Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder admits Leeds United admiration amid Elland Road wage bill and fans comment
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Leeds United were praised by Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder following the Whites’ 2-0 win over the Blades at Elland Road on Friday night.
Wilder acknowledged his side were second-best on the night as Leeds scored twice during the second half to leapfrog the Blades into the Championship’s top two.
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The Sheffield United boss made no secret his admiration for the way in which Leeds played, compared to his South Yorkshire outfit, whose performance in possession he deemed too careless.
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“Beaten by the better side, no doubt about it,” Wilder said. “We didn’t deserve anything from the game, disappointed to lose the goals as we did, but they created the bigger, clearer chances than we did.
“They found the energy of, obviously, a passionate home support, [it was] a tough experience for us all.
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“They were better in all departments. They won more first balls. They jumped on more second balls. They played quicker, sharper, had the more attacking threat. We had bits and pieces of the game, not enough to trouble them.
“I’ve got no complaints in terms of result, in terms of Daniel, what he does, they’ve got outstanding players, the squad’s laden with top players and and we have to brush ourselves down and go again.”
Wilder: ‘Leeds head and shoulders above’
Wilder’s men had gone unbeaten during their first nine Championship games of 2024/25, conceding just three goals in the process. The 57-year-old admitted to making a tactical change in an attempt to counter the threat posed by Leeds, drawing comparisons to Southampton’s successful system tweak to defeat Leeds twice in the space of a few weeks at the end of last season.
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“We knew that Leeds United were head and shoulders above everything that we’ve already played,” Wilder added. “And that’s not mind games or trying to stick pressure on them, imagine they were disappointed that they didn’t go up last year.
“I think everybody you speak to in the game, when you play Leeds and you watch them, so we studied them. We thought this was, you know, we looked at a couple of games at the back end of [last] season. We looked at the Southampton game here, and in the play-off final as well, where they changed their formation and got a result, and we felt that was the best way of going about it, to give the best opportunity to players to get a result.
“I have to take that, whatever it is, negativity, criticism. But quite easily, I could have gone [with our usual approach]. That would have been the safe bet, and maybe wouldn’t have got any criticism, but this is the gut, this is why I’ve managed quite a long time and been quite successful in my coaching and managerial career.
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“We just weren’t good enough individually, and as a team, on the night and made some some poor decisions, [we] turned the ball over cheaply. And as I said, they come, they come roaring back at you. Would have [been] delighted to have got a result here, but it would have been a backs against the wall, performance-stroke-result.”
Despite commenting on the size of Leeds’ wage bill, Wilder was keen not to distract attention from Farke and his players’ application on the night.
“It’s an incredibly strong squad. I said before the investment in the group is there to be seen. The chief exec’s already mentioned it, the highest wage bill in Championship history. So, when you have the highest wage bill in Championship history, you’re signing really good players, really good players, competition for places – that’s not taking anything away from Leeds United and Daniel, they deserved their victory tonight. We were off it, they were on it.
“We have to reflect and go again, long season, plenty of football to be played, but take nothing away from Leeds, by far and a way, the best team we played all season,” Wilder finished.
Related topics:Chris WilderChampionshipSheffield UnitedElland Road
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