Conor Hourihane no fan of uglier football, but says Barnsley FC must get better at grinding out results
Conor Hourihane says football – especially at Premier League level – has become less attractive this season but Barnsley's coach is not such a purist that he does not want his team grinding out more results with some of its uglier elements.
This season has seen a noticeable increase in set pieces, long throw-ins and the delays around them, halting the flow of matches. Video assistant referees (VARs) only add to that in those competitions which use them.
The debate has amplified because Arsenal – top of the Premier League and still in the European, FA and League Cups – have grown so reliant on them as the title looms nearer.
Brighton and Hove Albion’s Fabian Hurzeler waded in on Wednesday after losing to one of only two Gunners shots on target, saying: “I will never be that kind of manager who tries to win in that way.”
One suspects Hourihane will not either, but it is always a balance and Barnsley are currently too naïve.
They try to play good football but are 13th in League One – albeit with games in hand – with their lowest average home gates since 2015-16.
“I don't think (Arsenal manager) Mikel Arteta will care what I think but it's a very interesting topic,” commented Hourihane.
“I was at the (Aston) Villa game on Wednesday and Villa kept four people up from set plays. Chelsea had to bring four or five players back. It was refreshing to see a very uncrowded penalty box for set plays.
“I admire Arsenal for winning constantly, first and foremost. However they win, it's unbelievable – the amount of clean sheets they keep, the amount of games they win.
“Do I like to see the game played the way that they are doing? No, is my opinion. It's a difficult watch.
“I do think with VAR and all the rest of it, there needs to be some sort of review when the summer comes because the amount of time-wasting now with keepers going down – and we all use it, by the way, I do – the amount of long throw-ins, set plays, the amount of ball-in-play time, it's not as exciting as it was maybe a couple of years ago at the top level.
“I watched Birmingham against Middlesbrough (in the Championship) on Monday night and I thought it was a great game just because it was free-flowing. Set plays but no VAR, no time-wasting – two teams tried to play the game in a good way.
“If a set play happened, it happened quite quickly. There were no reviews in terms of VAR.
“Then I went to watch Villa, I loved watching it. Chelsea were amazing, a really good side, (who) played some really good football.
“But Oli Watkins scored, there was a (VAR) review. Somebody else scored, there was another VAR check. I think there was eight or nine minutes stoppage time at the end of the first half. I don't think that's right.
“It's becoming a little bit ugly at the minute where I'm more of a free-flowing-football type of guy.”
He does, though, accept it cannot all be about free-flowing football for Barnsley, whose second and last League One clean sheet was in November.
“We constantly look at how we can improve all the time without the ball,” said the former Republic of Ireland midfielder.
“I think my style is clear, we like to attack the game, we score plenty of goals. We didn't score on Tuesday night (in a 1-0 loss at home to Wycombe Wanderers) and we didn't attack very well but I think that's been one of a couple of games this season.
“(On Saturday against) Leyton Orient we felt like we'd turned a corner in terms of showing a different side to us because we wanted to improve that (defensive) side of the game. You try and find a balance to create a consistent team and we're yet to find that real consistency. But we do know how we want to look with the ball. Against Leyton Orient we showed a different side to us that we've not shown so far this season.
“We definitely need to show that until the end of the season because if our attacking play isn't amazing on certain days, then we need to start grinding out games as well.
“I feel like even though we played really poorly on Tuesday we still could have come away with a 0-0.
“I do think over the last couple of games that (defending) is something that has improved.”
Barnsley have five matches, condensed into 14 days, to find the balance before the next international break. With Owen Goodman (England), Patrick Kelly (Northern Ireland), Jonathan Bland and Vimal Yoganathan (Wales) in strong contention for call-ups at full or under-21 level, their game at Northampton Town is likely to be postponed.
“Can we get that little bit of luck with injuries?” said Hourihane. “Other than Marc Roberts, who wasn't in the squad on Tuesday, that's our lot.”
Saturday’s game at home to Exeter City will be a first back in charge of the Grecians for former Rotherham United manager Matt Taylor, named interim manager until the end of the season.