Why one high-profile Sheffield Wednesday fan believes Owls can learn from Sheffield United
Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has urged his team Sheffield Wednesday to study arch-rivals Sheffield United in a bid to emulate their recent success.
Vaughan, who used to play under Blades boss Chris Wilder at Sunday League side Bradway, believes that studying the methods of the Premier League side could improve the fortunes of his beloved Wednesday, who were 15th in the Championship when the season was suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Vaughan, who was born in Manchester but moved to Sheffield at a young age, captained England to Ashes glory over Australia in 2005 and believes the same principles he applied when he took over the top job could also be useful to Garry Monk and Co. at Hillsborough.
"Don't be scared of copying your rivals," said Vaughan, speaking on Alan Biggs' Sheffield Live show.
"I go back to 2003. I got the England captaincy and the first thing I did was copy Australia.
"They played aggressively, they played with no fear, they had players in their side that could change a Test match inside two hours and we needed more of that style of players.
"We freed players up to the understanding that you have got to take more risks. I think risk in sport is an element of how you succeed but you have got to allow your players to make mistakes and that is one of the crucial things that I see.
"You don't want them to make mistakes but they have to have that platform of having a go and you try and beat the opposing team by doing something. Don't be worried about making a mistake. It is what I learned from Australia.
"If I was Sheffield Wednesday now, I would be absolutely looking at Sheffield United and doing what have they done that we can copy.
"What is it that they are doing that we can bring to Hillsborough, to Middlewood Road training ground, our system that could add a two to three per cent margin in terms of improvement? It might be more than two to three per cent. You never know."
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