and his lack of poor hold-up and link play, and he doesn’t help with progressing the ball either. He receives a little over four progressive passes per game (40th percentile), compared to Campbell’s 6.49 per game (75th percentile), so his positioning and willingness to offer himself for a pass is questionable.

Another worrying thing to me is: believe it or not, Kieffer Moore actually has more progressive carries per 90 than Cannon. I’m not including Campbell or Brewster in this because both have played wide or in the ten this season, whereas Moore and Cannon’s role this season has been to lead the line as a natural number nine.

Tom Cannon Has Offered Little Since Joining the Blades

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – JANUARY 24: Thomas Cannon of Sheffield United reacts during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Hull City AFC at on January 24, 2025 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

A couple of weeks before we signed Tom Cannon, I wrote an article just before the New Year about January transfer targets, and this is what I had to say about Cannon:

What I said then, still stands true now, and it won’t change. Cannon is not a creative player. He’s not like a Tyrese Campbell type of striker or a David McGoldrick or an Iliman Ndiaye – forwards that can create space and opportunities for themselves and others. He is the opposite of what the Blades needed to splash £10 million on. This is not me saying he is a poor player by the way, I just think it is a totally wrong fit for both parties, which makes the signing, like I said weeks before he came, very questionable.

At the minute, I struggle to see what he brings to the team because, you can’t even say he has been starved of service which is why he’s not got on the scoresheet. On Wednesday night, Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Callum O’Hare combined brilliantly down the right, with O’Hare being released to the right byline, the goalkeeper and defenders rushed out to meet him as he played a perfect ball into the six-yard box, at the near post, for someone to tap home. Instead, Cannon was on his heels, failing to anticipate the ball across goal to open his account for the Blades. And if you look at that moment, Cannon was just standing still behind the two centre-backs.

Firstly, I’m just hoping that the injury to Tom Cannon isn’t too serious. But, secondly, I’m hoping a couple of weeks break allows him to watch footage of our play in the final third, so he can recognise passing and movement patterns, because through his first four appearances he has been nothing other than a number on the pitch.

All stats taken from FBref and Opta.