Derby 0-0 U's, U's 0-4 Barnsley: Some You Draw, Some You Lose (Heavily)

Two games in four days against former Premier League opposition would be a test for the U's, and give us a marker to see how far we've come from last season. @vinylperez reports first from Derby's Pride Park, then from the Abbey.

Where do we start to unpick these past two games then? Two games, One point, none scored, four against. I guess we'll start at Derby, as 1100 U's fans braved more railway-assisted fuckery to fill a small corner of Pride Park. United started very brightly, in the first minute winning a dangerous free-kick, but that was quickly cleared straight into a counter attack and from then on in it was basically all Derby, controlling the game and giving Liam Bennett an absolutely torrid time with their constant targeting of him.

Bonner wisely, and bravely, replaced Liam at half-time with Jubril Okedina, and that restored a bit of solidity to our defence, but Derby still created plenty of chances, which were all wasted, although Mannion made himself big to keep the score at 0-0. As is usually the case with United this season, the late subs changed the game, and in the last 20-25 minutes we began to impose ourselves on the game a little more - we could have nicked all three points in the dying minutes, but it wasn't to be. We didn't play particularly well, but Derby were wasteful and we managed ourselves well to see the game out for a point.

Onto Tuesday, and it was much the same for the U's, but with a vastly different scoreline. Changes were made with Ahadme coming in for Fej, Gordon replacing Kachunga and Okedina starting ahead of Liam Bennett.

You can see the goals on YouTube and draw your own conclusions as to why we didn't get anything, but in all honesty that result flattered Barnsley even though they were a very good team - probably the best we've seen all season. Whether it was a mixture of luck, poor officiating, sloppiness or whatever, it just wasn't our night, and Barnsley made sure to capitalise on everything. They played the ball around brilliantly, and even though we didn't play necessarily badly things just didn't go right for us. I'd say we even played better on Tuesday than we did on Saturday, there were periods last night (especially after we'd made our subs, of whom Glenn McConnell looked really lively again) when we were playing some really nice football, and if the ref had blown for that penalty on Gordon at 2-0 then it might have been a different game. But he didn't, and whilst it wasn't the worst refereeing decision of the week, United should have regrouped quickly and got over it rather than allowing Barnsley to go up the other end and score immediately. Morrison in particular getting caught way out of position after earning himself a yellow card for arguing the penalty decision with the ref.

What have we learned from these games then? Firstly, Liam Bennett isn't a superhero, but he's still our best player. Okedina did well, but once Liam came on last night we had much more attacking impetus. Secondly, does this answer the question of who starts out of Fejiri and Ahadme? I'm still unconvinced about Ahadme, but he seems to a job although never looks much of a goal threat. Does your #9 need to do more than that? I think so, but Bonner doesn't, and it allows Fej to come on and thrive against a tired defence. Thirdly, Gordon looks a real prospect but I think the 75 minutes he played on Saturday came a bit too soon for him. Fourthly, Lankester again showed moments of quality, but there's not enough of them. I haven't seen the stats but I get the impression Digby did more in the way of carrying the ball forward than Jack last night, and that's not his job.

We're not a bad side despite the result, but we also haven't won in our last five games and that needs addressing. We had the joint-best defence in the league until yesterday, but we need to make sure the players at the other end of the pitch are contributing too. In Morrison and Ryan Bennett we have two brilliant centre-backs, but I don't currently see a lot of goals in our team and that is a concern. It's not all doom and gloom just yet, but we need to start picking up more points soon, and I'm sure Mark and the players know that. It's going to be a busy October, and the goals (and points) will come.

Men of the Matches: It's between Brophy, Thomas and Ryan Bennett over the two games really, with shout out for Digby too.

Soundtrack of the Matches: Jennifer Lopez - Ain't It Funny

Unsung Hero: Okedina for heading the ball back into play from a good yard or so behind the touchline against Derby.