WBA 3-1 Sheffield United

live text replay



the only thing you wish after a match like this is that the baggies might register one or two more clean-sheets on the year. other than that it was a typical baggies win where the skillful, control and pass approach to football beat another uninspired exercise in negative footballing that the blades have become known for in recent years and are all too quick to adopt when things aren't working for them.

the real point of note in this match was the fact that roman bednar is definitely back at his best and proved it on the day by scoring on the half-hour to bring the score to 2-0, after graham dorrans had successfully converted a penalty in the 18th minute.

the blades never looked to be in this one and di matteo's 4-5-1 attacking formation that he has been using the last four games is chugging along and doing its job just fine. my only point of concern being that ishmael miller didn't seem as fit as he had appeared in the previous two or three outings, where similarly, he was brought on towards the end of the match in a measured move to get him back into playing nick.



the other thing that concerns me is the choice to play both koren and dorrans in orthodox attacking midfield roles. i'd like to see koren move into an more traditional striker's position in support of bednar as the target man. i can't help think that it would not only help with the game going forward, but it would be clearer as to who should be working back and mopping up with mulumbu and who should be focused on counter-attack opportunity. i still can't see why we haven't seen a 4-4-2 featuring bednar and cox. it's the only combination of strikers that the gaffer hasn't tried this year and it seems so painfully obvious.

this is the most important 3-points that the baggies have earned in weeks and puts the club within touching distance of reclaiming second place from nottingham forest in the table; and if the baggies can beat blackpool in the re-scheduled match to be played this coming wednesday that's exactly what they'll do.