I spent the whole game yesterday trying to figure out what our formation actually was, why we had changed it , why no wingers ? and the only conclusion I came to was that Simon Davey gets his formation ideas from the Strictly Come Dancing text book of football coaching . It was a Barnsley fan who came up to me as I was leaving the ground who asked me if I went to Strictly Come Dancing inSheffield or somewhere that gave me this idea .( It wasn't me by the way . Dont even watch it ). However I wondered if Simon Davey watched it to give him ideas for Barnsley formations on a weekly basis . I only ever held a basic level FA coaching licence in the UK and USA, however they teach you to play to your own strengths , gain confidence, play your own game, play to win ( and you may win or draw ) ,do not play to draw ( as you may lose ). Never once did I hear anyone say that you change things every game by consulting some text book , or to adapt to what you think your opponents will do . This simply gives the opposing team too much reverence and has to result with players out of their comfort zone, out of position etc. Well yesterday this is what I think our manager did . We played god knows what formation with 5 at the back .Berserker I think you sussed it out . We had no wingers and by did it show . We had no width , no one to run at the opposition and no cover for the full backs . We tried to go through the middle every time , but their central defenders were reading us well . We did almost break through with excellent through balls on at least 4 occasions. Having said that we were the better team first half, should have scored but were let down by our strikers . At half time the experience difference between the managers showed. Palace saw how to beat us . They changed it at half time , came out in a higher gear and managed to get a goal early on . It was tragic to watch as no one closed down and it was as though we simply let them score. After that we did not really show any fighting spirit . I reckon the come dancing contestants could have done better. We did not change anything either at half time or after we went one nil down. Davey brought JCR on too late. Nardi for Ferenzci made little difference, however getting the ball on the floor to either was the real issue second half.Coulson substitution was a token gesture in my view. We capitulated after their goal and that is unacceptable for Barnsley. For me the second half was all about the players going through the motions to get to full time .In fairness Palace closed us down too easily and we had too few options. This is only " female " intuition ,but for me it seemed as though some of the players were not happy with the roles they were being asked to play on the pitch . In any other walk of life we would all have to get on with it , but footballers appear to sulk . In fairness some of the refereeing decisions were appalling . 3 points lost uneccessarily , we needed at least one . We need to move on from Palace and get positive about beating Sheff Utd. This will help secure our league position which has to take precedence over cup fever , in my humble opinion . Please Mr Davey play to our strengths and 4 4 2 or some formation we have a chance with . Freya
I liked the formation of the half time SKY Girls The way the sweeper moved forward as the formation changed, was a joy to behold!! (jadore)
