Chris Wilder was in jocular and defiant mood as he held his first press conference upon his return as Sheffield United manager ahead of Wednesday night’s clash against Liverpool.
The 56-year-old is back in the Bramall Lane hot seat after the dismissal of Paul Heckingbottom on Tuesday, with Jurgen Klopp’s side presenting the first opposition of his second spell in charge in Yorkshire.
With 18 places and 26 points separating the teams in the Premier League table, the fixture looks a daunting one for the Blades at first glance, but their returning boss is determined that if his team are to go down to the Reds, it won’t be a meek surrender.
Speaking to reporters today (via Yorkshire Post), Wilder said with an initial tongue-in-cheek remark: “Thanks very much for the fixture! 30-odd thousand at Bramall Lane on a Wednesday night under the lights against arguably one of the best teams in Europe is a tough start, but it’s one we are going to attack and have a right go.
“That’s going to be the attitude from me and the players, to ignite the supporters as there’s been a bit of a disconnect, especially over the last two games. We’re in it for a reason and have got to enjoy the challenge and that’s my message to the players.
“We’ve got to set the ball rolling to connect with those supporters because, as we all know, under the lights at Bramall Lane is a fabulous place to go and play football and we’ve nothing to lose. We’ve got to earn the trust of the supporters back.”
It’s a fixture that, objectively, Liverpool should win if their quality shows and their attitude and application is right. However, as we’ve often seen in the past, managerial changes can instigate a ‘bounce’ which sees players suddenly discover a new lease of life and string together a chain of positive results.
Klopp and the Reds must be prepared for Sheffield United to throw everything at them at a freshly galvanised Bramall Lane, and if there’s any bit of complacency from the visitors, it could spell trouble, as we saw in the insipid performance at Luton a month ago.
The onus is on LFC to leap out of the traps and get an early goal to quieten the home support – basically, the opposite of what happened at Kenilworth Road.
Our away form must improve if we’re to be genuine title challengers, and that starts in Sheffield tomorrow night.
В депо «Вязьма» отметили профессиональный праздник соревнованиями по лазертагу
«Детям полезно принимать участие в любой движухе, связанной с творчеством, музыкой и спортом!» В Москве завершился Международный фест-форум «Голоса Мира» 2025
Профессиональные бои состоятся в Нижнем Новгороде 9 августа
«Ты будешь моей…»: Николай Ерусланкин из Нижнего Новгорода удивил всех участников шоу «Погоня» на ТНТ
Алтайский край оказался одним из антилидеров по качеству автодорог
Амурская область оказалась в числе аутсайдеров по качеству дорог
Коми, Камчатку, Архангельскую, Иркутскую, Калужскую, Костромскую, Курскую, Свердловскую и Оренбургскую области эксперты отнесли к регионам, где на осенних выборах "протестный потенциал выше среднего", говорится в докладе...
Вильфанд предупредил об аномальной жаре в девяти регионах
