BF I follow Barnsley

[Fox Talbot]

Sorry, top of the table maybe but bucket of cold water. False first.

We didn't have a kick before the first red. We scored with our first chance on 70 mins (or just after the corner).

Thought they were better than us and they should only be halfway up the table.

Anyone think we got a benefit from resting the first XI midweek - having looked at that sluggish first half.

Still - results create momentum.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Negativity is spreading like COVID-19

[Old Man Andrews]

Fantastic victory and a great start for the manager. He is very quickly proving the many doubters he has on this forum very wrong and making them look ridiculous.

[paddy20]

Win yes but awful performance overall. Swift looked like he didnt want to be here never once chased a lost ball. Very sloppy midfield and no pace until Meite came on.

[Old Man Andrews]

Win yes but awful performance overall. Swift looked like he didnt want to be here never once chased a lost ball. Very sloppy midfield and no pace until Meite came on.

We won 2-0. Everything else you have said is irrelevant.

[Fox Talbot]

Win yes but awful performance overall. Swift looked like he didnt want to be here never once chased a lost ball. Very sloppy midfield and no pace until Meite came on.

We won 2-0. Everything else you have said is irrelevant.

It would irrelevant if this was the 46th game of the season.

I'm not saying the ref was wrong with the reds but we really didn't look like winning 11 v 11.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

negatives exist and we can’t ignore them all but come on people, acknowledge some positives from the first two league games. Must be wearing just focussing on the negatives all the time

[Snowflake Royal]

Good win, somewhat gifted by the ref's cards. Fancy this side to score a high number of it's decent chances with Joao and Meite around, so as long as they can stay in games and create the odd chance with those two fit shouldn't do too badly.

Cabral - 7 one very hairy moment but at least one good save
Araruna - 7 good back up to Yiadom, solid
Morrison - 7 solid
Moore - 6 started very badly but grew into it
Richards - 8 looking very comfortable this season
Rinomhota - 7 fantastic block, but not as reliable as always
Laurent - 6 not too involved occasionally sloppy
Swift - 4 diabolical at times, lost the ball again and again, just not a No 10 for me,got better when he dropped back late on and when he had a lot more time and space due to the reds
Olise - 8 quality, best midfielder we have IMO
Ejaria - 7 still trying to do too much and take too many on
Joao - 7 not a lot of service but did his job

Meite - 8 first shot on target then scored from the corner. Welcome back Yak
Aluko - do oxf*rd off
Puscas - n/a

Worrying signs the struggle with the high hard press, but got the result. Hard to see two easier games to start with... playing against 9 men and a Derby side that barely tried.

[genome]

We won. Winning is a habit. End of.

Top of the League

[Old Man Andrews]

We won. Winning is a habit. End of.

Top of the League

THIS X's 10000000000000000000

[NewCorkSeth]

Good win, somewhat gifted by the ref's cards. Fancy this side to score a high number of it's decent chances with Joao and Meite around, so as long as they can stay in games and create the odd chance with those two fit shouldn't do too badly.

Cabral - 7 one very hairy moment but at least one good save
Araruna - 7 good back up to Yiadom, solid
Morrison - 7 solid
Moore - 6 started very badly but grew into it
Richards - 8 looking very comfortable this season
Rinomhota - 7 fantastic block, but not as reliable as always
Laurent - 6 not too involved occasionally sloppy
Swift - 4 diabolical at times, lost the ball again and again, just not a No 10 for me,got better when he dropped back late on and when he had a lot more time and space due to the reds
Olise - 8 quality, best midfielder we have IMO
Ejaria - 7 still trying to do too much and take too many on
Joao - 7 not a lot of service but did his job

Meite - 8 first shot on target then scored from the corner. Welcome back Yak
Aluko - do oxf*rd off
Puscas - n/a

Worrying signs the struggle with the high hard press, but got the result. Hard to see two easier games to start with... playing against 9 men and a Derby side that barely tried.

I agree with every one of those scores.

I brought up after the Derby game that Swift does not look as good higher up the pitch. He was so effective last season because of the time he had on the ball. When Laurent came off I was shocked to see Olise drop into that role ahead of Swift, which seemed the sensible choice (well, Swift should have come off tbf).

[CountryRoyal]

http://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/my-god ... ad.295371/

[Lower West]

Rinomhota and Laurent rarely pressed forward. Not their natural game.

Missed Meite in the first 60 minutes.

Ejaria needs to up his contribution over 90 minutes. Though perhaps not yet match fit.

