The Blades - In-Depth Analysis

[CroJack]

PART I


Ownership
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Kevin McCabe and his family, and Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (Saudi Arabia’s minister for youth and sport) 50 per cent each of Sheffield United after a deal between them in 2013. The stadium and training ground, which are currently on a long lease at a favourable rate, are owned by Kevin McCabe and his family.

In 2013 Prince Abdullah paid £1 and invested £10m in return for 50 per cent of the club, then in League One, while McCabe kept the other half and full ownership of its properties, including stadium and training ground.

McCabe boasted of finding the perfect investor for the Blades, a Saudi royal and sports fan with the connections to build a bright future.

Prince Abdullah had considered Leeds, Derby and Charlton before turning to Sheffield United but his interest seemed to drift, and he became Saudi Arabia’s minister for youth and sport in June 2014.

He continued to pay his way and play a key role in the decision-making process but has been spotted at Bramall Lane only twice in nearly five years and those employed to represent his interests have not made a positive impression.

Moreover, the partnership has failed to transform Sheffield United into anything it wasn’t before. Although back in the Championship, the club still operate at a loss, and are propped up by the co-owners, whose working relationship soured before it collapsed after promotion in May 2017.

McCabe decided to end the partnership, even if this meant also ending his family’s long association with the club.

In December, he offered to buy the Prince’s 50 per cent for a deliberately low price of £5m, aware this would trigger a ‘Russian Roulette’ clause in the original deal which meant the prince had to accept the offer or counter it at the same price.

If the counter-offer was made the first shareholder was bound to sell. But if the prince bought McCabe’s share for £5m it would trigger another clause, because any one party owning 75 per cent of the club would be obliged to buy the properties owned by McCabe at their market value.

Prince Abdullah served his intention to buy at £5m but not until two days after moving 80 per cent of his own shares to a brand new company called Up The Blades 2018. By parking shares in UTB 2018, he could take full control for £5m without breaking through the 75 per cent barrier with a single company, thus avoiding the obligation to buy properties which are currently on a long lease at a favourable rate from McCabe.
When McCabe realised what had happened he refused to sign off the shares, the prince launched legal proceedings against McCabe for breaking the terms of agreement and McCabe responded with his defence and a series of counter-claims.

This summer they headed for the courtroom, where Mr Justice Fancourt said the ‘manoeuvre’ by the Prince has ‘caused consternation and considerable upset for the McCabes’ who felt ‘tricked out of their entitlement’.

Sheffield United’s executive officers told the court the club needed an injection from its owners of £2.5m to stay solvent and a further £7.5m for transfer fees and new wages in order to satisfy Wilder and keep building towards the Premier League.

But as the two sides bickered and reached an impasse about how to provide the money, the sale of Brooks to Bournemouth, with £4m up front, presented a convenient solution.

Even with the sale, recruitment has been limited, and the same problem will recur until the power struggle can be resolved.

With a court date months away it will be a testing season for Wilder and the co-owners. This dispute must be resolved before Sheffield United can truly prosper."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...oardroom-dispute-threatens-derail-season.html

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[CroJack]

PART II

Manager

Chris Wilder
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On 12 May 2016, Wilder joined his boyhood club Sheffield United as their new manager on a three-year contract. This year, after a successful season with the Blades in the Championship, he signed an extension to his existing contract.

After retiring as a football player, he became a manager and was in charge of Alfreton Town, Halifax Town (their last manager before liquidation), Oxford United and Northampton Town before his appointment at Sheffield United. He also worked as the assistant manager at Bury.

At Alfreton Town he won four trophies: the Northern Counties (East) League Premier Division, the League Cup, the President's Cup and the Derbyshire Senior Cup.

Between 2002 - 2018 Wilder was in charge at Halifax for more than 300 games until the club went into liquidation on 30 June 2008.

In December 208 Wilder was appointed as the manager for of Conference National club Oxford United where he only just missed out on a play-off place in his first season. In Wilder's first full season in charge at Oxford, they defeated Rushden & Diamonds to reach the play-off final and gained promotion to the Football League by beating York City 3:1.

In their first season back in the Football League in four years, Wilder guided Oxford to mid-table safety. The team finished 12th, in the top half of the table, their highest finish in seven years. The next season Oxford finished ninth, after poor form late in the season led to the team dropping out of the play-off position they had occupied for most of the year. Oxford's chairman Kelvin Thomas gave Wilder his backing, meaning he would remain manager for the 2012-13 season. Despite failing to achieve a play-off place again in Oxford's third season back in the League, and intense speculation about his future at the club, Wilder was offered and accepted a further one-year contract for the 2013–14 season. On 26 January 2014 he resigned as Oxford manager with the intention of joining League Two rivals Northampton Town as their manager.

