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What is likely to go well?
For all the change at Bramall Lane, very little of it obviously positive, Sheffield United have at least kept together their greatest strength of last season. They boasted the second best defence in the Championship and the three first-choice central defenders, two first-choice full-backs and goalkeeper have remained. John Egan, Max Lowe and George Baldock are all old faces – they know the ropes. Conceding few goals is a far better route to surviving relegation than scoring lots.
Sheffield United also know what they’re doing as a team. Paul Heckingbottom inherited this 3-5-2 from Chris Wilder, every player understands their role within the system and they are expected to give total commitment to making it work. That can make it easy for those new arrivals to fit in.
What is going to be a challenge?
The squad heading into a Premier League season is weaker than the one which ended last season in the Championship – no doubt. The sale of Sander Berge and Iliman Ndiaye, plus the contract expiry of Billy Sharp and Enda Stevens, means that 100 league starts from last season have disappeared into thin air. That also robs Sheffield United of two of their four most regular outfield starters and their top goalscorer.
It gets worse. With loan deals of Ciaran Clark, James McAtee and Tommy Doyle expiring, another 90 league appearances in 2022-23 vanish. It means that only one of Sheffield United’s top five chance creators from last season are currently contracted to the club – Oliver Norwood is the exception.
Long story short: goals are going to be a big problem. The creativity may well fall to Norwood and the goalscoring to Oli McBurnie and new signing Bénie Traoré – he scored 12 in 14 for Hacken in Sweden before his summer move.
For all the consistency in their defensive selection, it is going to be tested this season. Baldock, Egan, Lowe and Jack Robinson were all present during Sheffield United’s last Premier League season, and they finished bottom. Does that bode well?
Finally, the age of the squad is a problem given the greater intensity following promotion. Last season, Sheffield United gave 20 or more league starts to five players under the age of 25 – four of those five have left. They will promise to be workmanlike and disciplined, but is that really enough?
How has the transfer window gone so far?
We can best sum it up thus: on Monday morning, Heckingbottom told the assembled media that it was obvious that Sheffield United needed more players as the new season began. By the afternoon, news leaked that Berge was on the verge of a move to Burnley. Heckingbottom has lost his best midfielder, his best attacker and should not be surprised if there is interest in Anel Ahmedhodzic, his best defender.
Replacements have been thin on the ground, but also of a type: four players aged between 20 and 24, none with Premier League experience (although Auston Trusty was on loan at Birmingham in the Championship last season and was named their Player of the Season). Traore, Anis Slimane (from Brondby) and Yasser Larouchi (on loan from Ligue 2 Troyes) are all speculative gambles that will take time to settle.
Key player
Norwood is going to have to shoulder responsibility for chance creation, but McBurnie is probably even more crucial. The sale of Ndiaye and likely drop in possession and use of a low block means that Sheffield United might well have to play more direct to the strikers this season. McBurnie will be used as a target man who has to hold up the ball and win headers.
Last season, McBurnie reached double figures for league goals for the first time in his four-year Sheffield United career (although he scored nine of the 13 before mid-November). It’s a huge ask, but somehow he’s going to have to become an effective link-up player and also improve his efficiency in front of goal at a higher level. Gulp.
The manager
Heckingbottom has done one of the finest jobs of any manager in English football over the last 18 months. He replaced Slavisa Jokanovic, sacked after six months with Sheffield United 16th in the Championship. Heckingbottom first led them to the playoffs and then followed that with automatic promotion in his first full season after being promoted from the Under-23s.
And that’s not all. For most of that period, Sheffield United’s ownership situation has been uncertain. Heckingbottom has signed two players on permanent deals before securing promotion and has now lost 12. If he keeps them up without significant investment, they should spend some of the budget on a bronze statue of him.
Prediction
Perhaps there will be a flurry of signings after the season starts, but right now we have to pick them to finish bottom. 20th
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