Sheffield United - Emulating Chris Wilder

TheMaestro

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After conducting a poll for a new save, Sheffield United won 6/17 votes to win the poll for my latest FM20 save. Sheffield United are one of the success stories of this season, with many pundits predicting them to finish bottom of the Premier League. However, manager Chris Wilder's astute acquisitions and tactical ability has seen the Blades rise into the top half of the table and they are now vying to qualify for a spot in European football.

As I take over, however, I am not expecting to be able to recreate such magic in my first season with the team. The media predicts the team to finish 19th and there is no room to do business in the transfer market during the summer window, with a thin budget and not too many players to try and sell. Ultimately, the aim of the first season is to make the most of what we have currently at the club and build upon that to survive and then create further success.

The squad is mostly filled with strong Championship quality players, but it is nicely rounded and has a good level of depth, meaning that we can probably go without transfer business during the first transfer window. There are a couple of highlights and one positive in the squad is that it is largely domestic and UK based. I will look to keep it that way and hopefully I can build a successful career at Sheffield United.​
 
Pre-Season + Transfer Window
Team Photo.jpg


United began the save in financial debt, so in order to clear that I sold a couple of the players in the team.

Out.PNG

David McGoldrick was the main out. With McBurnie and Mousset the starters and Sharp presenting an option as well, the 31 year old was going to find his chances limited within the team. Therefore, I let him go for 7.5 million to Russia. He was originally going for 11 million to Bournemouth but turned down their offer and I couldn't get team to pay the same for him.

34 year old Leon Clarke was even further down in the pecking order for strikers so he's off to the MLS to finish his career.

The team still looks the same as when we started out because we only signed one player for our U23's

In.PNG

Young Arsenal winger Nathan Tormey has decent potential and is quite cheap at 400k, he adds depth to the wing spots where we do not have many options, but I doubt he will play any minutes for the senior team this season.

Pre-Season.PNG

Pre-Season was good but we cannot read to much into it as I didn't arrange any difficult friendly fixtures for us to compete in, the focus primarily being on building fitness. One positive is that we did not concede a single goal so hopefully our defence is in good shape this season.

Injuries.PNG

John Fleck begins the game with an injury, and both John Lundstram and Mohamed Besic picked up knocks in pre-season meaning that our midfield will be a bit lighter than hoped for upon the beginning of the season. Fleck and Lundstram are two of our better players so they could be big misses at the beginning of the season.


Tactic.PNG

United use a 5-3-2 formation in real life, but due to those midfield injuries, I will start off with a 5-2-1-2, with Luke Freeman as the CAM, even though he has barely played for the club in real life. I am taking a risk by using such a formation with a positive tiki-taka style but many of the players are good on the ball and I will try and take advantage of that, plus it should get the best out of Stevens and Baldock as the attacking wing-backs.
 
2019/20 Season Kick-Off
Photo #1.jpg


We have a difficult start, facing Chelsea in our first match, and away from home. But I was tactically stubborn and used a positive menality...

Chelsea 3-0 Sheffield United.PNG

And the result was a complete tactical backfire, as we were dismantled by a vastly superior Chelsea team. From the very first minute we looked like losing and it was an unprofessional performance, we had 2 shots, 0 on target and committed 23 fouls. A poor start.

Our next fixture was Aston Villa, at home, up against relegation rivals. At least a point, I thought to myself. Could we get it?

Sheffield United 1-2 Aston Villa.PNG

No. Instead we threw away a lead in the last 15 minutes but don't let the scoreline deceive you, Villa deserved their win by more than a goal. Our only positive was Enda Stevens delicious cross headed in by McBurnie but after those opening two minutes, all our joy had come and gone in the match.

If we lost our next game to Brighton at home, another relegation rivals, I would begin to get concerned, even if it is only after 3 games.

Sheffield United 2-1 Brighton.PNG

Thankfully we came through and got a win to kick start our season. I gave Billy Sharp a start and it paid off. Oliver Norwood was the heartbeat of the team, providing the two assists that were crucial to our win. Their stoppage time goal makes the result look less convincing, but a win is a win.

