Manchester City v Barnsley Match Thoughts

[BarnsleyDaft]

Or just maybe we've played a blinder staying on good terms with the city group. Couple of wingback season long loans. Would be nice... probably not but i do like to dream

[animallittle3]

I know it’s Man City …… but my confidence for the season has taken a hit.
So hell knows how the players feel.

Some big holes to patch up.
Odour ball watching for 2 of their goals.
Kitchen, Moon and Brittain clearly not up to speed.
I don’t know why but Oduor and Brittain never threatened going forward.
Millar coming on for Brittain at wing back is a clear indication that Schopp is still trying to understand the players and tactics.
As for Woodrow - in the 16th minute he took a touch when he should have buried it - then later nearly dragged the shirt off one of their players backs to give them their penalty.
Then lost their player on the back post for their 4th goal.

On the plus side - Collins, Styles, Palmer, Benson, Helic, Sibbick, B,Williams ….. all played relatively well.
Even tho our attacking strategy was all over the place Morris and Frieser tried hard.

On the plus plus side …… we have Obbi, Cole, J,Williams and hopefully Leya to join the squad.
Also Mads needs to get back ASAP on that showing.

Thankfully for the rest of the season we won’t be facing teams as good as Man City.
So it’s going to be interesting to see how these new Schopp tactics work against lesser opposition.
Personally I think we will become unstuck.
I’d prefer it if we stuck with tactics of the big pounding hammer.

Not for me Nudge with all due respect .

The big hammer as you put it will have its moments but defining us is another matter .

The results under Val were good but the longevity of it is open to debate .

Young footballers with technical ability will always win the day over a period of time .

Val believed in his methods so much he did one at the first offer that came his way .

At a club with some issues to say the least

He'd emptied his gun here Nudge and he knew it .

[animallittle3]

Err yes Animal I compared it sarcy like. Do you think Im actually comparing Man City in the present day, to that Rotherham Fc team of 4 years ago!!.

Well anyway the debate goes on, should we have stuck to the Watford away game. Would that have tought us anything better or different ehh, regardless of the result ?.

Well it's always difficult for what ever reason to address your views from someone who doesn't see too many of our games whether inside Oakwell or other platforms such as this evening .

Gathering your information from other platforms on how we've done is always questionable .

You've an opinion as we all have , doesn't make it credible though .

Over the years I've found you don't particularly like to be pinned down on the facts so I'd expect your usual reply to be consistent with that narrative .

[Acido]

Well you can carry on climbing up onto 'other platforms' all you like kid, I don't really care.

Yes we do all have an opinion and I WILL always stick by mine (whether its wrong or ridiculous or sh*ite etc), but thank you very much for pointing that out.

[animallittle3]

Well you can carry on climbing up onto 'other platforms' all you like kid, I don't really care.

Yes we do all have an opinion and I WILL always stick by mine (whether its wrong or ridiculous or sh*ite etc), but thank you very much for pointing that out.

Thanks for your consistency acido .

It always was a great look with credibility when you stick to an opinion when you know it's wrong .

To be fair your not a alone on here .

Such is life and social media .

We move on .

[pass_and_move]

A sed ad no interest in this game and a still ent but nonetheless its just another pre season warm up. A kick abart to build fitness. Who really gives a feck at the end of the day?

Although I dint see the game, will this game define us? I think not, but then again, neither would it have by laikin Watford.

Stupid decision by Conway. It was obviously the prestige of laikin a far superior team that was far more important than keeping the pre season programme on a realistic footing, thus building the players steadily into our impending championship campaign.

The real business however starts next setdy. Let's tek it frum theear and not look too much into the circus of events that took place this last few days.

[animallittle3]

A sed ad no interest in this game and a still ent but nonetheless its just another pre season warm up. A kick abart to build fitness. Who really gives a feck at the end of the day?

Although I dint see the game, will this game define us? I think not, but then again, neither would it have by laikin Watford.

Stupid decision by Conway. It was obviously the prestige of laikin a far superior team that was far more important than keeping the pre season programme on a realistic footing, thus building the players steadily into our impending championship campaign.

The real business however starts next setdy. Let's tek it frum theear and not look too much into the circus of events that took place this last few days.

That's fair comment Pass the real stuff begins next week as you say .

I suspect Schopp is still finding out about many of the players and how they can adapt to his methods .

This is a major change in philosophy from last season he's implementing and it won't happen overnight I suspect .

If Macca has done his homework he will be pressing us to death next Saturday especially in the first 20 minutes and trying to force some mistakes out of us .

Big crowd expected at the Cardiff City stadium and we are going to have to be on our mettle especially in the early stages of the game and work our way in .

It's going to be extremely interesting in the first few weeks of the season to see how we go on with this change in philosophy .

Personally I'd play out from the back but NOT at all costs , mix it up and gain some confidence .

Soft goals given away could potentially drain our confidence .

[pass_and_move]

That's fair comment Pass the real stuff begins next week as you say .

I suspect Schopp is still finding out about many of the players and how they can adapt to his methods .

