Barrett is the big difference in my opinion. But none of us will ever really know.
But our whole team just look a lot more in control and connected then I think I can remember in a long time. Sure Arthur has to be given credit, but he has been telling more or less the same individuals to chase the collision for years, but we found it to hard and would fade at different points or totally fall apart at stages during games or during parts of the season.
We this year due to injury and suspension did have a poor start but generally were in the fight for most games. Now hopefully as these players start to come back we will see exactly how much improvement we have if any when we play better sides when they too are at full strength.
As encouraging as it has been though beating these lesser sides with our weaker squad of players being part of it, I am not counting my chicken just yet. I want to see how we play for 80 minuets week in week out against the best.
If our attack and defense are both good enough and we don't just get lucky and win, then maybe we have actually turned a corner. But our defense does seem to have gotten better too. The best way to describe our improvement to me is we seem calmer and more purposeful with surety and for larger periods of time. We seem to have a plan to get from A to B on the field more often then not.
I hope this does last for when we play the better teams, but being a Parra fan, we all know what to expect and disaster is only a moment away until the players and club can prove otherwise.
But Barrett for mine is a big part of what is going on at the club right now. He is one of the best if not the best offensive assistant coaches in the game. That is his goldilocks place in the game of RL and boy am I glad we have him. Now if only we can source an equally good assistant coach for our defense. Wouldn't that be something? It might even elevate Potato Head to Super Potato Head status, a feat not thought possible only a couple of weeks ago by this Potato Head.