As bad as Ahmedhodzic: Wilder must axe Sheffield United dud who won 0 duels
da 888casino： Sheffield United’s automatic promotion dream is now over with Burnley and Leeds United confirmed as Premier League-bound on a disappointing Easter Monday for the Blades.
da leao： Earlier in the day, before United’s pivotal showdown with the Clarets, Leeds resoundingly thumped Stoke City 6-0 in the Championship, with Daniel Farke and Co then needing Chris Wilder’s men to slip up and lose to seal a return to the top-flight.
Their wish would come true to the dismay of the away side at Turf Moor, with their pain only intensified when you consider the hosts also clinched a dramatic passage back up to the top-flight when beating the visitors 2-1.
Anel Ahmedhodzic suffered from a rare off-day in Lancashire, with his clumsiness right before the half-time whistle gifting Josh Brownhill the decisive spot-kick that sent the Clarets up a league.
Ahmedhodzic's off-day at Turf Moor
Ultimately, United’s dismal run of four losses from their last five Championship outings has cost them the glory of automatic promotion, but the Bosnian brute certainly didn’t help matters when putting in a rare bad performance.
The number 15 was definitely fired up for the crunch contest, but it resulted in his overall game looking rash and hot-headed rather than focused, culminating in him clattering into Hannibal Mejbri to gift the home side a golden penalty.
Brownhill would calmly tuck away the opportunity to juxtapose Ahmedhodzic’s reckless approach, with the out-of-sorts 26-year-old going on to commit four fouls in total, on top of uncharacteristically winning just 33% of his duels.
Wilder will need his usually reliable colossus to be more switched on ahead of some huge playoff clashes to come, but whilst Ahmedhodzic did cost his team dear, there was one underperformer for the Blades who was just as bad as the defender in offering very little throughout.
The Blades dud who was just as bad as Ahmedhodzic
It was always going to be a tough ask for the Blades to get the better of a dogged Burnley side, considering the stern hosts have only shipped 15 strikes all season long.
Tom Cannon did manage to break his goalscoring duck at Turf Moor to raise a smile, but it was the efforts of Ben Brereton Diaz down the right wing that would have worried away spectators, irrespective of the ex-Leicester City man managing to salvage some personal pride.
Brereton Diaz’s performance in numbers
Stat
Ben Brereton Diaz
Minutes played
60
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
16
Shots on target
0
Accurate passes
5/9 (56%)
Total duels won
0/4
Stats by Sofascore
The numbers from the table above do make for some dire reading, with the Chilean only managing a meagre 15 touches of the ball from his forgettable 60-minute stint.
On top of that, Brereton Diaz also failed to register a single on-target effort at James Trafford’s formidable goal, alongside only managing to muster up a weak five passes of the ball that found their intended target.
Whilst Ahmedhodzic was notably poor, he did manage to at least win three of his duels during the contest, with Brereton Diaz then unsurprisingly hooked off by Wilder for Jesurun Rak-Sakyi to gain a run-out.
After all, Rak-Sakyi had at least bagged in United’s last away contest before this miserable outing to Lancashire, with his late efforts at Turf Moor seeing him conjure up one successful dribble among other promising moments.
If the Blades are to bounce back from this agonising promotion near-miss, Wilder could now have to axe Brereton Diaz from his forthcoming lineups, knowing full well that lethal displays are needed in the lottery of the playoffs.
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