Another nail in the coffin is Chris Wilder’s warning to the Sheffield United players following the team’s 5-0 loss to Aston Villa.
After Sheffield United’s 5-0 home loss to Aston Villa at Bramall Lane on Saturday, Chris Wilder has cautioned the players that they must take all constructive criticism to heart. The Blades’ relegation hopes were further dented by the most recent humiliation, which put them ten points outside of safety and further cemented their fate.
With a trip to fellow struggling side Luton Town coming up next, safety is still mathematically possible, but this evening revealed both the lack of faith and confidence in United’s players as well as their shortcomings on the field. Choruses of jeers rose from the terraces at the half-time and final whistles, and Wilder later apologized to the supporters, acknowledging that his team had “let them down”.
“When you play the game at that level, in front of 30-odd thousand, it can drain you,” stated Wilder. Both individually and as a team, it depletes you. The fastest players appear the slowest; every pass becomes extremely challenging to play and you appear slow. Everything is a response, not a prediction. I understand that some may say, “Oh, we didn’t touch them.” We were definitely not at our best when they went up 4-0 in the afternoon.
“I have to stand in that technical area as the manager, and I’ve stood there a lot of times while people have been singing our names. Everyone is ready and willing to say positive things about you when things are going well—I’ve said this a lot. It’s important to acknowledge that everything that comes your way is well-deserved on days like these.
“On the floor are the players. They are lying down. They’re not thinking about what they’re going to do later on or doing cartwheels or anything of the sort in there. And they won’t be traveling with me moving forward if I felt they were. It’s not easy to accept. People claim that you’re indifferent and
“And you have to accept that if that’s how it appears. However, since we’re on the ground, something must be done. We have a long, long week ahead of us, and as usual, I must make the correction. Whether I selected the appropriate personnel, tactics, or team. All those decisions, I have to ask myself. I wasn’t going to make things more difficult for myself when we went out at half past five by selecting the wrong formation, players I didn’t think were on the right team, or people who couldn’t carry out their jobs for us.
“I chose a football team that I thought had a chance to win. I didn’t see it coming, so I have to question all that stuff with my coaches. The players need to put their heads down and take their medication. I felt like I could go win a football game.”
