Middlesbrough travel to take on Chris Wilder’s Sheffield United
Chris Wilder of Sheffield United(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
Chris Wilder will no doubt be planning to give Middlesbrough an extra special testing time at Bramall Lane on Monday night.
The fact that he lasted less than 12 months in charge of the Boro between 2021 and 2022 probably still rankles. Even so, Wilder will feel that he has nothing to prove to Boro having won two promotions in the past with his boyhood club Sheffield United in addition to taking part in a play-off final. He also guided the Blades to seventh place in the Premier League in 2020.
Wilder initially promised so much at the Riverside after replacing Neil Warnock, taking Boro to seventh position, five points behind a play-off spot. He also oversaw the FA Cup defeats of Manchester United and Spurs, before losing in the quarter-finals to Chelsea.
Wilder did it, too, with one of the weakest attacks Boro have had in modern times. In the end, he probably paid the price for the failure to sufficiently strengthen the squad during his only summer on Teesside.
That summer, the focus was on bringing in defenders, with Darragh Lenihan, Matt Clarke and Tommy Smith joining the club. However, the only incoming forward who was signed on a permanent basis was Marcus Forss, who initially made little impression operating as an orthodox striker.
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Rodrigo Muniz also arrived on loan from Fulham, but the Brazilian never really grasped the nettle on Teesside. He was just a shadow of the player he has become since returning to London. It became clear that he and the club shared different visions for the future.
If Wilder had realised what his replacement head coach Michael Carrick did – that Chuba Akpom would be a goalscoring sensation if moved to a No.10 role – it might have been completely different.
But Boro struggled badly in Wilder’s second season, winning just two of their first 11 League games. This led to his dismissal early in October. Wilder’s overall record at Boro was 18 wins and 11 draws for a 40 per cent win percentage, which is one of his lowest tallies as a head coach.
So now he is guiding Sheffield United for a third time. He will feel happier at Bramall Lane than anywhere else and you wouldn’t rule out the Blades finishing the season like a train. Wilder has already done the hard work, dragging United out of the bottom three after they looked certain relegation candidates under former boss Reuben Selles.
Boro can be guaranteed to expect a prickly welcome and a tough game – but that’s nothing new. Kim Hellberg’s boys have been dealing with exactly the same week in and week out.
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