August.PNG

We finished the month of August with a Carabao Cup derby fixture against Sheffield Wednesday with a routine 2-0 win. We then played Leicester, were thoroughly dominated by them and they eventually got a 1-0 win in the game.

League Table.PNG

Those results leaves us sitting in the relegation zone after 4 games. It's not a great start, but we have faced Chelsea and Leicester, two top half sides.
 
We began our next month with another difficult fixture, this time against reigning champions Manchester City. I was expecting a long 90 minutes...

Sheffield United 1-0 Manchester City.PNG

While it was long and tense, the team managed to miraculously beat Manchester City 1-0 at home! It was an incredible win, with several saves from Dean Henderson key to us holding on to a clean sheet. A decisive strike from Oli McBurnie was the difference, although I was stunned that we managed to hold on, but delighted.

It was an away fixture against Burnley next, and after our high against City I didn't know what to expect, but was hoping for a point,

Burnley 1-0 Sheffield United.PNG

But unfortunately we lost the game in a dull affair. Neither team created a lot, but they managed to tuck away one of the few good chances in the match and that was enough.

After a lot of mixed form, I decided we needed another tactic as, despite getting 2 wins from 5, which wasn't terrible for our side, our football was not overly good to watch and I wanted something a little more convincing.

Tactic #2.PNG

I changed to a 4-4-2 Diamond Narrow formation, in order to not look so defensive. With Fleck and Lundstram back from injuries, we had extra bodies in midfield to accomodate that as well.

September.PNG

Our first result with the new tactic was a 4-1 Carabao Cup 3rd Round win against Luton Town, a good morale boosting win.

Our next game was against Arsenal, however, and this was another difficult task, although we can take confidence form the 1-0 win against City.

Sheffield United 3-1 Arsenal.PNG

And we did manage to win the game, 3-1! Our best performance yet in my opinion, as we more than matched Arsenal and some clinical finishing was on display from our side. It was really good to see Mousset on form and he showed how good a striker he could be, now it's all about consistently getting that form out of him.

League Table #2.PNG

Overall it was a very good month, wins over Manchester City and Arsenal propelling us up the table into 12th place, with the only dent being that Burnley defeat.
 
After two incredible wins in September, we had another tough fixture up against Liverpool.

Liverpool 4-0 Sheffield United.PNG

But there were no heroics from us this time, Liverpool were on a different level to us today. They did the damage within 20 minutes and we were powerless to stop them despite adopting a defensive mentality.

Next we played struggling Wolves, and I was hoping for a result here to get us back on track.

Sheffield United 0-1 Wolves.PNG

We were extremely hard done by in this match as we dominated Wolves in all aspects and should've won the game. I replayed the 94th minute penalty given over and over but could not spot a foul and the fact it was undeserved only rubbed salt into the wound.

October.PNG

We finished the month with another defeat, to the overachieving Norwich who dominated us. We got morale back up with a 3-0 Carabao Cup win against Blackburn, where I changed tactics again, this time to a 5-3-2 WB.

League Table #3.PNG

After a poor month where we didn't score a league goal and lost all three league games, we dropped back into the relegation zone. After the highs of the last month, we certainly dropped back down to earth this time around.​
 
After a poor month last time out, we changed to a 5-3-2 WB for the Blackburn game in the last game of the last month. That tactic would now get its first run out in the league against Crystal Palace...

Crystal Palace 2-0 Sheffield United.PNG

But unfortunately it brought no positive change, as Palace outclassed us to win 2-0. In fact I'd go so far as to say it was worse than the previous one, but I will give it more than just a single league game to attempt to begin working.

Everton were next and while I wasn't so confident, we were at home so I was at least hoping for a goal to break our goalscoring duck

Sheffield United 0-4 Everton.PNG

Unfortunately it potentially resulted in our worst result yet, as Everton absolutely thrashed our team and we barely had a look in. Another poor performance, and we are in quiet a slump right now before we head into a packed December.

November.PNG

We finished the month with a match against Newcastle, but even against the bottom side in the league we couldn't put in a good performance, meaning we have now gone 6 games without a point and have not scored a single goal during that time.

