Sheffield United Half Season Review 16/17

Billy Sharp blows the lid off Bramall Lane with his 2nd goal against Oldham on Boxing Day

20th August 2016, and I'm stood head in hands on a mild day in Bermondsey. It's the 89th minute, and we've conceded a penalty from a needless handball in the box. Thank you very much, Jack O'Connell. As Millwall's inevitable conversion slotted cleanly past Simon Moore, a 3-sided eruption rang around The New Den, 1 point turned into 0, and another early season defeat put Sheffield United firmly at the bottom of the League 1 table. Aside from a solitary point at home to Rochdale, every game in that initial dismal run had ended in defeat. The reaction from the fans at that stage in the season was mercifully mixed, probably due to disappointment fatigue from the previous season, and that our new manager was a Sheffield-born-and-bred former player and big Blades fan. But in football's fickle era, where managers are "in trouble" after a month of poor results and club owners have twitchy trigger fingers, it was obvious that form had to turn around soon if our manager was going to avoid an early consignment to the scrapheap.

That recovery began a week later at Bramall Lane. Oxford United were the opponents, newly promoted and in better shape than the home team. They started well, and when they bagged the opening goal just after 15 minutes of play, the weary acceptance of inevitable defeat dropped through the crowd. 1-0 down at half time, rock bottom of the league, with a long, bleak season stretching out ahead. The Blades Way. The 2nd half finally gave the Blades faithful something to shout about in the new season, as a swift couple of goals from Billy Sharp and James Wilson turned the result on it's head, and just like that - Sheffield United had won their first game of the season.

Football's a funny game, and often moments like that can define a season. It seemed that all The Blades needed to get off the starting blocks was a shaky home win. What followed was a remarkable run of form, 15 league games unbeaten that had Sheffield United steadily climbing up the league. As each weekend came, the results got more convincing. A late penalty to ensure the 3 points away at Gillingham, (perhaps the Football Gods re-balancing the scales after the disappointment at Millwall?) a tricky 3-2 victory at Wimbledon, the first clean sheet of the season at home to Peterborough, Ebanks-Landell's 95th minute header to send the Highbury Stadium away end into raptures and avoid defeat at Fleetwood, they just kept coming. This writer's personal favourite of those results was the 4-0 home decimation of Port Vale, a game that saw 4 disallowed goals as United burst the back of the net 8 times.

Who do we have to thank for such transcendent football? That would be Chris Wilder and Alan Knill, the managerial/coaching duo at the heart of Sheffield United's gleeful sprint up the table. They oversaw a sea change of players in the summer break, highlighting clear deficiencies in the squad and aiming to solve problems through sensible acquisitions from the 3rd and 4th tiers of English football. The formation used this season - Chiefly a 3-5-2 (almost unheard of at this level) - is a drastic switch-up from the 4-4-2 we've become used to the past few seasons. This is a flexible formation, allowing the team to defend narrowly and attack with width. When used properly, it's been superb. This is surely Knill's doing - The coaching side of the management duo that saw Northampton romp home with the League 2 title last season. His influence shows in the subtle improvements. There have been minimal injuries across the squad so far, an indication of a solid fitness regime. It's hard to prove this as these kind of stats aren't kept for League 1, but it's pretty obvious that pass completion rates, set-piece conversions and successful last-man tackles are all up on last season. United are conceding less fouls and getting less cards. It's clear Wilder and Knill have a hard-drilled, disciplined training plan for the squad, and that is showing itself in ever-improving performances on the pitch every Saturday afternoon.

Chris Wilder and Alan Knill have overseen a dramatic change at Bramall Lane since August

The possession play in the middle 3rd, a problem for several years under several managers has improved greatly. There were times in recent seasons where physical teams would come to Bramall Lane, be utterly lacking in quality, but come away with a point because they churned up the centre circle and muscled out a lightweight Blades midfield. This has dropped off significantly since the start of the season, in fact even when Sheffield United were losing, they were holding up play in the middle of the park effectively. This is the clever simplicity of Wilder and Knill's footballing ideology. They've brought in some new talent to shore up the midfield, utilised existing players at the club, and got them passing through the middle, winning 50/50 tackles, and playing with their heads up again. Basic stuff, but devastingly effective when put into practice.

