Ruben Selles Reveals Where Sheffield United Need to Improve After Three Consecutive Defeats | OneFootball

Sheffield United’s start to the Championship campaign continued in disappointing fashion as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.

The decisive moment came on 66 minutes, when Brazilian winger Ronald struck for the hosts. After the Blades initially defended a long-range effort, the ball fell kindly to Ronald on the edge of the box, and he swept a precise finish into the bottom right corner past a full stretched Michael Cooper to break the deadlock.

The visitors struggled to create anything meaningful in attack. They failed to register a single effort on goal across the 90 minutes, leaving the Swansea goalkeeper untested and ensuring United remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

The Blades now face Millwall at Bramall Lane next Saturday, where pressure will already be mounting on head coach Ruben Selles to secure a win.

Selles on Swansea Defeat: Sheffield United “Need To Be More Ruthless”

Swansea City players celebrating their goal against Sheffield United (Image Credit: Sheffield United Football Club).

Speaking after the defeat to SUTV, Selles admitted his side were punished for mistakes and lacked cutting edge in the final third:

“It’s clear it’s not the result we wanted. I think the first half was even with situations at both [ends of the pitch ]. It was a game of mistakes. Second half they started better than us, they broke our pressure a couple of times. From our own throw-in we concede that goal and then it was difficult to come back into the game and create those situations. We were in and around [the edge of the box] but we need to try to be more determined in the final third.”

On the lack of shots on target, the Blades boss pointed to issues in transition: “First game of the season I think our lack of structure in transition is what punished us. Today we got caught in those 50/50 situations and in those situations we have to finish the action, but we didn’t finish. We need to be more ruthless in the final third and that is where we’re going to put a lot of attention in the next few days.”

Selles also addressed his players’ body language during a frustrating afternoon: “I think it’s difficult to keep positive every single time. We need to fight against that and the negativity in and around and fight against those moments in the game that don’t go for us. It’s going to be a fight and we need to work on it and be better in those moments where we feel disappointed.”

When asked about the pressure for results, the Spaniard stressed the importance of persistence:

“Football is football and we’re here to win football matches. That is the nature of the game and when things aren’t going the way you want it the first thing you need to analyse is yourself and try my best and think about how we’re doing things and how we can do things better to make this team win football matches. I also understand the nature of the game and there are periods in the season where you don’t win those matches. It’s at the beginning and with that experience in mind, in other seasons in similar situations, you just need to persist and get that first victory.”

The Blades boss also confirmed that new signings are expected to arrive before the home clash with Millwall, as the club looks to add much-needed quality and depth to the squad.