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If there was some unease at Sheffield United about paying £ 18.5 million for a goalkeeper who had been allowed out for a fraction of that fee just three years earlier, that sentiment was offset by belief in Aaron Ramsdale’s capabilities. . The fear now, with Chris Wilder at the bottom of the Premier League table, is that they needed him to be much more than capable.
Ramsdale is still awaiting his first clean sheet of the season and scrutiny is starting to come after his role in the 4-1 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
The first goal conceded was a failed effort by Tammy Abraham that twisted past her outstretched right hand. The second was a cross from Hakim Ziyech that traveled a tremendously long in the air only for Ben Chilwell to launch into the Blades’ net from close range.
Tammy Abraham’s draw for Chelsea was beyond Ramsdale’s reach
“I think he could have done a little better on the first goal,” said Jamie Carragher. Sky sports. “Is [second] one seems to come a little and stop. I mean, it’s six feet from the line. The goalkeeper has to do much more. It has to be out there. It has to be dominant. It has to be a lot more dominant there, Ramsdale.
“He’s a young goalkeeper and it’s certainly not easy to get in after Henderson did so well last season. It couldn’t have been easy for him last season at Bournemouth as well. But the stakes are high, particularly in the situation where You will find Sheffield United. themselves in “.
Ben Chilwell passed the ball over Ramsdale to put Chelsea ahead
Dean Henderson. It’s the name that lurks in every Ramsdale move right now. In a sense, what came before is completely irrelevant. In another, he strikes at the heart of the problems Sheffield United faces as they seek to build on the impressive achievement at the end of the first half of last season, the best for the club in nearly three decades.
Ramsdale is not up to the standards of its predecessor.
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Henderson was excellent last season, making crucial saves and keeping his team in games. His natural confidence set the tone for a team that exuded a tough city mentality.
It is true that the defense against him was organized and there was a lot of praise for Wilder’s setup. But when those in front of him were beaten, Henderson often was not.
There was a left-handed stop from Bournemouth’s Philip Billing on the opening weekend. Abraham’s shot that he kept out low to his right, pulling him out of the way of Mason Mount against Chelsea. Close-range headers from Watford’s Craig Dawson and Wolves forward Raúl Jiménez. Spurs’ Lucas Moura’s long-range shot.
All those efforts were saved. All those drawn games.
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There was a save with Todd Cantwell’s fingertip and strong palm to avoid Ryan Fraser’s powerful blow. Granit Xhaka’s beam from a distance. Mario Lanzini’s free-kick for West Ham that hit the wall but not the goalkeeper. Perhaps most spectacular of all, was Mario Vrancic and Josip Drmic’s double stop to somehow deny Norwich.
Sheffield United won each of those matches by a single goal.
Eliminate those Henderson stops and that’s 15 points down.
If that’s overstating the point, the expected goals model provides some statistical information that allows us to understand the true significance of Henderson’s impact last season.
Based on the locations from which the shots were taken against him, the type of shots he faced and where in the goal they were taken, the average goalkeeper would have been expected to concede 41 goals from the shots they faced.
Instead, he let in just 33.
Sheffield United would still have had a good defensive record without this notable over-performance, but they wouldn’t have finished in the top half. Not when they were overtaken by relegated Bournemouth. Being so tight on the back was the basis of everything.
Ramsdale’s track record, according to this same expected goal model, is far from disastrous. He conceded 62 goals last season, but statistics suggest he was expected to concede 61 anyway based on shots faced. This season he has let in 14, but Sheffield United’s defense has been so porous that he was expected to concede 13.
He could have done better with Romain Saiss’ header for the Wolves in the opening weekend, and the same could be said for Ezri Konsa’s header who sneaked into the far post in the loss to Aston Villa.
And yet the statistics show that Ramsdale was not the problem. Wilder will know this and will demand a lot more from his team than they showed when conceding four against Chelsea.
The problem is that, apparently, he is not the answer either, the man who will save them if they suffer. All the evidence suggests that it is unlikely to reproduce Henderson’s heroics.
That means Sheffield United would always need to improve before him if they were to avoid a much more difficult season.
The first signs are not promising.
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