This is a major change in philosophy from last season he's implementing and it won't happen overnight I suspect .

If Macca has done his homework he will be pressing us to death next Saturday especially in the first 20 minutes and trying to force some mistakes out of us .

Big crowd expected at the Cardiff City stadium and we are going to have to be on our mettle especially in the early stages of the game and work our way in .

It's going to be extremely interesting in the first few weeks of the season to see how we go on with this change in philosophy .

Personally I'd play out from the back but NOT at all costs , mix it up and gain some confidence .

Soft goals given away could potentially drain our confidence .

I'd agree with that Animal. An ability to mix up our way of playing is key rather than playing it out from the back at all costs. Let's face it, Ismael didn't laik art from the back forra reason. As you say, it's gonna take time and we'll have to be patient. However, I think it's for the best in the long run to adopt a footballing philosophy and stick to it

[Young_Nudger]

The way I see it is this and it's just my opinion .

The way the game has evolved today is that in order to be successful consistently you have to be able to pass that ball from back to front .

Ignoring the flaws within a group of playwrs and going with a more direct approach will only probably reap short term rewards .

You simply have to work with your players and improve them if you are to be successful in today's game .

I'm not going to disrespect the results Val got out of this group of players but at the same time I'm asking if he actually improved us going forward .

I take the point from a confidence point of view he probably did as decent results will always be good for confidence .

As young footballers wanting to develop and improve their technical ability is perhaps my point .

Schopp sees it another way and perhaps more in tune on what we are trying to achieve at this club with the model we operate with .

We finished 5th last season with 78 points but the elephant in the room is the fact nobody higher up the football food chain is breaking their necks to sign any of our players .

That goes totally against what the model is all about .

Signing young players , developing them and selling on for a good profit and increasing our revenue streams to compete effectively at championship level .

That's the model , like it or not .

The play off place and the way we achieved could well have held the club back 12 months .

This isn't any kind of criticism of Val by any means but I'm simply pointing out what this clubs model is all about .

Good thoughtful post.
And comparing that with the Man City game I.e. the tactics Schopp seems to be employing.

Firstly - Man City didn’t play their 1st team - but neither did we.
And that was clearly evident when going forward - when the ball was played forward nothing stuck.
Last season our most successful period of a match was when Dike and Morris were on the field at the same time.
IMO we greatly missed that against City - as Obbi wasn’t available.
WE NEVER OFFERED A THREAT
Our movement going forward was abysmal.

But if we had Obbi available at the side of Morris then we would have had the players on the field to hold the ball up allowing our midfield and wing backs to get forward.
Against City I can’t remember a time when our wing backs crossed the half way line.
And if this is an example of how Oduor plays as a wing back - then we know now why Valérien didn’t give him any game time last season.
We are after another left wing back - and we desperately need one.
Oduor maybe a good fullback - but he doesn’t know how to play as a wing back.
In saying that - neither did Styles at the beginning of last season - but he soon learnt.

With nothing happening up front Styles didn’t get a chance to show what he can do going forward.
BIG POSITIVE - and mark my words here - even on just a 2nd half showing - Benson looked to be a better player than Mowatt.
He is quicker, tackled stronger and his distribution is good.

So then - in conclusion:
Defence - Kitchen and Moon struggled against City but then again they were facing top opposition.
Our defence is basically solid - but with Mads out we have only 4 players available to fill 3 positions.

Midfield - If we get another left wing back our midfield now that we have Benson should be stronger than last season.

Strikers - with the availability of better strikers Obbi, Cole and hopefully Leya - and to add to that Morris - then our strike force should be better than last season.

Ive only seen one match and the highlights of others - but on the face of things - Schopp is struggling to get a grip of the players and tactics.
He is an experienced manager so he will get there in time.
But at the moment it’s looking like the continuity within the club has been broken - it seems Adam Murray, the person who was there when a new manager was appointed is being missed.

Yes of course our players are here to improve individually and by doing so move the club forward. And if a good offer comes in they are there to make money for the club.
Will our players have more value finishing 5th under the Valérien style - or finishing say 12th under the passing style of Schopp ???
That would be a hard one to call.

[POGGYWELL]

That's fair comment Pass the real stuff begins next week as you say .

I suspect Schopp is still finding out about many of the players and how they can adapt to his methods .

This is a major change in philosophy from last season he's implementing and it won't happen overnight I suspect .

If Macca has done his homework he will be pressing us to death next Saturday especially in the first 20 minutes and trying to force some mistakes out of us .

Big crowd expected at the Cardiff City stadium and we are going to have to be on our mettle especially in the early stages of the game and work our way in .

It's going to be extremely interesting in the first few weeks of the season to see how we go on with this change in philosophy .

Personally I'd play out from the back but NOT at all costs , mix it up and gain some confidence .

Soft goals given away could potentially drain our confidence .

I have a feeling mixing it up may well be the case animal.

Here’s what Toby Sibbick recently had to say:

I’m looking forward to playing the ball out from defence under Markus Schopp but believes Barnsley will not repeat the errors of the 2019/20 season as he says: ‘when the ball has to go, it has to go.’