Football style

See Whitey's well worded post regarding certain teams and their style.

Also we have beaten Brentford and Bournemouth away this year in fact we have just won 6 consecutive away games in the second tier for the first time in our history which kind of blows your argument out of the water.

 

Maybe, but the first goal, which is generally the most important came from them passing through us. And they played their own game and didn't concede any.

 

If folk dont like how we play thats fine.

Would people rather we were patronized and patted on the head for playing nicey nicey stuff and losing week in week out or be hated by rival managers for being an in your face team that plays to its strengths and is hard to beat?


For too many years we have been a soft touch team. Big Val has instilled a tough streak in these lads.

For only the 3rd time in our history we have a chance of playing in the top tier of English football.

 

That’s correct but we were struggling to score goals at that time and since we strengthened the goal scoring dept using the same system .
And Bournemouth played the same system as they did at Oakwell at their place as did we but with a goal threat .

 

They could easily have gone 3-1 up at their place as well. My post was in response to the suggestion that teams do not have any option but to play like Middlesborough, Derby etc... have played at Oakwell. I don't think that's true. They have options, they just didn't have the confidence to play any other way.

 

People who think all we do is lump it into space are seriously misreading the game. We play effectively and efficiently.

A good contrast for me is how we played under Lee Johnson we would tap it around at the back maintaining possession then launch it when we ran out of options usually either out of play or to the opposition centre halves. To me that was far more long ball and worse to watch though possession stats say differently.

Val has clearly analysed our strengths and weaknesses and plays to them. We have real quality up front in both Dike and Woodrow and quality in midfield in Mowatt. Both Styles and Britain are excellent players who use space intelligently. What we don’t have is ball playing centre halves (very few clubs do) so it makes sense for them to give it to players who can pass as quickly as possible.

we are playing a system that overcomes the financial doping in this league and maximises the potential of every single player and that is no mean feat

I’d agree that some of the games are turgid but that’s in part due to how hard we are to break down. Teams of lesser quality are restricted to one or two shots on target failing to beat the press and that starts a war of attrition that we usually have the quality to win.

What is probably true is if we don’t go up and teams do suss us out then I can see fans not being too enamoured in the long term with vertical football. However Val seems an excellent coach who would adapt tactics if that became the case.

But hey what do I know my favourite team isn’t Danny’s Brazil or Norman’s invincibles it’s Mel Machins triers. Another manager who squeezed the most out of the talent he had available.

 

And for what its worth players such as Redfearn and Hignett would have thrived in this team.

Swap Redfearn for Palmer and Hignett for Frieser.

Would be some team.

 

I made a last minute choice to watch the game yesterday. I wasn't going to. I knew it would be a horrible game. I had better things to do. But in spite of that, I decided to watch.

It was a joyless game. We were horrible. Middlesbrough were horrible. Aside from Brittains sadly invisible cross for Dike to facepalm into an empty net from a few yards out, creativity and skill weren't on the menu (and to be fair, Chaplins lobbed effort that hit the post but was offside).

I want us to do well. I want us to win. I want us to battle, I want us to compete. They are the base of the Barnsley DNA and this team has it in bucket loads and more. But... the best Barnsley teams have always had flair and creative spirit. Even when it's been drive over technique and skill.

Even some of our more average teams down the years have tried to play football and create chances. And we're talking well before the era of possession without purpose.

It gets results. But so did Beck, Bassett, Warnock, Pulis et al.

Those teams played for percentages. They aimed for long throws. They put pressure on keepers. They cleared their lines fast. The defenders were no nonsense. They tried to engineer the ball wide to get crosses in the box. They played long to a target man to build from. They played it into the corners to gain territory. They dived to win free kicks.

And of course, in between that, Wimbledon post Bassett in particular, played some football in the final third.

What's the difference? Genuinely? Put a dark blue kit on these players with a bit of yellow trim, and the difference is minimal. Though even Wimbledon would aim for a player, which we often don't.

Everyone is entitled to enjoy what they enjoy. I'm not going to criticise anyone for saying they like winning and that is their main driver. Or that industry is more important than style and flourish.

For me, I just have to have some style to the football, some endeavour of skill, more intent than hope. That if you completely take the result out of the equation, you can still say... I enjoyed that. I've probably seen more of BFC live this year than I have for years. And the only enjoyable thing is the result.

If it's all about results and that is the factor in life, why don't we all eat gruel? It's effective. It stops you dieing of hunger. Why don't we live in mud huts? They keep you sheltered, what more do you want? Why don't we have animal skins for footwear? They stop your feet getting cut.

Sadly, this is the gruel equivalent of football. It's an absolute shame. Because they are better than this.

 

Good Morning!

As a Leeds fan who has more than a passing interest in Barnsley this season (I've got a fiver on you to be promoted at 14/1), the contributors to this thread may be interested in the last paragraph in today's issue of The Times?

 

I think the main difference is that Wimbledon wouldn't try and get every outfield player in the opponents half.

I'm not so sure. This isn't aimed as a dig at the players, but Mowatt looks like he prefers to receive the ball facing the opponent's goal, rather than having to bring the ball down and turn. Mads has shown over two years, that he's much better off taking a no nonsense approach, Helik's strength is winning headers. The wing backs should like this system, because when we play well, it's designed to create space for them and allow them to get forward. Woodrow is probably the one that's suffered the most with the system, but I think getting him in a wider position, off a target man is going to do him good. Luton away was the best I've seen him play for some time.

