Olé Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 We got no more than we deserved. Barnsley were the better side and if both teams were playing from the same LJ blueprint, Barnsley did so with much more quality in their passing and far more speed and instinct in their decision making. We were very very poor in the first half, probably the worst half this season, with zero width and players needing too many touches or thinking time to pick a pass, by which time there were no options besides hopeful punts forward. We have been crying out for two up front and Abraham has started to need the support, but it robbed us of all width and in turn any creativity besides Tomlin having to pick his way through defenders single handedly. We just didn't have outlet balls in the first half and no-one to release on either flank (even when Matthews tried to push on) so as a result we created no crosses, no chances, and no shots. By our standards it was dire. Barnsley were the opposite, getting people outside our full backs and passing quickly through us. They were playing better LJ passing football than we were, throughout. We only looked dangerous second half when we started to get players out wide crossing, and we started to pass with more speed and confidence (mainly by picking simple short passes quickly, not hesitating and reducing options bar punts up field). Our best chances came from starting to create crosses and getting players out wide to drag defenders, but make no mistake, overall our passing was poor all day today and Barnsley deserved at least a point for playing the better football. Word for Gary O'Neil who was just immense, he is the only one of ours who consistently plays with poise and confidence and makes the right decisions when all around him were making the wrong ones. Experience counted today as Wilbs also put a really good shift in up front. But other than those two, everyone else was a '5' type of performances. Korey Smith didn't get in the game, Abraham was marked out of most of it, and Tomlin, bar some typically stylish runs, made the wrong decisions and gave the ball away multiple times - but to be fair to him, like everything else that was bad about us today, he didn't have the options from teammates. Players positioning, instinct and sharpness was all way off. We had one good spell that led to both goals but otherwise we didn't look sharp and our football was not as polished as Barnsley's. Lots for LJ to think about. Fielding 7 Matthews 5 (Moore 5) Golbourne 5 (Bryan 7) Flint 5 Magnusson 5 O'Neil 7 Smith 5 Reid 5 (Brownhill 5) Tomlin 6 Abraham 5 Wilbraham 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRA Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 5 minutes ago, Olé said: We got no more than we deserved. Barnsley were the better side and if both teams were playing from the same LJ blueprint, Barnsley did so with much more quality in their passing and far more speed and instinct in their decision making. We were very very poor in the first half, probably the worst half this season, with zero width and players needing too many touches or thinking time to pick a pass, by which time there were no options besides hopeful punts forward. We have been crying out for two up front and Abraham has started to need the support, but it robbed us of all width and in turn any creativity besides Tomlin having to pick his way through defenders single handedly. We just didn't have outlet balls in the first half and no-one to release on either flank (even when Matthews tried to push on) so as a result we created no crosses, no chances, and no shots. By our standards it was dire. Barnsley were the opposite, getting people outside our full backs and passing quickly through us. They were playing better LJ passing football than we were, throughout. We only looked dangerous second half when we started to get players out wide crossing, and we started to pass with more speed and confidence (mainly by picking simple short passes quickly, not hesitating and reducing options bar punts up field). Our best chances came from starting to create crosses and getting players out wide to drag defenders, but make no mistake, overall our passing was poor all day today and Barnsley deserved at least a point for playing the better football. Word for Gary O'Neil who was just immense, he is the only one of ours who consistently plays with poise and confidence and makes the right decisions when all around him were making the wrong ones. Experience counted today as Wilbs also put a really good shift in up front. But other than those two, everyone else was a '5' type of performances. Korey Smith didn't get in the game, Abraham was marked out of most of it, and Tomlin, bar some typically stylish runs, made the wrong decisions and gave the ball away multiple times - but to be fair to him, like everything else that was bad about us today, he didn't have the options from teammates. Players positioning, instinct and sharpness was all way off. We had one good spell that led to both goals but otherwise we didn't look sharp and our football was not as polished as Barnsley's. Lots for LJ to think about. Fielding 7 Matthews 5 (Moore 5) Golbourne 5 (Bryan 7) Flint 5 Magnusson 5 O'Neil 7 Smith 5 Reid 5 (Brownhill 5) Tomlin 6 Abraham 5 Wilbraham 6 Did we start quite well? It sounded like it from the radio. For the first 15 mins the commentators were quite excited by our quick passing and interplay and we seemed to be going at them (someone posted a graphic of 60% possession and 4 shots to their 1). It