Chris Wilder on returning to manage Sheffield Utd and their 2-0 loss to Liverpool
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00:00 Careful with the water, Jürgen spilled it all over, that's a different one.
00:07 Oh, is it? Thanks.
00:09 - No, no, it's OK. - You all right?
00:11 Yeah.
00:12 - Well, Chris, hello. - Hi.
00:23 Not the result that you wanted, but a lovely moment before the match with the fans,
00:27 what was it like to be with them?
00:29 It will stay with me forever, that.
00:31 I've just done an interview downstairs and I thank everybody from the bottom of my heart
00:34 because it's been a long time away.
00:36 And I understand that some part of the support
00:41 might have thought it was a mistake me coming back,
00:44 and I've still got to earn that trust, I get that.
00:47 What Prince Abdullah did a couple of days ago, I really appreciate that,
00:53 for what he said about being the best man for the job.
00:57 I do believe I'm the best man for the job, but I've got to go and prove it.
01:01 I still think there's plenty of life left in me personally and the coaching staff,
01:05 and I've enjoyed watching Sheffield United tonight,
01:09 the Sheffield United performance, and ultimately we're in it to win,
01:13 and I said that to the players afterwards,
01:16 but the reception that they gave me was incredible.
01:21 And then it was game on, and I'm pleased in a lot of the aspects of our play
01:27 and our approach and our attitude.
01:29 Like I said, this is what I wanted it to look like tonight,
01:32 and they gave us a performance, what I wanted it to look like.
01:37 You've not had long with the players, but like you mentioned,
01:40 that certainly looks like an improvement in performance,
01:42 does it feel like that for you?
01:43 Oh, I spilt again!
01:45 Say again, sorry.
01:49 You've not had long with the players...
01:52 One training session.
01:53 Yeah, exactly. It looked like a much better performance in comparison to recent fixtures,
01:58 does it feel like an improvement for you?
02:00 Well, I've studied, of course, the games, and you'll comment on that, not me.
02:07 I wanted to scale up the pitch.
02:09 We can coach a different formation, which few people thought we couldn't.
02:15 I think players did some from a defensive point of view.
02:20 We were brave, we got up the pitch, it allowed our midfield players to go and make contact,
02:24 it allowed our front players to go and press.
02:26 If the distances are big and you're sat on the edge of the box,
02:30 then they're not allowed to do it.
02:31 You're not going to be able to do it, and you're just going to get picked off.
02:35 We're playing Liverpool, we're not playing the Mug side,
02:38 we're playing European elite, not just English elite,
02:44 English Premier League elite, with unbelievable players.
02:48 We wanted to make it an uncomfortable night for them, and I think they'll go away.
02:52 Liverpool supporters and everybody who's connected to the team, and the manager,
02:57 I think they'll be delighted with the result, and delighted to get three points.
03:01 I'm a touch disappointed that we've not got a summer out of the game.
03:04 Did you feel like you should have had a penalty in the second half?
03:06 What, when your two-handed push on James McAtee?
03:10 In any part of the pitch, if a centre-half pushes a centre-forward,
03:16 a centre-forward pushes a centre-half, a midfield player pushes a midfield player,
03:19 with two hands, and he goes down off balance,
03:23 it's not up to him to stay on his feet.
03:27 He's pushed him in the box with two hands, he's penalty.
03:29 Simple as that.
03:30 I was more disappointed with the tackle by the centre-forward on Jadon Bogle.
03:35 25 years ago, if I was playing, people would talk about, "That's a decent tackle."
03:41 Might have been aimed at me, that.
03:43 Where you take the ball but you take the man.
03:46 He's wrapped his legs right round Jadon Bogle, which resulted in the second goal.
03:51 I understand the second goal, I'm not a manager that's just going to sit back.
03:55 We took it deep, and we opened up in the last ten minutes,
03:58 we made substitutions, we changed the formation late on,
04:02 we knew it was going to go to that, and obviously the boys found a fabulous finish.
04:07 But I think it's a foul, I think there's a foul leading up to that
04:11 where he jumped into Jack Robinson, and it's a foul.
04:16 I think it's another poor night by the referee, if I'm honest.
04:25 It's not roasting the glasses, that's what I've seen.
04:28 It's the rainbow laces, I don't know if you've had a conversation with captain Anna Lachman-Hobbit,
04:34 you didn't wear the rainbow armbands...
04:36 I didn't know, it's not a club decision or a personal decision, I just didn't know I did that.
04:42 Any more?
04:43 Have you had a chance to see the first goal, there was a shout for a foul on...
04:51 Well, it happened that quickly, I've not really seen that.
04:54 I think there were blocks, and the Liverpool manager said they played Brentford
05:00 and there were blocks all over, which is...
05:04 I thought the Premier League and the refereeing association were taking those out,
05:10 so there were obviously blocks in there, so for him to find himself absolutely free,
05:16 and Jack Robinson I think it was, on the floor, Virgil's about 10 yards out
05:22 with a free chance and a free opportunity, something happened in there,
05:27 a collision all coming together.
05:29 I've not really seen that, Dan, but I think when you go back and you ask the analysis guys,
05:35 they look at it and go...
05:38 But I think the other two are definite decisions that I've gone against without a shadow of a doubt.
05:45 With everything they've got, it wasn't a game where you were sat on the crossbar
05:48 and you weren't kicking balls off your goal line.
05:50 Is it just a reminder of the fine margins in this game, because you had chances at the end as well?