League Table #4.PNG

That left the table in the following shape and we are embroiled in a relegation battle and we could drop to last if Southampton get a point in their game in hand. I am changing back to the 4-4-2 Diamond as at least with that, we put in a more positive performance with that tactic then when we use a back 5.​
 
With our 4th tactical change occurring, I was hoping for a dramatic turnaround in form, and it needed to happen quickly.

Although we had Manchester United next...

Sheffield United 2-1 Manchester United.PNG

And we got an incredible win with a late turnaround, which, to be honest, we completely deserved. It was our best league performance to date in my opinion, we played some great football and would've been hard done by if we didn't even get a point. Delighted we got the win and Norwood was instrumental with a pair of assists to contribute to the win.

It may be premature, but at least I saw some major positives in the 4-4-2 Diamond

Sheffield United 3-0 West Ham.PNG

And I saw some brilliant football as we topped our last game and thrashed West Ham 3-0 at home. Lys Mousset is hitting form this month and bagged a hat-trick to steer as to a comfortable victory. A complete contrast to last month, and we now have 5 goals in 2 games, having scored none in 6 prior fixtures.

Although, we had another tough fixture, this time against Tottenham.

Tottenham 3-0 Sheffield United.PNG

And unfortunately they showed a clinical touch, to win the game 3-0, with all of the goals being scored within the first half an hour.

Although the scoreline is a bit deceiving...
Stats.PNG

We didn't dominate Spurs but I'd go so far as to say that we matched them in the game, making the 3-0 scoreline a little harsh, and still displaying that our performance levels are improving even if we did face a heavy loss.

December.PNG

We picked up another league win, managing to beat Watford (with a brace from Mousset), before going to face Spurs again in a Carabao Cup quarter final and racing into a 2-0 lead, before being pegged back and losing on penalties.

After our good Carabao Cup run came to an end, we were back in the league and against Southampton, who were bottom at the time.

Southampton 1-2 Sheffield United.PNG

And we made another comeback, with yet another goal from Lys Mousset this month. Unfortunately we lost our starting LB Jack Robinson, who had been integral to our good form to injury this match and the under performing Enda Stevens got his first game in a while, and managed to score our leveller.

Injury.PNG

Robinson will be out for about two months (rehabilitation included) so I'll probably hunt for a new LB in January because, even though he scored today, Stevens just isn't performing at all in my system and I'll try to offload him.

December #2.PNG

We lost our last two games of the month, but Bournemouth and Norwich are both in the top half and they were close games despite a two goal margin of defeat in both games.

League Table #5.PNG

After a positive December, with congested fixtures as well, we find ourselves 4 points ahead of the relegation zone and, just beyond the halfway point of the season, we have every chance of surviving this season.​
 
January was quite a month for us as, contrary to the summer (where we conducted next to no business), we spent a good amount of money and recuperated that through player sales, in an effort to decrease the squad average age a little and build for the future as well.

In the midst of a transfer window, we still had vital Premier League fixtures coming our way.

January.PNG

Although first we had a game against Stoke in the FA Cup, where we progressed nicely with a 2-0 win.

We then faced Arsenal, who, if you remember, we defeated 3-1 last time we faced them.

Arsenal 1-1 Sheffield United.PNG

This time around we managed to draw with them which is a result I am still happy with. It was good to see McBurnie score a goal because it had been a long time since his last one, and on the basis of the play I think a draw was a fair result on the day.

Next, however, was Liverpool, who destroyed us in our last meeting.

Sheffield United 0-0 Liverpool.PNG

But this time we held our own against them, fighting for a deserved 0-0 draw. I think these types of results show how much we have improved over the course of the season. Previously, we couldn't get near Liverpool but today we matched them in performance and I was delighted with that.

Stats #2.PNG
Stats #3.PNG

And the stats show all the difference. On the left hand side is our first game against them, which we lost 4-0 and we were away, registering just two shots in the entire match. The second match is on the right hand side, which was a 0-0 draw, and we were at home and had 12 shots to Liverpool's 8 with 6 of them on target.

