An FA Cup exit away at a useful Championship opponent wasn’t a disaster but was still tinged with disappointment.
While we may not have the illustrious history of our nearest and dearest in this competition, we have, along the way, triggered some pretty damn good FA Cup memories.
We only have to cast the mind back eleven months for one of the biggies, so I’m never quite as at ease as some when it comes to dismissing our FA Cup exit as one of those things. As others have said, being a football supporter is not just about winning trophies – as welcome as they are when they very occasionally come along – but it is also about those moments and memories.
Those moments are why we do it and the FA Cup is special and unique in the way it produces them, albeit they are only made really special by the noise and colour of a crowd.
So, for me anyway, whatever the perceived benefits of being left to concentrate on our number one priority, it was still a little bit disappointing to lose, albeit to a Barnsley team who thoroughly deserved it and who were excellent on the day.
As it transpired, Barnsley coach Valerien Ismael went with what was pretty much his full-strength side, and it showed against a City team that included several who are still feeling their way back to fitness after long layoffs.
An attacking midfield three of Onel Hernandez, Kieran Dowell and Przemysław Placheta was never going to have the same impact as one that includes Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia, and any midfield shield that doesn’t include Ollie Skipp is a downgrade.
And so it came to pass.
Barnsley executed their high-energy, high press to perfection and on a less-than-perfect surface, City were simply unable to get out. Any lingering hopes that Barnsley would be unable to maintain that level for the full 90 were dashed when, deep into the second period, they were still forcing Ben Gibson and Grant Hanley into rushed and wayward passes.
If Wednesday night was Farkeball 3.0 at its best, yesterday afternoon was a classic example of when Farkeball goes wrong.
With neither Alex Tettey nor Lukas Rupp confident enough in their own ability to drop between the centre-backs and offer an extra option for Gibson, Hanley or Tim Krul, the back-four were left to toil with sideways passes that merely passed the responsibility of breaking the press to someone else.
With Barnsley closing off every avenue it made, for the first time in a while, for some fairly unedifying viewing. On the day, Ismael called it right, Farke called it wrong.
On a surface of that ilk there was no advantage whatsoever in having 71 per cent of the possession, especially when the majority of it was in your own half, and through just having 29 per cent, the Tykes were infinitely more dangerous.
It felt like 90 minutes of Barnsley traps being just avoided by City. Just. But on the plus side, the 16 shots or headers that Krul was forced to save will have sharpened him up nicely after his spell on the sidelines.
In complete contrast to the midweek win over Bristol City, there were bad days at the office across the board, and those players who’d hoped to use the chance to force themselves into Farke’s thoughts were left ruing a wasted opportunity.
But it’s important not to throw anyone under the bus. We didn’t get here by doing that and it wasn’t just the returnees who struggled on the Oakwell potato patch. Rupp and Hernandez will have benefitted massively from getting some game time in their legs, as will Dowell as he still strives for match fitness after his second op of the season.
Placheta is another who suffered some online criticism for his performance but when he arrived we were warned he’s an un[polish]ed diamond. That his decision-making isn’t always on point is to be expected and I’d even go as far as to say he’s probably surpassed expectations at this stage.
That’s not say he shouldn’t have buried City’s best chance of the game when one-on-one with Bradley Collins because he should. For all of Barnsley’s efforts on goal, Placheta’s was arguably the best chance of the game and was proof that even on the bad days the margins remain fine.
Potentially, the loss of Jordan Hugill for a spell with what looked for all the world like a pulled hamstring could be more damaging than the defeat itself. With Teemu Pukki still struggling with that side strain, Adam Idah yet to kick a ball in anger and even emergency-striker-Stiepermann still unavailable, this has presented Farke and Stuart Webber with a conundrum.
For all his youthful exuberance and undoubted talent, it looks too soon to give a start to Tyrese Omotoye and so, maybe, the (expensive) loan market will have to be an option. What occurs in the treatment rooms of Colney and in the Webber office in the next few days may well be key to how this season unfolds.
So – no point in sugar-coating it – it was a poor effort in South Yorkshire. An underwhelming afternoon but one that was a rarity and has plenty of mitigation points should we wish to deploy them.
But let’s not. Let’s take it on the chin and admit that on the day Barnsley were better than us and were more deserving of a crack at Chelsea or Luton.
And besides, there’s always someone worse off than yourself. 😉
An excellent summary. I hope we do bring in a loan striker to help get us over the line. The thought of going into a game against the likes of Swansea without a recognised striker is horrifying. No penny pinching this time please. The prize is too great to fall short now.
Disappointed, yes, but gutted, no. I didn’t watch the whole game, and have only seen the brief highlights on MOTD, so can’t comment on the overall performance, but Barnsley showed at Carrow Road that they’re a decent side, so if they were pretty much full strength and we were using it to give game time to returnees and fringe players, the result is not surprising. Krul at least got some exercise, so that’s a plus.
Funny how last season our problems were with shortages of centre backs, this one it’s keepers and strikers. Greavesy got it right, “it’s a funny old game”!
Agreed. Some interesting decisions for Farke over the coming days. Having said that it’s already been a tough season on the fit player front. One thing after another – like walking across a field of rakes. Sooner or later you get one in the face! This is just another rake…
While it was something of a disappointment losing this FA Cup tie Gary I personally was not pleased but feel it was for the best. Especially with possibly Chelsea next.
