Chris Wilder rues lack of Sheffield United rhythm and issues Ryan One update
· Tom Coates · 2026-08-15T20:00:04+00:00 · nguồn gốc
Chris Wilder rues lack of Sheffield United rhythm in Birmingham City draw and issues Ryan One update
Chris Wilder has delivered his verdict on Sheffield United’s goalless draw with Birmingham City
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder was left to rue a lack of attacking rhythm after his side’s goalless draw with Birmingham City.
The Blades kicked off their Championship campaign in unspectacular fashion, struggling to get going in the final third against the Blues.
Wilder felt Sheffield United never found their flow, but was pleased by their defensive resilience having seen his side cave on too many occasions last season.
Chris Wilder delivers verdict
He said: “I believe it's a game that we would have possibly lost last season. It was a game played in their half and our half really, from them playing in our half and us playing in their half, so it was always going to be a game of moments.
“We knew the change of approach since Christmas and knew it was going to be them playing forward, up to [August] Priske, off the back of that, set-plays.
“I thought all our Achilles heel stuff that happened last year, from the metrics point of view, we stood up to that.
“[We] defended set-plays really well, defended the counter-attack really well, weren’t wide open, was nice and compact and tight.
“At the top of the pitch, we never flowed. I think that always, especially emotionally, first game of the season, everything from my point of view and my team's point of view, seemed a little bit rushed.
“We're usually better on the ball and calmer and create and have a little bit more control. We never really had that. We made some poor decisions with the ball and turned it over. But at least we weren't wide open and got done on a counter-attack and I think that we definitely got done last season. If you can't win, you don't get beat.”
Ryan One update
Ryan One was among the players introduced from the bench and the forward immediately proved to be a menace for the Blues defenders.
However, there was some concern when the Scottish forward tweaked his hamstring shortly after his introduction.
Wilder explained: “I don't think it's anything too serious. If it was, we would have brought him off, but he just couldn't go flat out and full tilt. So he was sort of 50 per cent really.
“I think when you've played and you feel something’s there, you don't really want to open up. He's an explosive player, as you saw when he picked the ball up and took it for a run. That was obviously a big disappointment because we just felt the substitution sort of changed the game a little bit.”