At Northampton Town Wilder successfully battled imminent relegation to the Conference, after taking over the club in the relegation zone in League 2. He led the side to a mid-table finish in 2014–15, and then to the League Two title the following season with 99 points.

In 2016 Wilder signed for Sheffield United and in his first season with the Blades won the League One title and promotion to the Championship with 100 points. He was voted League One Manager of the Year.

Conclusion: Chris Wilder is one of the most experienced managers in the EFL and a manager who knows how to promote clubs. We can easily say the between 2015 - 2017 he was the best manager in England. In that time Wilder has taken charge of 107 games from which his teams have gathered 229 points. He has won two division titles, achieving one promotion with Northampton Town, a club that nearly went out of business, and a second as the fifth manager in six years to try hauling Sheffield United out of League One. The bare facts are impressive but when context is added it starts to look miraculous.

Quotes:

“We’re big on the team here, and everybody has to buy into that. As I’ve made pretty clear before, on a number of occasions to be fair, you are either in or you are out. There’s no halfway house. It doesn’t work like that with us.” - Chris Wilder

“We are not trying to reinvent the wheel,” he says. “Sometimes it goes well, sometimes you have your off days. We have a way of going about things. Basically, we are positive people trying to improve players and teams.” - Chris Wilder on his coaching staff

“Just simplify the game”; “We’re not coaching gurus”; “I don’t think the game changes too much.” - Chris Wilder suggestions that overcomplicating matters is the worst thing you can do

But Wilder is capable of learning new tricks too. He admits he has studied Manchester City with his forwards, looking to emulate their near-post runs from low crosses) but maybe the secret is merely to have a good eye for a player, gain their respect then allow them to play. Or, as Wilder puts it, to “create an environment” in which they are free to get the best from themselves. Easy.

Having reached the Championship promotion many might have been cautious, paralysed by the fear of messing up, but not Wilder. “We play on the front foot. There are teams who play on the counterattack, who sit back and retreat to the halfway line. Then there’s us and we think we play a little bit different to a lot of teams in the division. This is the way that suits us and suits the way we want to play.” It is bullish, and no-nonsense – a team very much in their manager’s image.

In the Sheffield derby United went at it from the off and were 2-0 up before Wednesday had realised the game had started. United won 4-2.

“It all goes back to the players putting everything out on the pitch,” he says. “They commit to the game, so the support gets behind them straight away. They don’t see half-hearted performances, they don’t see people that are not running around. They see players competing, putting in the effort and enthusiasm. Then, the players are free in the head to produce their best.” - says Wilder

The prospect of United being back in the Premier League is not particularly outlandish: several similar sized clubs are top-flight fixtures but Wilder has his favourite. “I love the Bournemouth model,” he says. “They’ve got Harry Arter who’s played in the Conference, Simon Francis, Charlie Daniels and Marc Pugh who’ve played in League One: the heartbeat of their team that have gone on to establish themselves in the Premier League played for Eddie [Howe] all the way through.”

Success is bound to attract attention but Wilder claims the phone has not been ringing with more glamorous and lucrative job offers. “And I don’t want it,” he says. “I am ambitious. I want to drive this club forward, to play at the highest level. That is my mindset and I want the players to have that. I have a short-term view, just keep going game after game. The position we end up will be what we deserve.”

 

[CroJack]

PART III

Style of play
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Sheffield United defend from the front and rely on having a well-drilled team. They employ the high press in order to cause mistakes and get chances. They are a well-organised and hard-working team. It's rare they play a team who outworks them, and if they do they almost always lose. When they come up against a well-organised team they have two players who can create something from nothing - Duffy and Fleck. Brooks was the third man, but he was sold to Bournemouth this summer for €11,30 m. When these two are not on form the Blades struggle to create chances. Their strikers are generally not good enough to create on their own unless the opposition make a mistake. With other words: If teams park the bus against them and play as a unit, they struggle. If opposition make mistakes and leaves gaps, they prosper.

But high pressing and hard work is not the only a part of their style of play. In season 2017/18 The Blades were 7th in short passes per game, league average at long balls per game, and 2nd at crosses per game.

They normally play 3-5-2 with wing-backs providing crosses. This is their most used starting XI in 2017/18 season:

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[Yankee_Jack]

@CroJack ... great job on the above.

So basically we suffocate Duffy and Fleck, and the rest is ours.

 

[LittlePuma]

Great stuff, thank you!

 

[CroJack]

Part IV

Goals

Here are all goals the Blades scored in season 2017/18:

How they scored their goals:

Out of 62 goals, the Blades scored only 8 from/after set-pieces.

