Pukki Blinders

McLean has been brilliant, Cantwell looking like he’s enjoying himself. Some of the work off the ball has been fantastic. Credit to Hugill as well. Leading the line and holding the ball up superbly. More of the same 2nd half please!

Surely the main ‘skill’ a commentator needs to have is a grasp on the English language? This Cardiff comentator genuinely doesn’t be able to speak properly 😂 never heard anyone make such a meal out of pronouncing Teemu Pukki.

Missed the goal because I was p*ssing around with iFollow ffs. It is at least now working. Finally a centre half scores a goal from a set-piece and I miss it 😂 great start though.

Yeah my iFollow not working either on safari. On the team, with Hugill starting I would’ve expected Placheta to start as well so he could get some crosses into the box. Other then that though a good side.

Where has the idea that Xavi's obligation to buy is based on appearances by the way? Looking around I can't see anything that suggests that, only that if we get promoted we're obliged to sign him for £2.7m. I mean it makes a lot of sense as a deal, but I'm just curious because I haven't seen that said anywhere.

I think it pretty much picks itself given our absentees. Barden Aarons Hanley Gibson Sorenson Skipp McLean Buendia Cantwell Placheta Pukki Only debate is whether Placheta comes back in, or whether Farke keeps Cantwell out on the left-hand side and plays Vrancic in the middle. Placheta though looked good in the cup game, and Vrancic just doesn't really work as a number 10 for me.

The fact is if we do go up we're going to need two left-backs. McCallum is still very young and has done well at Coventry this season, but Farke and Webber clearly don't think he's ready for our first team yet and if we get promoted he'll likely go back out on loan. They may have both played there at one point or another, but neither Byram or Mumba are left-backs. Both are right-backs who were forced into filling in on that side due to injuries. Same with Sorenson, but obviously he's not even a defender. They're all square pegs in round holes, and relying on any of them to play left-back in the Premier League would be far from ideal, that's before you even factor in Byram has had major injury issues and Mumba could potentially be loaned out next season if we were to go up. Quintilla and Giannoulis would give us two strong options at left-back. Xavi's obligation fee is supposedly £2.7m, so between that and the Giannoulis price we'd be spending a combined £9m and having that area of our team completely sorted for the foreseeable future, which is more than worth it (though admittedly I am saying that having never seen Giannoulis play, just from what we've heard). With the injury problems Xavi has had so far, it makes sense to bring in someone who can compete with him rather than a deputy, it doesn't mean that suddenly Farke doesn't rate him or isn't willing to play him.

If we match our total from the first half of the season we'll win the league, simple as that. We currently have 47 points at the half-way stage, so match that total we'll have 94. Strangely enough, in the 18/19 season when we obviously won the league, we had 47 points at the half-way stage and finished the season with 94.

If it ain't broke don't fix it, we're doing absolutely fine without them. The fact that neither Drmic or Leitner were bought back in when we were at the height of our injury crisis says it all. Farke clearly thinks there would be no positives to bringing them into the squad, and I trust his judgement. Drmic I couldn't care less about. Leitner is a frustrating one because there's clearly a very good player in there, but his attitude stinks. I don't want to be the guy who starts spreading second-hand gossip, but I've been told a couple of things about Leitner from someone who used to work at Colney, and the bloke sounds like a grade A d*ckhead.

Also, think I'm right in saying the next round is being played on the 23rd so our game against Millwall will be re-arranged.

Did all our hard work in the first half. Coventry obviously had a couple of chances and forced Barden into some good saves, but it didn't feel like they were overly bothered and were never going to be busting a gut to get back into the game (understandably). Likewise we were happy just to conserve some energy rather than try and find that 3rd goal. Between Tettey and McLean for man of the match, though Barden also deserves to be up there. You'd never know that was only his 2nd ever start in senior football. Obviously the club have said we're looking for a goalkeeper that can deputise Tim Krul, but if for some reason we miss out and Barden is forced into that role I will not be unhappy at all. Good to see Xavi and Placheta get 90 minutes. Particularly in the first half both of them were impressive, with Placheta playing a crucial role in both goals. Sorenson was very calm and composed in midfield too, look forward to seeing more of him there. Hopefully now some of our key players have had a rest and those on the fringes or returning from injury have got some good minutes under their belt we can really look to kick on in the league during the 2nd half of the season and extend our lead at the top over the next 2 games!

2020 may have been a strange year to say the least but when I see Tettey do a Maradona spin 9 days into 2021 I can’t help but feel this year is gonna be even more mental.

We looked so much more balanced actually having left-footed players on the left hand side for once. You can tell that a lot of these players have had more rests than most as well, we look as if we have so much energy. Placheta and Quintilla looking good, Sorenson really composed in midfield. Lovely take for the goal by Hugill as well. Only gripe is that officials in the FA Cup don’t seem to be any better than they are in the league 😂 (particularly the linesman on the far side who doesn’t seem to have a clue what he’s doing).

Would probably be the best option of the free agent goalkeepers. A good shot-stopper but prone to one too many errors which is why it never really worked for him at Villa. As a number 2 though I'd be pretty happy with this.