The effect on the midfield ripples up to the forward players. While Sheffield United have had several effective strikers over the past few years, they've never had the service they need to truly spread their wings. With the new formation and stronger midfield presence, the strike force are now fed through on goal regularly and get more chances to bury a shot in the back of the net. Couple that with the attacking midfielders getting on the scoresheet most games and we're seeing some solid high-scoring performances from Sheffield United this season. After 23 games, United are on 42 goals, with a healthy +19 goal difference, 2nd only in both stats to league leaders Scunthorpe United. This is an improvement on this time last year - 37 goals, with a slim +6 goal difference. Small changes make a big difference.

Another more esoteric improvement has been the squad's ability to hang on to leads and finish off games properly. A good case in point is the game on Boxing Day at home to Oldham. 0-0 at half time, with the away team digging in and defending well, Sheffield United only managed to go 1-0 up on 72 minutes, with a belting Billy Sharp goal (ably assisted by Mark Duffy) which sent the bumper festive crowd to their feet in appreciation. A few minutes later, Oldham had their best chance of the game - A fizzing shot from a rare glimpse on goal that was tipped round the post by Moore for a corner. This is entirely conjecture of course, but last season? That would have beaten George Long, and the score would've stayed 1-1, Sheffield United capitulating needlessly from a winning position, and frustrated fans making their way home under a cloud of disappointment. As it stood, Sharp bagged a 2nd in the last few minutes, finishing off the game and ensuring the win. This attitude has been the theme of this season, and has won games that would have been draws in previous years. It's a crucial element of why Sheffield United have performed so well thus far.

Wilder's PR strategy is simplicity in self-effacement. Never resting on his laurels, he is keen to point out a balanced assessment of the situation at hand. He doesn't underestimate the opposition, or take any result for granted. When Bury came to Bramall Lane in November, on the back of 6 straight losses and free-falling to the bottom of the table, they were described as "a test" with "really good players." Never mind the 14 game unbeaten league run The Blades had going in to that game, or the 26 goals in the 10 previous games. Leyton Orient, in financial meltdown and a full division below were a "decent club" that deserved to be in League 1  - before being dismantled 6-0. After the 4-1 away triumph at Chesterfield, Wilder chose to discuss the failings in the 1st half and the improvements that needed to be made before he mentioned the classy comeback in the 2nd half. All great managers have this in common; they never boast of their position or perceived superiority, they talk up the opposing team's quality, they keep praise of individual players light and constructive, they never get drawn into discussing other teams around them and they always thanks the fans for their support. Chris Wilder's press strategy is honed to a fine point. You're not getting a drop of information out of him that he doesn't want you to have.

Mark Duffy has been a stand-out performer for Sheffield United in 2016

For all the success United have had this season, there are weak spots in the squad that need to be addressed in the January transfer window. The free-scoring Billy Sharp aside, there isn't an on-form striker in the team. Sharp has scored 16 league goals so far, 38% of United's total. If his excellent form dries up, there has to be a fellow forward player who can bag goals at the same rate. Without that, we'll watch wins turn into draws, and hard-fought away points turn into frustrating losses. There is a need for a star striker at the club, and if Sharp cannot keep that status, there has to be a back-up. Another issue that Wolves may elect to recall Ethan Ebanks-Landell, our heroic centre-back, and instrumental in some of the best clean sheet displays of the season so far. His height is priceless in aerial battles, and his 93rd minute goal at home against Bury was worth it's weight in gold. So if he goes, it would be worth getting a similar defender in to replace the enormous presence he commands. There are several key players - Duffy, Moore, Freeman, and Coutts, mainly - that need to be kept on so as not to upset the balance of the squad. Sheffield United have a great team as is but there has to be contingency in case of loss. Chris Wilder needs to be on the ball next month, lest his top players get snapped up. We can only hope that he gets his deserved full backing from the board.

