I thought from what I saw watching the game on the TV 2nd half, Hegazi seemed to be the main person stopping the balls coming in to the box.
The amount of shots Barnsley managed to have and the work Johnstone had to do suggests there were defensive failings but I think a bigger issue for us rather than the defensive personnel is how we defend as a team. Most top modern sides (Liverpool, Wolves, Spurs under Poch and now Leeds under Bielsa) base their style of play on aggressively defending from the front, playing with a high intensity when not in possession of the ball.
One thing I noticed 2nd half yesterday was that Barnsley found it very easy to pass the ball put from the back and would be into our half with very little resistance, despite us having players around in those positions. Our whole mindset to defending could do with changing in the second half of the season.
Agree
But there are reasons/excuses
Regarding defending from the front yesterday in the second half , you had (after Filip went off)
HRK who the ref penalised for breathing, tried as always
Austin who doesn’t want to catch a cold, so stays at least 10yds away when “closing downâ€
Zohore....(I’m giggling)
Barry ...never been blessed with speed
Pereira....worn out and not the fastest
Sawyers tried but tired, not the fastest
Livermore tried but tired , not the fastest
Now .....imagine if we pressed from the front with
HRK. Shane long
Edwards. Mulumbu. Pereira Koren. Phillips
The opposition would have no time on the ball, in my view this is what we need to replicate