BLADES: FROM DROP CERTS TO EUROPE-FULS
vBramall Lane: 3pm
CHRIS WILDER reckons Sheffield United are finally getting the credit they deserve for their fantastic first season back in the Premier League.
The Blades were written off as relegation certs after winning promotion last May to end an agonising 12-year exile from the top flight.
But they have confounded the critics by shooting into the top six and pushing hard for a place in the Europa League. They are a point ahead of Manchester
United and five points clear of
Arsenal.
And boss Wilder’s boys have gathered some highprofile fans along the way with their imaginative style of play that sees Chris Basham and Jack O’Connell deployed as overlapping centre-backs.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola (above, with Wilder), Tottenham chief Jose Mourinho, and Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp are all huge admirers of the Wilder way.
Klopp even admitted: “I didn’t know Chris before we played his team, but now I follow Sheffield United. When you look at where they have come from, it’s a wonderful story. I have so much admiration for them.”
Wilder (clashing with Andrew Surman of Bournemouth, top), is proud of the plaudits thrown his side’s way, even if they are coming late in the day.
He said: “We couldn’t do anything about what people thought about us at the start of the season, but I’m really pleased to receive opinions on us now.
“I’d rather they talk about us positively because of the performances we are putting in and the results we are achieving.
“We have done fantastically well as a newly-promoted team, picking up 39 points with 12 games still to go. But we are not resting on our laurels, and I want us to look up and reel in the teams above us. The Premier League is a tough division, and we were favourites to go down. But we’ve gone for it and been consistent in our approach. Now we’ve got to see if we can improve even more in what are a dozen huge games we’ve got left. If ever a group deserved backing it’s this one.”
Blades midfielder Ollie Norwood insists the Bramall Lane stars won’t be patting themselves on the back just yet.
The former Northern Ireland international said: “There is still a long way to go with 12 games left and, even though we’ve earned everybody’s respect and they all know what we are about and what to expect, who knows what can happen? We have put ourselves in a great position, but no-one is settling for that – and the manager wouldn’t let us.”