Headers and shots after corner-kicks: 3
Header after free-kick: 2
Penalties: 2
Free-kicks: 1

54 goals were scored from open play:

High crosses: 12
Low crosses: 11
Dribble and shoot: 7
Through balls: 6
Wonder goals: 5
Opposition goalkeepers and defenders terrible mistakes: 4
Long balls: 3
Deflected shots: 3
Lob pass: 2
Opposition own goals: 1


Goal scorers last season:



Clayton Donaldson (Bolton) and David Brooks (Bournemouth) have left, and been replaced by Ben Woodburn from Liverpool and David McGoldrick from Ipswich.

 

[CroJack]

@CroJack ... great job on the above.

So basically we suffocate Duffy and Fleck, and the rest is ours.

And we have to block their crosses. See post #6

 

[CroJack]

Part V

Assist and key passes

Most assists:



Most key passes per game:


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If we can stop Duffy and Fleck, then we'll stop two most creative Blades' players, although we don't know whether Ben Woodburn will be in their starting XI or not.

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[ivoralljack]

If we can stop Duffy and Fleck, then we'll stop two most creative Blades' players, although we don't know whether Ben Woodburn will be in their starting XI or not.

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We also need to stop Billy Sharp, a player well named for his alertness in front of goal. We've conceded some silly goals from mistakes pre-season. Make them against this guy and he'll gobble up the chances.

 

[CroJack]

We also need to stop Billy Sharp, a player well named for his alertness in front of goal. We've conceded some silly goals from mistakes pre-season. Make them against this guy and he'll gobble up the chances.

Fortunatelly for us I think he won't be in their starting XI. Clarke and McGoldrick will start, Sharp and Woodburn will probably be used as subs.

 

[CroJack]

We are also lucky that Paul Coutts won't be ready to play against us. He is to the Blades what Leon used to be to the Swans - he makes them ticking. He is their best passer and he makes most passes per game. In the beginning of the last season the Blades were flying with him in the squad, then he got injured (broken leg) and their form dipped immediately. A midfield of Coutts, Fleck and Duffy would be too much to swallow. Without him they looked disjointed.

 

[Borini]

Great analysis @CroJack ...
Keep up the good work. That made an interesting read
My prediction Blades 2 Cygnets 1

 

[CroJack]

My prediction Blades 2 Cygnets 1

 

[CroJack]

Part VI​

New signings

1. Dean Henderson, goalkeeper


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Henderson has been signed on loan from Manchester United. He has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-20 and under-21 levels.
In season 2017/18 the Blades' goalkeepers were their weak link. I expect him to be their first choice goalkeeper in season 2018/19.

2. John Egan, centre-back


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John Egan, centre-back, age 25, Irish international, signed from Brentford.

3. Kean Bryan


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A defender signed from Manchester City on a free transfer.

Bryan impressed at League One outfit Oldham Athletic last season, scoring twice in 37 appearances. Both goals were shortlisted for Oldham's Goal of the Season award.

Mainly playing in central defence, Bryan was a shining light as Oldham were relegated to League Two and his impressive performances were enough to earn him the club's Young Player of the Year award.

4. Ben Woodburn


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No introduction needed, you all know who he is. Signed on a season long loan

5. David McGoldrick


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A striker signed from Ipswich Town on a free transfer. In 146 appearances for Ipswich scored 40 goals.

 

[CroJack]

Part VII​

What do Blades' fans say after Inter Milan friendly
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"You can’t really read anything into a friendly but for what it’s worth... I thought the performance was very much the same as last season, we pressed the ball high for the first 20 minutes with nice sharp-quick passing across the back and in midfield and it looked pretty good at times (like last season) then it became slow and predictably (like last season). We still don’t have that special player in midfield, we still don’t have a quick winger or that special player up front who will score the goals! worryingly going forward we looked very pedestrian no pace with no goal threat. No one wanted to shoot (like last season) only Fleck looked like taking on a defender! So basically nothing's changed! We haven’t brought in that game changing someone who will get us excited or that player who will score us the winner In a tight game. It looks like we ain’t got no money and no ambition (like last season). I hope I’m wrong but I thinks it’s going to be a very long season."

"After the first 30 minutes I wasn’t overly impressed against an Inter side that was walking about. Like others have said we lack up front. McGoldrick did look an improvement on Leon, but dynamic going forward it certainly wasn’t. Duffy may as well have substituted himself. Holmes looked very good but by that point in the game no one had a clue what the other was doing."

"We need a young, mobile, muscular physicality up top. The type of player who if bought would cost a lot, but who is available from the youth/u23 ranks of 6 or 7 premier league clubs on loan. Akpom, Nketiah, Abraham, Mousset, Nmecha, Armstrong, DCL tick some of the boxes.

Although they started last night together, I don't see Clarke & McGoldrick as an ideal partnership. A number of times good balls were put through and no one got on the end of them or the defenders weren't able to be closed down quickly."

 

[Jackflash]

Good luck to all you travelling Jacks today,have a great trip,and we'll be listening out for you.