Ruben Selles drops Sheffield United transfer hint as Blades get first taste of new style under Spanish sun
Ruben Selles drops Sheffield United transfer hint as Blades get first taste of new style under Spanish sun
Sheffield United’s players had their first proper taste of what it will be like to play under Ruben Selles this week, when the Blades flew to Girona for their warm-weather pre-season camp. Selles met his new charges for the first time last week, after agreeing to succeed Chris Wilder in charge at Bramall Lane.
After a few days of testing and loosening of the summer cobwebs, the camp will give Selles, his staff and players the chance to live in each other’s pockets for a week and find out about each other on a personal level as well as professionally.
It will also give Selles and his staff a first look at the squad they have inherited from Wilder, and which came within 15 minutes of promotion to the Premier League at Wembley in late May. The Spaniard’s high-tempo style may take some adjusting to for some players, but work at the Blades’ base in Girona will only help speed up the acclimatisation process.
Inevitably there could be some casualties, with players suited to one particular style of play perhaps not best utilised in a different one. But while the pre-season campaign will be useful for the manager to assess who he wants to take on the journey with him, Selles admits that a similar decision could also be taken from a player’s side.
Ruben Selles drops Sheffield United transfer hint as Blades get first taste of new style under Spanish sun
“We train as we play and we play hard, aggressive and intense,” Selles said before flying to his native Spain. “I want to train in the same way. It's not about if someone will suit the style or not. People will do it. Because that's the nature of the game.
“They will give their 100 per cent to it. It's going to be about how we move forward, what the interactions are. If someone prefers a different kind of game, then the decision is not only from our side. And if some of the young players are capable of making the step forward and delivering something that we think they have.”
With no game scheduled on the week-long camp, Unitedites will have their first chance to see Selles’ Blades in action next Tuesday when they return to England and kick off their pre-season campaign away at York City. With the pitch at Bramall Lane still settling in after being re-laid over the summer, United’s warm-up campaign is currently made up exclusively of away fixtures.
United have taken a number of young players to Spain with them to supplement their existing group, including teenage defender Dovydas Sasnauskas, right-back Sam Curtis and midfielder Owen Hampson.
New signing Tyler Bindon has also made the trip after signing on loan from Nottingham Forest on Friday while Ehije Ukaki joined fellow data-driven signings Jefferson Cáceres and Christian Nwachukwu on the plane to Spain.
Selles has been overseeing sessions alongside new coaches James Oliver-Pearce and Tobias Loveland, with Micky Collins and goalkeeping coach Matt Duke remaining as part of Selles’ backroom staff after the departures of Alan Knill, Matt Prestridge and Jack Lester alongside Wilder.