Sheffield United: The biggest lesson the manager has learned as new season begins
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The match at Vicarage Road marks United’s return to competitive action following May’s defeat in the Championship play-off semi-finals, which saw them beaten on penalties by Nottingham Forest.
Appointed in November, when he took charge of a club languishing 16th in the table, Heckingbottom was hailed for leading the squad he inherited from Slavisa Jokanovic into the end of term knockouts.
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Hide AdBut as he attempts to guide United back into the Premier League, 16 months after their were relegated from the top-flight, Heckingbottom is urging his players to learn the lessons of the previous campaign.
“What did us last time was time,” he said. “If we’d have had a few more games, I genuinely believe we’d have got there. If we’d have had a few more minutes in the second leg at Forest (where United levelled the scores despite earlier trailing 3-1 on aggregate), I believe we would have got there.”
United won more than half of their 30 matches in all competitions after handing Heckingbottom the reins, winning 16 and drawing seven of those.
With the division pausing for a break during this winter’s World Cup finals in Qatar, where Adam Davies, Rhys Norrington-Davies and Iliman Ndiaye all hope to feature, Heckingbottom also predicted that fitness and conditioning will decide which teams fall by the wayside and those who challenge for the top six.
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Hide Ad“This season is going to be like lots of little sprints right up until Christmas,” he said, after hiring Tom Little as United’s new head of performance. “There’s going to be natural breaks, for the World Cup and the international round on the calendar going into those. But that’s something we’ve also got to be ready for.”
“I’m pleased with the work we’ve been able to do,” added Heckingbottom, who could hand new signings Reda Khadra, Anel Ahmedhodzic and Ciaran Clark their debuts in Hertfordshire. “Now it’s time to start putting everything that we’ve done into practice.”