as someone said today...Zola could do worse than recall Steven McGinn and get him back in midfield...
As I went to Oakwell, and saw our performance at first hand, I thought I would offer an analysis based on my considerable (some say vast) managerial , tactical, strategic and well-researched nous and experience. My conclusion is... we were rubbish. Now, the puzzle is, why ? I've seen us at Burnley - effective, unlucky, but not great, Brum - smooth, efficient, well-balanced, & forest - sharp, ruthless and dominant. (As well as at wolves, and a few others.) I think the key to saturday was in those missing - specifically Abdi, who seems to make us tick, instils confidence, and to a lesser degree Pudil. not almunia. bond is fine - and in distribution, better. We started badly, and frankly, got worse until half time. The defence was pretty ok - conceding 1 goal away is not really a problem. Bond was again excellent, had no chance with the goal. The problem, and I hate to say this about good hard-working pro's, who I do think try their best, is that in Yeates & Hogg there is no sparkle or imagination. Battocchio doeasn't have the 'authority' alone, and looked lost until Chalobah came on. Chalobah got caught in possession several tinmes - it's inevitable the way he plays, but his passing was sublime and we looked better second half. Anya is a mystery - when he receives the ball, he is really threatening, goes past people with ease and looks up. When he releases it (on Sat. anyway) he is pretty excitable as in over-hit, or behind the goal. Pudil isn't anywhere near as quick, but he can certainly deliver a decent cross, giving deeney (who was excellent) and vydra (who had virtually no opportunities) chances, especially with Abdi coming in behind. Cassetti was, as ever, in control of his position, his role and mostly his opponent. However, where he plays, he cannot influence the game when it isn't working. Forestieri did try to create chances, Bia ran into a couple of good positions, but couldn't deliver a good cross. Barnsley were determined, up for it and limited. Ok. I still think we can turn this around. We were lucky that only Cardiff won (& forest, which looks worrying, but we'll see). It does look like that Cardiif can stagger over the line, leaving 1 place for 5 of us (if we are charitable about Leicester, who I thought would be the biggest threat). That's tough for all of us! The best outcome, apart from the other results, was Zola's comments. They may not have been truly objective, but put a good spin on an otherwise dispppointing day. COYH !
I would bet my house on Forest and Leicester not making the automatic spots - they together with Brighton look to be finishing on around 72 or 73 - Forest have Cardiff, Brighton and Leicester to play of the top six (excluding themselves). Hull, Watford and Palace look capable of reaching 79 to 80 points and not all three will continue to have this recent dip in form. Cardiff will finish top - nearly 90 points? - and one of the other three will be second - no doubt. It would be impossible to predict accurately who will come second as it depends so much on games between ourselves. Palace look to have the easiest run in as they only have Leicester to play of the top six and half their 8 games are against bottom third sides - Hull too have four lower sides to face 19th or below. On paper they should win those but of course when relegation threatens teams like Barnsley can step up. we have only 2 bottom third sides to play - but that could be a blessing. In the end it comes down to which of the three now returns to form - as I said elsewhere we have the least experienced manager and I believe it is managers not simply players who win things. Zola now needs to hold his nerve and get us back to our best. I think Alumnia is key - Bond has been excellent but he is not an experienced old pro who is able to drive those in front of him. If we can get him and Abdi back then I will be much happier.
