Barnsley vs Huddersfield Town

Competition: EFL Championship Matchday 21

Date: 26/12/2020

Score: 2-1

Ground: Oakwell

5 Conclusions from the Game

1. A striker is needed in January!

Town only had one striker on the bench today - 18-year-old Kian Harratt and he was not brought on in a game in which 3 out of the 5 subs were not used, which shows that Corberan doesn't think he is good enough to make an impact on the first-team squad. Town is said to be interested in Flamengo striker Lincoln and in my opinion, this deal needs to be completed as we are really lacking in this position since the injures to Phillips, Koroma and Ward.
I don't think Town properly replaced Mounie in the summer as Ward and Campbell are too alike whereas Mounie offered something different. I realise that Mounie was sold to trim the wage budget down and protect the club's financial state, but now as Town are looking stable in the Championship, they need to sign a striker to be alternative to Campbell and given the number of injuries in the forward line.

2. Away Form is not a great sight.

Town has not won once in their last 6 away games and has shipped the most goals away from home in the division - 21. A strength of Town's last season was their performances away from home, this season Town has been very shaky in these games.
Once Town conceded the equaliser it felt like Corberan was setting up for a draw, Eiting walking off when being replaced and only two substitutions being made looked like Town were happy to settle for a point.
If Corberan is targetting winning at home and drawing away over the course of the season, then I can understand it, but after a 5-0 loss at Bournemouth and a lacklustre 0-0 draw at Coventry, I thought the Spaniard would only be happy with three points today, but in fact, it seemed he was happy with one.

3. We must score at least 2!

For Town to sit easily in a game they need to be two goals ahead. Town has never conceded this season when going two goals up (4 occasions). Although in the last 5 times Town has conceded equalisers in a game, they have gone onto lose 4 times. This is made worse when Town have only won twice when the opposition has also scored in the game.

4. O'Brien continues to be inconsistent.

In what was a very poor Town side last season, O'Brien shone, but he has not been the same this season. Today he was looking good for moments, but then lacking a final ball. It looks like he is not suiting Corberan's style of play and it is getting to the point where I don't think he is certain to be on the teamsheet. In an ideal world, I think Corberan would drop Lewis, but there is no one that could take his place and it boils down to the same point again - the squad is thin!

5. Low Standard of Officiating.

I don't want to blame the result on the officiating as Town were very poor, Town invited the pressure onto themselves, they created very little going forward and played too much negative football.
I am someone who thinks the concept of VAR is brilliant, but I think it has been executed very poorly. I think the standard of officiating has dropped as a result, as referees at the top can fall back onto the technology and as a result, the rest of the football pyramids officiating levels are dropping.
The ball was not in the quadrant for the corner that led to the Barnsley goal and the second goal came from a foul throw that Hector Bellerin would be proud of. The officials are getting the basics wrong and I think it is embarrassing that there are seemingly no consequences to the officials involved. Other than these, there were throw ins given the wrong way, fouls that should/ shouldn't have been given and a potential Town penalty. David Webb didn't look in control and to be honest looked out of his depth, which was a shame to see.
The standard of refereeing is never properly debated, managers get fined for voicing their opinion and referees get backed to hilts by any former referee pundit and it would seem like I am blaming the loss on these decisions today, but let's not beat around the bush, the performance today by Town thoroughly deserved defeat and rather than hide behind the poor officiating, we should be taking account for the way in which we lost.

Town Team:

Starting 11: Ryan Schofield, Pipa , Rarmani Edmonds-Green, Naby Sarr, Harry Toffolo, Jonathon Hogg, Lewis O'Brien, Carel Eiting (71' Alex Prtichard), Fraizer Campbell, Isaac Mbenza (81' Adama Diakhaby), Juninho Bacuna
Subs: Ben Hamer, Demeaco Duhaney, Jaden Brown, Adama Diakhaby, Romoney Crichlow, Alex Vallejo, Aaron Rowe, Alex Pritchard, Kian Harratt
Formation: 433