Sheffield United frontrunner Ruben Selles has already told fans what to expect after Chris Wilder decision
Sheffield United frontrunner Ruben Selles has already told fans what to expect after Chris Wilder future decision
Spaniard Ruben Selles is closing in on a return to Yorkshire football after emerging as the frontrunner to succeed Chris Wilder at Sheffield United this week. The Blades have made the decision to part company with Wilder after last month’s play-off heartbreak at Wembley, which condemned them to at least another season at Championship level.
As we revealed earlier today, contact was made between Wilder and the United board earlier this week and a strategy to announce his departure was subsequently put in place. The Blades hierarchy hoped to move quickly to announce his successor, with former Southampton and Hull City boss Selles in the box seat.
He has been out of work since May, when he was sacked by the Tigers despite keeping them in the Championship, but barring any unforseen late hitches will make a speedy return to the dugout at Bramall Lane.
Hull owner Acun Ilicali said when Selles was hired that he "stood out for his football philosophy, ability to develop players, attention to detail, and extensive coaching experience" and has a good reputation for working with young players from his time at Southampton and especially Reading, where he worked amidst a backdrop of transfer embargoes, fines and points deductions before moving to Hull last December.
He was in charge of the Tigers for their 3-0 victory over the Blades at Bramall Lane a month later and previously opened up on his managerial philosophy in an interview with the Not The Top 20 podcast. “We want to be intense,” Selles said of his teams, “and if we need to start at some point, it should be trying to be aggressive and be front-footed. We always say that when we press and when we want to go for the games, the higher the better.
“Because we think with that intensity, with the press to score a goal, we want to win the ball in determinate areas of the pitch to create that situations. But that has a flip side and also offensively wise, we want to be a team that is vertical. And by vertical I don’t mean a team that is just playing the long ball and the second action is on the direct attack.
“It’s a team that wants to put the opposition on the back foot. So if we can spend just one pass to break a line of pass and then go and attack the space, then that’s what we’ll do. We want to create that kind of game. But to create that kind of game, that is really really dynamic, you need to be able to cope with the physicality. And that’s where we need players and teams prepared for that kind of game.”
Youngsters including Columbian Gustavo Puerta and Mason Burstow impressed at Hull under Selles’ guidance, with United possessing an impressive crop of promising starlets of their own - including midfielder Oliver Arblaster, hoping for a return to training for pre-season after a devastating ACL injury last term.
Ruben Selles has already told Sheffield United fans what to expect if he makes Blades move
“I [wish] I was able to tell you that I have a big secret, that I cannot describe to you,” Selles replied when asked about his youth blueprint. “It’s just my my formula. Not only in football but in life, when you are organized, you spend less energy on some other things. If you know your role in the organization, you know what I can expect from you and you know what you can expect from me.
“We know what is the task that we do together. When you enter as a player into a system that is organized, it is much easier for you than to enter as a system that is chaotic and continually changing. So the first thing is: ‘How we play, and what is your role in how we play?’ I think that’s mandatory and that’s what we try to define for everyone from the very beginning.
“If you are a six for us, your position is very clear in a lot of situations. Now it’s for you to develop that position. Sometimes it also happens that, if you area 10 and we don’t play with a 10, perhaps it’s not your time to play for this team. That’s the first thing. The second thing that we try to do is, we try to be honest and we try to work really hard.
“I know that I talk about working hard too much but really we play as we train and the training for us is massive. Every part in the training has a direction in how we want to do things. If we see that you can be a really good player on the wings ... then we are going to coach you and we are going to give you the details to be better in that position.
Ruben Selles opens up on youth development blueprint as Spaniard emerges as Sheffield United favourite
“And at the end of the day it’s important to create an environment where people feel safe. They are young players, and they will make mistakes occasionally. You need to develop them but you know that those mistakes are honest mistakes and they’re going to learn from those mistakes.
“And at the end, when you finish that process, you will have a better player, a more committed player. A player that wants to play for you and for the club, and a group of players that know each other and want to do it together. And that’s how you move them or the club onto the next level.
“So that’s what we try to do. Obviously there are a lot of daily situations that you need to manage but that’s what we try to do. I don’t see if you are 16 or you are 34. We try to see how you cope with those situations, and what is best for us as a team.”