With Northampton coming to Bramall Lane tomorrow to round out this year's fixtures, it's fitting that Wilder has an opportunity to draw a line under his time with The Cobblers, knowing a win against his former employers would put Sheffield United (temporarily, at the very least) at the top of the League 1 table. It's been a wonderful 1st 23 games to watch as a fan. The football has been beautiful, the wins have come thick and fast, and Bramall Lane is once again an unforgiving fortress for away teams to come to. That sad day in Bermondsey feels like years ago. Promotion is too early to talk about at this stage - There's still 4 months to go, and this is Sheffield United, Serial Bottlers we're talking about after all, but if the 2nd 23 games are anything like the 1st, The Blades could enjoy a vintage year in 2017.

Chris Wilder and the Poisoned Chalice

A common scene at Bramall Lane - A new manager.
(Left to Right: Chris Wilder, Kevin McCabe, Alan Knill)

The past couple of days as a Sheffield United fan have been eventful, to say the least. At 10am yesterday, the club released a statement announcing the official departure of Nigel Adkins, the fanbase-splitting, platitude-spouting laser beam of positivity that has overseen a decidedly miserable season and guided Sheffield United to their worst final league position since the early 80's. When I first heard the news, I bristled and prepared myself to type out a blog bemoaning another knee-jerk sacking from a trigger happy board. Adkins had only served 11 months with The Blades, and I thought he deserved at least another 6. However, I feel that most of what I would have said was already stated in my similar blog from this time last year R.E: the sacking of Clough. Adkins' departure is a repeat of all the failings of a year ago, and I hope I'm not the only Sheffield United fan with a serious case of déjà vu.

One thing that is welcome is the club acting quickly and appointing a new helmsman barely 7 hours later, in contrast to the months (Weir) and weeks (Clough, Adkins) we have had to wait for recent managerial changes. The club released an official statement mid-afternoon. Our new manager is Chris Wilder, coming straight from winning the League 2 title at Northampton, along with his assistant, Alan Knill.

Fans of a certain age will know Wilder well. He is a former player, serving as an adequate defender for a number of years in the Dave Bassett era, and then being brought back briefly by Thompson in 1998. He is explicitly and unequivocally a Blade - He has lived in Sheffield his entire life, is often seen mixing with fans on away days, and was known to have sat in the stands during his playing days when not selected for the squad. As a further sweetener to the deal, he has appointed fan favourite and fellow Sheffield United fanatic Billy Sharp as the club captain. This has already scored him plenty of brownie points with a large section of the fan base.

If only life were so simple, and that was the end of it, as while there are plenty of positives to take from the last 48 hours, there are also many key points to be considered. The board have made it clear in recent years to our managers that anything but promotion will result in a sacking. Wilson was ousted 6 weeks after having Sheffield United top of the league table, Clough was gone after finishing 5th last year, and Adkins, though finishing 11th (An unmitigated disaster any way you look at it) was often merely a point away from the play-off places. If Wilder is to keep his job in a year's time, he will have to get Sheffield United into The Championship. No pressure then, old boy?

Wilder faces a number of problems.  Firstly, it has been made clear that he will have a lower budget than previous managers to play with. While some clubs (Burton, Rotherham, Yeovil) have proven that promotion in this division can be achieved on a small budget, it certainly helps to have more cash floating around. He will need to sign a handful of players on the cheap, then fill out the squad with loans and youth players. This, coupled with the promised clear out of this season's dead wood, will give the squad a major overhaul. That's a gamble. It may pay off. It may ruin the club. Either way, it's rolling the dice.

Chris Wilder breezed to last season's League 2 title as manager of Northampton

Wilder will also have to coax a positive reaction from the Sheffield United fan base, who are currently going through several shades of anger, frustration and apathy from the elongated stay in League 1 and the serial ennui of the drudgery of missing out on promotion and seeing managers and players consistently under perform. Adkins contentiously alluded to the toxic atmosphere at home games in his final interview as Sheffield United boss, and unpopular though it may sound, he's pretty much dead-on. To play in front of almost 20,000 people every 2 weeks and have them boo and jeer you most of the time, deserved or not, must be demoralising. The fans will give Wilder his due time, (and maybe a little more because he's a Blade,) but if Sheffield United aren't top 6 by Christmas, the atmosphere at Bramall Lane could start turning sour. That's going to be hard to overcome once it's set in.

