Sheffield United boss reveals his Premier League approach

Vowing not to ditch the aggressive style of football which proved so effective in the Championship last term, as his team finished second in the table and 11 points clear of third, Heckingbottom has insisted it is vital they “give opponents something to worry about” rather than adopt a more conservative approach.

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After studying United’s performances during the 2019/20 top-flight campaign, when they mounted a challenge for Europe and beat the likes of Arsenal, West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, he told The Star: “One of the things we always do is give it a real go and that’s what’s going to happen again. Yes, we’ve got to be careful how we do it because we’ll be coming up against some of the best attacking teams in the world. So you can’t be daft ot stupid about it. But if you look back at what happened then, the lads did all of that and were really defensively sound. At the same time, they made sure the opposition was also worried about them because they knew they were ready to get forward and cause problems themselves. You need that level of threat.”

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Heckingbottom served as United’s lead development coach before taking charge of first team affairs soon after their relegation from the PL in 2021. He spent a period as caretaker following Chris Wilder’s departure and, having learnt from that experience, immediately re-introduced the more expansive approach favoured by his predecessor after succeeding Slavisa Jokanovic.

Heckingbottom’s early forays into this summer’s transfer market are likely to reflect that policy with coaching staff targeting energetic players, particularly those at the younger end of the age spectrum, capable of covering ground quickly and equipped to take advantage of transitional situations.

“Going about things that way, trying to get on the front foot even when we’re not in possession, I think that’s what suits us,” he said. “It’s what the players are comfortable with doing. It’s their identity if you like and so I don’t see why we should change that moving forward.”

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