Chris Wilder’s honest verdict as Sheffield United tumble out of cup v Fleetwood Town after unwelcome “arrogance” signs

Chris Wilder admits his Sheffield United side “let a lot of people down tonight” after accusing them of a sense of “entitlement and arrogance” as they tumbled out of the League Cup at Fleetwood Town tonight. The Blades lost 1-0 to the League Two side on the coast.

The scoreline could have been even worse for the Blades as the home side hit the woodwork twice in the space of a few seconds and later had a goal disallowed. United had the ball in the net too but Tom Cannon’s strike was ruled out for offside.

It was a game of two halves from United’s perspective as they failed to build on a first-half display that gave them a foothold in the tie, as Rhys Norrington-Davies’ bizarre own goal proved the difference between the sides.

“Players wanted to do their own thing, after the first half,” Wilder said. “We were okay in the first half. We had some good opportunities. They did too, and we knew that would happen.

“We knew that we had to get out of the trap second half and go through the gears a little bit. We had more gears in us but we decided to take a backward step, and the goal absolutely sums us up.

“Three or four mistakes in there and an own goal. That gives them a huge lift, which is what I told them at half-time. ‘This is what can happen if we don't start the second half on the front foot and if we go off plan.’

“Players wanted to go off plan, and we have to own it. It's an incredibly disappointing night, regardless of the amount of changes that we made. That's nonsense.

“That team out there has been good enough to beat Blackburn and should have been good enough to win tonight. We haven't. We have to pay the ultimate consequence.”

Wilder’s frustration was compounded when Fleetwood subsequently drew Arsenal at home in the next round of the competition. “We have to own it,” Wilder said of the result. “I have to own it. It's my team and we didn't deserve to go through.

“They will be playing a top side and that's what I wanted for the players, for the football club and the supporters. We've let a lot of people down tonight and we have to accept that and own that.

“There'll be a lot of players that have had opportunities tonight to stake a claim. As always, when you've got a squad of players, when they're not playing, they'll have an opinion. They'll be the victim.

“I wanted a problem going into Thursday and Friday and who to pick on Saturday. I haven’t got a problem now. I know exactly what players that I need to pick and which players are not playing for a reason.

“The biggest thing for me, that's done me, is the first 15 minutes of the second half. Players that just thought that the game had come to them, and a sense of entitlement and arrogance. Thinking: ‘We'll be OK.’

“Football doesn't work like that and it hasn't worked like that. We went off plan and we got hurt. We’re not good enough to go off plan.”