Wilder has never managed in this division before, and it's uncertain how he'd be able to adapt to the higher quality level. His performance last season was exceptional - He managed Northampton to the League 2 title on 99 points, 13 above the best of the rest, achieving promotion at a canter. Recreating this in League 1 is almost impossible. Wilder will have expected to finish around 10th with Northampton next season. This is more than acceptable for a newly promoted side, but for Promotion-hungry Sheffield United? He'd be gone. Wilder therefore has to perform to an exemplary standard in his debut League 1 year just to meet expectations. It's a mammoth task for any manager.

All these issues need time and patience to address. Wilder will probably fail to reach the top 6 in his first season. That's not an indictment on him in any way; it's not a failed season if he doesn't get promoted at the first time of asking. He needs to bed in and develop. It's a gradual process, that needs time to fail as well as succeed. Unfortunately, as said earlier, the board will not see it that way, and Wilder will be sacked, thus completing the annual cycle at Sheffield United. As I said in my blog on Clough's sacking, there is only one common denominator in all this failure the past decade, and that's the board. I'll get behind the new manager, like every good fan should, but he's been given a poisoned chalice to drink from.

Negative Tactics Prove Costly For Adkins

Blades fans endured another disappointing performance on Saturday

Sheffield United’s 1-1 home draw to Swindon on Saturday was a frustrating afternoon of football for their fans to watch. This was a game The Blades were capable of winning, even dominating, but they failed to create enough chances and fell victim to a well-worked late equaliser from the visitors. The United faithful left Bramall Lane with a sour taste once more, as another side with little quality in their ranks earned a hard-fought point. That’s not to say Swindon played a poor game – Far from it. They had a solid tactical game plan and executed it well. They created one good chance all afternoon and scored from it. But yet again, Sheffield United dropped points at home in a game they should have put to bed before half time.

The Blades started brightly. Many United fans have been bemoaning the lack of forward-thinking, attacking football this season. The “rugby team” sideways passing, the frustration of yet another good chance passed back to the ‘keeper. Not so in the first half. Sheffield United started on the front foot, slicing passes through the middle, mixing it up with crosses from the flanks, winning balls in midfield. Their style was aggressive and pacey, yet controlled and precise. It was refreshing to see Adkins employing a direct strategy at home, and the mood was buoyant in the home stands from the early exchanges.

The penalty was a bonus from the initial period of pressure; Billy Sharp confidently struck the back of the net for his 7^th goal in as many league games, and that seemed to signify the beginning of a comfortable home win for Sheffield United. Indeed, Sharp was close to securing a 2^nd later on in the half, and had the cross he failed to convert carried a little less pace, The Blades may well have been 2-0 up at half time, cruising to victory. Games hinge on these knife-edge chances, and that one went begging, especially for a striker on top form. Such is the game of football. Nevertheless, Sheffield United went into half time a goal up, and had played well for it.

The second half was a different story, and showed a worrying trend in Adkins’ match tactics of late. Apart from a couple of early attempts on goal in the first few minutes, Sheffield United spent the 2^nd half playing a more defensive style, sitting back and allowing Swindon to have time and space to carve out chances and take hold of the game. As a promotion chasing side, Sheffield United should be trying to put away home games such as these comfortably, scoring 2 or 3 and aiming for a clean sheet. It is unacceptable for a 1-0 lead in this kind of game to be deemed “job done” and have the manager instruct his squad to take the foot off the accelerator and wait out the final 30 minutes. Allowing the away side to come back into the game in the 2^nd half is just asking for trouble, and The Blades were punished for their lack of creativity with an equalising goal in the 79^th minute.

Billy Sharp's penalty capped off a bright start for Sheffield United, but was the only goal the home side managed all game.

