I thought Pearson had a very good game today. I've heard a lot about Dack but in all honesty I thought he was decidedly average.
I spoke to a bradford fan who was raving about dack saying at valley parade he ran the show. Nice to hear Pearson bossed him.
It was good to see him go forward today (not meant in a disrespectful way) but it shows that he does have other things in his locker. Can be happy with himself tonight
Made a terrific run forward from the edge of our box deep into their half before he was brought down. Does have a turn of pace and should use it more often to carry the ball forwards.
Yes he did. And how the ref didn't go back and book that lad I'll never know. Yellow card all day long
Apart from the goal, fairly typical performance from Ben, always gives 100% and sticks to his defensive midfield duties. Usual drivel spouted about another quality player.
If he played like he did yesterday every week there would be no criticism of the lad and he would be in the running for player of the year (or bought by a Championship club come January). He doesn't play like that every week, it wasn't a typical Ben Pearson performance, it was one of his very best, arguably the best in a Barnsley shirt. The majority of his passes went forward and found a team mate, he ran with the ball on a number of occasions to help set up dangerous attacks and he didn't give away any silly free kicks. He was excellent. Usually he's average. It's probably unfair of his critics, of which I've been a vocal one, to expect that kind of performance every week. He's a young lad and I don't expect our other young lads, like Bree and Smith for example, to put in MOTM performances week in, week out. I understand they are still learning the game and that there will be inconsistencies in their play, so I give them plenty of leeway. The difference with Pearson is that he isn't our player. I expect our loan players to be significantly better than what we've already got. People may argue that we have Pearson on loan with a view to a permanent move, but as it stands we're teaching a young lad to play who isn't ours, and if he's sold to another club in January it will be of no benefit to Barnsley. The only benefit to Barnsley FC is what he's doing on the pitch while he's here. A number of his performances haven't been good enough to warrant that. Not that he's been terrible, but he hasn't been significantly better than the alternatives we have to justify giving him the experience of league football instead of one of our own. Yesterday he fully justified his place in the team as a loan player. If he's going to be one of the first names on the team sheet, which it appears he is, he's got to produce that sort of performance on a regular basis.
The only thing different between Pearson earlier in the season and yesterday was that he ran with the ball and pushed forward an extra 10 yard at times. He had a great game and small differences have a big impact. I think if he can get a full 90 mins of that and as confidence grows he can be a great player. He rarely does much wrong, but yesterday he was first class. Maybe the width also helps give him more space centre.
I also think he played more forward passes, looking to set up attacks rather than play safe and retain possession.
