Football style

Depends which players we lose and which come in I suppose. And tbf we have nt had any major injuries or suspensions since Val.took over either. I think other teams have a theory of how to beat us but they don't have the energy, application or desire to apply it for the full 90 minutes.

 

Do I think the football is terrible at times. Yes.

Am I prepared to overlook it due to us winning? Yes.

 

We play football. Direct, with wing backs, press and flair in the opposition half. That's how I grew up watching football before the continent changed how football was played.

 

Warnock was blowing smoke up our arris a couple of days ago. That old trick. But resorts to the whinge when he's been and failed to beat us. Not only failed to beat us, but lost. Convincingly. Without laying a glove on us.
And this is a Boro side who last weekend played the same long ball football, against Watford. A team who play primarily on the deck. Neil got a draw from that game. It's not like Barca are coming here and throwing out their possession-based football and going direct. It's Middlesbrough. Who are direct. They've changed nothing. They just came and played their own long ball game. As Neil has done for his entire 408-year career. Bless him.

Rooney whinged too. As though his Derby team are renowned for their tiki taka. As did the now jobless Karanka when Birmingham came here and had Robbo hurling throw-ins into our box from halfway. Or Rinus Michels clone Rowett when we turned his Dutch throwbacks Millwall over. Michael O'Neill when the infamous 'passing side' of Stoke came here and got turned over. The Reading manager Paunovic who excused his side's tactics as 'matching us up' even though they were way more direct than we were.

We have lost one of the last 16 games. In fact, let's say we've lost two of the last 17. Both games settled by referee Tim Robinson. Who gave Watford a penalty on January 19th. That was the only difference in that game. And Wednesday at home. Where Robinson ruled out a perfectly good goal and ignored a blatant penalty before Wednesday took the lead. I'm not suggesting we deserved to win those games or were excellent in either. But they were settled by big refereeing calls. Like the Cardiff draw.
But they're our two defeats, Watford away and Wednesday at home, in the last three months or so. We are hard to beat, clearly. We seemingly need to be really off our game and/or have decisions go against us.

Our football. It is great football to me because it's winning football and that's the whole point of the game - to win. But absolutely, there are lots of spells in games where it is indeed, a tough watch. And these are - ordinarily - spells where we aren't conceding, aren't getting done over. We are strong, resolute, in-your-face and refusing to fold. I love it, personally. This is how I've always wanted Barnsley to play football. But we had to get to the window to add a couple of key components to make it work. And so, our pre-January form that was playoff-pushing itself, has since becoming automatic form. Sadly, we had that seven-game start to the season, otherwise we'd be fighting for second I reckon.

But yeah. Whilst clearly, a number of fans don't enjoy it, I love this football.

Play high as ****, on halfway if possible, proper 'balls out' arrogance. We go to war. This is our pitch. This is us. This is how we play. We are going to run you into the ground, we are going to chase everything, we'll match you physically, we'll not give you any freebies. Come and beat us.

And at home, most sides aren't up for the battle and so they go direct, to beat our press, to negate our philosophy. We then end up deeper than we'd like to be, so we have to go longer ourselves. It becomes a war of attrition. Once we score, it completely alters. Hence having Morris as a game-changing sub. The opposition have to try and play then, once we score. And we are in business.

Away from home, most sides refuse to change their own style and that suits our philosophy. Hence the away wins this season.

So I completely understand why the opposition are trying to play the way they are, when they come to Oakwell. Sadly for them, only Wednesday have managed to succeed since we added those final pieces to our puzzle a couple of months back.

In essence, teams are failing against us and so it's a lot easier to throw insults at us and our style after failing, than it is to perhaps look within and blame one's self.

Warnock put two strikers on yesterday that cost his club a combined £21,500,000, and a loanee forward whose club paid £25,000,000 for.

We had Victor Adeboyejo and Jasper Moon on our bench. That isn't a dig at those lads either. It's just context.

Like Jerry Springer, here's my final thought: I remember Gerhard Struber's last game. Away at Boro against Warnock. We passed it around all afternoon without laying a glove on them. Coughed up a couple of terrible goals. Scored a late penalty. Lost.

 

It's a pity I can only 'like' this post once.

 

No we don’t agree.

