Sheffield United stars face steep learning curve

Richairo Zivkovic, Panos Retsos, and Sander Berge, who became the most expensive player in United’s history after completing his £22m move from Genk last week, enjoyed a brief introduction to the demands of Wilder’s preferred 3-5-2 system before the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.

Although Wilder is of the belief that intelligent players master new challenges quicker than others, he confirmed United’s match analysts have been preparing a series of dossiers to help accelerate the process.

“They’re all experienced boys,” Wilder, who also unveiled Jack Robinson and Jack Rodwell earlier in the window, said. “They’ll be doing all the video analysis stuff, showing what happens because they’ve been brought in for specific positions. They’ll get all the information they need.

“But we wouldn’t have signed them if we didn’t think they could do a job for us.”

Berge made his full debut at Selhurst Park, being being replaced by John Lundstram midway through the second-half.

Confirming no one is guaranteed a place in his starting eleven, Wilder explained why it is important the new arrivals grasp their roles quickly.

“They could go in straight away,” he said. “There’s injuries, suspensions to consider. And loss of form.

“But when they’re in, they’ve got to stay in.”

“We’re not buying players as projects,” Wilder added. “We’re building a squad to go well now and move forward.”