Shaking things up a little bit.
That seems to be the message that Chris Wilder wanted to get across ahead of tonight’s game with Manchester United.
The Blades will go into tonight’s game at Old Trafford needing to change a few things when it comes to the team, with Dean Henderson ineligible to play against his parent club, John Egan suspended following Sunday’s game at Newcastle, and a few other players in a race to be fit in time.
Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield ahead of the game, Blades boss Wilder opened up about the changes that United could be forced to make when they take on the Red Devils:
“We’ll look at everything and we’ll just try and pick the best side. There’s a thought process of letting them go again and just replacing like for like. Simon (Moore) or Michael (Verrips) coming in (for Dean Henderson, who is ineligible) and most probably Jags coming in as the middle centre half. There’s a situation where I might change the shape.”
Wilder’s men have been incredibly rigid this season when it comes to formation, sticking with a 3-5-2 formation for almost all of their games this campaign.
What will the result be tonight?
Win
Draw
Loss
And given how important this game is going to be, with crucial points in the race for European football on the line, I’m not sure if now is the best time to be changing things up. The formation has got us to this position in the table and I think we would be best to stick with what has worked so far.
You can put the Newcastle game down to a blip, and let’s not forget that despite the rather boring display against Aston Villa, we had that game won if not for a monumental blunder by the technology, all using the same formation and style of play. Stick with what we know.
What about you? Would you make any major changes for the game tonight?