Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder celebrates. (Getty Images)
Sheffield United are back in the Premier League after a 12-year hiatus, following their relegation to the Championship at the end of the 2006-07 season.
Chris Wilder’s men have been playing good football and deserved to be one of the three teams playing top-flight football at the start of next season.
After a fairly stuttering start to the campaign, they managed to resurrect things since the turn of this year. The Blades only lost twice after Christmas, which helped them to string together a run of positive results to finish runners-up to Norwich in the league and get automatically promoted.
Before they go into the pre-season mode and begin their preparations for the upcoming season, let’s analyse their prospects, strengths, weaknesses and conclude whether the team has the potential to survive in the Premier League for more than a year:
Having conceded only 41 goals in 46 league games last season, Sheffield United boasted the joint-best defensive record in the Championship, with Middlesbrough.
Chris Wilder’s 3-5-2 (or 3-4-1-2) shape has worked well so far, where the centre-backs complement themselves nicely and the two wing-backs defend when required and attack in possession.
Furthermore, the three centre-backs Chris Basham, Jack O’Connell and John Egan have a good sense of defending the right spaces at the right time and they are also very precise when it comes to making up for the wing-backs who get caught higher up the field on the counter-attack.
As briefly mentioned, the two wing-backs are important to how Sheffield United defend their wide spaces. In such a midfield-centred shape, they become the wingers while in possession and defensive full-backs without it.
On that count, George Baldock/Kieron Freeman and Enda Stevens have done a fabulous job on either side of the three centre-backs. The trio has combined and scored seven goals and supplied 12 assists throughout the course of last season.
If the Blades are to be strong in wide areas, their wing-backs must continue the good work and be a force to reckon with on both sides of the field.
The central midfield trio of Oliver Norwood, John Fleck and Mark Duffy are both good on the ball and hardworking off it.
They know how to create chances for the strikers, can link-up with the wing-backs and don’t mind covering up the spaces to prevent the opposition play through the midfield.
With a combined assist count of 24 last season, the trio has done well in terms of causing havoc on the opposition defence. They just need to continue the good work and hold that midfield together in the tougher assignments in the Premier League.
The most important thing that is required to win football games and keep the momentum is scoring goals. And Sheffield United lack in that department to some extent.
They are a bit too dependent on the two strikers contributing in this area and not many join them in the opposition box to create a real danger when the crosses are coming.
Strike duo of David McGoldrick and Billy Sharp combined scored 48 of the 78 goals netted by the team in 46 league games last season. None of the attacking midfielders touched the scoring count to 10 to up the numbers.
If the Blades are to survive in the Premier League and challenge the other teams, they need to be threatening in the opposition box. The central midfield unit of Duffy, Norwood and Fleck, who combined scored 11 goals last season, will need to add more.
Even though Premier League has eight fewer games compared to the Championship in a season, it is more intense and the requirement of proper squad depth is more apparent here.
Sheffield United have a decent first-choice eleven and three to four good backup players. However, if they are to really sustain their relevance in top-flight football, then signing more players to strengthen the squad is a necessity.
As of now, Chris Wilder should focus on signing a backup striker, centre-back and a left wing-back at the least.
It is well-documented that surviving the first season in the Premier League is not easy for most of the promoted teams. Sheffield United are no different.
Frankly speaking, Chris Wilder’s men have to play extremely well and might need some luck to play top-flight football in the 2020/21 season.
On paper, they look like a side who could sadly go back to the Championship next season.