Wolves presented another fixture where we could show our improvement, as we lost 1-0 in the 94th minute to them last time.

Wolves 1-3 Sheffield United.PNG

And we showed our improvement. After going behind, we turned it around nicely and Mousset continued his fine goalscoring run. It was also good to see Oliver McBurnie score who now has 2 goals in 3 Premier League games after scoring none in his previous 10+ matches. A great win and our season continues to get better.

Up against Bournemouth next and I wasn't too sure what to expect as they were overachieving this season.

Sheffield United 0-1 Bournemouth.PNG

And a late winner from Dan Gosling saw them take the points. I'm not too disappointed with the result, we are still a relegation battling side and we have had a good month this January, so I won't dwell on losing this match.

January #2.PNG

We then continued to progress in the FA Cup, defeating QPR.

Onto the transfers, and we'll start with the transfer departures.
Out.PNG

As you can see, we sold a number of first team players and I'll explain each major one. Firstly, John Fleck was my back-up midfielder as he was injured to begin with in the save and that limited his opportunities when he got back, as our midfield was established by then. To get near 20 million for him is decent business. Next out was Chris Basham who was not getting in the team and was 4th choice CB so no issue selling him. Enda Stevens was absolutely terrible for me so I had no issue offering him out for sale. John Lundstram was also quite poor and he'll join Stevens at Jiangsu. Similar for John Egan who underperformed so I got rid of him. These depratures upset team leader Billy Sharp, so he followed Egan and Basham to Brighton.

We managed to replace most of those players with the following incomings.

Duje Caleta-Car
Duje Caleta-Car.PNG

First in was a new CB, the 23-year-old Duje Caleta-Car who looks quite decent and was solid in his first couple of games for the club. We have 3 decent Premier League level CB's now as he joins Retsos and O'Connell as our main options in that position.

Dominic Solanke
Dominic Solanke.PNG

Dominic Solanke is not the most prolific striker but is English and still has the potential to become good. He has some good stats too, with 15 for finishing and some decent pace and natural fitness. He'll rotate with McBurnie to find the right strike partner for Lys Mousset.

In.PNG

We also signed Max Lowe as a new LB, although he will rotate with Jack Robinson because Robinson has been great so far. Sylvester Jasper was a Fulham youngster, while Tom Lowery was one of the better League Two midfielders who can make a massive step up as a back-up for this level. Lastly, Max Kilman added depth to the CB position and is English as well.

League Table #6.PNG

That left the league table in the following form and we sit decently in 14th.​
 
February was a quieter month, with just 3 league matches to play - beginning with Aston Villa.

Aston Villa 2-2 Sheffield United.PNG

Considering they are the bottom club, this isn't the best result but I will take a result which isn't a defeat in the league. One positive was that Solanke scored on his debut so hopefully he can become a frequent goalscorer for us.

Next was a more difficult ask, as we faced Chelsea at home

Sheffield United 1-1 Chelsea.PNG

But we managed to draw that game again, matching Chelsea's performance the whole match through. It was a good performance and we merited Dominic Solanke's equaliser in the last 15 minutes of the game to earn a point.

And the final match of the month was against another relegation threatened team, this time around we faced Southampton.

Sheffield United 2-0 Southampton.PNG

And we comfortably won the game, with two goals in the first half an hour to win the game 2-0. It was a complete performance and Mousset got back amongst the goals in this game after his excellent run in January.

League Table #7.PNG

That put us into 14th place and we are 7 points clear of the relegation zone, a great position to be in with 11 games remaining.​
 
March started off with an away trip to Watford, who were just below us on the ladder.

Watford 3-1 Sheffield United.PNG

But they would close the gap on us as they managed to defeat us 3-1. It was probably our worst performance in a little while, especially after Mousset put us in front. We seemed to drop back after that point and never could recover the match.

March.PNG

Thankfully we were able to recover and progressed in the FA Cup, defeating Fulham.

We came back to the league with a trip against Spurs, although they are struggling.