did sound like we definitely petered out after that though. I think after a bunch of tackles got the crowd rattled, maybe it made some of our players go in their shells a bit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge1981 Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 7 minutes ago, Olé said: We got no more than we deserved. Barnsley were the better side and if both teams were playing from the same LJ blueprint, Barnsley did so with much more quality in their passing and far more speed and instinct in their decision making. We were very very poor in the first half, probably the worst half this season, with zero width and players needing too many touches or thinking time to pick a pass, by which time there were no options besides hopeful punts forward. We have been crying out for two up front and Abraham has started to need the support, but it robbed us of all width and in turn any creativity besides Tomlin having to pick his way through defenders single handedly. We just didn't have outlet balls in the first half and no-one to release on either flank (even when Matthews tried to push on) so as a result we created no crosses, no chances, and no shots. By our standards it was dire. Barnsley were the opposite, getting people outside our full backs and passing quickly through us. They were playing better LJ passing football than we were, throughout. We only looked dangerous second half when we started to get players out wide crossing, and we started to pass with more speed and confidence (mainly by picking simple short passes quickly, not hesitating and reducing options bar punts up field). Our best chances came from starting to create crosses and getting players out wide to drag defenders, but make no mistake, overall our passing was poor all day today and Barnsley deserved at least a point for playing the better football. Word for Gary O'Neil who was just immense, he is the only one of ours who consistently plays with poise and confidence and makes the right decisions when all around him were making the wrong ones. Experience counted today as Wilbs also put a really good shift in up front. But other than those two, everyone else was a '5' type of performances. Korey Smith didn't get in the game, Abraham was marked out of most of it, and Tomlin, bar some typically stylish runs, made the wrong decisions and gave the ball away multiple times - but to be fair to him, like everything else that was bad about us today, he didn't have the options from teammates. Players positioning, instinct and sharpness was all way off. We had one good spell that led to both goals but otherwise we didn't look sharp and our football was not as polished as Barnsley's. Lots for LJ to think about. Fielding 7 Matthews 5 (Moore 5) Golbourne 5 (Bryan 7) Flint 5 Magnusson 5 O'Neil 7 Smith 5 Reid 5 (Brownhill 5) Tomlin 6 Abraham 5 Wilbraham 6 Looking at the highlights it would seem we were lucky to get a draw even though they equalised so late in the game. So pleased for Fielding with that penalty save and that Tomlin assist was quality! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olé Posted October 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 5 minutes ago, RedSA said: Did we start quite well? It sounded like it from the radio. For the first 15 mins the commentators were quite excited by our quick passing and interplay and we seemed to be going at them We had lots of possession early on but there was no meaningful football to show for it. In the first half we were so narrow it was untrue. LJ obviously wanted us to go through the middle while Barnsley went wide and no one in our team would pass wide even when the full backs showed for it. It was that bad. It we had any quick passing and interplay it was between three central midfielders and Tomlin, we didn't create a chance to speak of and I assume the final shot count is heavily weighted in Barnsley's favour. Something I forgot to mention in my report - we just can't defend crosses. It really needs looking at. And to think people complained about the game on Tuesday because they wanted to see this first team. While I'm on a roll on things that will infuriate some OTIBers, we really missed Freeman today. There, I said it. Someone to actually move with the ball besides Tomlin, the way most of the Barnsley players could. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbored Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 That's another game where City only played well for 45mins but still came away with at least a point. Not being at your best but not losing the game is a great asset to have. Just how good will City be after the January window with roughly half the SBC fixtures gone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
