Chelsea v Sheffield United – Blades set on making themselves heard again as they target overdue Premier League lift-off

Chris Basham can certainly vouch for that.

Questioned about what Wilder said at half-time during last season’s game at Stamford Bridge – with his side 2-0 down at Chelsea and looking like they would be on the receiving end of a thrashing if things did not change fast – the amiable Geordie was initially diplomatic.

“It has just been like chats recently. ‘Go out there, express yourself, enjoy playing in the Premier League and have some pride in yourself and ‘don’t be afraid of who you are up against’, he said.

Pushed a little further, however, Basham fronted up. He would not be any good as a poker player.

“It was not as clean as that,” the Sheffield United stalwart admitted. “It was basically: ‘What are you doing. You are not playing anywhere near like you normally can and you are not playing like you normally do with front-foot attacking football and it was basically like that.”

With a few expletives to boot, no doubt. Just as there was across London at Millwall when United once lost 3-1 in insipid fashion at Millwall back in December 2017.

It was an occasion when Wilder was famously not full of Christmas cheer as he let rip afterwards behind a locked away dressing room door. His players did not let him down too many more times that season.

At the end of the aforementioned game against Chelsea on August 31, 2019, Wilder was feeling a bit better about things. Second-half strikes from Callum Robinson and a Kurt Zouma own goal dramatically cancelled out Tammy Abraham’s double.

It was an occasion when the Blades arrived in the big time, according to Basham. It was also a time when Wilder made his mark. His players did not look back and it was an early turning-point in their season.

How the present-day Blades could do with another such catalyst at today. Even if the players would probably prefer not to be on the receiving end of another verbal volley from Wilder. But, if needs must.

Basham recalls: “It was the feeling of going 2-0 down as a Premier League outfit and it is thinking: ‘where is the fight and where are we going to get something from and where is the spark coming from.’

“The spark came in that second half against Chelsea and that’s when we went on a run of great form and games and, hopefully, we can do that again.

“That was the moment we felt we arrived in Premier League as footballers and the manager and staff believed in it more and more as that game went on.

“To get the result we did at Stamford Bridge in front of a full house was fantastic and credit to all the boys involved in that. Something we have been really good at is coming back and being used to winning games.

“At this moment in time, when we have not been winning, it has been really disappointing. Hopefully, we can change the tune soon.”

It is just under four months – 119 days to be precise – since United last sampled the sweet taste of victory, famously against today’s opponents in a comprehensive 3-0 triumph at Bramall Lane which saw United’s side move into the top six.

How times have changed since.

After that game, it was Chelsea manager Frank Lampard who was the one left to curse. He spoke about the Blades being better than his side ‘physically, in the mind and with the ball.’

He also commented about the fact that all he could hear on the pitch was ‘Sheffield United voices.’

Those in United colours have not had much to shout about since. But don’t expect them to stay silent, either.

Basham commented: “Voices are important. A lot of people are saying it is going out of the game now, but not at Sheffield United.

“We have got a lot of leaders and characters and I think this is when you need them, more than ever. You need your characters and the skipper or Jags (Phil Jagielka) to have a word. It is important now.

“You don’t need it when you are winning, but when you are losing and going through what we are, it’s important. It’s been a good week so far.

“The Chelsea home game is one we thoroughly enjoyed. We scored three goals that day and it was a solid, great, aggressive performance and I am sure the gaffer will be making us watch that when we go into the classroom together and sit down in front of the team and work out what we are going to do against a great Chelsea side.”

Alongside positive memories of last season’s visit to the Bridge, Basham also has his own individual moment to provide him with a spot of personal encouragement today.

The north-easterner’s only Premier League goal arrived there when he was playing for Bolton Wanderers in April 2009.

Thrown on by then Trotters manager Gary Megson, Basham struck as the visitors – staring down the barrel after trailing 4-0 after an hour – reduced the arrears to 4-2.

A further Bolton goal soon after would ensure a nervy finale for the Blues and it was a game that Basham still remembers well.

He added: “Gary Megson basically said: ‘Get yourself on the field.’ We were getting beaten three or four-nil at the time anyway, so it was one of those ones where it was a free ride.

“The ball was played out wide to (Gretar) Steinsson and he hit Kevin Davies on the edge of the box and then I put my foot in the air and it looped over John Terry and Petr Cech. Hopefully, I can get another goal soon in the Premier League, it’s been one of the longest waits ever to get a goal again.

“To get a goal at Stamford Bridge was big for me. It is a ground where in the (Jose) Mourinho, Lampard and Terry era and with all the money (Roman) Abramovich spent on the team and the club, you went there with the ‘wow’ factor of playing against these players.

“But you want to prove yourself and prove people wrong as well. It is always that underdog feeling of going there and that is what has helped me through my career and playing for Sheffield United.”

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