Sheffield United 1-0 Tottenham.PNG

And we capitalised on their poor form, with an early Lys Mousset goal giving us a very nice victory. We deserved the win and Spurs looked dejected and tired throughout and barely put in any effort at all.

Next up was West Ham, a game where I wasn't sure of what to expect.

West Ham 1-0 Sheffield United.PNG

Unfortunately we lost in the dying seconds of the match, with Andriy Yarmolenko converting a cross at the back post. West Ham thoroughly deserved to win though, they were dominant, but any hopes of scraping a point were dashed with the stoppage time goal.

March #2.PNG

We were also eliminated by Leeds in the FA Cup, as they had too much for us in extra time. We did well in the tournament though and to make the final 8 of both domestic cup competitions is a good achievement in my first season.

League Table #8 (Plus Youth Intake).PNG

Overall, it wasn't the best month despite our win over Spurs, but we remain mid table and nicely clear of the drop zone.

We also had our youth intake, but the preview said not to expect much.

Youth Intake.PNG

And we didn't really get anything too good. Matt Davison and Declan Doyle are probably the only two who have a chance of making the first team, but they only have 3 star potential so not a great start, especially considering our youth facilities are pretty good.​
 
Off the back of a mediocre month, we hoped to improve, although first we had a tough away trip to Manchester United.

Manchester United 3-0 Sheffield United.PNG

Unfortunately we weren't able to show any improvement and United had no problem in dispatching our team at Old Trafford. Two goals in the opening 11 minutes had United on a victory course and we couldn't handle the pace in their squad.

Next we had an easier trip against relegation battling Newcastle, but they had a January takeover and invested that money wisely to improve their team.

Sheffield United 2-2 Newcastle.PNG

And one of those players was striker Alfredo Morelos, who bagged a brace in a 2-2 draw. We took a 2-0 lead and at that point, I potentially should've dropped back to a balanced mentality but I stayed on positive and it backfired, with Newcastle finding their way back into it, and they deserved it.

April.PNG

And the rest of the month went alright, with a late defeat to Everton and a bore draw against Palace being poor results, but all in all, not losing too many games is acceptable. However, we have not won a match in 6 games, and are still not safe , so it will be a tense end to the save.

League Table #9.PNG

That left us in 15th, six points clear of the relegation zone. One win should do the job for survival and hopefully I should get that next month.​
 
Firstly, sorry for not updating in a little while, I've been a little busy the past week or so.

It is the time to finish off the season, with us sitting 6 points clear of the relegation zone with 3 games to go.

We faced Brighton away, Burnley at home and Manchester City, away. The Burnley fixture caught my eye as the one we should be winning to confirm survival.

Brighton 2-1 Sheffield United.PNG

Unfortunately the pressure was not eased as we lost in typical FM fashion, with former striker Billy Sharp netting his first Brighton goal in the 89th minute to prevent us from achieving a crucial point. If we lost to Burnley, who are 18th, we could be right back into the relegation battle.

Sheffield United 4-0 Burnley.PNG

Thankfully there was no trouble in beating Burnley, as we broke our bad run of form to record our biggest win of the season. Lys Mousset deserved to be the player to secure survival for us and he did just that, netting a hat-trick to ensure our Premier League place next season.

The last game was against Manchester City, although I wasn't expecting us to recreate our heroics when we beat them 1-0 last time.

Manchester City 2-0 Sheffield United.PNG

And we were not able to. City outclassed us and, despite a decent 2nd half, they deserved the win.

League Table #10.PNG

That finished the season, with us finishing in a decent 15th position, considering we were predicted to be relegated.

It's all about continuing to build up the the table, the transfer market is a big part of that. Onto the next season!

 
Surely with Burnley, Villa and Southampton down you'll be eyeing up the likes of JWP, Grealish and McNeil?
 
Surely with Burnley, Villa and Southampton down you'll be eyeing up the likes of JWP, Grealish and McNeil?
Definitely good shouts mate, would love some top quality English players such as them. I have advanced a little bit into the window, can reveal that Norwich already bid for JWP unfortunately. As for McNeil, Burnley are maintaining an asking price above 50 million. Still eyeing Grealish, will have to wait and see how the window progresses.
 
