Analysis of Barnsley's 1-0 home loss to Wigan Athletic. They slipped down a place to sixth in League One.
BARNSLEY A DAMP SQUIB IN WET CONDITIONS
A MULTI-HAZARD event.
That was the description given to Storm Bert which brought snow, winds and very heavy rain across the country, briefly threatening this game before the Oakwell pitch passed two inspections.
But it could also be used to describe this extremely disappointing match from Barnsley’s point of view.
They played against a club who never lose at Oakwell and a team who, although they arrived in 19th, have one of the best defensive records in the division.
Barnsley had been on good form but fell well below their recent standards and were punished for it. The underperforming Reds attempted to play out from the back more than usual on a saturated pitch in almost constant rain in the first half - a risky tactic which simply did not work.
They conceded a terrible goal, from a defensive perspective, from Wigan’s only shot on target.
They only truly came close to scoring once against a visiting side who brought more and more defensive players on while appearing to time waste and break the game up at any opportunity in a stop-start second half.
This game, especially the first half, felt like we had gone back six weeks to the early autumn when Barnsley produced a series of clueless, insipid performances with no threat. Their pressing and energy were nothing like in recent games.
It was also a return to Darrell Clarke being upset with his team - saying they were ‘really poor’ in the first half, that they did not run hard enough and that he would not accept more performances like that. He also said they should be cut some slack as this came after a good run, while the second half was a slight improvement.
But it was a harrowing day which put a big dent in the idea that Barnsley had sorted out their early season issues and become definitive promotion contenders.
They have taken just a point from games with bottom six teams, Cambridge and Wigan, in which they were poor in the first halves then missed chances in the second.
WIGAN STILL UNBEATEN AT OAKWELL
Wigan beat Barnsley for the first time in six meetings and have still never lost in the league at Oakwell in eight games, with the only scorers for the hosts in those matches being Kevin Betsy and Devante Cole.
The Latics arrived a point above the relegation zone, having taken just two from their last five games.
They had scored the second fewest goals in the division but had the third best defensive record, and had just had two weeks without a game to work on the training pitch.
Wigan’s average age in their 11 was 23, two years below Barnsley’s, while they had seven academy graduates in their matchday squad and none of their front four - three attacking midfielders and a lone striker - was older than 22.
On Tuesday, Barnsley face another bogey side in Reading who have not lost in 11 games at Oakwell since 1998. Another poor result in that game would be a real worry going into games against Wrexham and Birmingham.
REDS STILL CAN’T WIN CONSISTENTLY AT HOME
The Reds lost at Oakwell in the league for the first time since the opening day of the season against Mansfield.
The result meant they had the 18th best record on their own turf in the division while only lowly Burton have fewer home wins than their two.
Barnsley have only won twice in home league games since February with 14 points from as many fixtures.
The win against Rotherham in the previous home game felt like a turning point but this was a setback.
The defeat ended a six-match unbeaten run in the league.
DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCES THROUGHOUT SIDE
It was hard to know what was the worst element of Wigan’s goal from Barnsley’s perspective.
Was it Corey O’Keeffe being totally bamboozled by Silko Thomas on the left of the box before falling over and allowing the winger to send in a cross?
Or was it that neither Marc Roberts or Josh Earl marked Thelo Aasgaard and allowed him to head in totally unchallenged seven yards out?
The goal came slightly against the run of play after a period of Reds pressure but it was the only time either side really threatened in an abject first half.
Despite the pitch being totally sodden, especially in the corners in front of the Ponty End, Barnsley sticking rigidly to a tactic of passing their way up the pitch seemed risky. They were erratic on the ball, losing it regularly in the middle section of the pitch and never looked like a threat in attack.
In hindsight, Kelechi Nwakali would have been better suited to that style of play than some of those who started.
Jon Russell had his worst game since returning to the side.
Luca Connell, who came back from suspension to replace the injured Max Watters, completed 91 per cent of his passes but shot off-target three times from long range - sometimes when there were team-mates in better positions. Adam Phillips, who was far from his best, received the ball twice on the edge of the box in the first half after clever moves but shot well over then completely missed the ball.
In general, the midfield lacked bite and a real threat to the visitors, as did - for the most part - the often-isolated forwards Davis Keillor-Dunn and Stephen Humphrys. Former Latics player Humphrys went down in the box under a challenge by ex-Red Toby Sibbick but no penalty was given.
SUBS MAKE AN IMPACT
Clarke made a quadruple change on 56 minutes after Barnsley followed a bad first half with a poor start to the second.
Off came wing-backs O’Keeffe and Georgie Gent - who had been given a torrid time by Wigan’s dangerous wingers - as well as Russell and Phillips.
On came former Wigan striker Sam Cosgrove, home league debutant Nwakali, Donovan Pines and Fabio Jalo. The Reds changed to 4-2-3-1 with four centre-backs across the back four, while Jalo joined Keillor-Dunn and Humphrys behind Cosgrove.
The substitutes did well.
Jalo added impetus with several runs, crosses and shots from the right while Nwakali completed all of his 16 passes. Cosgrove brought the first save of the day on 86 minutes out of Sam Tickle who easily caught his header.
Pines almost scored before that with Jason Kerr somehow diverting his close-range shot over after Earl’s header was cleared off the line by Dale Taylor.
Kyran Lofthouse then came on for Connell late on.
