Sheffield United: Strategy switch comes at the best possible moment as nemesis prepares to visit

VDU screens line the walls. Laptops, containing the data Paul Heckingbottom’s analysts have gathered on opposition teams, litter the desks surrounded by hastily written notes on possible tactics and strategies.

Later this week, when United begin applying the finishing touches to their preparations for Saturday’s game against Stoke City, all of the intelligence collected on the visitors from Staffordshire will be condensed into one easy-to-read report before being presented to the manager, his players and coaching staff. It is here where the seeds of what Heckingbottom hopes will be United’s ninth win in 11 Championship outings are already being sown.

“We always do our research,” the 45-year-old told The Star earlier this term. “We never take anything for granted. We never have a sense of entitlement. Nothing even close to that in fact. But at the same time, we always like to focus on our own strengths. Make sure that we can be proactive not reactive.”

The timing might be coincidental. But, if so, the change of formation United unveiled during last weekend’s FA Cup tie at Millwall has certainly come at a felicitous moment. Alex Neil, Heckingbottom’s counterpart at the bet365 Stadium, is one of the few in the division who has seemingly mastered the art of nullifying the threats posed by United’s wing-backs and enterprising centre-halves - causing them all manner of problems at the beginning of the campaign when, whilst still in charge of Sunderland, his remodelled side impressed despite being reduced to 10 men. In October, having decamped to City, the Scot then steered them to a deserved 3-1 victory despite entering the fixture on the back of two wins and a loss. On that occasion, Neil deployed those under his command in a 4-3-3 shape, despite using a 3-4-1-2 in the two matches which bookended that contest. Intriguingly, that was the same one Sunderland began with during the trip to South Yorkshire in August.

Although United’s preference is to set up with a back three and two pronged forward line, Heckingbottom insisted they were actually operating with a trio of attackers during their third round clash at The Den. It proved a successful experiment, as Danel Jebbison and Jayden Bogle both scored without reply to set-up a meeting with Wrexham. Heckingbottom later explained the change was, in part, a response to a trend United have noticed developing in the Championship.

“We’ve seen, quite a lot of late, people setting up to match us,” he revealed. “Doing that to try and squeeze things and negate our press. It’s something we’ve spotted and have to be ready to deal with, even though we want it to be about us if you understand what I mean.”

Despite that declaration, Heckingbottom’s actions in south London were not a sign of weakness. Instead, given the quality of their performance, they were an indication of strength; confirming United are more than one trick ponies, albeit ponies who can perform that trick exceedingly well.

“From first to last, with and without the ball, I thought we did really well,” Heckingbottom continued, reflecting upon events in the capital. “It worked well and the lads showed they had grasped what was necessary to make sure that happened.”

Heckingbottom will also enjoy the fact the switch should keep Neil guessing, as the two managers engage in their latest battle of wits. United used a back four during the loss to City three months ago, something they lived to regret after being beaten 3-1. But Heckingbottom has openly raised the possibility of repeating the move again, suggesting that ditching a three helped change the course of their last league outing - a 1-1 draw with Queens Park Rangers.

“It got us further up the pitch,” he said. “We were trailing, behind, and not getting on the ball as much as we wanted. When we did, we weren’t being brave enough with it. But by doing that, it brought us into things more and made us look more like ourselves.”

Sometimes deliberately, most often inadvertently, all managers give clues about their plans for a game. After refusing to apologise for being “vague” about the prognoses of United’s injured players, Neil’s task over the next 48 hours or so is to try and identify the false from the real during the trail being laid by Heckingbottom as United steel themselves for a return to league action. Even at this stage of the season, a positive result is of the utmost importance to both teams. Second in the table, United could potentially take a big step towards returning to the top-flight if they prevail. City are 18th, 21 points behind their hosts and only four above the relegation zone. Despite that gap, Neil’s track record against United suggests the match will be much tighter than many observers suggest. Even though Heckingbottom could benefit from the return of Oli McBurnie and Max Lowe after they sat out the meeting with Millwall because of what have been described as “minor” complaints. Ciaran Clark’s hamstring injury is not as serious as first feared either.

“The way we work, we know what we want to do but we try and tailor that to the different situations we might face,” Heckingbottom said. “It’s about knowing what you have to do, if whoever you’re up against does a certain thing to try and counter that, in order to make sure you can remain focused on doing the things that you’re good at.”