Barnsley Assistant Head Coach Andreas Winkler praised his side following their 2-0 Yorkshire derby victory over Bradford City at the weekend.
Goals from Tom Bradshaw and Victor Adeboyejo in either half were enough to see the Reds leave the Northern Commercials Stadium at Valley Parade with all three points on Saturday, and Winkler is pleased with the way the players have adapted to Daniel Stendel’s philosophy so quickly.
“We want to control the match, we want to control what they do,” insisted Winkler. “So, for the only the second match of the season this is very good for us.
“We had a brilliant start, very quickly we played our style of football. But after they changed their formation to 4-4-2 we had a little bit of a problem to find the right time to press high. In the second half we showed that we can play good football with a good, high press and fight ‘til the end.
“Daniel Stendel came from Germany to England and we want to play our style in every stadium, it doesn’t matter where we are.”
Adeboyejo bagged his second goal in as many games for the Reds since making his scoring debut in last week’s win at home to Oxford United.
His 70th minute strike from George Moncur’s pull back sealed victory for Stendel’s side, who are the early pacesetters in League One.
“It was more comfortable; everyone had a bit more composure and Victor had a very good impact coming on as a substitute,” continued Winkler. “We had a little bit more patience; everyone knew we could keep possession and didn’t have to rush, and that we could win the match.
“We’re very happy for Victor; it’s his first season in this league for Barnsley and he’s working very hard in every training session, so we’re very happy for him.”
The Reds have now kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since April 2017, with Stendel also focussing on defensive stability as well as attacking flair.
Only ourselves and our next League One opponents AFC Wimbledon are yet to concede a goal this campaign, so maybe something will give at Oakwell on Saturday.
“The last words Adam Davies said after the break was ‘clean sheet’ and we’re very happy for this and, especially, Adam,” said Winkler.
“Our forwards and the midfield work for the defenders – and the other way too. It’s not only high pressing to score goals; it’s high pressing because we don’t want to concede chances.”
