Of the three teams who came up, Sheffield United had the longest absence from the Premier League. Their most recent top-flight campaign came in the 06-07 season when they were relegated in controversial circumstances.

Because they are the least familiar teams to Premier League fans, they are arguably getting the least coverage and hype of the trio. Norwich City have a talented young German manager, and Aston Villa have players more known to supporters. Sheffield United have spent very little, and the majority of their players are youngsters or lower-league journeymen.

But there is something else about Chris Wilder’s outfit that makes me believe they could be the best of the three teams to have come up this season: uniqueness.

There has never been a system like Sheffield United’s in the Premier League. Their 3-4-1-2/3-5-2 system that uses overlapping centre-backs and a deep-lying forward to link the game is completely unique. For a team made up of players that seemed unspectacular at the time, the way Wilder has them playing is highly impressive. On the surface, their system looks basic, but when you watch them, you realise how amazing they are at creating and finding space in the wide areas.

Norwich play a 4-2-3-1 that may switch to a 3-5-2 depending on whether Daniel Farke believes the adventurous nature of his full-backs may be exposed against better and fitter teams in the Premier League. Dean Smith plays a 4-1-4-1 formation based on ball retention and circulation through their excellent midfield trio of John McGinn, Conor Hourihane and Jack Grealish. These teams are both good. But the systems are nothing new. This is not to say they might not finish above the Blades, but I feel Sheffield United’s system could work to their advantage in their return.

They are unique in the way they position their centre-backs. They were the most adventurous team in the Championship bar none. Other teams had more possession and played more short passes, but Sheffield United’s ability to be direct and switch the play to their touchline-hugging full-backs made them fearsome. Their long balls were not hit and hope in the way they are stereotyped; they were well thought out and kept defences guessing.

Sheffield United were very hard to defend against because players popped up in positions you wouldn’t expect them to. This fluidity began with their Player of the Season, David McGoldrick. The former Ipswich attacker, who was utilised as a target man under Mick McCarthy, played a more technical role under Wilder. He dropped very deep to play alongside Mark Duffy, and the team’s formation could look a lot like a 3-4-2-1 in certain phases of the attack.

Once the ball got into the final third, the centre-backs would move up to join the attack. These wide-area overloads were almost impossible to stop. You can see the nature of this strategy in the heat maps of the wide centre-backs Jack O’Connell and Chris Basham below.

The goal of these was simple, though: to create spaces for other players to fire crosses in from the half-spaces. On a few occasions, such as the 1-0 away win at West Brom, Wilder put this system into overdrive and played two full-backs –Enda Stevens and Martin Cranie – in the wide positions in order to have extra crossers on the pitch.

If you are a centre-back who cannot carry the ball, you have no place in this system as you will then not be able to help create crossing angles. John Fleck and Oliver Norwood both finished in the top 20 players in the Championship in crosses per game. Given the fact Billy Sharp is one of the best 18-yard box strikers in Football League history, this was not a terrible strategy. Norwood certainly thrived as his set-piece prowess was finally able to be harnessed in open play situations; he often found yards of space when the centre-back had overlapped. There were times when Norwood could pause before crossing – that was how effective the strategy was.

Mark Duffy’s role was pivotal to the system in the games he played. His job was to float to both flanks in order to create overloads. He wasn’t a traditional number 10 behind two strikers in the sense that he played between the lines and played first-time through balls to strikers playing on the shoulder. The fluidity Duffy played with is demonstrated in the heat map below.

Duffy was a pivotal tactical piece; he played on both flanks quite equally, and he was another mean towards Wilder’s preferable end goal – creating crossing angles in the half-spaces. Duffy did just about prefer the left-hand side as playing here meant he could whip in inswinging crosses, but his job of drifting to either flank meant that Sheffield United were a hard side to defend against due to unpredictability.

This system was excellent. But there is an interesting tactical question that Sheffield United will need to answer entering the new Premier League season. On occasion, usually against the better sides in the division, Wilder would bench Duffy in preference of another more industrious deep-lying midfielder such as Paul Coutts or Basham. This added solidity worked well in the 1-0 win over Leeds United that all but started Sheffield United’s impressive end to the season. Basham and Coutts were not defensive players on these occasions; Norwood was usually the man who ended up sitting deeper. Norwood is capable at tackling and making interceptions, so he would often spring counter-attacks and switch the play with his long passing after picking up the ball.

Basham or John Lundstram would play a box-to-box role on the right-hand side of a midfield three, as opposed to Duffy, who played as a roaming number 10 with the hope of creating extra overloads on the flanks. Basham has been a bit of a utility player throughout his career, but he provided energy and drive from midfield. This ‘defensive’ move wasn’t about sticking a holding midfielder there; it was more about looking to have extra drive through midfield.

The recent links to Bristol City’s Josh Brownhill suggest that United may want to play a 3-5-2 over a 3-4-1-2 next season. Norwood is too important to be dropped, and Fleck’s close control is outstanding. I cannot imagine Brownhill will come cheap, so his potential arrival would signal the use of more three-man midfields as opposed to a two-man midfield with a roaming number 10 and a deep-lying forward ahead of them in the build-up phase. Brownhill is a terrific player who fits well on the right-hand side. He operated from the right half-space in Lee Johnson’s 4-1-4-1 and 4-2-3-1 formations. He had a great relationship with Bristol City’s right-backs, which makes him a potentially nice fit in a 3-5-2. He also fits the mould of a young and hungry player who fits their very fluid philosophy where everyone attacks and everyone defends.

Sheffield United do have some board issues that may hamper them. Wilder was recently linked with a move to West Brom because of the trouble and the court case going on above him. Even if you don’t believe these rumours, the fact they even exist is because there is some logic to them. Wilder is a genius who has completely revived a football club that looked rudderless under the likes of David Weir and Nigel Adkins. If the board cannot settle their differences and provide stability and a realistic financial platform to help Wilder attempt to keep up a squad that currently has just 18 players, it would be very disappointing.

Frustratingly, Wilder gets tarred as some long-ball and negative English manager, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. His formation is highly aggressive and honestly quite revolutionary in certain ways. It is not Total Football in the sense that there is creativity on show everywhere, but this system requires defenders and central midfielders to pop up in areas that they may not have been able to do under previous managers. This is a testament to Wilder’s coaching, as he is asking players who have come through the English system to do incredible things. His philosophy is very European, and I don’t feel enough media outlets have picked up on this. Many will likely be expecting Sheffield United to play long ball to a target man. This couldn’t be further from reality.

Sheffield United’s system will freak teams out, as the concept of overlapping centre-backs is very new. The make-up of the midfield three and their positioning is really the interesting tactical question that Chris Wilder has to answer this year. Either way, they are going to be fun, and it would not be surprising to see them spring a few shocks over the season.