Riley Roberts
Positivity, really?
If you’re a regular listener of the Pinch podcast, this combination of title and author might come as a bit of a shock. But it’s far too easy to be negative when things are going badly. So, while I don’t necessarily feel great about our chances right now, I thought it might lighten the mood a little to list a few reasons why it might not be all doom and gloom. And there are a few!
1. Wilder has a record of getting results
While opinion is fairly split on Chris Wilder at the moment, with big questions over our style of play, there’s one thing even his biggest critic couldn’t deny: he generally has a very successful record in the EFL. Since 2010/11, Wilder has only twice seen his seasonal PPG drop below 1.4, and only once when spending the whole season with the same club.
That rate is enough for around 64 points over a full season, which would usually put you in contention for the top half. He’s a manager who historically gets results and, knowing his character, the doubters will be fuelling his desire to get it right even more. A fired-up Wilder has tended to be a good thing for Sheffield United in the past.
2. Returning players could transform the side
I don’t really like making the injury excuse because, even without the players we’re missing, we still have a side that most Championship teams would be jealous of. That said, Harrison Burrows and Femi Seriki in particular are two players who could transform this side when they return.
Last season, during the period when we looked our best, we created a boatload of chances by getting in behind out wide and playing cutbacks into the box. If we have any intention of returning to that sort of style, those two will surely play an instrumental role.
In attack, we’re sorely lacking in depth out wide, but Tahith Chong seems set to return to action after the international break, giving us another option. Young Ryan Oné will also be a very welcome addition to the wide forward department when he returns. Whether he’s trusted with many minutes remains to be seen, but he can definitely add an unpredictable spark to our front line.
Of course, injuries affect every side, but ours have left us with a mismatch of conflicting profiles. Provided there are no shock setbacks in training before the Lincoln game, we’ll surely be naming better squads after the break.
3. This squad is capable of much more
Alright, this is a bit of a cheap one, but it’s true. This squad is not a bottom-half Championship unit.
Patrick Bamford has two goals, but his general play hasn’t been the best. Choudhury has started poorly, Sydie Peck started slowly but has shown signs of improvement lately, and BBD is yet to register a goal contribution. Some of these players are much, much better than the level they’re showing at the minute. For that reason, it’s hard to believe things won’t pick up a little.
Even after the summer departures, we still have a comparatively big budget for the division, and that shows in the quality of players in the squad.
4. We found a winning formula last season
This is a bit of an amalgamation of the other points, and it does feel a bit weird to say given our final position. Still, Wilder took over a team heading for relegation and, in the end, had us disappointed to fall out of the play-off race.
Between November 2025 and February 2026, we played 21, won 12, drew three and lost six. That run comes out at 1.86 PPG, equivalent to around 85 points over a full season. That’s almost half a season of strong promotion-chasing form.
As mentioned, there have been departures since then, and the squad is most definitely weaker, but we clearly had a process that enabled us to pick up points in the Championship. Most of that run came with a mix of 4-4-2, 4-2-2-2 and 4-2-3-1. We pressed really aggressively out of possession and were excellent at getting in behind out wide with the ball, registering high numbers of box touches and shots in almost every game of that run.
Even with the challenging summer we had, nine of the starting XI that beat Stoke 4-0 at home last December are still in the building. Does swapping Brooks for Donovan and Hamer for BBD really mean we have to completely throw away what seemed to be an ideal system? I’m not so sure.
Obviously, it sounds remarkably easy to just switch back to a past style. As all FM players know, all you’ve got to do is click the ‘load tactic’ button and voilà! Of course, that’s not how real life works, but I really would like to see some of the principles that drove our play in that period make a return. I think we’d be much better off for it.
Honestly, I can’t help but feel a tad more positive myself after getting that out. Of course, we’ve been pretty bad this season so far, but the players aren’t bad and the manager isn’t bad. That’s usually enough to make sure you end up just about alright. The squad’s going to improve when Seriki, Burrows, McCallum, Chong and One are back, and most of this group were around when we seemingly did have a winning formula last season.
Even though the mood is poor at the moment, there are reasons to think this is merely a blip. If we can return to something approaching the level of performance we saw between November and February, then talk of this having the makings of a disastrous campaign could be, fingers crossed, well wide of the mark.
I like more positive Riley. I can't be the only one finding it ironic that Wilder (and supporters) are pinning hopes on the return of two players the manager has never seemed to fully trust. Albeit I think full backs / wing backs with three centre backs would play more to Burrows and Seriki's strengths.
Nice one, Riley. Needed. Maybe it was always going to take time considering the high-profile departures, particularly O’Hare’s coming so late in the day (clear lack of a link between midfield and attack). Either way, with those players mentioned back, we *need* a strong return from the next six games – half of which are against teams in the bottom six. If not, I think it’s time to panic.