Slavisa Jokanovic's simple approach could pay off in Sheffield United's promotion push

There is now a temptation in modern-day football to analyse everything to its nth degree. Every goal conceded is now a rush to appoint blame, rather than praise creativity; dreaded defeats must be attributed to something, when sometimes that is just how football works. Two teams do battle over 90 minutes and more often than not, one prevails.

United have not found life in the Championship simple since their relegation last season and football, like life, is rarely a straightforward exercise. That could be where their manager’s promotion credentials and experience prove invaluable; Slavisa Jokanović has seen his side get pumped 4-0 at West Brom and put six past Peterborough, but has generally been a measure of consistency with his message, both in private and in the media. To borrow a quote from another famous wordsmith, United have met with triumph and disaster so far already this season and Jokanović has treated both imposters just the same.

Jokanović is thought to be wary of overloading his players with too much technical information as he sets about stamping his style on a playing squad he inherited in the summer, and there was a brilliant blast of simplicity when he faced the press shortly after the Blades’ defeat at Bournemouth and, with hair still sodden from the south coast downpour that weekend, was asked what his side’s priorities are when they return to action.

“Win the games,” he replied. “It’s simple.

“We have shown some progress but at the end we miss the most important thing in football, which is to win the game. The team must rest, first of all, after seven games in 21 days.

“It wasn't easy and they found a lot of energy to play at Bournemouth. In this period ahead of us, we must try to fix our offensive and defensive problems. We will analyse this set of the games and try to look for another improvement.”

Despite making the long journey back from Bournemouth on the back of a 2-1 defeat that sent the hosts top of the Championship table and prolonged their unbeaten record, the Blades could take some positives from it. They created enough chances to take a point at the very least from the game and until very harshly conceding a penalty, most of their defensive problems were of their own making – which remains a concern, but at least one easier to identify for the Serb and his coaching staff.

The Blades return to Championship action this weekend at home to Stoke City, and will be hoping for a similar improvement in performance that was evident after the last international break.

With Jokanović and his staff able to spend some time with those charges who remained at Shirecliffe, without distractions of Covid-19 in pre-season and Tuesday games to prepare for, that work – and the injection of quality the Blades had been crying out for for months – reaped instant rewards. Sometimes, football can be as simple as you make it.