I've had time to sit on and think about this performance and although I was distracted for the first 15 minutes of the second half by a transsexual complaining about NHS provisions, watching the highlights back there seems to be two things that if changed would have tipped the balance in Barnsley's favour: 1. Height up front. We generally play the ball on the floor and it has been the key feature in some lovely football to watch this and last season. However, we still have a tendency - from the defence and especially the goalkeeper - to hoof the ball up front in moments of distress. In the past few games I've noticed we've been aiming for Wilks whose admittedly had a decent amount of success in bringing the ball down from goal kicks with sheer physicality. This doesn't translate to the box though where we can't catch a cross and don't seem to have the players with the crossing ability (yet) to drop the ball on to a 5"11-6"0 strikers head. In this sense we haven't replaced Kieffer yet. We're still missing a player capable of height domination up front. I noticed a couple of times Halme brought the ball forward at the Leeds match then proceeded to pass to a player positioned to cross into the box while he headed into the 18 yarder. 2. Leeds's keeper. I haven't seen anybody mention yet that we were playing against a goalkeeper that has started for Real Madrid in the recent past and is, quite frankly, in the top tier of goalkeepers we will see in this division. There are a couple of shots (Wilks first half, Brown second half, skirmish in the box) that I don't believe the average keeper in this division would have saved. Collins put in an excellent performance yesterday but he was second on that pitch. The implication is if we put in a performance like that every game we will get a point or more against a lot of teams in this division. Overall, don't think there's a great deal to be worried about. They say where you are after the first 10 games is rarely far from where you finish off but we've got a young squad who are still adjusting to life in the second tier and could be the exception to that rule. Honestly, think we'll be reight. By the way I'd just like to say that it's a pleasure watching Jacob Brown play. A real talent. The best out of the academy since Holgate, maybe since Stones.
I was saying this today - Leeds best player was their keeper. Pulled some great saves off and look composed (not a bad retro shirt either). I’d say Leeds were a steady 6.75/10 for all the team. Keeper was 8/10 and Nketiah was 8/10. They had more gears to go and looked a class act. They’ll do well this season.
Agree with all of this. Leeds were excellent, they were set up very well and their work rate was incredible. We matched them for 85 mins. That said I think their goal was awful from our perspective. A needless free kick and then woeful marking. This is the level we need to be at game in game out, then some. We need more quality but I think this will come over the season. It will be nip and tuck as to whether we survive.
I'm split. Went to the game not expecting much. A big part of me thinks the current plan is going to fall flat on its face and will get us relegated. We've won 1 game from our opening 8 league and cup games, haven't scored in 5 of them and only Stoke and Huddersfield are worse off than us but both have the means to improve. Other part of me says that doesn't tell the whole story. We played ok against leeds and had plenty of possession against Birmingham and Wigan - getting the first goal would have greatly helped our cause in all 3 games. Considering that Leeds have better individuals on bigger wages and a mixture of youth and experience, their finishing was no better than ours overall. It took a free kick and penalty to undo us in the end. Narrow margins overall, but wide enough for us not to be picking up enough points.
