Jurgen Klopp may still be erring cautiously but every man and his dog knows Liverpool claiming their much coveted first Premier League is all but a formality.
Klopp is a phenomenal manager overseeing a phenomenal team who is almost certain to win the manager of the season award.
However, just a few places below in the table sit a team managed by a much less heralded candidate who surely must also be in the running for the accolade, given the incredible work he is doing.
Chris Wilder has taken Sheffield United on a head-spinning tour de force over the past few years courtesy of successive promotions from the English third tier to the hallowed grounds of the Premier League.
Many predicted the team would struggle and just be there to make up the numbers, the perennial whipping boys of the division. They are unfashionable and play a dour brand of football, came the cries.
The reality is Sheffield United currently sit sixth in the table with a defensive record only bettered by all-conquering Liverpool. They are ahead of Manchester United, Arsenal, Everton and hot on the heels of Tottenham and Chelsea. They are very much this season’s Premier League disruptors.
But it is no fluke. They have been a true joy to watch, a genuine breath of fresh air in the top league; the unfashionable club unsettling the established order, fast becoming many people’s favourite “second team.”
Largely consisting of players from the lower leagues who have been the bedrock of the recent success from the outset, they do not possess household names, multi-million-pound signings on exorbitant wages or players with big egos sporting fancy haircuts and driving flashy cars: they are a no-nonsense, hard-working, honest bunch that apply themselves to their job with absolute conviction. In essence, a team very much moulded in the image of their manager.
‘People have to graft’
Sheffield is known as the “steel city,” a quality that is clearly evident in Wilder. He was born and bred in the city, a die-hard United fan from an early age. He was a ball boy at the stadium in his youth and represented the club as a player for six years between 1986-1992. Such is his devotion, he has a tattoo of the team’s crest.
Many youngsters dream of playing for the team they grow up supporting. Few do and fewer still go on to manage that team. Chris Wilder has done both. And done the latter spectacularly well.
He started his management journey by running a local pub team in the amateur Sunday leagues, progressing to successful stints with Alfreton Town, Oxford United and Northampton, who he led to the League Two title in 2015-16.
He joined his boyhood club in 2016 and hasn’t looked back since, leading them to promotion from League One with a club-record 100-point haul, then securing promotion to the top flight last season.
52-year-old Wilder keeps things real and his player’s feet firmly on the ground. He is a strict timekeeper and a big advocate of hard work fostering team spirit. “People have to graft,” he has been quoted as saying. “I don’t ask. They have to.”
“The manager is never less than honest,” right wing back George Baldock told The Guardian. “If he’s happy he tells you; if he’s not he lets you know. If we get ahead of ourselves he’ll come down on us like a ton of bricks. He keeps us so grounded and I think that honesty, desire and fight can be seen in our performances.”
Wilder does not suffer fools gladly and isn’t afraid to dig out a player publicly after a poor performance, something witnessed last September when he lambasted goalkeeper Dean Henderson for an error that cost his team in a game against Liverpool that they could have won. Critics were aghast but Henderson has gone on to be arguably the League’s best ‘keeper, with utterances of an England call-up on the cards.
However, in keeping with his balanced demeanour, Wilder is also quick to lavish praise when deserved. Last weekend his right wing-back George Baldock managed to contain Crystal Palace’s hugely talented Wilfried Zaha despite walking a red card tightrope, having been booked after 10 minutes. Wilder was delighted Baldock had contained a player who he described as the best winger in the league.
Upsetting the apple cart
Tactically Wilder has proven himself more than astute. He may be perceived old-school in many ways but there are few as innovative as him when it comes to tactics, devising and employing a complicated but hugely effective and entertaining system involving overlapping centre-halves which has received high praise from the likes of Pep Guardiola, Marcelo Bielsa and Klopp himself.
If he were from Brazil, Spain, Italy or Germany critics would be waxing lyrical over his innovation and bravery in the game, his ability to coach players to perform beyond their peak. But he’s from Sheffield and that doesn’t quite fit the profile of what a “top manager” is for many.
Critics often condemn this snobbery at established clubs in the top flight where well-known managers from overseas are generally preferred to homegrown achievers. What proven success in a management capacity, for example, has Ole Gunnar Solksjaer to merit his appointment at Manchester United? It is tempting to imagine what Wilder could achieve at Old Trafford given the resources and financial clout that would be at his disposal.
However, Wilder is more than happy where he is. He recently signed a new four-and-a-half-year deal, keeping him at the club until 2024, a richly deserved reward for the sterling work he is doing.
“I think we can win a few games and upset the apple cart,” commented Wilder at the start of the season. “Hopefully this is just the start of something special.”
Something very special indeed so far, Mr Wilder.
(Sheffield United host Bournemouth in the Premier League tomorrow (Feb 9), kick-off 9pm Thailand time.)