Sheffield United Manager Addresses Anel Ahmedhodzic's Captaincy and Transfer Speculations Amid Team's Inconsistent Performance

Anel Ahmedhodzic’s position as skipper questioned by Sheffield United fans amid form slump

Before this afternoon’s match against Bournemouth, Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder made no promises regarding Anel Ahmedhodzic’s future after the current campaign. Napoli expressed interest in signing United’s captain during the January transfer window.

However, he stayed at Bramall Lane when the transfer window closed on February 1. Regardless of what happens with their Premier League survival effort, the Blades are prepared for additional interest in the Bosnian international defender in the summer. Many fans have also questioned his credentials as captain after a season of erratic personal form from a defender many anticipated to adjust to life in the Premier League with ease.

But Wilder, who gave him the armband after returning to the club in December, said: “Anel’s a good player, but there has been interest in him and there will be interest in him. But I don’t think he should be looking beyond the next game and we’re certainly not.

“I don’t think that personally it’s a reason why we’re getting spanked by Arsenal and Villa – because Anel’s captain – and I thought he was outstanding at Wolves and at Luton. These are the things that you have to deal with, whether it’s Anel or myself. When things are going well, people will say decent things about you to Anel and maybe when they’re not, as captain of the team, he has to take that responsibility on board.”

Wilders decision to substitute senior players Ollie Norwood – after just 16 minutes – and later Ahmedhodzic in Monday’s 6-0 hammering at home to Arsenal was interpreted in some quarters as a watershed moment in their United careers. But Wilder explained Norwood’s withdrawal was purely a tactical move, to go to a back five, and Ahmedhodzic was carrying an injury that was not worth further risk at 5-0 down.

“Players haven’t got to be precious about pride or whatever,” Wilder said. “The [Norwood] decision was made tactically by me – we needed to try and do better with Saka because if we hadn’t done previously.

“We’re all hurting and we’re all suffering in that moment – supporters, players, management and coaching staff. But the Anel one, he had a tight hamstring going into the game. It’s been an issue over a number of weeks and we’ve had to modify his training, which people don’t see. He’s not training for the majority of the week and sometimes we’re having to make physical substitutions with a lot of the boys.

“That’s not a great place to be at the moment, but we’re just going to have to deal with it. If we can get Anel out there, and he’s fit enough to do that, we just looked at it and we felt the game had gone so there was no point in trying to put him in a worse position than he is in.”

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