How Sheffield United can exploit Tottenham’s weak defence and shock another top Premier League side

Under their Argentinian coach, Mauricio Pochettino Spurs have consistently finished in the top four and last season, of course, saw the north London side reach the final of the Champions League.

Contrast this to the expectations on Sheffield United as they gained promotion from the Championship last season. The summer transfer business from the newly promoted side centred around evolution rather than evolution as their coach Chris Wilder kept faith in the side that had been so successful last term.

As a new coach to the Premier League, there was a large amount of disinformation surrounding Wilder with some in the media labelling him as a ‘typical English coach’ who would favour a strong defence with target forwards who would receive direct passes in transition before looking to work the ball into the penalty area.

These assumptions are, in fact, almost completely wrong. Yes, Wilder is a coach who places a large emphasis on man-management and he is a master of getting his players ready for each game with motivational style. We should not, however, discount the level of tactical ability that Wilder has shown so far this season.

A lot has been made of Wilder’s use of overlapping centre-backs as the two wide centre-backs in the back-three would look to move high when they are in possession to create overloads against the opposition.