Back in the big time and looking to stay
Sheff United are back in the Premier League and they looking to stay. They do not want to become one of those yo-yo clubs and build for the future.
Welcome back to another edition of managing a Premier League club in the first season on FM24. What we do is take over each EPL club and manage them for a season. We will feedback all our findings and make suggestions for when you decide to use that club.
In this edition we are using Sheff United. Sheff United are no strangers to the league, they have been here before and looking to stick around. They had a fantastic run last year and were 2nd in the Championship. I’m not expecting miracles with this club in the first season, but the aim is to keep them up and do it well.
In this guide we are going to:
- Look at the league performance and individual performances.
- We will look at the tactics which have been used in Football Manager 24.
- Potential transfers and areas of improvement.
Read on if you want to join the fight to survive with Sheff United on FM24!
Sheff United Results
In this section we look at the results of the team. This is general very data, but we can see which styles of teams that we play well against, how good we are at home or even the margins of our victories. Regardless, it gives us a measure of how successful we are to our objectives.
As you can see when the season started we were a bit of a mess, losing 5 in 7. I’m going to put this down to the team adapting to a new tactic and gelling. In October we hit a totally new gear and went on a 9 match unbeaten streak which included beating Man United.
After this great run though, we hit a patch of big teams that included Man United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United. While we started well against Man United, it was downhill from there as we just got beaten up by a short spell of a lot of games and injuries.
Looking at the league, we are doing really well, we are 6th! I never thought we would be mixing it up with the big boys. Our win ratio indicates we are in the approximate position, we are very high in the goals scored. Our goals conceded is where our lack of quality shines through.
As a result of high goals scored and high goals conceded our goal difference is low compared with the teams around. Our area of focus will be the defence going forward, as we know that if we reduce the goals conceded by 10 on a season it equates to 2.6 wins. This is very important, so our end of season target needs to be 43 or less conceded.
Individual Performance
In this section we look at the individual performances of the players at Sheff United on FM24. This is where we can zero in on the strengths and weaknesses of the team. Success has a pattern and this is where we start to see it.
On first impressions, the Sheff United team have performed really well. I’m surprised that more players are not playing over 7 average rating as we are over performing. As you can see, most of the top performers are defenders. Our first team goal keeper and centre backs are playing over 7, where as our rotation full backs are playing well too.
When we look at our objective of focusing on the goals conceded, we need to be looking at new full backs or potentially a new DM. While neither of those positions are playing badly, there is room for improvement. Additionally, we are starting to venture into the midfield with our suggestion.
Now let’s look at the basic stats in the team, the Xg and pass completion. In the Xg we can see that our forwards are doing a stand up job. Benie Traore and Cameron Archer are break out stars of the show. McAtee is on loan, but is the driving force in midfield, with Ismaila Coulibaly a great back up. The biggest observation is that outside of three attackers, no one scores goals regularly.
In terms of passing completion, our danger zones are AMC and the fullbacks. I can understand that they are the creative positions in the team, so they will be in more dangerous positions when passing the ball. Need to keep an eye on this.
Sheff United Tactics
In this section we speak about the tactic being used this season and if there have been any changes. We first use the tactic that we suggest in the day one guides and then as we go along make changes. Sometimes the original theory fro the tactic does not work out, so we have to make a change.
First observations for this tactic is that it’s a 442 diamond. I have not used a diamond in many years, so it was refreshing to play with one. Unfortunately, there are very few wide options for Sheff United on FM24, so our strength is to go with a central formation.
The problem with going with such a central based formation is that you lose attacking flair. What I mean by that is statistically attacks tend to start by the ball being pushed out wide and then scored centrally, the penalty area. With the 442 diamond you have to have strong ball winners as you are fighting in the trenches in centre midfield.
I wanted two strikers in order to create more goal scoring opportunities as we didn’t have one amazing striker. They have contrasting roles, and both can be effective keeping the defence guessing. We also overload with the attacking midfielder McAtee who has been awesome.
Conclusion
Sheff United on FM24 have really surprised me. I was expecting a fairly grinding first season, but so far they have been effective and entertaining. We have a lot of time for a team like this and there is a great platform to build a club. I am looking forward to posting the second half of the season to see how we get on.
The strength of this team is the goal keeper, Wes Foderingham, he is absolutely amazing and has put in so many great performances. Build the defence around him, make it easier for him to do his job. The weakness is the fullbacks, they are just not performing to a high enough standard for the role they are doing. While they are good squad players in the Premier League, they aren’t the best in the first team.
The opportunity with this team is that there are a number of up and coming players. Traore, Coulibaly and Ahmedhodzic have bright futures, as well as the wonderkid Oliver Arblaster. Build around this in mind, coaches that work well with youth, upgrade the facilities etc. The threat is relegation, if this team underperforms then they will have to start all over again, if they can.
Time for you to start a football manager 24 save game with Sheff United and help them beat the drop. Please like and comment what you think on this series.
