Peterborough United were on the receiving end of a brilliant Barnsley performance this afternoon, as Steve Evans’ side continued their poor home form with a 4-0 loss.
Steve Evans was hoping to pay back the fans with a winning display against Barnsley on Saturday afternoon, but his side failed to deliver as they were on the end of a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of a terrific Tykes side.
Evans tried three different systems in the clash with Barnsley, but were comprehensively beaten at the hands of Daniel Stendel. Jamie Walker was even subbed off for Matty Godden after just 25 minutes to switch to a two striker formation. However, it was to no avail as Barnsley ran away triumphant.
Evans spoke to the Peterborough Telegraph after the game:
“Success is achieved over a long period and not every day will be a good day,” Evans reassured Posh fans.
“And this was a particularly bad day for us. It was collectively poor and individually poor. We were way off it and if that happens against a side as good as Barnsley you will be punished.
“I have built a squad not just on good technique. I have built a squad that has great intensity, will press hard all over the pitch and will get in people’s faces. None of that happened today and we paid the price.
“We had good players on the pitch. I believe we picked the right team. I wanted to play with a number 10 and Jamie is a natural there, but he didn’t look it today so I changed it.
“But no-one can be protected from that performance. Matty Godden came on early enough to miss two chances and he missed a good one at Sunderland in the last game so let’s not blame the selection.
“We didn’t press them high enough up the pitch. We gave them too much space in which to play and they did it very effectively.
Evans spoke about how impressed he was with Barnsley’s performance, and that he believes that they will be up at the top come the end of the season.
“I tipped Barnsley to be strong contenders for the title at the start of the season. They only lost one player from a Championship season and they’ve recruited well.
“They were good today. They handed out a lesson at times, but I will not lose faith with my squad based on one performance.
“I won’t be making seven or eight changes for the next game. Our response will be to knuckle down on Monday morning and work hard to be ready to win the next game.
“There’s nothing else I can say to the fans. I am as low as they will be. I am low after we draw games.
“But we will bounce back. No one could say the players stopped trying, but the harder we worked the worse we seemed to play.
“We are still second in the table, but I’m interested in that right now. We will go up or not based on our performances over a long period of time. It doesn’t matter where we are now.”