That sounds defeatist as City fans we want them to win every game, however this season is very different as we all know.
I have to disagree, for once, with the excellent Rob Butler on Canary call who said we should always go for a cup run and usually I would concur. I thought beating Coventry in the previous round was great, get as many fringe players in the next round some game time and that is exactly what Daniel Farke did.
But I wonder would I have been so keen for victory against Coventry if I had known we would lose Jordan Hugill “for weeks” no I wouldn’t.
So with the injuries/Covid situation at the club as bad as they are, the completely compressed fixture list this season, the risk of Emi or Ben Gibson etc getting long term injuries and still the risk of losing further league fixtures to Covid I am relieved we are out of the FA Cup for this season. The last thing we want is a backlog of games.
I loved the seventies for the great runs we had in the League cup and the Stringer years in the FA Cup but that’s another reason I am glad we are out, can you imagine after all these years of trying to get to a FA Cup final none of us fans could go ?
Promotion to the Premier League is the priority as we all know, Daniel Farke now has just that to concentrate on. It is worth millions to the club and in these dark times would set us up for years to come.
Finally on the striker front I know it maybe too early for him, but needs must and I would give Sebastian Solo some game time.
Solo !!!
Obviously I meant Soto, I will take some flak for that LOL
Did you mean Napoleon Soto, U.N.C.L.E Tim?
I think Ilya Kuriyakin was played by Sam McCallum 😉
That was exactly what I was thinking of Martin. Shows my bloody age !
Love the Sam McCallum with Ilaya link 😂
No complaints, because Barnsley were comfortably the better side – it was Luton all over again but with a better goalkeeper.
My only (small) complaint is with the initial team selection. Playing two wingers without Skipp or Maclean to give them a base was a little suicidal. Even Vrancic instead of Tettey to take the ball from the back 5 would have helped. Very bizarre. I don’t think we needed that type of intense, prolonged workout throughout the team, and Hugill’s injury is the result. Not one of Daniel Farke’s finest hours.
Placheta is a luxury player, a somewhat worse version of Timo Werner (their finishing skills are as bad as each others) but we didn’t pay £53m for him so a decent gamble. We need Huckerby to give him some one on one coaching – I’d love to think that could happen.
Hernandez, Rupp and Dowell needed the minutes, obviously – they can’t play that badly again.
Honestly Werner and Placheta are not comparable at all, very different player types. Werner is proven goalscorer in bundesliga, but there is obvious cultural and playing cultural differences between England and Germany and so far he and Havertz have struggled. It has not helped that Lampard is awful manager who is not able to handle international player group and find playing system which works. Overall in Germany is easier to score goals than in Premier league. It can very well be that Werner and Havertz will never do well in premier league. Placheta is one dimensional player, all his playing is based on high speed running. He has bad football brain and because of lack of technical quality he has difficulties to score. His “assist” to Hugill goal was not going nowhere near but because of deflection it ended to very different area where he wanted it.
So Werner isn’t one dimensional then? I think he probably is…..Take his pace away and he isn’t an elite footballer. I’d still rather have paid £2m for Placheta than £53m for Werner, plus whatever the wages are.
So you want to compare based on their transfer fees? Norwich is able to buy players who are in premier league standard very cheap. Im not saying that Placheta is bad buy, he can be also good buy but I didnt understand your comparision between Placheta and Werner. Now that finally Chelsea has sacked Lampard and Tuchel start as new manager, we can see how and if it affects to Werner and Havertz. Its not surprise that new manager is german, Chelsea invested a lot for Werner and Havertz. Now all bigger premier league clubs have foreign managers, foreign manager is also behind Norwich success.
Hi Gary
A bad day at the office these are expected during a long season and it seems we can’t escape an ever increasing injury list with no end in sight.
Maybe it might be time to recall Sinani he has a good scoring record at international level but may not be match fit.
Clinton Morrison yesterday said city weren’t at the races but had their chances to win the game so swings and roundabouts and Farke will have his plans for Middlesbrough so we have to trust the team he puts out.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay and stay Healthy
For once Gary I’m not overly dismayed by defeat.
Farke had to give some of the “fringe” players game time since they will be needed between now and the end of the season. What he (and we!!) didn’t need was another injury set-back for Hugill.
The pitch didn’t look great, but credit to Barnsley. They were after us for the whole game, and I’m sure will cause problems for a few other teams before the end of the season….but hopefully not at the final game!!
Oh; and absolutely LOVED your final sentence!! 😉 😉 😉
I have listened audiobook about british football. 1 chapter is from finnish players experiences in english league football. Its honestly shocking, it includes short stories mainly about different managers, their behaving and obvious conclusion is overall unprofessionalism in so many issues. There is obvious similarity to Canada and its ice hockey culture. Some ways similarities to russian sports culture sometimes. English international football results are actually very good, because you have give so much advantage to others by believing so much on things like fighting spirit and not care about things like tactics, health and nutrition.
Honestly Pukkis side strain injury is worrying, because its injury which healing you should not force. Reason to that, you easily injure it again if its not 100% fit and then healing takes longer. Minimum time usually is 4 weeks most likely more, I suppose he has been out now about 1 week. Its possible to play also without striker, its way better option than forcing injured players to play.
Pity we couldn’t give Drmic a run out instead of Hugill. For the rest of the month we should be looking at ways to avoid a disaster.
Re your last sentence Gary, losing to a team who had zero shots on target actually takes some doing 🤣