As I am sure many fellow Unitedites will agree, following the despair and misery of last season, this current campaign has been refreshing both on the eyes and in our minds. So far, the Blades are on course for promotion and are also the third highest goal scoring team in Europe, behind only Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid. The most obvious standout performer would have to be Ched Evans, bagging an astonishing 35 goals so far this season, the first United player to hit 30 since Deane and Agana got 30 apiece back in the 1988-89 season. However, it seems that the players who play arguably the most important roles are often those who receive the least acknowledgement and credit. This is why I have chosen this particular topic and would like to express my own thanks to them, our unsung heroes. First I'd like to say that I believe Michael Doyle has had an excellent campaign so far. He does a lot of hard work for the team which can often go unnoticed. He may not possess dazzling skills or blistering pace, but he most certainly has a fine work ethic and is a great team player. Clocking up 48 appearances to date, there is also no question mark placed over his general fitness. He also seems a model professional, he presents himself brilliantly on the pitch and has taken to being our captain since his appointment extremely well. Also, it seems that he can come up with the goal scoring goods too from time to time! One that will stick in my mind as one of the best hits this season is his stunning strike away at Rochdale, to make it 5-1 and seal the three points, but also scored a vital one against Leyton Orient last weekend. Item number two for today; Richard Cresswell. At the grand old age of 34, to still be starting regularly and competing with some of the best at this level is a whopping achievement on its own, but to get through the workload that he does as well is, in my eyes, just something else. Scoring only 9 goals in 47 games may not seem very impressive, but I believe that this statistic is a false representation of how big a role 'Cressy' has played in our promotion push. The amount of work off the ball, and sometimes on, that goes unseen is bewildering. He also comes across as very passionate and determined to succeed. I deem these types of players to be the ones which are needed in every dressing room, no matter how big the club. Barcelona have Puyol, Chelsea have Terry, LA Galaxy have Beckham, and so on... In addition to this, I see fit to mention fellow striker Chris Porter in the same vain. I consider him too to be unvoiced by many, but doing similar to Cresswell and getting through heavy assignments for the club's benefit regularly. Finally, I want to bring to light our goalkeeper, Steve Simonsen's contributions this season. Yes, he has made mistakes at times and has cost the club a couple of points through doing so, but he has also kept a clean sheet on no less than 14 occasions so far. I also think that he conducted himself in a high quality manner during his rough spell, receiving very harsh criticism from his own fans on the terraces cannot be easy, and a less professional player could easily have just 'lost his rag' and gone 'off the rails'. But since then, there aren't really any bad performances from him which spring to mind. Besides, I think it is definitely worth noticing that this 'bad spell' only persisted for a handful of games. With this being my first article for the site, I would like to encourage any feedback and also wish to mention that you can feel free to follow me on Twitter: @Callum0312
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