Chris Wilder has cited Leeds United as inspiration for Sheffield United to turn around the current negativity at the club.
The Blades currently sit bottom of the Premier League and certainties for the drop having picked up just 14 points from their 28 matches so far, conceding a staggering 74 goals.
Their impending relegation has built up a lot of negativity around the club, perhaps even more so than at Leeds almost 12 months ago. That said, it wasn’t much better at Elland Road.
In the summer, Leeds were forced to deal with a change of ownership, new manager, and abundance of the first team squad leaving on loan. The position they are currently in looked almost impossible to achieve during the summer.
Now, speaking to theSheffield Star, Wilder says the atmosphere at Elland Road for the recent win over Leicester City is what Sheffield United need to aspire to get to, as difficult as it currently is.
Wilder cites Leeds as example for Blades
He said: “I look at Leeds United, who got relegated last year and a lot of the narrative would be very, very negative. I think you saw that game when they played against Leicester and what that looked like – and it was incredible.
“I’m not one to talk about rivals, especially in my own county, favourably. But you’ve got to say the atmosphere that night at Elland Road against Leicester was absolutely rocking and bouncing. So we will get it back to where we want it to be here at Bramall Lane.”
Leeds are a perfect example of how things quickly can turn around after relegation if you can keep enough of your key players, and spend money wisely.
Leicester and Southampton have also been able to perform really well this season and again, much of that has been down to keeping enough of their squad from the Premier League. The promotion race has been like nothing ever seen before.
Players like Gustavo Hamer at Sheffield United may regret not moving to Leeds over the Blades, as it is unlikely they will be able to put together a season like any of the relegated trio have this year.
That is down to the fact they are going to be relegated after just one season, whereas Leeds, Leicester and Southampton had all been in the Premier League three years or more.