At the conclusion of the 2019/20 season, we had a successful Premier League venture, securing survival and 15th spot.

My personal player of the season was Lys Mousset. We weren't exactly free scoring to for one of our strikers to come in and finish 2nd in the golden boot race was a great achievement from the Frenchman. And when no one else was a regular source of goals, he stepped up to the plate and got us over the line to earn us vital points.

Best Eleven.PNG

Our best eleven is above. Most of our starting line-up earned above a 7.0 match rating, although Henderson and Besic will be leaving as they were both on loan. Norwood was great in midfield and I was surprised by Luke Freeman, who was our top assist maker. Jack Robinson was also a pleasant surprise, as he displaced Enda Stevens and was a good LB for the side.

The main disappointments were Enda Stevens, John Egan and Oliver McBurnie. I especially had high hopes in our defensive ability with Stevens a decent LB and Egan a solid CB but they disappointed and both were sold in January. As for McBurnie, he is still here and he never looked like a natural goalscorer so I wasn't too surprised but still disappointed with his goal output.

As for transfer plans, I need a new GK and DM as they are both leaving, aside from that we will see how the window goes and progress from there.
 
We ended up having a busy window, spending a lot of money to revamp the squad and replace older players with younger ones.

The board rewarded our survival with a 42 million pound transfer budget, although I would spend near triple that amount in the window.

Out.PNG

Our major outs are listed above. We sold a few other players for minimal amounts, but ultimately these were the first team departures. Firstly, back-up RB Kieron Freeman was not anything notable last season so I cashed in on him and will replace him in the team with a better option. Next, Callum Robinson was on loan at West Brom and he came back being a winger with 2 1/2 current ability. I don't use wingers and he wasn't good enough anyway, so it was an easy decision to sell him on. The biggest departure was our main midfield option Oliver Norwood. I wasn't looking to sell him but Leicester came in with the offer for a 30-year-old midfield so I decided to accept it. Last off, Luke Freeman, who was a pleasant surprise last year, was also sold after I replaced him in the line-up.

In.PNG

Our first two signings were Hidde Ter Avest and Panagiotis Retsos. Retsos was on loan last year and was a solid CB, so I activated the clause in his loan contract to sign him for 12 million. Ter Avest is the RB replacement for Freeman who will probably play back-up to Baldock before eventually taking over that spot.

In #2.PNG

Next up was a series of back-ups. The exception was that even though Maarten Vandewoordt isn't as good as Henderson, I couldn't find much else to replace him, so I chose the 18 year old Belgian to make a step up this season and hopefully become our keeper for the next few years. Esposito will be a back-up to Solanke and Mousset and has high potential. I wasn't happy with McBurnie so a better 3rd option has come in now. Lastly, Aleix Garcia was a bargain and will be a solid deputy midfielder for the team.

Matias Zaracho
Matias Zaracho.PNG

I tried going for Zaracho last year, but he refused to join after not being granted a work permit. Zaracho is a quality addition to the midfield and could replace Norwood as the more attacking option in the centre of the park. He has some great stats at just 23 and should develop even further into a very good player for the club.

Pablo Rosario
Pablo Rosario.PNG

Sander Berge is more suited as a DLP in the centre of midfield so I went in for an out and out defensive midfielder who can mop up any mistakes in midfield and provide cover in front of the defense. He also is a versatile option and can slot in at CB with ease should he be needed there.

Steven Alzate
Steven Alzate.PNG

You saw that my starting CAM Luke Freeman left last year and after a lot of market scouring I decided to take a risk on Steven Alzate. This is quite a controversial deal for the price I paid (38 million) but he is young and I want a number of assists from my CAM and his stats suit that role. He was perfect for my system and I hope he turns out to be a success, otherwise I'll face a bit of stick for making him our record signing.

That wrapped up a decent window for us, and we have massively lowered the squad average age. I don't know how much we'll improve this year, but hopefully we can push on and at least get close to the top half.
 
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