There is one Premier League manager Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder is particularly impressed by – Mauricio Pochettino.
Wilder is getting ready to go up against some of the biggest names in world football this season after earning promotion with the Blades.
Their first campaign in 12 years in England’s top flight begins at Bournemouth on Saturday. Yet the trip to Spurs on November 11 may have especially stuck out to Wilder.
The 51-year-old told BBC Sport that what Pochettino has achieved since coming to England he has “enormous respect for.”
Wilder continued: “That year-on-year improvement, the stadium, the team, his playing staff, and the way they play – I like the way Spurs go about their work.”
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(Photo by Arfa Griffiths/West Ham United FC via Getty Images)
The Argentine isn’t the only coach Wilder is taking notes from. The Blades chief has also been looking into the past at his English predecessors.
Alongside Dean Smith at fellow promoted side Aston Villa, Wilder helps take the number of managers from England in the top tier to seven.
That’s not even taking into account Leicester City’s Northern Irish boss Brendan Rodgers.
While there may be a perception that foreign coaches have more modern ideas, Wilder highlights many English “innovators.”
“Go back to Howard Wilkinson. He won the first division with Leeds. He was a school teacher but an innovator,” he told the Telegraph.
“The biggest one is Sam (Allardyce), really. He was my manager at Notts County. Look at what he did at Bolton in terms of video analysis, sports science, the way they played.
“Dave Bassett was a key influence on me, the way he treated and talked to people. Wimbledon and Sheffield United were quite direct sides and he got the best out of what he had, but he was an innovator.
“He was one of the first to introduce conditioners. He tried a psychologist and video analysis: he used to cut up footage and show players. What he did was smart.”
