Chris Wilder hints at making significant change from Sheffield United days following Watford appointment | OneFootball

New Watford boss Chris Wilder has hinted that he could move away from his tried and trusted 3-5-2 formation that delivered him much success as manager of Sheffield United a number of years ago.

The 55-year-old was swiftly announced as the replacement for Slaven Bilic at Vicarage Road, with the Croat's stint in charge of the Hornets lasting just over five months before owner Gino Pozzo decided that performances and results had not been good enough.

Wilder has been turned to with the play-offs on the agenda for the Hertfordshire outfit - they currently sit four points outside the top six going into the weekend's fixtures and for half of the season they have been in those spots.

FootballLeagueWorld VIDEO OF THE DAY

However, just one win in the club's previous eight league matches has seen a slight slide down the table, and it is one that Wilder will be looking to reverse.

He was sacked by Middlesbrough in October earlier on in the season despite only being appointed in November 2021, but the managerial spell before his stint on Teesside was perhaps his most successful as he won two promotions in three seasons at boyhood club Sheffield United to take them from League One to the Premier League.

During that time, Wilder exclusively used a 3-5-2 formation to great effect and kept it when the Blades were in the top flight as they ultimately finished ninth in the 2019-20 season, and he kept that system when moving to Boro despite it not always working out.

There could be a move away from that system however - Wilder has revealed that just because it was his favoured formation at his past two clubs it is not to say that he will shoehorn Watford's team into it, having already played under Rob Edwards earlier on in the season in a 3-5-2.

“There are many different ways of playing but you have to put your best players in their best positions. You put round pegs in round holes,” Wilder told the Watford Observer.

“I’ve got to get players who can win games of football at the top of the pitch.

“Am I going to leave four or five players at the top end, and defend with six? Well no, because all players have a part to play out of possession as much as they do when we have the ball.

“Similarly the boys behind those who play at the top of the pitch have got a part to play to build and dominate possession that hopefully results in chances being created.

"I’ve coached all different formations s0 I think people can be lazy sometimes and think ‘he’s 3-5-2’.

“I won promotion at Oxford United playing 4-3-3. We got 99 points at Northampton playing 4-2-3-1. At Sheffield United we played 3-4-1-2 and we got 100 points, then we tactically changed it when we got to the Premier League."

The Verdict

If Wilder goes back to his roots from his lower league days and switches to a back four with Watford, then it will be a major surprise.

All good managers are adaptable and Wilder is a good manager, but we are so used to him playing a variation of a 3-5-2 with his overlapping centre-backs.

We have seen Watford in a back three already this season though and they didn't seem to suit it that much - wingers such as Ismaila Sarr and Matheus Martins would have to be shifted into an unnatural position if Wilder was to use the system that worked so well at Bramall Lane.