Journeyman. A set-piece specialist. A big-game player. These are largely endearing terms to denote a certain type of footballer that when used via short-hand precisely describes them to those who may not be overly familiar with their qualities.
Yet there remains a certain calibre of player out there who still doesn’t have a name despite being wholly deserving. And Sheffield United’s David McGoldrick is not only one of them but is unquestionably presently the best example around.
The trait is as follows: they are signed to principally do a job but they don’t do that job at all. Instead they do all of the other functions required from an elite performer and they do every single one of them better than anyone else.
In McGoldrick’s case that function was and is to score goals, what with being a striker and an international one to boot, and on signing for the Blades on a free from Ipswich in the summer of 2018 he fulfilled his duties admirably. In Sheffield United’s promotion campaign last season the 32-year-old scored 15 times in 45 appearances, chipping in with some crucial finishes. He was a constant threat up front. A goal-scoring threat.
Only then the goals dried up. In fact ever since a brace away to Hull back in April his touch inside the six yard box has turned positively arid, meaning the forward has gone 18 games without finding the back of the net with numerous gilt-edged chances being spurned along the way.
A drought then. All strikers endure them, and when they’re fortunate enough to be popular the fans stay with them and when they’re not the fans turn. There is nothing remarkable in this.
What is remarkable however is that the Bramall Lane faithful don’t particularly seem to care if McGoldrick continues to misfire – or more accurately they would absolutely love him to score but only for his own contentment – just so long as the player nicknamed Didzy persists in doing what he does for the team.
Which is an awful lot. Since August, United have delighted with their fearless approach and terrific football, making them the surprise high-flying package of the year, and so much of this is down to McGoldrick’s honest endeavour and brilliant link-up play.
He makes things happen. He makes them tick. He averages 3.5 successful aerial duels and perhaps most tellingly of all, 2 tackles per game.
Watch Sheffield United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below
And the regard doesn’t begin and end in the Steel City either. “He is similar to Roberto Firmino at Liverpool,” pundit Tony Cascarino said earlier this year. “Not in terms of his ability but in terms of his value to the team as a whole. The likes of Aubameyang could learn a lot from watching him play.” That value incidentally can be further illustrated by the fact that United have won only one of the five games he has missed through injury since August.
As for his manager Chris Wilder, he clearly adores his pivotal star as much as the paying public. “We don’t play like that if David’s not in the team,” he stated after a recent 2-0 win at the expense of Aston Villa, detailed in a glowing local write-up that sits beneath a headline describing the forward as ‘indispensable’. It’s a word that sums up his input to a tee.
Journeyman. A set-piece specialist. A big-game player. An indispensable. Does your team have a player such as the latter? United do, and his name is David McGoldrick.
