No matter how you put it, Wilder wasn’t wrong in his thinking his team’s resilience and their ongoing battle to fight has made them go far within the league this season. And it’s also undeniable that he has been the mastermind behind the club’s monumental rise, being the glue that holds his team together and giving them a sense of belonging, playing as one.
Big questions, however, are to be asked. Are Wilder’s attempts and tactics enough to get them through? Are they now being found out? Has the momentum been stunned by the three-month hiatus? Or, simply put, are they just destined for this type of fame?
The Blades, after all, do have a spectacular defensive record and it does just seem as if the wheels are set to eventually come off. The clubs' meagre 29 goals conceded is the second-best in the league with only Liverpool bettering this record.
With this said, goals have been a real issue at the other end. With a prolific goalscorer, United may already have one foot in the Champions League and not have to settle for lacklustre 1-0 wins and hope that their defence plasters over the cracks of a poor attack.
Their 30 goals scored in Premier League so far is the worst inside the top half and is the sixth-lowest throughout the division. In fact, no player across the three domestic competitions has been able to score more than six goals which is a damning statistic. Lys Mousset and John Fleck are the only men with five goals thus far and other than the odd goal from Billy Sharp, Oli McBurnie and John Lundstram, nobody else has really contributed.
The likes of David McGoldrick, who has bagged just once in 19 games, have been a real issue for Wilder to deal with and if they are to get over the line, at least one man is going to need to step forward.
