PREMIER LEAGUE | TONY CASCARINO
july 26 2019, 5:00pm, the times
I’m biased as he is a mate, but Chris Wilder is a genius
tony cascarino
I doubt anyone predicting that Sheffield United will struggle in the Premier League this season has closely watched teams managed by Chris Wilder. The 51-year-old is an overachiever, someone who regularly defies the odds, who can operate in style on a low budget.
I was introduced to Wilder by John Still, the former Luton Town and Dagenham & Redbridge manager, who proudly called him a proper football person. That was five years ago when Wilder was manager of Northampton Town and I’ve been astonished by what he has achieved since. I will be rooting for Sheffield United to defy the bookmakers and survive in the Premier League. Yes, I am biased because I have got to know Wilder but I am biased also because he is so impressive.
He is a brick-wall manager. Players will run through one for him. Every team he has managed have that quality and they achieve miraculous results. He won the League Two title with Northampton and then took over at United and won the League One title while amassing 100 points. He finds a way to squeeze the most out of what he inherits. Mark Duffy, for example, can look world class yet he is a journeyman footballer who has flourished under Wilder. Billy Sharp keeps scoring for United, when he was assumed at 33 to be past his prime, thanks to Wilder’s attacking instincts and flexibility. Wilder is an inventive and adaptable coach. He will make his centre backs join the attack, alter formations.
United outclassed Derby County last season when managed by Frank Lampard but it is the former Chelsea midfielder who has been given the top job at Stamford Bridge. No one even considered Wilder for such a high-profile post. His record is extraordinary and really ought to cut through such snobbery.
Wilder knows he needs players that have the ability to surprise well-organised opposition, even if it is just to grab the one point that will be the difference between relegation and survival. This is why he has signed Ravel Morrison on a one-year deal. The former Manchester United midfielder is capable of moments of genius and Wilder has seen him in training do things no one else at the club can do and Wilder will back himself to give Morrison, 26, the opportunity to prove his many doubters wrong.
Wilder has bought Lys Mousset from Bournemouth for his speed so the team can counterattack when possible. United will be far less cavalier this season but Wilder will go for the jugular when he can. He likes to have options. You cannot pigeonhole Wilder’s managerial style other than the fact that he likes to have lots of options at centre forward, he wants strikers fighting for the shirt.
His team will get thrashed on occasion but they will also notch up some unlikely victories. He is the game’s great overachiever and I will cheer every point they earn from the coming campaign.
Some very nice things in there and of course, nothing new to us Blades.
However, even amongst the praise, there are some parts of that which still grate on me as a little research would go a long way...
"Squeeze the most out of what he inherits"
Of course, but isn't this part of his job as a manager? If you're going to spend £8m on a striker like Waghorn or £10m on Jordan Rhodes, aren't you going to make sure that they a) get the service to score goals and b) they're in the best condition to get them.
Over the years we've been lucky to have three managers (Bassett, Warnock and Wilder) that all did one thing above all else and that was to get their team to the fittest that they could possibly be. Under those three managers, we've been amongst the fittest team in the league, if not the fittest.
Under Wilder its easy to see the transformations in players like Billy, Freeman, Baldock, Lundstram, Stevens and JOC. They're leaner, more defined and fitter than when they arrived.
Wilder has a habit and knack of recruiting players that will run through brick walls, sure, but they do this for a reason, because they've been written off elsewhere - Egan, McG, Billy, Fleck, Bash, Coutts, Leon, Duffy.... I could go on. None of whom lack talent, they've been playing at lower levels or out of position.
Even Coutts and Freeman were transfer listed before proving themselves.
Wilder doesn't squeeze the most out, he gives a platform to showcase their talents, its a big difference.
"His team will get thrashed on occasion"
Ok so this is a normal statement for promoted teams, we had it in the Championship. However, Wilders record shows very few thrashings. Yes we've conceded goals, we've had bad days, but i can't think of many games where we can say that we've been thrashed. If any. We didn't get smashed by Wolves, Fulham, Norwich during their promotions. We perhaps can say that Cardiff and Boro away last season that we were off the pace and beaten more easily, but not thrashed. Defensively we've been strong.
Can we go to Man City or Liverpool and not get smashed? Yeah it will require us to be on our game, but i'd fancy us battling out for a point in a few games where people will have got us down for a smashing.
"United will be far less cavalier this season"
This is again true to a point, but why would we play gung-ho? We haven't in 3 years, there was a turning point after the Fulham 4-5 defeat two seasons back that we changed focus slightly to concede fewer goals and its paid off.
Under Wilder, how many games have we lost in a row? Very few, if any. We simply don't play in a cavalier fashion. We play to win. I can't see that changing much. We may play for a smash and grab like v Leeds away, but in that game we still attacked in numbers when the chances came.
We'll be patient in the Prem, not fearful.
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