Interviewer 1: Adam [Oxley, BBC Radio Sheffield]
Saturday against Oxford was Wilder’s 141st win as Sheffield United manager, was it one of the most important? Of course. We couldn’t do it against Charlton so delighted to get it against Oxford on the back of a “big second half”. Reminded the players in the debrief on Sunday that this is the start, it’s a difficult division. Wilder was surprised how quickly the results turned from the end of last season, “hopefully the shirt will be a bit lighter” as a result of the weekend.
Ben Mee: a smart signing, experienced professional and that’s critical in a young group – third youngest in the division last season. Mee was in the conversation to start against Charlton but it wasn’t felt that he was quite ready. Wilder saw Jake Wright (working with the U16s at the academy) and the parallels were clear. Mee, Tom Davies and Danny Ings being back involved helps the group.
Tahith Chong has been for a scan on his knee. He felt it lock up in the warm-up which wasn’t ideal (understatement!) for the player, the team or Djibril Soumaré. No other injury concerns from the weekend beyond the usual bumps and bruises.
Wilder wants his team to run around, compete and play. We may be tagged as a physical team but it’s about competing and Wilder wants them to play football as well without tossing away possession. That was clear in the second half of the Oxford match and there’s more to come there.
Wilder’s not concerned about Southampton beyond recognising that they’ve got a strong team and bench. Lots of technical ability, expected to go straight back up so a big challenge for us on Tuesday.
The Championship has been a bit unpredictable this season although Wilder feels that there won’t be “two or three teams getting 90, 100 points”. “We split the season up; some games we’ll be good, some we’ll be OK, some we’ll be bang average and some we’ll be poor.” Ask everyone who left the ground on Saturday and they’ll be first and foremost happy with the result. Wilder is keen to give the home fans the same feeling as the away fans got at Oxford and is keen to recreate “fortress Bramall Lane”.
Bit of chat about Matt Fitzpatrick which I’ll not cover except to acknowledge the mental gymnastics to link Fitzpatrick’s performance in the Ryder Cup to our season so far.
Interviewer 2: Danny [Hall, Sheffield Star]
Physically, the team isn’t where it needs to be. We’ll get there, it’ll be gradual so as to not break the players. References to the players coming off the bench – Alex Matos and Sam McCallum namedropped – and the squad now being critical. A three match week makes it difficult to put the fitness work in but the medical and sport science staff will work on optimising the workloads.
Delighted in how "we defended our box" against Oxford, even when they put another striker on and launched the ball. Last season, Burnley overshadowed us but Wilder felt we were strong defensively too (my note: first half of last season definitely, second half more questionable).
The experienced players – namechecked Chieo Ogbene as well as the three above – are an example in how they approach everything: training, recovery, diet. They’re expected to set high standards, “carry the culture” and act as role models for the younger players. There was a good trip back from Oxford with some initiation songs sung. This included the coach driver, apparently.
Callum O’Hare now has the challenge to follow up his goal. A lot of teams were after him in the summer of 2024 and we’re delighted to have him; he covered 14km on Saturday and sometimes needs to be calmed down rather than expected to run more.
Tom Davies, like every other professional, doesn’t want to be injured. He’s a big player for us with his Everton experience and we hope that he can be an influential player this season. No concerns about his contract, Wilder just wants to get him back playing.
A lot of pressure has been on Sydie Peck’s shoulders given how exposed he was under Sellés. He’s not been at his best and has to accept some of the criticism; equally it has to be acknowledged that he was left high and dry by the tactics. He’s not at the heights of last season but he’ll get there.
