Barnsley are up with a great start to their pre-season campaign, winning their first friendly fixture 1-2 against League Two side Rochdale under new manager Markus Schopp.
The Championship side shocked everyone last season with a 5th place finish in the table, claiming it in what seems to be just their second season in the Championship after promotion from League One back in the 18/19 season.
Valerian Ismael led the club to a playoff position, a remarkable achievement, considering that Barnley narrowly avoided relegation in the previous season. His great leadership saw him being appointed as West Brom's new manager ahead of the season.
Barnsley will want to make sure that they keep holding onto their unforeseen improvement, and try to establish their authority in the Championship for the seasons to come.
The Tykes will although have to be wary of their latest changes in the squad, with the departure of Alex Mowatt to West Brom after the end of his contract. This left a huge void in the Barnsley midfield which is expected to be filled by new loan signing Marcel Ritzmaier.
Mowatt scored 8 times last season for Barnsley, assisted another 7 goals.
Barnsley have heavily recruited to bolster their attacking gunpower by securing the loan deal of three attacking players, taking the number of center-forwards in the first team to 6.
Cauley Woodrow is the favorite to be the leading ace of the team, following a great season with 18 goal contributions in total. The forward will look to improve his tally in front of the goal and take place among the top forwards of the league.
Callum Styles will be given the helm of the team's midfield — given the midfielder's tremendous creativity with the ball and his eye for finding out a teammate from anywhere of the pitch. Mowatt leaving the team will give Styles more creative freedom in the middle of the park alongside likely partner Marcel Ritzmaier and Herbie Kane.
Tykes fans can stay relaxed about their defensive duo Michal Helik and Mads Juel Andersen— two solid rocks at the back and Barnley's two best players last season. Michal Helik's defensive performance claimed him 7 Man of the Match awards in his 45 league appearances, whereas fellow defensive partner Mads Andersen also bagged 3 Man of the Match awards.
The defensive duo only conceded 25 goals from open play throughout the last season.
Barnsley scored a total of 59 goals in the 20/21 campaign, scoring from 17 set-piece situations thanks to their captain Alex Mowatt's set-piece prowess which makes almost 30 percent of their goal source. But without him, it is expected that the number might see a drop.
They also struggled when it came to defending set-pieces as the team conceded on 18 occasions in that department. They conceded 52 goals in total.
The new manager Markus Schopp is likely to go along with a 4-4-2 formation with his Barnsley side, given the number of center-forwards the club has in their arsenal. It will also be hugely interesting to see what approach the former TSV Hartberg manager takes to solidify Barnsley's ambition ahead of the Championship season.
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