Chris Wilder Namechecks Underperforming Blades Players After Making “Stern” Remark | OneFootball

Sheffield United host Javi Gracia’s Watford on Saturday afternoon as Championship football returns following the international break. The Blades will be looking to respond to a disappointing defeat at Hull City last time out.

United left the MKM Stadium empty-handed in a bitterly disappointing fashion. Hull took the lead in the first half through a wicked deflection, and although Chris Wilder’s side battled back, their best chance to equalise came and went late on when Harrison Burrows saw his penalty weakly saved, a moment that rather summed up their struggles in front of goal this season.

Saturday’s visitors arrive at Bramall Lane under fresh leadership, with Javi Gracia taking charge of his first game since returning to the Hornets. The Spaniard, who previously guided Watford to an FA Cup final and a top-half Premier League finish in 2018/19, replaces Paulo Pezzolano after an inconsistent start to the season.

Despite that turbulence, Watford remain just three points off the play-offs and have shown flashes of attacking quality, scoring twice in each of their last three games before the break.

Chris Wilder Offers Injury Update

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 01: Oliver Arblaster of Sheffield United and Moussa Sissoko of Watford during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sheffield United FC and Watford FC at Bramall Lane on September 01, 2024 in Sheffield, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

For Chris Wilder, the international break offered an opportunity to reset and rebuild fitness within his squad. The likes of Danny Ings and Tom Davies have used the time to regain sharpness, while Jamie Shackleton made a welcome return to action for the development team after a lengthy injury layoff, with Wilder stating the versatile midfielder will be involved at the weekend.

Meanwhile, Oliver Arblaster and Tahith Chong continue their respective recoveries from knee injuries. Speaking about the pair, Wilder gave an update on their progress during his pre-match press conference:

“He’s [Chong] working away. Oli Arblaster’s working away too. I wouldn’t expect Chong to be playing before the next international break. [Arblaster’s] is a 9/10/11 month injury… My biggest thing is because of the potential of the boy and trying to keep him on track because he’s so impatient it’s frightening; if I asked him to play tomorrow he would. It’s being sensible but I should imagine he’ll be integrated back into training in the next 10 days and then working off the back of that.”

Wilder Namechecks Underperforming Blades Players

BRISTOL, ENGLAND – MAY 08: Harrison Burrows of Sheffield United celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Semi Final First Leg match between Bristol City and Sheffield United at Ashton Gate on May 08, 2025 in Bristol, England. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

The Blades boss also admitted that harsh words were exchanged following the Hull defeat:

“There was definitely a stern conversation after the Hull City game. I believe we should’ve got four results out of four and I don’t think that’s looking through rose-tinted glasses. There’s a lot of players that have lost confidence that we need to regain, good players are not playing where their ability is. I’ll namecheck them; the likes of Cooper and Harrison Burrows and a couple of the younger ones, but they’ll get there.”

Wilder explained that while January reinforcements are being discussed, the immediate focus must be on the 14 games between now and then: “I’ve got a positive reaction [from the board] in terms of my recommendations for January but there’s still 14 games before that that we need to get right. I don’t like the balance of the squad from a character point of view and from an experience point of view.”

Sheffield United Sign Experienced Premier League Player

On Friday afternoon, Sheffield United confirmed the signing of 29-year-old Dutch midfielder Jairo Riedewald on a short-term deal until January. The former Crystal Palace man adds much-needed experience to a youthful midfield group.

Explaining the decision, Wilder said:

“If you look in the middle of the park we’ve got three really young players at the moment – Sydie, Alex and Diji. Tom Davies has had his issues from an injury point of view as well and Oli Arblaster’s 21/22. It’s an incredibly inexperienced group in a really important part of the pitch. With inexperience comes inconsistency, and I think there were six or seven things we looked at from Jai’s point of view.

“I think there was six or seven things that we looked at from Jai’s point of view. One was his availability, two was his experience, three was his quality. Four, he was at Palace for six or seven years, you don’t play at a Premier League club or be in and around a Premier League club not to be a good player. One of them was obviously the injury situation there and the other one was the inexperience of the department. The seventh was his character, which, as you’ll understand from my point of view, is incredibly important.

“The feedback that we’ve got off people, we’ve got some decent connections down at Palace still, who are trying to help us out. They gave glowing references and the boy wanted to come as well. He wanted to come up, he’s done everything right and we’re delighted. Obviously, the only one is his match minutes but he’s a fit guy, he’s looked after himself, so we’re looking forward to working with him.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash against his former side, Wilder acknowledged the challenge of facing a side reinvigorated by a managerial change:

“We’ll do our analysis on the opposition. I’ve worked there. They’ve got some really good individuals. The manager is experienced and had success there; it’s a popular return and he’ll want to get off to a good start. Have we done our homework? Yeah. Until we get that teamsheet on to the wicket at three o’clock we’ll only know then and we’ve got to adapt certain bits and pieces.”