North London Red Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Was a strange one today - we could (and possibly should) have been 3-0 down by the time we equalised, yet I left Oakwell with the feeling that we'd dropped 2 points. Admittedly we didn't deserve to win (and it would have been an ultimate 'smash and grab' if we had) but going into stoppage time 2-1 up and leaving with a draw was disappointing, especially as Barnsley's two goals were entirely prevantable. Thought Wilbraham had an excellent second half, and Fielding kept us in it at times. Tomlin did brilliantly for our second goal but much of what he tried today just didn't come off, and many other players were inconsistent today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge1981 Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 2 minutes ago, Robbored said: That's another game where City only played well for 45mins but still came away with at least a point. Not being at your best but not losing the game is a great asset to have. Just how good will City be after the January window with roughly half the SBC fixtures gone? Very positive view and I couldn't agree more with your comments. We are nowhere near the finished article and still in a good league position. Few signings in January and we really could start looking decent. The thing I'm really happy about is that Tomlin has started to really up a gear for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Isewater Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 28 minutes ago, Olé said: We got no more than we deserved. Barnsley were the better side and if both teams were playing from the same LJ blueprint, Barnsley did so with much more quality in their passing and far more speed and instinct in their decision making. We were very very poor in the first half, probably the worst half this season, with zero width and players needing too many touches or thinking time to pick a pass, by which time there were no options besides hopeful punts forward. We have been crying out for two up front and Abraham has started to need the support, but it robbed us of all width and in turn any creativity besides Tomlin having to pick his way through defenders single handedly. We just didn't have outlet balls in the first half and no-one to release on either flank (even when Matthews tried to push on) so as a result we created no crosses, no chances, and no shots. By our standards it was dire. Barnsley were the opposite, getting people outside our full backs and passing quickly through us. They were playing better LJ passing football than we were, throughout. We only looked dangerous second half when we started to get players out wide crossing, and we started to pass with more speed and confidence (mainly by picking simple short passes quickly, not hesitating and reducing options bar punts up field). Our best chances came from starting to create crosses and getting players out wide to drag defenders, but make no mistake, overall our passing was poor all day today and Barnsley deserved at least a point for playing the better football. Word for Gary O'Neil who was just immense, he is the only one of ours who consistently plays with poise and confidence and makes the right decisions when all around him were making the wrong ones. Experience counted today as Wilbs also put a really good shift in up front. But other than those two, everyone else was a '5' type of performances. Korey Smith didn't get in the game, Abraham was marked out of most of it, and Tomlin, bar some typically stylish runs, made the wrong decisions and gave the ball away multiple times - but to be fair to him, like everything else that was bad about us today, he didn't have the options from teammates. Players positioning, instinct and sharpness was all way off. We had one good spell that led to both goals but otherwise we didn't look sharp and our football was not as polished as Barnsley's. Lots for LJ to think about. Fielding 7 Matthews 5 (Moore 5) Golbourne 5 (Bryan 7) Flint 5 Magnusson 5 O'Neil 7 Smith 5 Reid 5 (Brownhill 5) Tomlin 6 Abraham 5 Wilbraham 6 We deserved that loss . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Makes the omission of Paterson even more baffling. He may still be finding his way with us but with Freeman injured and O'Dowda ill he was surely worth some pitch time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SedRA Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 12 minutes ago, Olé said: We had lots of possession early on but there was no meaningful football to show for it. In the first half we were so narrow it was untrue. LJ obviously wanted us to go through the middle while Barnsley went wide and no one in our team would pass wide even when the full backs showed for it. It was that bad. It we had any quick passing and interplay it was between three central midfielders and Tomlin, we didn't create a chance to speak of and I assume the final shot count is heavily weighted in Barnsley's favour. Something I forgot to mention in my report - we just can't defend crosses. It really needs looking at. And to think people complained about the game on Tuesday because they wanted to see this first team. While I'm on a roll on things that will infuriate some OTIBers, we really missed Freeman today. There, I said it. Someone to actually move with the ball besides Tomlin, the way most of the Barnsley players could. Funnily enough the stats don't seem to represent what you saw but I know they can misrepresent what happens on the pitch. You normally seem to be pretty balanced in your reports and the highlights back up what you say so would trust your assessment on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Exile Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Pretty spot-on assessment Ole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex_BCFC Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 Really good assessment I reckon that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob k Posted October 30, 2016 Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 I didn't go yesterday but I'm not sure about Smith/o Neil in the same midfield, I would have Pack in there probably instead of Smith due to the fact he's better with the ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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