Alan Biggs' Sheffield United column: Blades are helping to change perception of Premier League

They are certainly doing their bit in that regard. But Bramall Lane’s most experienced and celebrated player reckons it’s part of a trend towards a more exciting game.

And it won’t only be Liverpool setting out to entertain this Saturday lunchtime as Jurgen Klopp comes to town in United’s biggest game since promotion.

The complainer, by the way, was ex-Blades boss Dave Bassett and I’m sure he’d agree that entertainment is on the up and ponderous possession tactics on the way down.

We are not talking exclusively Liverpool and Manchester City here.

Except that their high presses, allied to exceptional skills, have helped change the landscape. And the Blades’ innovative style is a welcome addition to the mix, even though last week’s win at Everton was more a smash-and-grab based on defensive discipline.

It’s also why Phil Jagielka reckons the traditional dogfight approach of relegation-threatened teams, that predominantly hard-to-beat mentality, is changing too.

Certainly, it’s not the prime way Chris Wilder’s United see their route to survival.

“It’s wins that will keep you in the Premier League,” said Jagielka when we spoke for a national radio station last week.

“And I think a lot of teams are buying into that ... maybe not coming out to look for a draw. Norwich are doing something very similar, going out to win matches. The game is evolving.”

Realistically, who wouldn’t take a point at home to Liverpool? Just as United’s fightback for a 2-2 draw at Chelsea was rightly considered a triumph.

But the Blades approach in the second half that day and Norwich’s stunning recent win over Pep Guardiola’s City shows that the so-called makeweights of the top flight are finding a different way to try punching above theirs.

“TV viewers are really enjoying football because, more often than not, even if it’s a 0-0, it can be a fantastic game to watch,” says Jagielka - as indeed the last Lane game, 0-1 v Southampton, demonstrated.

“The whole game has got so competitive, teams can beat each other. I think offensively the game has got better.

“The standard of football has gone up and the options for managers are ridiculous now. You’ve got £10m and £20m players as third or fourth choice.”

He wasn’t meaning United there but, while Wilder is not blessed with the buying power of most others, it’s worth pointing out that neither Lys Mousset (£10m) nor Oli McBurnie (£20m) is anything like guaranteed a place as yet.

Equally, there is the balancing importance of defending well, as United surely must on Saturday.

And without what Jagielka calls the “sloppy mistake” of the Southampton defeat. “We need to learn from that and smarten up towards the back.

“You can’t get away with anything and there’s also VAR to pull you up. It’s a skill set of a different type. You have to adjust.

“Where maybe you could have been a bit clumsy and make a rash tackle, now you have to think your way through a bit more.”

Liverpool at the Lane will require full-on concentration - and demand it off the field as well.