'By a long shot' - Chris Wilder's Middlesbrough verdict and reflections on his own Boro spell

Chris Wilder was mightily impressed by Middlesbrough in their win over his Sheffield United side

Chris Wilder called Middlesbrough the best team Sheffield United have played since his return to Bramall Lane.

Boro won an enthralling battle between the two sides on Monday night, with the 2-1 victory over Wilder’s side moving them to the top of the Championship.

The former Boro boss had spoken highly of Boro before the game, but called it a three-horse race for promotion, as he spoke about the quality of Coventry and Ipswich also.

But having now seen Boro up close and personal, it’s fair to say he was very impressed by what he saw from Kim Hellberg’s side, who won courtesy of Tommy Conway and Riley McGree goals.

Wilder said: “I’ve got to say, they’re the best team we’ve played all season, in the time that I’ve been here. By quite a long shot. I imagine for the neutral, it was a great game to watch, particularly the way it started.

“We wanted to be on the front foot because we know they’ve got dangerous players. We committed to the press and tried to get after them, and we nearly did that. There were a few times we had them trapped, but they managed to get out.

“You have to play really narrow. They don’t play a lot on the outside, so you have to play really narrow with your full-backs and wide players inside. But that’s a really hard shape to play against. You saw that with the first goal – Riley picking up pockets and Conway playing in between the right-back and right centre-half.

“I thought our two central-midfield players were just off it slightly in the first half, half a yard or so, but it was really difficult for them because they were up against arguably the two best midfield players in the division, by quite a way in my opinion.

“It always just felt like one of those games where it just wasn’t quite happening for us. But like I say, it was the best team we’ve played against for me, by a long way.

“I thought it was a statement win for them. We can take a bit out of it, even though we’ve set ourselves a high bar with the home games. We just needed a little bit more.

“We probably had six-and-a-half and sevens, and you can’t really do that against a team at the top of the league, with the momentum they have, the results they’ve got and the cohesion they’re obviously showing. You’ve got to be right up there, and I don’t think we quite got to the heights we can."

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For Wilder, it was defeat against a Boro side who he led for 11 months between November 2021 and October 2022. Though more than three years have passed since his exit, there are still a fair few players remaining from his time on Teesside, including McGree, who signed for Wilder.

Boro fans sang, ‘Wilder, what’s the score?’ at full time and generally don’t think fondly of the Blades boss, largely because of the way it came to an end for him at the Riverside, with disharmony behind the scenes over the direction of the club.

But, prior to that, Wilder had led the club from the bottom half of the Championship to only missing out on the play-offs on the final day. He was also in charge of a memorable FA Cup run, which included wins at Manchester United and over Tottenham.

Reflecting on his time at Boro, he said: “You get the noise and narrative, but I’ve always said that I had a great 11 months up there. I was really disappointed it didn’t work out in the way I wanted it to.

“Were there mistakes made on my part? 100 per cent. But it’s still a time I look back on fondly. Riley obviously scored, and I signed him. There’s some good players there and it’s a good football club.

“I’m not surprised by the journey they’re on. I like the manager. We invited him in afterwards, and he came in and was very humble and spot on.

“There’s a lot of connections in there. Hayden [Hackney] was starting to get in and around the group while I was there. And since then, he got his opportunity, he’s really blossomed into the player that he is. He's an outstanding midfield player.

“We like our midfield players here, but I think when you look at the standout midfield players and standout overall players full stop in the division, for me there’s nobody better than Hayden.”

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