By Daryl Hornby (Sheffield United supporter)
Sheffield United 1-0 Shrewsbury Town – 18/08/2012
John Cofie made his English league debut for Sheffield United against newly promoted Shrewsbury Town, alongside new strike partner Nick Blackman. Unfortunately, he was quite ineffective in a game where United had more possession but the visitors had the much better chances. It was possibly nerves, but his first touch was a bit off compared to his pre-season appearances and he struggled to get involved in the game as he was outmuscled a few times by the strong Shrews’ centre half. He did have a good run in the first half where he looked dangerous, but he fired wide from a narrow angle when a square pass would have been the better option. Personally, I think he was too keen to try and impress on debut and it definitely effected his game. He was eventually substituted on 66 minutes.
Coventry City 1-1 Sheffield United – 21/08/2012
John Cofie was again starting alongside Nick Blackman for the Blades’ first away game of the season. Sadly, it was a similar story for the youngster as he struggled to link up with Blackman and wasn’t involved in the game as much as he would have liked. He had a couple of half chances in the first half, but both shots were blocked by Coventry defenders. He showed signs of his talent with a couple of good runs when he got the ball at his feet, but he failed to create a clear opportunity for himself and a ball played into the six yard box early in the first half was cleared. Other than that he was quite ineffective once again with another inexperienced striker alongside him. He worked extremely hard and harried the City defence, but I believe he’d benefit from a more experienced strike partner to support him on the offensive side of the game. He was subsituted again, in the 61st minute on this occassion, but he got a really good reception from the away support after a hard working performance even though it didn’t quite go his way. Both goals came after he was substituted, with Coventry taking the lead in the 62nd minute and Blackman levelling for the visitors on 83 minutes.
Colchester United 1-1 Sheffield United – 25/08/2012
Sheffield United named an unchanged side from Tuesday night, meaning Cofie was again partnering Nick Blackman up front for the Blades. The Manchester United man bagged his first competetive goal since his loan move in July with an absolute beauty from 30 yards out on 17 minutes. He initially had a shot blocked by a Colchester defender, but Michael Doyle worked the ball back to Cofie who unleashed a tremendous shot over the keeper to give Sheffield United a relatively early lead. Cofie was more involved than his previous two games, winning a couple of flick ons and causing the opposition problems with his pace. Unfortunately for him, he missed an absolute sitter to put the Blades 2-0 up as he put a shot over the bar from just five yards out in the 33rd minute. This seemed to rattle him a bit and his performance was affected, so he was alot quiter for the rest of the first half. He was quiet in the second half, and once again was subsituted but he got another 63 minutes of first team football under his belt. Colchester United equalised in the 72nd minute of the game.
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