Welcome break for Sheffield United as Chris Wilder aims to rediscover winning formula

Just down the road at Stamford Bridge, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder reflected on his side’s own tough period in the footballing realm.

His reminiscences of his side’s first eight Premier League matches of 2020-21 will not be fond ones and this was a far cry from those golden moments that the Blades savoured against Chelsea last season .

There will be gratitude at least that the international break will afford time for Wilder and his players to pause for a ‘big deep breath’ as he put it after a punishing schedule against the three sides who he views to be the best in the business in Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea.

As he rightly said, United’s fate won’t be decided against them. It will be against several teams who they face in their next 10 games.

First, the Blades must ‘clear heads’ as Wilder put it, ahead of the coach trip back home to Yorkshire amid foggy conditions.

On a forgettable night, far removed from the emotions of United’s last visit to SW6 when they announced their arrival in the big time with a 2-2 draw, John Egan – named captain despite Oli Norwood’s return – rued: “We gave away some cheap goals, which is very unlike us. If you make mistakes, you are going to get punished against top-class sides.

“We started the game really well – on the front foot and positive. But then you give away a cheap goal and they get a bit of confidence. It is something we have got to improve on and look at ourselves in the mirror.

“I know we are going to top teams, but we showed last year that we are really capable of getting results and we have shown that in patches this season.”

For the young trio of Max Lowe, Aaron Ramsdale and Rhian Brewster, this was a hard night against a side whose big players soon sensed uncertainty.

None more so than the outstanding Hakim Ziyech, who showed why he topped the assist count on four occasions in the Dutch Eredivisie and played with real swagger. Or ‘good arrogance’ as Frank Lampard put it.

At the back, the Blades continue to look unbalanced by the loss of Jack O’Connell, with Enda Stevens still readjusting in his role as the left-sided central defender.

They have conceded double the amount of goals which they did at this stage of last season.

Further forward, the speed of thought was sluggish with Brewster being a peripheral figure.

One quality move led to the 
visitors’ shock opener, but it was nowhere near enough with Wilder’s second-half calls for his side to quicken it up falling on deaf ears.

On the night, United lost almost 60 per cent of their duels against a Chelsea side who swarmed all over them in the second half and gave them nothing aside from McGoldrick’s strike.

It was a blue wall which had nothing to do with Pennsylvania, Wisconsin or Michigan.

It might have started so well for those in red. But just as it did for Donald Trump’s Republicans, it would prove a false dawn.

The recalled McGoldrick again showed his liking for facing sides from the capital with his four Premier League goals having all come against London teams.

A quick-witted short corner routine saw Norwood’s clever reverse pass find George Baldock, whose cutback was fired towards goal by Sander Berge, with McGoldrick’s back heel inflicting a first concession upon Chelsea in over seven-and-a-half hours.

Despite the blow, Chelsea did not panic and soon started to move the ball around with zip, led by adventurous full-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell; as a result, the leveller was not too long in coming.

It came from a familiar source in Tammy Abraham, who netted his fourth goal in four matches against United, with his scuffed shot bouncing over Ramsdale after being set up by Mateo Kovacic, picked out by a perceptive pass from Ziyech.

Timo Werner soon rattled the woodwork after Ziyech’s deadly free-kick before Chilwell netted a goal he had been threatening.

Yet it was passive in the extreme, with Ramsdale and Lowe not covering themselves in glory at the far post as the full-back bundled the ball in.

It ensured that Wilder faced a conundrum.

Open up the game in the second half to try and push for a leveller – and potentially be exposed – or be conservative and aim to nick something.

He opted for the latter policy and the fact that the scoreline was 2-1 with 15 minutes to go did give United an inkling.

In truth, only fine last-ditch defending from the likes of Egan and Chris Basham kept the scoreline narrow. But Chelsea’s rewards arrived late.

Another soft concession saw the untracked Thiago Silva head home his first goal for the Blues from Ziyech’s free-kick before a poor decision from the struggling Lowe set up Werner, who was never going to pass up such a gift.

By the end, the voices you could hear on the pitch belonged to Chelsea players, unlike on July 11 when the Blues were rumbled 3-0 at Bramall Lane.

Depressingly, that remains the date of the Blades’ last victory.

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