That said, the away games are proving far more entertaining at the moment. The Bournemouth game was as open a game as you'd see, and I thought at the time that it was a good game regardless of result. Luton was just a dominant performance, that was undermined after the penalty miss. Brentford away was probably the best performance of the season.

When we signed Kitching, I was hoping that he would slot in to that left of a three, and be able to play accurate passes across to Brittain as well as perform his defensive duties. Mads used to attempt it regularly, it rarely came off for him, but when it did, it got us playing. A left footer in that position would make a big difference imo.

I think the pitch contributes to it as well, it's in a right state. Hopefully, that will be resolved by the start of next season. Dropping down to three subs will also mean we'll have more of a need of starting with the players who are most likely to be able to hold the ball up and start us playing, rather than have him come off the bench every game.

 

Funny that, because I spoke to three of those former players you’ve just referred to, in the last couple of weeks and all of them are buzzing and excited by what is happening and one even said “I would love playing in this team, I can see why Alex is thriving in it.”

I’m glad you’ve stuck to your guns. Fair play to you, if you don’t like this brand of football. I’m one of the many who do enjoy it. It’s what I’ve wanted down here for donkeys years, after getting sick to the back teeth of seeing BFC sides getting old manned, out fought and having their bellies tickled. And despite what you and a minority of others keep suggesting, we do play some very entertaining football, but only in the right areas of the pitch. There’s nothing exciting about seeing us pass the ball between defenders and goalkeeper or seeing folk dribble into opponents, usually costing us goals.

This is one of the greatest Reds sides there has ever been. The stats point to that. They’re smashing club records to bits. They’re on a run away from home that has seen them beat Brentford (who were 21 games without loss) by playing it on the deck, and Bournemouth. Couple of stunning goals in those two games. Direct at times, absolutely. Just as it was under Bassett, when Hignett thrived.

It would be boring if we all liked the same thing. I tell you what I like more than anything following this club? Winning games and upsetting folk. It’s mint.

 

The majority of football fans go to games to see their team win, not necessarily to watch a great game of football. If they win playing attractive, neat passing football that's all to the good. But to quote the old adage "it's a results business". If a team regularly plays attractive 'entertaining' football and loses the manager gets the sack and the team usually get relegated.

 

I watched that first half on Saturday and by half time I was seething. It is not the long ball that irritates, as we saw over the week-end, the long ball can be effective when used constructively. It is the aimless and looped long ball. The only purpose to that sort of tactic is to get the ball anywhere in the opposition half of the field. It is riskless play, and what is more, it allows us to regain our shape and to rush up the park in that shape in the hope that pressure from our front 3 will force the opposition into a rushed pass forward, catching several of their attacking players off-side. It is effective, but it is also very, very boring. I do not buy my season ticket to be bored through 90% of first halves. I buy my season ticket in the hope that my team will entertain me, and in order to do that, my team needs possession of the ball, and it needs a plan of how they are going to use that possession to beat the opposition. As far as I can see, our current plan amounts to using the first half to tire them out (physically and mentally), changing our front 3, and trying to play in the final 30 minutes. I would be grateful if you would ask your employer if I could be refunded 2/3 the cost of my season ticket if we only intend to play for the final 30 minutes.

Regards

 

Would you be happy if we played nice football with our centre halfs passing around the 18 yard box for no reason and achieving nothing more than dominating the possession stats but losing week in week out and been told by rival managers how well we play whilst losing nicely?

Or getting results at the business end of the season?

 

Funnily enough, I believe the likes of Ronnie Glavin, Craig Hignett, Neil Redfearn & Steve Agnew would excel in this set up, just as the skilful and talented Alex Mowatt has done.
Also, I too remember the likes of Wimbledon, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United, Cambridge United with their long ball styles and we're absolutely nothing like them at all. In fact, the comparisons are truly laughable.
Keep up the good work, Valerien. I, for one, am behind you 100%.

 

No, but I would be happy playing in the style of Danny Wilson's team that achieved promotion to the Premier League, or Dave Basset's team that came so close.

 

But those are different times with different players.

Val has had 34 league games (67 points) and one transfer window to turn around a team that was 2 minutes away from relegation into the surprise team of the 2020/21 season and play off contenders.

Not bad eh.

 

The box office reopened today.

 

It's not either/or, though, is it? There is a middle ground between playing tippy-tappy stuff across our own 18 yard box, and lumping it forward at every opportunity.

I'm ok with the vertical football approach, I understand that we're clearing our lines and getting the ball quickly into areas where we're more likely to damage the opposition. But I hate seeing the ball come down to someone of Mowatt's class when he's in acres of space and in the opposition half, only to see him pump it forward first time to no-one, often without even looking. Obviously he doesn't do it every time, but it's far too often for my liking.

Can anyone honestly say that they haven't been moaning and groaning during our matches when we've given away possession in such a wasteful manner? It's awful to watch and bad enough when all I need to do is settle down in front of the telly 10 minutes before kick-off. The idea of a trek to Oakwell on a freezing December night to watch this style of football is a complete turn off.