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Sheffield United boss Ruben Selles will be needing inspiration from one Blades star in particular to help recover from the poor start to the season.
The 2025/26 season has kicked off, and it has thrown up difficulties for Sheffield United under new boss Ruben Selles.
Sheffield United suffered a crushing defeat to Bristol City at Bramall Lane, and that was followed up by another loss, this time on away turf against Chris Davies’ Birmingham City.
Defensive concerns have been at the front and centre of Sheffield United’s despair so far, to the point where Selles has expressed issues with the club’s recruitment so far.
Pressure is already on Selles to turn around the initial bad start for Sheffield United, and he will be hoping that his marquee signing can eventually kick into gear.
Sheffield United boss Ruben Selles will be keen for Louie Barry to shine
Whilst the Blades have been left short defensively, there has also been a lack of composure in front of goal, with Tom Cannon notably continuing to struggle after his difficult time at the club in the back-end of the 2024/25 Championship season.
Sheffield United have lost Kieffer Moore this summer, and with Cannon not hitting the heights, Ruben Selles will be keen for Louie Barry to show the quality he has done previously in his career.
Barry showed glimpses of promise at Hull City, under Selles, until his untimely injury suffered in an away win against Sheffield United. His true quality was displayed in League One and Two with Stockport County.
The Blades winger possesses the ability to turn games around, and Selles will be hoping that he can provide a moment of brilliance this weekend against Swansea City to help turn the mood around at Bramall Lane.
Ruben Selles knows that Louie Barry possesses brilliant quality
Louie Barry has done brilliantly to work himself up to becoming a Championship talent, and whilst he is yet to hit the heights in the second tier, Ruben Selles knows that he will be a hit at Sheffield United.
Selles has stated how much promise that the youngster has, but also stressed that it can take time to acclimatise to the Championship.
“He’s always a threat when he has the ball, and hopefully, that performance will transform into assists and goals, and he will be as good as any other in the league,” said Selles when discussing Barry.
“I expected it to take relative time, so I didn’t expect him to arrive and immediately smash the league. I know he’s a really good player.”
Selles will be hoping that Barry has now had that time to settle into the division, and he can now ‘smash’ it at Sheffield United, at a time when individual quality is needed to turn around the club’s poor start to the season.