While there will be questions raised about the poor level of defending leading up to Swindon’s goal, (McEveley clearly out of position, no one marking the attacker in space in the box, the goalkeeper left stranded,) a far more pressing issue is at heart here - Sheffield United should have been 2 or 3 up by that stage. The Blades have not kept a clean sheet for 6 games, mainly due to poor defensive displays, and therefore must go out with the intention of scoring more than 1 goal. Adkins was happy to settle for a 1-0 win by the hour mark, and made all his substitutions before Swindon’ goal. While the Baxter sub was a positive attacking move, bringing Flynn and Reed on showed a clear intention to play out the game and stifle any further Swindon attempts on goal. This would be a prudent decision if the team had a solid back four, but they don’t. Sheffield United have conceded more goals than any other side in the top half of the table, excluding Peterborough. It’s far too risky to rely on getting a clean sheet. Sheffield United must score more goals.

When the stifle tactic failed, Adkins had no more subs to use, no further rolls of the dice to try and change the game. Adams and Campbell-Ryce, a pacey pair of tricky forward players who would have chopped up the mediocre Swindon defence had to watch on as a negative, defensive Sheffield United side dropped points at home once again to a mid-table side they should have been thrashing.

Adkins did virtually the same thing a week previously away at Colchester. Sheffield United had a bright first half, scoring in the 20^th minute and taking a 1-0 lead into half time. Colchester responded well in the 2^nd half, and got a deserved equaliser to set up a potentially fiery final 30 minutes. But Adkins failed to see that the game was there for the taking, and worryingly seemed to be content with a point away at a side that had lost 9 of their previous 10 games. He set up to defend, failed to bring attacking players on to stretch the game, (however using Baxter as an impact sub which did help to link the midfield and the strikers,) and got a lucky win through a tap in from a corner in the 92^nd minute. Again, this is a side Sheffield United need to be comfortably defeating, instead they barely won the game. Adkins rode his luck away at Colchester, and managed to win. He did the same at home to Swindon, and dropped 2 points. That is not a sustainable strategy if Sheffield United want to start winning games every week.

Many Blades fans think that the players are to blame here, that the squad lacks quality. I disagree, I believe the squad is good enough on paper to beat most of the teams in League 1, rather it is the tactics employed that are at fault. At home, the brief should be to win the game as early as possible. The best teams score early on 2 or 3 times, and then sit back. This is what Adkins did against Bradford just after Christmas. The game was won once Connor Sammon scored on the hour mark, a full 3^rd of the match remaining. It was the best win of the season, and showed how well The Blades can perform when enabled to play a creative, aggressive style. December was the best month of the campaign so far, but already feels like a false dawn, and results such as Saturday’s are two steps back.

Sheffield United only just managed to beat relegation-threatened Colchester last week

Having said that, overall the results of late haven’t been disastrous. Only 1 loss in 8 league games is a good record, and The Blades have certainly overcome their September-November slump. But with Millwall, Peterborough and Southend all pushing for the coveted 6^th spot, Sheffield United have a lot of competition to fight off to reach the play-offs, and Adkins can’t ride his luck for much longer. Dropping points as he did against Swindon on Saturday may come back to haunt him.

Sheffield United have still yet to play the entirety of the current top 6 once more this season. They will be the testing games, the games that are OK to nick 1-0, the games that are OK to only gain a point from. But if The Blades are to reach the play-offs, mid table/relegation sides such as Swindon on Saturday (and Blackpool tomorrow night,) need to be dispatched cleanly and efficiently. They will only achieve that with attacking, positive football, played over the full 90 minutes, and most importantly, scoring more goals!

Good form starts at home, and the next game at Bramall Lane will be against Wigan, a Championship team last season, FA Cup winners in 2013, and one of the best teams in the division. I hope Adkins realises the immense importance of that game, and sets up his squad and tactics to win convincingly. If Sheffield United play as negatively as they did against Swindon, I can see nothing but a demoralising home loss to a team that will be in the mix for the play-off final in 4 months. Sheffield United have contested some solid results against the big hitters this season, a home win against Coventry, a draw and a clean sheet away at Burton, and sensationally coming back from 3-0 down away at Wigan to snatch a point. All this will stand for nothing if they can’t win against lesser sides at home.