Chris Wilder launches strong Sheffield United blast amid Leeds United change with Sir Alex Ferguson reference
Chris Wilder has launched a frightening Sheffield United blast amid Leeds United change in the Championship promotion race.
Blades boss Chris Wilder has no pulled punches in a very honest Sheffield United verdict amid new Leeds United landscape change in the Championship promotion race.
Wilder’s Blades dropped five points behind frontrunners Leeds in the Championship promotion race through Wednesday night’s 2-0 win at Coventry City for Daniel Farke’s sides.
The Blades, though, were left with a game in hand and Wilder’s men took three points from it as Saturday afternoon’s hosting of Portsmouth ended in a 2-1 victory for the Steel City side.
The triumph again changed the landscape at the top of the division as Sheffield United moved just two points behind Leeds in second place with 15 games left.
Wilder, though, launched a very honest and strong blast at his side over their performance against Pompey who Wilder felt should have been out of sight by half-time.
Slamming the “frightening” amount of free-kicks his men conceded, Wilder acknowledged that he was ultimately criticising his men when they had in fact won as he referenced Sir Alex Ferguson’s similar treatment of his Aberdeen players after their 1983 Scottish Cup final victory against Rangers.
Wilder said he wasn’t going quite that far but said to The Star: “I don’t think we deserved anything from the game. We were second best all over the park but it’s a cut-throat industry that we’re in.
"We’ll have a big review of the game, reflect and quickly get over it. I’m taking it back a little bit, and half the people who read your stuff won’t know about it.
"Sir Alex Ferguson when they won a cup final against Rangers and had a right pop at his players. I’m not quite to that extent and we haven’t won a cup but we need to be better.
"We should have been two or three down first half; we defended really poorly, individually and as a unit. If they were more clinical they’d have put us to bed.
“As I’ve said before, in a season there are 10 or 15 games you play really well. Some more when you play okay to well, and there are a handful where you think: ‘How have we got something from that game?’
“And I think that’s today. In the second half the amount of free-kicks we gave away was absolutely frightening. it was unrecognisable. Some of the decisions we made were baffling. I’ve been brought up to be honest and tell the truth, there have been spin managers all over the place, that look and see a completely different game.
“But the supporters wouldn’t enjoy me trying to spin that, so I won’t. We were second best, didn’t deserve anything from the game. And we have to be so much better going down the stretch if we want to achieve what we want to.”