Sheffield United need to improve to become an established Premier League club, asserts Chris Wilder
Sheffield United finished the 2019/20 season in ninth place
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Chris Wilder has admitted that Sheffield United need to improve their recruitment and bring in better players if they want to become a Premier League regular. The Blades were in fifth place for a good part of the season but struggled towards the end dropping four places in the final eleven games.
Going into the lockdown, the Blades were within a few points of fourth place but their performance since the league restarted saw them drop to ninth place. That includes them losing five of their eleven games since the restart which includes three consecutive defeats in their final three games which meant that their hopes of playing European football was over. But despite the incredible achievement, fans and critics alike have blamed the fatigue post-restart on the club having one of the smallest squads in the league.
Their fatigue was rather evident in the final games of the season with the Blades unable to keep up with the rest of the league. However, while their ninth-place finish is an incredible achievement but Chris Wilder admitted that the side needs to come back stronger next season and recruit well in the summer to improve the team. He also added that the players have given everything to the club but the Blades need more over the summer if they want to be “an established Premier League football club.”
"It's a feeling like we had when we first got into the Championship, we just faded away towards the back end of the season. We have to come stronger next year, we have to recruit well in the summer, we have to improve the players we've got here, and bring better players in if we want to be an established Premier League football club. It's been a hell of a long season for us, with everybody else, we've been stretched as a squad, you've seen the players out there late on," Wilder told Sky Sports.
"The players have given everything for the football club, so I can't be too critical of them. We've come to Southampton today and you look at the players they've got, and we've finished above them. I'm not trying to deflect anything, what I'm saying is that to continue the journey, we have to recruit well and improve on the players and bring better players in to compete."
