Chris Wilder reacts as Sheffield United tumble out of FA Cup

The Star, Sheffield

Chris Wilder's reaction after Sheffield United tumbled out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle with defeat to Cardiff City. Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield

Transcript

00:00Their fringe players were better than our fringe players. Their younger players were

00:05better than our younger players. It's as simple as that. I'm massively frustrated because

00:10of course I'd have loved to have put a stronger team out, but it would have been suicidal

00:13and I have to take that responsibility and if people behind me want to shout and bawl

00:17at me, I get it. But come the Norwich game, if any of those boys were out injured and

00:24we don't get players over the line because it's a difficult window to get players in

00:27and to get players in early and some of the boys that we're expected to get back don't

00:33get back, then we're going into the last 20th game of the season with a team that's really

00:39struggling. So it would have been suicidal of me. So I have to take that responsibility.

00:45Disappointed with some of the boys. They should have been better and there was an opportunity

00:50for them that have not played a lot of football to really impress. Always an opportunity to

00:54impress. A couple of young boys I didn't think did as well as they should be and it is really

00:59where we are at the moment. It's not me apologising because I've given plenty of information what

01:07this was going to look like tonight. I would have liked it to have looked a lot better

01:11in terms of the performance from the players that gave the opportunity. Gave the ball away

01:16cheaply in poor areas, but you're chucking a team together and you're expecting it to

01:20float. Yeah, they're chucking a team together and they just float a little bit better than

01:23us. They're into the next round of the FA Cup, we're out, but I think everybody recognises

01:28and realises. I can't chuck a season away by losing Gus Emel, by losing Callum O'Hare,

01:33by losing three or four of the players, by losing Anel and then having one centre-half.

01:38So if I had put Anel on tonight and something had happened to him, I would have had one

01:41centre-half. So that's just a small example. So yeah, these are things that I have to make

01:46and people have to trust me in terms of decision. It's not a great situation. We're in nine

01:53or ten out, but there won't be nine or ten out for the Norwich game and that has to be

01:58the main event and the last 20 games of our season have to be the main event. Disappointing

02:02to lose, of course, and don't like it, of course, but bigger picture for me.

02:07Were you tempted to put Gus or Callum on?

02:10Of course I was! Of course I was! Of course I was tempted. I love losing at home at Bramall Lane,

02:17of course I do. Of course I was and people have to hold me back because I want to chuck

02:26the goalkeeper on up front and see what we can do. But yeah, we don't get into this situation,

02:34we don't have the season that we're having by having a losing mentality. We don't have

02:38the seasons that we've had over numerous years. Like I said to the players before,

02:42you know, we came in here, we were an easy, soft touch right the way through. I want us

02:46to be stronger. I want us to go well in every competition, win pre-season games, win end

02:50of season games, win under-21s, win under-18s, win under-15s, of course, that's what we're

02:55all trying to do. And yeah, I would have loved to have tried to get something from the game,

02:59but I have to be realistic, we've talked about it long enough, we were light at the start

03:06of the season and now we lose nine players. It's not like one or two, it's nine players.

03:13You have 50% of them tonight and then you give yourself a lot more of an opportunity

03:18and a chance of winning games in football. So, like I said, I'm not going on the back foot

03:22or defensive, it's just what it is. We all want to have a really positive, strong last 20 games

03:30of the season. You bring two or three players in, what we're desperately trying to do and trying

03:36to work on and we're seeing progression on that, then this picture looks different. And if we'd

03:41have got through, then it would have looked a lot different in the fourth round and then

03:44we'd have had a stronger squad. I want to win games, but we really have to be selective tonight

03:53and it is disappointing because, as I said, I thought some of the boys there that I was

03:57expecting better performances from didn't produce the performances I was expecting.

04:05And I thought a couple of the young kids, two or three of them, I thought Billy Blacker was

04:10excellent in the middle of the park, I thought he can be delighted with his performance. I thought

04:14Baptiste at centre-half was positive in his approach. I think a couple of the others,

04:22Opportunity, I'll keep saying it, my favourite one, when they put their head on the pillar tonight,

04:26they'll feel that there's a missed opportunity for them to really impress me and really impress

04:31our supporters tonight.

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