Teams have sussed us out already, but being able to counter it successfully is another matter entirely.

 

Me too mate

 

Basically pundits all want to see Barca style tippy tappy stuff, playing out from the back with sweeper keepers and squeezing play. Before that folk talked about Arsenal and their unbeatables who basically played direct balls into feet or round corners and had quick players who loved pouncing on half chances after squeezing teams.
Before that we had Man Utd who played 442 who had great wingers and full backs on overlaps and always had 2 great front men. They pinned / squeezed teams in their 18 yard box using pinpoint crosses and combative midfielders who kept retaining possession to recycle further chances.
We hit the ball long into spaces where teams can't hurt use and press / squeeze them until they give us the ball in dangerous positions to create goals / chances.

All of the teams mentioned above worked their backsides off with high energy and most importantly great levels of concentration and positioning.

Guess what all won most of their games.

However because its Barnsley who've broken the status quo its ugly. If a certain Mr Guardiola, Wenger or Ferguson did this it would be seen as a master stroke, innovative, simplicity of going back to basics.

Pulis and Big Sam were doing it for years, beating the big boys in the process. Guess what the media didn't like that. So we're in good company, we just need to keep sticking our fingers up to the establishment.

 

No.

 

The play it out from the back nonsense is equally annoying. I watched Norwich do it in the cup. 70% possession and did absolutely nothing with it. Possession for possession's sake and I loved us outrunning and outplaying them. We could/should have had four.
Teams have sussed out how to combat us but we're still winning though not as much at home where they're employing the change of tactics against us.
Thankfully we are still winning but in those sort of games it seems to be very fine margins. It took a corner flying straight in yesterday to open the game up.
This season is our best chance for this system to work. Fingers crossed we can make it pay off. I'd also like to say what an immense difference Morris and Dike have made. Biggest impact I can remember since maybe Hendrie and Hignett.

 

I'm afraid Lee Johnson is very much in that camp, in my opinion of course. Bottom of League 1, losing to a non-league team in the FA Cup, hardly mustering shots on target in several home games in a dismal start to the 2015/6 season

 

What @JLWBigLil said.

Post of the year.

 

Yes I do sometimes feel that we could have looked for a pass but that would render our current style less affective. If we clear our lines from just outside our area deep into the opposition’s half our back line can push to at least the centre circle before the ball as any chance of coming back. This invariably leaves our opponents forward line either offside or at least running towards their own goal. This condenses the play and makes our hunting in packs style more effective. The closer our opponents are to their own goal the harder it is for them to score.

 

And this is true even when they have possession.

The way I see our current style takes me back to school; where I was taught that football is a game of possession and rugby is a game of territory. Big Val has taught me that you can play football as a game of territory.

 

There are some great insights on here, thank you. How many of our goals come from long balls in any case? Reading and Blackburn for example scored that way against us, but most of the ones we’ve scored come from set pieces or once we’ve regained possession in the opposition half don’t they? Like Dike’s yesterday. There were some nice passages of play to create the three chances we had there.

 

I don't get the analogy. Emperors new clothes suggests a scenario where people imagine they see something thats not true. Im seeing this season as an entertainment and a success. For me thats the truth. Out of interest which teams are you more entertained by watching in the Championship this season and which Barnsley teams have entertained you?

 

I don't watch other teams in the Championship as we don't get coverage over here. I said in another thread that the Barnsley teams that have entertained me AND been successful were 1979/81/97/2000/2016 and 2019.
A club like us tend to be cyclical in the generation of good, successful teams. We don't have the money to buy success. The plan of the club over the last five years has been the best response to the money gap but what Ismael has done this season is remarkable in that he's erased the effectiveness of clubs with supposedly better players.
if you enjoy games like Millwall, Birmingham, Derby, Wednesday and yesterday fair enough. I don't. I enjoy the win but there's no style or flair in those sort of games for me. I watched yesterday almost completely without emotion other than nerves and exasperation.
I grew up in the 70s and I always loved the World Cup. I saw the Brazil team of 1970. Holland in 74 and 78 and my favourite of all Brazil of 82. The football they played was a delight. I don't expect Barnsley to be able to play like that of course but I like football that is played in some sort of an approximation.

 

Think i would accept mid table mediocrity next season in the premier league aswell