Squint and it was 2019 all over again. Sheffield United were rambunctious and awkward, swinging punches at the Premier League‘s elite. They had their shortcomings, particularly in attack, but played with an intensity and drive that won the full approval of Chris Wilder and the fans who sang his name.
u201cThe supporters have seen a proper Sheffield United performance there,u201d said Wilder afterwards.
And he ought to know. The manager who transformed his hometown club from a middling Championship outfit into a top-half Premier League team returned to the scene of his greatest glories on Wednesday and discovered a faint pulse on a season most consider to be beyond salvation. A 2-0 defeat against Liverpool was not the result Bramall Lane had begged for in Wilderu2019s homecoming but it did offer hope that a wretched campaign would not be allowed to descend into an embarrassment. Four days after a 5-0 humiliation at Manchester City u2014 a defeat that spelt the end for Paul Heckingbottom u2014 that was the small mercy on offer.
Wilderu2019s comeback opened with a throwback to the days when Sheffield United thought the Premier League was fun. There was organisation, purpose and a willingness to u201cthrow punchesu201d at an opponent that can inevitably hit harder.
Liverpool were just about deserving of their victory but confirmation only came once Virgil van Dijk scored their second in stoppage time. Sheffield United, up to that point, had kept on coming. They were game throughout.
u201cThe narrative from everybody is that weu2019re done and dusted but if the players produce that type of performance then itu2019s going to make it interesting,u201d said Wilder, whose side remain bottom of the Premier League, with just five points to their name. u201cThatu2019s the key, thatu2019s the aim: to find that consistency.u201d
Wilder is not the manager he was. Since leaving Bramall Lane, he has endured his first notable failures, at West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland, but the opening night back at Sheffield United suggested he might remain their best hope of a miracle.
The reception afforded to him certainly added to that feeling. Before, during and after Liverpoolu2019s visit there were the chants synonymous with a five-year reign that only ended with his exit in March 2021. Any ill-feeling, it seems, has been universally forgiven. Wilder, who has built his own bridges with the u201cmain manu201d owner Prince Abdullah in the last year, responded by beating the Sheffield United badge on his chest.
u201cIt will stay with me forever, that,u201d said Wilder. u201cI thank everyone from the bottom of my heart because itu2019s been a long time away. It was incredible. I understand that some part of the support thought it was a mistake me coming back and Iu2019ve still got to earn that trust. I get that. I do believe Iu2019m the best man for the job but Iu2019ve got to go and prove it.u201d
Wilderu2019s first spell in charge of Sheffield United showed him to be an astute tactician, but his second stint will be shaped as much by his motivational qualities.
An inherited squad desperately short on quality cannot be improved for another month and this has now become a club that cannot snap the habit of losing games at the highest level. It is 44 defeats in Sheffield Unitedu2019s last 56 Premier League games, a run that began under Wilder in 2020 and continues to erode the belief this is a team that belongs here.
The next two home games u2014 against Nottingham Forest on Saturday and Stoke City on Boxing Day u2014 offer better prospects than Liverpoolu2019s visit. The lap of appreciation initiated by Wilder at full time was a conscious attempt to reconnect with a fanbase that was losing faith under Heckingbottom.
Wilder can still remember the potency of Bramall Lane. His last game there in front of fans had been the visit of Norwich City in March 2020, the final game before Covid-19 brought the Premier League to a standstill. After a 1-0 win, Sheffield United moved sixth in the table that day.
Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp discovered it can still be an awkward, raucous place to visit. For all the visitors had control once Sadio Mane swept home Trent Alexander-Arnoldu2019s right-wing corner late in the first half, they could never claim to be comfortable.
