Barnsley head coach Darrell Clarke expressed that he feels like he’s on “repeat” with his post-match comments after witnessing another disappointing performance from his side, resulting in a lackluster 2-0 derby defeat at Huddersfield Town.
Clarke is actively searching for solutions after a rocky start to the League One campaign, a struggle that was evident in their poor showing at the John Smith’s Stadium. The hosts, having suffered seven losses in their previous eight competitive matches, managed to secure a well-deserved victory with late goals from midfielders Ben Wiles and David Kasumu.
Looking ahead to their upcoming Trophy match against Town on Tuesday, Clarke stated, “I’ve been repeating for two or three weeks that we haven’t been performing at the levels we need. The first half was fairly even, with our goalkeeper making a couple of saves, but the second half was more eventful.”
Clarke emphasized the need for improvement in defense, stating, “We have to defend better against one-on-one and two-on-two situations, and we need to be more proactive in the box. While the finish was good, our defensive effort was lacking. Aside from that, we defended reasonably well.”
He also pointed out issues with transitions, saying, “We’re very loose during transitions, with ten-yard passes going out of play. We’re not managing the ball well enough. The quality of our play has to improve significantly. We didn’t create enough chances because we didn’t control the game adequately. When we fail to mix up our game and take responsibility, we struggle to generate enough attacking momentum.”
Reds captain Luca Connell echoed these sentiments, noting, “We haven’t been focused on the ball enough. It’s difficult to pinpoint why. We need to raise our standards on the pitch, and that’s something we’ll be addressing in training. We want the fans to support us, but we must give them more to cheer about. We showed glimpses of quality, but it needs to happen more consistently.”
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