05:55 Yeah, we did, we talked about it at half-time, we need to be better with the ball,
05:58 we need to be more calmer in possession, we had two or three counters which I think we could have done better on,
06:03 Wolves had a counter where they took themselves up the pitch.
06:05 We knew the game was going to be like that, the game with Liverpool,
06:08 unless they play Man City or some of the incredible teams,
06:13 they dominate the ball and dominate possession and create chances,
06:16 because they've got incredible players.
06:19 I thought the approach of the team from a tactical point of view,
06:22 we didn't allow them to play through the middle of us,
06:25 we made it difficult, we got up the pitch, we stepped more into people second half,
06:29 we got further up the pitch and allowed us to go and win it back.
06:33 It was going to be a counter-attacking game for us,
06:36 I'd have liked us to have passed it a little bit better, but that will come.
06:41 We've created chances and it's not just been a one-sided,
06:45 like you said, sit-on-the-crossbar performance.
06:48 You sent a lot more energy to your team,
06:51 but it wasn't just energy for the sake of it, it wasn't just running around aimlessly...
06:55 You can say things like that, but you've got to do it with intensity,
06:59 and they did that when they went and pressed.
07:02 Vinny, I thought, was outstanding, he went and pressed,
07:05 and they committed to the press.
07:08 Where the centre-forwards went, the midfield players went behind them,
07:11 and the back boys went up the pitch as well.
07:14 We had to do that, we had to make the game compact as much as we possibly could,
07:18 without being Spurs and Sturney Halfway Line,
07:22 which is great to see, but they really do.
07:26 I've got to say, like we talked about, for a day's work or preparation...
07:34 And you know what I'm going to say, this can't be, don't kid me,
07:38 don't fool me, that this is what we're all about.
07:42 I'll suss it straight away, they've been great yesterday,
07:46 they've asked everything we've asked them to do,
07:49 they've took it into the game today, but don't fool me.
07:52 Don't think that's a one-off, manager bounce, me coming back here and all that.
07:59 And of course, it's Liverpool, we understand it,
08:02 and there might be slight dips and slight...
08:05 But that's where we are now, and that's where it needs to be.
08:09 And the reaction of the supporters told the story of the night, really.
08:14 At the end, we've seen the proper Chefs United performance.
08:17 I'd like to ask about Will and Andre as well, what was the decision behind them?
08:22 I thought they had to really feel a performance from them.
08:25 Well, that's what we have to, that's a great word to use,
08:28 because that's what we've talked to the players, and especially the young guys,
08:31 and we've talked before about young players sometimes not feeling what's going on around you,
08:36 whereas the experienced players sometimes have felt that.
08:39 That was no disrespect to the experienced players that we left out,
08:42 but we wanted that.
08:44 For me, Brookesy's watched him for a long time, and Will as well,
08:48 and thought they were outstanding.
08:50 We talk about the work the academy does, and the two of them,
08:54 to go toe-to-toe with the players that Liverpool have got,
08:57 Will going toe-to-toe with Karnati and Van Dijk is good,
09:02 Brookesy ran out of gas, and then late on,
09:06 if you want to know regarding the tactical changes,
09:09 we went two up front for the last 10 or 15 minutes,
09:12 and we brought Oli on because Vinny was done,
09:16 and Oli's got that one ball, that one searching ball that possibly can end up in a finish.
09:23 So that was the game plan, but like I said, Brookesy was fabulous, and so was Will.
09:31 - Thank you. - Cheers.
09:33 Hiya, Chris. In terms of being knocked the dung out of the dressing room from Alain,
09:38 can you just talk us through all the emotions?
09:40 Yeah, I've got to say, I wondered, people have asked about it,
09:44 and I've downplayed it, but when Gary, a personal friend of mine,
09:50 in the stadium announced and talked about that,
09:53 it was an incredible moment personally for me and the reception.
09:57 Like I said, I get it, I understand that maybe some supporters would have been a bit...
10:07 In terms of me coming back, the shouts that don't go back and stuff like that,
10:13 but like I said, the main man wanting me to come back,
10:17 and the supporters, I was delighted with the reception.
10:24 I want to park that now, and let's all get behind that group of players,
10:30 and I'm sure they will if they produce performances and produce an attitude
10:35 and an approach like they've done tonight.
10:38 And it's one game, one training session, but is there an encouragement for you
10:41 that you can fight and you can still steal?
10:44 Well, yeah, the narrative from everybody, and I totally get it,
10:47 is that we're done and dusted.
10:50 But one game at a time and all that, Martin,
10:54 I've not got a crystal ball in terms of what's going to happen.
10:58 If the players produce those types of performances,
11:02 it's going to make it interesting, but that's the key,
11:06 and that's the aim, to find that consistency in that.
11:11 It's a quick turnaround, they put an incredible amount of effort into that game tonight,
11:15 so the squad is not at its strongest.
11:19 We've got senior players in there before to remind the players
11:23 of what it means to feel and play for this football club.
11:28 The likes of McBurney and Egan and Baldock.
11:31 So we've got senior boys in there,
11:36 and obviously they're big players that we're missing.
11:39 Tom Davis is a big player that we're missing as well.
11:44 But, yeah, it is, and we've just got to keep going game to game
11:49 and see where it takes us.
11:51 - Cheers, mate. - All good.
11:53 - Thank you all. - All right, take care.
11:55 See you, boys.
11:56 Thank you.