One To Watch: Sam Winnall

Another Saturday is upon us and a big attendance should be expected considering the brilliant displays of late but also the fact that the crowd offers an extra boost to the players in order to keep the run of form going. The visitors to St Andrews today are Barnsley; a relatively high scoring team but who’s league position doesn’t show them in a positive light.

I had the pleasure of watching Barnsley when they played Nottingham Forest a couple of weeks back. They looked weak defensively especially from crosses, so I would be hard pressed to choose a defender for the one to watch this week, but they offered a lot going forward. They’re very direct in their play and like to drive at the opposition which I think Birmingham City cope well with, so all in all I am hoping for a good game but for Blues’ to come out on top.

Having watched a couple of Barnsley games this season, one man has really stood out to me so this week my one to watch is Sam Winnall. Every week I try and wait until a quarter of the way through the article to announce it, but considering the name is in the title, then it may not be a surprise to you. But I like to pretend that you are all in awe.

Winnall is one of those players that seem to cover the ground like a ninja and always be in the right place at the right time. He is best described as a striker by Barnsley officially but I have seen him play as a forward, just behind the striker. Either way, he does his job defensively as well as in the attacking third and always looks to try and create things. He is a risk taker and has a forward player, this is vital because the defenders are always trying to second guess the next move; unpredictability being the key.

He is also willing to shoot from anywhere which is a positive because he is often quite good at that, especially cutting in from the wing but it is also his downfall as he is very tunnel visioned and won’t spot team mates in better positions. To be fair to the players around him, they accept that Winnall gets a lot of goals for the team and he is usually potent so a few wayward shots surely won’t matter.

I think that his main attribute is getting onto the end of crosses though. Watkins, who got sent off in the last match so I presume is suspended for this game, is a really influential winger for Barnsley and it is often his crosses that make it easy for Winnall to direct into the back of the net. So a suspension for Watkins may in turn keep Winnall a bit quieter.