'Leave these two lads alone' Sheffield United's critics are told after defeat by Chelsea

Chris Wilder leapt to the defence of Aaron Ramsdale and Max Lowe, insisting the youngsters will bounce back from the mistakes they made at Stamford Bridge, after a 4-1 defeat by Chelsea saw Sheffield United enter the international break still searching for their first win of the Premier League season.
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After David McGoldrick had given the visitors the lead, a miscommunication between Lowe and Ramsdale, aged 23 and 22 respectively, allowed Ben Chilwell to edge the hosts in front following Tammy Abraham’s equaliser. Although Wilder later admitted United had “turned possession over too quickly”, he also acknowledged Ramsdale could have done more to prevent Thiago Silva from stretching Chelsea’s advantage towards the end of the second-half before Lowe was involved in the chain of events which ended with Timo Werner completing the scoring.

Wilder, who felt Lowe “cou;d have been fouled” as he attempted to meet the centre which Silva glanced home, said: “I think Aaron was at fault for that one, but he’s a young goalkeeper and we had a young goalkeeper last season (Dean Henderson) who also made some mistakes. I’ve got to say, what’s in front of him at the moment isn’t great but he’ll come through it. He’s a positive character and a very good young goalkeeper.”

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“I hope the pundits mentioned some of the excellent saves he made too,” Wilder continued, referencing Ramsdale’s blocks to deny Chilwell his second of the contest and block a Mason Mount strike during the closing stages. “So long as there’s consistency, that’s fine.”

Thiago Silva of Chelsea (2R) scores his team's third goal against Sheffield United: David Klein/SportimageThiago Silva of Chelsea (2R) scores his team's third goal against Sheffield United: David Klein/Sportimage
Thiago Silva of Chelsea (2R) scores his team's third goal against Sheffield United: David Klein/Sportimage

With injury ruling out Jack O’Connell for the rest of the campaign and no direct replacement arriving before the end of the recent transfer window, Wilder has also been forced to accelerate Lowe’s development after asking wing-back Enda Stevens to provide cover at centre-half.

“Frank (Lampard, the Chelsea manager) has done a tremendous job and the recruitment has been superb,” Wilder added. “Max Lowe is up against an incredible player. So is Chris Basham and George Baldock. They bring on an Italy international in Jorginho and a World Cup winner in Oliver Giroud. We have a young lad in there (Lowe) who we brought in to develop at this level but is now learning on the job. But again, he’ll bounce back because he’s a good player.”

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