[Millsy]

On the face of it, and I've no doubt will people will argue this: we were rubbish, lucky to play against 9 men bla bla bla

My take on it: we deserved the 2-0. Soaked up the pressing, kept a clean sheet, forced the red cards with our threat up front, and finished comfortably.

Rafael - 6.5 not much to do but a pretty good save, looked comfortable
Araruna - 6 - not bad at all. Some really good defending and 1-2s, but he's not Yiadom
Morrison - 6 - did ok, clean sheet
Moore - 6 - did ok, clean sheet
Richards - 7 I've knocked his defensive ability a fair few times so will give him a 7 for a pretty solid left back display today
Rino - 6 - didn't stand out really, but I can't really rate midfielders too highly given they were second best for most of the game Barnsley had 11 on
Laurent - "
Swift - 5.5 I can't see he did that much, seemed to stand out as having a poorish game. Only really did ok when space opened up later
Ejaria - 6.5 - as usual, wasted on the left. As soon as he went central, magic. But then it was against 9 men so...
Olise - 7 - was pretty much class throughout the game, deserved his excellent goal
Joao - 7 - ok he didn't score but he did his job well and was the thorn in Barnsley's high press plan all game. Copy and paste everyone's previous comments about him being vital for us.

Subs
Puscas - 6 - not on for long, but he showed us what he's about with the great shot that forced a save
Aluko - 6.83 - this is going to be unpopular for sure, but what a breath of fresh air to actually have a winger, you know, playing on the wing. One chance in particular with a brilliant cross (our only one of the game of any note I remember). Ok, fresh legs against 9, but still.
Meite - 7 - Changed the game. Almost a goal, followed by an actual goal. Exactly the sort of give-it-all high energy player you need when you're desperate for a goal

Pauno - Have to give him a 7 really. I was a bit disappointed that after the break we were still being pressed and looked clueless, but the plan of using Joao worked in the end, forcing the errors (however harsh we may feel the first red was) and at the end of the day we won the game. Substitutions pretty much perfect - Meite changed the game. Aluko on the left effective, as was Ejaria who went central. Puscas got a bit of a run out and spared Joao injury. And a clean sheet. Can't fault that.

Overall

As I say it'd be easy to knock the team for being useless against a high pressing Barnsley side, and on another day we may have been unlucky, but I'd like to believe our plan was we can take a high press because when you have a Joao up front you whack it up, and though he didn't score, it forced the errors which gave us the win. 2-0 clean sheet. Top of the league. On the other hand let's not get carried away, there is obviously room for improvement.

The importance of Joao

He's important.

[NewCorkSeth]

http://barnsleyfc.org.uk/threads/my-god-reading-are-bad.295371/

Jesus that is salty. I mean, I get it, they were the better team for most of it. By some distance.

[Singing Defective]

Ok not utterly convincing, but we can only play what’s in front of us, yada, yada, yada.

But, but the Olise goal. How? In that time? With his weaker leg?

[Ranty McRantface]

1st Half

I said last week if we play a team that presses higher up the pitch it will be a good test to see where we are...still some way to go. Barnsley played a high line and had 3 players setup to press the defence. It put us under pressure for most of the half and we were forced into rushed balls up the pitch. When we did get it up top or midfield Barnsley were just sharp to every ball. They were well prepared and aware of what we did to Derby. This is the sort of game where we needed a bit more width to stretch the play and stop Barnsley being able to play their compact high press game. We also needed our flair players to be better on thr ball, although Olise was good tbf. Last week the creative 3 of Swift, Ejaria and Olise were very good at dropping then passing it quickly to one of the other mids or defenders. This game Ejaria and Swift were doing too many flicks and tricks causing us to lose the ball. Olise did well though.

Lol, at the players trying to ask for a red card when Olise was fouled. There was another defender in behind and the ball was miles away. The second time this happened, but against Joao this time.. Long ball by Swift (pretty much hos only good contribution), Joao 1 on 1, blatant tug back by the Barnsley player and a straight red. A bit of a lucky lifeline I thought as the keeper was going to get it. But I don't know if the rules state that as the Barnsley player was the last man (regardless of the keeper) he had to walk. That was it and I was relieved.

