The Blades suffered defeat in the South Yorkshire derby yesterday evening by a goal from Ben Wiles in the first half.
Heckingbottom named an unchanged side from Saturday’s excellent 5-2 victory over Burnley. McAtee replaced Brooks on the bench.
The game started poorly, not much tempo to the game equated to not much quality either. Rotherham United’s game plan was clear from the off, be aggressive and try to throw the Blades off of their game plan, and it worked thoroughly.
United could not progress the ball into midfield for large parts, which subsequently meant that the likes of Ndiaye and Norwood couldn’t get on the ball to dictate attacks.
Rotherham had clearly done their homework and was a well-drilled unit. From dead-ball situations as well as open play.
The Blades wanted to play out from the back all game, but the Millers didn’t allow them to. They would set up to screen the pass into Ahmedhodzic, and Norwood, whilst they purposely allowed the free pass out to Robinson on every occasion.
They know that Robinson isn’t technically great, so, ultimately he would go direct rather than trying to push the ball into a crowded midfield area. This played into Rotherham’s hands because they won the majority of the first and/or second balls.
As a result, United never established any form of rhythm and they never developed a pattern of play that looked promising.
Sheffield United attempted 31 crosses against Rotherham, successfully completing 5. It was clear from the first 20 minutes of the game that they weren’t going to find much joy by lofted crosses into the box, but they continued to attack through that avenue.