How a real dressing down at Chelsea changed the course of Sheffield United's season

But when they returned to their dressing room following a difficult half of football under the blazing sun at Stamford Bridge, Sheffield United’s players discovered conditions outside were positively baltic compared to the temperature of Chris Wilder’s team talk.

“We were two goals down in front of 40,000 odd thousand people, so I think people can guess exactly how it went,” the United manager said, remembering how he addressed a group of professionals he suspected were in awe of their surroundings. “We’d had two centre halves crash into each other for one goal, gifted them another, and been nowhere near our best. So it wasn’t going to be ‘Well done boys, you’ve done absolutely brilliant.’ It was more ‘What the bleep, bleep, bleep’ do you think you’re bleeping doing?’ Fortunately, it did the trick.”

Eleven months after his no-holds barred assessment inspired a remarkable comeback - United, newly promoted from the Championship, scoring twice without reply during the second period to stun the west London aristocrats, Wilder’s men are preparing to renew their rivalry with Frank Lampard’s side in considerably better shape. Indeed, as he reflected upon their journey through a Premier League season interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, Wilder cited that frank exchange of views, and the response it provoked, as the catalyst for a sequence of results which sees United enter tomorrow’s return fixture battling, not for survival, but a place in Europe.

“We always believed in the boys and we talked, straight away after going up, about what we were heading into,” Wilder continued. “Physically it was going to be tougher, football-wise it was obviously going to be tougher, but for me the biggest thing was always going to be the mentality aspect.

“Down there, first-half, you’d have thought that we were more interested in taking selfies and asking the Chelsea players for their shirts. So, when they came in, we told them they’d been way off it. Yes, we were going into unchartered waters but that wasn’t us.

“So to go on and take something from one of the real superpowers if you like, I think that gave them a lot confidence-wise. I'd never disrespect this division by saying there's games you look at and think 'we can get something there' because there aren't. It's just too good for that but to do that at a top four club, that did really help the process.

“It speaks volumes about the lads that they regrouped, went back out there, and really fought and fought.”

It also reveals plenty about the characters Wilder has assembled around him that he felt comfortable addressing them in those terms. Modern day professionals are often portrayed as being soft and precious. At United, coaching staff make no apology for the fact they must be held accountable for performances. It is a practice, Wilder explained, which has helped cultivate the stubborn streak he accepts will be required to frustrate opponents he last night described as being “the most free flowing” and attack-minded team in top-flight competition.

“Listen, they know I’m their biggest supporter and, with what they’ve done here, that’s always going to be the case,” Wilder said, charting United’s progress since winning the League One title in 2017. “But everyone here also challenges themselves to do better and be better. If we need livening up, and that goes for all of us, then someone will gladly say.

“I thought what happened down there at Chelsea really epitomised what we’re all about. We picked ourselves up off the floor and then showed some quality as well as spirit. We’re going to have to do that again, make no mistake about it, but you can always trust this group to give everything they’ve got.”

United climbed to seventh following Wednesday’s victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers; a win Wilder, with injuries forcing him to again name a depleted bench, labelled their best of the campaign so far. But even though there are only four matches remaining, he is still refusing to contemplate the prospect of qualifying for either the Europa or the Champions leagues.

Outlining his respect for Lampard, Wilder stressed Chelsea, who have prepared for the contest in third, have also make huge strides forward since the two clubs last locked horns.

“Frank has gone in there, at a club where he was one of the best players in their history, and that takes some bottle,” Wilder said. “He’s grabbed the opportunity and he’s attacked it. He’s brought the young lads through there, from an academy that’s one of the best there is, and they can also change the way they play. They can also dig in when they have to and I think that all comes from Frank.”

“For me, lots of people talk about how managers get jobs and how their pathway is planned out,” Wilder added. “But the way I see it is that for someone of his attitude, who has achieved what he has and how he achieved it, how he carried himself, it was always a shoe-in that he was going to be a top class manager. The same goes for Steven Gerrard (at Rangers).

“Just because they’ve not stood on the touchline in a League Two match, that doesn’t mean to say they can’t do the job, does it.”

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