Farke has already said that Sorenson and Hanley really need a rest, and having played every game this season I imagine Aarons and Skipp could do with one too. I would go with: Barden Omobamidele Zimbo Gibson Quintilla Tettey Rupp Martin Dowell Placheta Hugill Not sure if Omobamidele can play right back, but he seems to be the best option to me with Byram and Mumba out injured, Skipp being rested and Rupp preferably being given an opportunity in his natural position. I'm not really overly bothered about the result of this, but I am looking forward to seeing a lot of players who have had limited chances so far or have been injured. Hopefully we at least can put in an encouraging performance, with the likes of Xavi, Dowell, Placheta, Hugill showing that they want to be in our starting XI for our next league game. One good thing is regardless of the result, there won't be a replays as they have been scrapped for this season. I'm not 100% sure but I assume that means we'll have extra time and penalties if it's a draw after 90 minutes.

I can't see any way we bring in another attacking midfielder. We're absolutely stacked in that area of the pitch already. We currently have Buendia, Cantwell, Dowell, Hernandez, Vrancic, Placheta, Stiepermann and Martin competing for 3 positions. I imagine when we have a fully fit team, one, possibly two of those players aren't even going to make the bench purely because of the number of options we have. Then there's also Sinani who's out on loan.

I think it will be someone who can back-up and perhaps compete with Xavi, rather than a replacement. Obviously Sorenson has done a very decent job filling in there, but it's not ideal only having one left-back at the club. Sam McCallum is doing well and has played near enough every game since going out on loan to Coventry, so the best thing for his development is to keep him there rather than bring him back early just to relegate him to bench-warming duty. So yeah, I'm sure another left-back is being bought in as an alternative to Quintilla. As you say we're in the market for a number 2 goalkeeper as well. Apart from those two pieces of business, which I imagine will be quite low-key, I can't see any incomings this window, and hopefully no-one departing either.

Michael Bailey seems convinced that unless we get a ridiculous offer for Emi he’ll be staying. Farke and Webber aren’t stupid, quite the opposite. We may be a self-funded club, but they’ll know that selling Buendia will not only anger fans (and almost certainly players and staff too), it would probably derail our whole season. What’s £40m for Emi if we are in reach of £170m through promotion? If it was down to me, I wouldn’t even pick up the phone. Obviously everyone has their price, but selling in January with the position we are in in the league just has no positives for me, regardless of the transfer fee. On Michael Bailey; he did an interview with our chief scout a couple of weeks ago, who said that we’ll be trying to sign a left-back in this window. That’s probably though the only area of the squad we look a little short.

I'd be really excited to see what he could do if he came back. Considering our loan policy and how well he's progressing at Telstar, I imagine if we do recall him it's because Farke see's him as someone who can come in and make an immediate impact. Very early days in his career obviously, but it does look like he really has all the attributes to be a top striker. With Idah having a long-term injury, Pukki blowing a bit hot and cold and Hugill not impressing too much yet (though I still maintain he needs a bit more of a chance), Soto being recalled wouldn't be the worst idea by any means.

He's been superb since he came back into the side, arguably our best player over that 5 game period.

If he was fit enough to play 90 minutes I don't doubt Farke would've been starting him. But with the cup game and a 2 week break from the league on the horizon, there was no point throwing him back into the action when we've generally been fine with Sorenson at left back. Plus, playing him in a cup game that allows him to ease back into things after such a long time out. If Sorenson needed to come off during a game because of an injury then I imagine Farke would've bought him on, which is why he was on the bench, but unless we absolutely need to we're better off letting him get back to 100% fitness. I can't wait to have him back though, could be a huge player for us in the second half of the season.

I think they're taking the "Take your time, take your time, Sheffield United" song a little bit too seriously when it comes to getting that first win of then season 😬 Such a shame. Couldn't have happened to a nicer club.

Really pleased with that win. We still didn't quite reach the heights that we're capable of, but I thought performance-wise it was a big improvement on the last couple of displays. Barnsley started off very well. Certainly looked like a side who were full of confidence and in good form. They pressed us really effectively and were probably the better team for the first half an hour. If they took a chance during that period (and they were unlucky not to when Thomas smacked the ball off the bar) then it's a completely different game. They probably would've shut up shop and made life hard for us. But we were certainly growing into the game, and I think Barnsley found it hard to maintain their high-energy, intense style, meaning as the game went on we looked more and more in control. No doubt we deserved the win in the end, and it should've been by more. Cantwell generally had a good game, but in-front of goal his decision-making at times was very questionable, constantly wanting to take an extra touch that he didn't need. Pukki wasn't nearly as ruthless and sure of himself as he normally is either, illustrated by him overhitting a pretty simple 10 yard pass to Cantwell, who would've had an open goal to aim at if Pukki got the pass right. It is a bit worrying that we're quite wasteful when getting big chances not killing teams off, as this is far from the first time we've won a game by one goal when it should've been by 2 or 3, but with Krul and Gibson in our back 5 we look so much more assured and confident at seeing games out. I don't think there were any bad performances really, but Emi was inarguably man of the match. It's actually unbelievable that he's playing at Championship level, he's a top 6 Premier League player. That finish for the goal was absolutely beautiful, as was the pass from McLean, who was runner-up in the man of the match listings for me. Really good performance from him. It's a real shame we didn't gain those extra 2 points off of QPR, because we'd have a fantastic lead at the top if we did, but we're still in a brilliant position. If you said 6 games ago that from Blackburn, Reading, Cardiff, Watford, QPR and Barnsley we'd take 4 wins, a draw and a defeat I would've been delighted with that. Hopefully now we can give some key players a rest over the next 2 weeks and go into the second half of the season refreshed.

Emi Buendia 😍 Subs need to be made now, not until after Barnsley have found an equaliser 5 minutes from time. Vrancic for Placheta/Dowell is a very obvious one. The way Barnsley are playing it’s hard not to think that Placheta’s pace will cause real problems.