2nd Half

We made a slight tactical tweak. Ejaria/Swift/Olise were told to play a little higher up and not drop back to receive the ball to take advantage of the 1 less man Barnsley had in the middle. Our defenders weren't pressured as much allowing Laurent and Rino to pick up ball, pass and stretch the Barnsley players a bit. Our creative players were still struggling to do anything although Olise was again the better of the 3. We needed that extra dynamic I talked about last week and Pauno then made that change to offer something different for Barnsley to deal with...Enter Meite. Had Barnsley still had 10 men I think 1 of Swift or Ejaria would have been off but off came Laurent as we weren't in any danger defensively. What a great decision was. Meite wins a header, keeper saves and we get a corner. From the corner put in by Olise, a shot is made by Moore and follow up by Meite for a goal. Well deserved for Meite.

Then the killer. Stupid handball by Anderson for Barnsley and he gets a second yellow to be sent for a bath. The second goal was a bit of magic from Olise. What a great first time finish from 20 plus yards to cap off a good performance.

After that we were pretty much in control as you'd expect but without creating much.

Ratings

Rafael 6 - 1 good save in the 1st half but had nothing else to do really. No complaints.

Richards 8 - Solid, reliable, positionally very good and I don't think I ever saw a ball come in from his side by Barnsley. He was my man of the match today just edging it from Olise.
Moore 6 - Nothing bad to say really. He was a bit flat footed in the first 10mins but was just his usual reliable self really.
Morrison 6 - As above but again he doesn't look as calm on the ball as the others and rushes his passes when pressured. Something manager might want to keep an eye on throughout the season.
Araruna 7 - He had a fair bit of traffic coming down his side in the 1st half and had mixed luck dealing with it. But was solid for most parts, good on the ball, got forward well a couple of times and looked very assured.

Rino 6 - He was ok. 1 great block that led to a counter and a red card. No driving runs from him today just sat back and kept it ticking over.
Laurent 5 - A bit sloppy, gave away a silly foul and got overran 1st half with Rino. Not a great game.

Swift 4 - Yes, 1 great pass for the Red card and another in the second half. But christ he was so wasteful. Poor touch and passes today with too many flicks that didn't come off. One of him or Ejaria will be dropped next game.
Ejaria 5 - He did a little bit more than Swift but he so was anonymous in the 1st half and the second half he didn't offer enough going forward. The one big chance he got he spent too much time showboating when he should have laid it off for Puscas to shoot from a few yards out. I've said it before and I'll say this again in the hope the staff are reading this. Coach him to be more direct with his passing! If he released the ball a second or 2 quicker he would be absolutely devastating. We just slow down the play so much when he's doing his thing.
Olise 7 - I knocked him down a bit for too many sloppy passes but the rest of his play was very, very good. Some great skills that came off, good work rate, great finish and looked more of a threat when going forward than our other attacking players today. He will be one hell of a player if he keeps this up. Hopefully still with us!!

Joao 6 - I felt sorry for him because where we rushed passes into him he couldn't do much apart from focus on controlling it and laying it off. Unfortunately, when he laid the ball off the receiving player would lose it! He looked annoyed when he came off but that's the right attitude from a striker. He wants to score and wants to play but it's important to manage his fitness too.

Subs
Meite 7 - Came on and did more than Swift and Ejaria put together. We needed a more dynamic threat to add to our creativity and he was just the man for the job in the second half. I won't be surprised to see him start the next game.
Puscas 6 - Nothing wrong. He had a couple of shots and probably should have had a 3rd if Ejaria had passed it.
Aluko 6 - Not a lot of time but some great skill to take out 3 players and a good cross into the box which I was surprised to see neither Puscas or Meite fighting to get to the end of.

Observations
> We played a high press, high tempo team and struggled today. Some very sloppy performances in midfield.
> I said this last week but we really only need 1 of Ejaria or Swift on the pitch with a different attacking threat to replace them in the 11 to get the balance right up top.
> Good tactical change by the manager to get Meite on. I can't blame him for sloppy midfield performances today.
> Meite needs to start next game

[Snowflake Royal]

Word on Barnsley.

Thought they were excellent until the harsh red. Play the way I wish we would. But, didn't really have much goal threat... keep up that level of performance, tighten the discipline and add a goalscorer and they should have a pretty good season.

[Old Man Andrews]

Word on Barnsley.

Thought they were excellent until the harsh red. Play the way I wish we would. But, didn't really have much goal threat... keep up that level of performance, tighten the discipline and add a goalscorer and they should have a pretty good season.

You seem to be obsessed with how good Barnsley are.

Get up there and support them please.

[CountryRoyal]

Swift needs to oxf*rd off. Ejaria/ Olise through the middle. Meite/Olise on the right. Riquelme on the left.

Ady Williams needs to get his tongue out of Swift’s arse. “What he bring to the team is QUALITY”.

Must have watched a different game to me then.