Home Match Day Thread 18/5/2021 Play Off L1 OUFC v Blackpool

[Leysboy]

Henry's pass to Sykes (which he should have scored) was better than anything produced by Branaghan or Taylor this evening so why dwell on him - yes he faded but the other two (and others) bottled it just as they did against Wycombe last year

it was a superb pass, but one moment doesn’t mean he was brilliant. Far from it.

Set pieces were poor, and mostly given there goalkeeper catching practice.

In the first half after a great run from Barker, he hits a weak shot. Skied one over the bar, when he should be hitting the target, and also a scuffed effort to give Taylor a tap in.

He was crap tonight. If you think he earned his wages today fine, but not from where I was sat.

The only players that came out today and performed was Sykes, and Moore. The others were dog turd.

 

[SteMerritt]

Tactically inept. No midfield to talk about.

No reason to talk about the goals we conceded. Every reason to talk about why we didn't score.

As for the North stand, less said the better. If the rest of the stadium was as filthy and neglected as the away section, then the whole lot should be condemned and demolished.

Hopefully the Jaffa situation softened the North Stand dose of reality.

 

[Dubai Yellow]

Well, at least it wasn’t 4-0... Good night all!.

 

[Common Villager]

We are just too predictable. The decent teams in this league just press us high and force us into long balls up to Taylor, who is usually up against two CBs and rarely has another yellow shirt within ten yards of him.

We have a lot of very nice, technical players but Blackpool have a lot of strong, physical players who are well organised and I think it's fair to say they bullied us tonight.

This team has earned the right not to be written off yet, but we are going to have to produce a very good performance to overturn the 3 goal deficit.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

You would take championship football any day of the week but the reality is that we are nowhere near good enough. I said in one of my previous posts that against teams like this we look really lightweight.

 

[ubermeistervonmeat]

it was a superb pass, but one moment doesn’t mean he was brilliant. Far from it.

Set pieces were poor, and mostly given there goalkeeper catching practice.

In the first half after a great run from Barker, he hits a weak shot. Skied one over the bar, when he should be hitting the target, and also a scuffed effort to give Taylor a tap in.

He was crap tonight. If you think he earned his wages today fine, but not from where I was sat.

The only players that came out today and performed was Sykes, and Moore. The others were dog turd.

I agree he faded badly - the point I was making (and I think you agree tbf) is that all our big time Charlies were poor tonight just as they were against Wycombe last year - even Barker apart from a couple of early runs did very little - people seem afraid to have a go at CB as he talks the talk but he was also P**s poor tonight just as he was last year - no doubt he will be okay as he will get a move to the Championship anyway - agree with you on Sykes but think you are too kind to Moore - supposed to be our leader and part of an incredibly dodgy back four tonight

 

[Oxford57]

What was wrong with winall, I didn’t see any reason for him to be relaxed apart from achieving nothing of note,

 

[Swaby39]

Things never looked right tonight. The yellow/red card call was tough on us because I think if that happens an hour later in the game, that might have gone another way. But no excuses. We looked a reactive team rather than a proactive one tonight. We looked short of energy and ideas against a side who knew exactly what the game plan was and incredibly assured in delivering that - as if they’d been there and done it a hundred times. We lost the physical battle to a man today, perhaps due to fatigue but that’s all part of a football season and they’ve played just as many games. They looked fresher, more organised and more dominant in both boxes and we just never took the game to them like I thought we would. The midfield was there for the taking but neither team really grasped the opportunity and that was our route back. You could argue the goals were soft but I think they bullied certain players in to basic mistakes. We didn’t stand up to the challenge and looked flimsy and reality is we got rolled over quite easily which is hard to accept.

Heads dropped quickly after the first goal and there was just no urgency to our passing and a lot of safe sideways passing when we needed someone to be brave, take us forward and provide some cutting edge and a few risks. Even balls in to the channels were short and lacked conviction so everything was in front of them.

Playing for pride on Friday but for all the crap we’ll get off fans elsewhere, I’ll take this feeing over wondering what might have been if we’d just taken another couple of points over 46 opportunities.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Sykes just cannot finish, it’s as simple as that. I might be wrong but, from memory, virtually every goal he has scored for us as been a bit scruffy or bobbly. Even the one at Wembley was a cross ! He had a half decent game but that was a rash challenge he made in the first half. I was about as far away from it as you could be but could still see it was a 70/30 in favour of the Blackpool player.

Thought Ruffels was awful, Moore uncharacteristically poor, Atkinson not much better and Hanson, well, he’s just not a defender. Brannagan was probably the pick of our players but that was more for endeavour than anything too technical. Barker was a threat but all the tricks in the world mean nothing without an end product. Henry had moments but Lee and Taylor just huffed and puffed.

Have to believe we can somehow turn this around and it would probably eclipse anything this club has ever achieved if we can. A goal in the first twenty or so minutes would put the cat amongst the pigeons and then you’re just one more away from absolute panic stations setting in for Blackpool. I’m not hopeful but there is just about a glimmer of hope that this can be turned around.

 

[Sarge]

The fans delivered shame the players didnt .....clangers from ruffels &atkinson cost 2 goals......only sykes, brannagan and henry(at times) put a real shift in ....set pieces were poor ....finishing was poor ....that was a really bad day at the office. ....disappointed with that performance ....still its only half time, can the u's turn round yet another almost hopeless situation? Its a funny old game as Greavesy used to say

We cant play that bad again ...can we?

 

[m]

Things never looked right tonight. The yellow/red card call was tough on us because I think if that happens an hour later in the game, that might have gone another way. But no excuses. We looked a reactive team rather than a proactive one tonight. We looked short of energy and ideas against a side who knew exactly what the game plan was and incredibly assured in delivering that - as if they’d been there and done it a hundred times. We lost the physical battle to a man today, perhaps due to fatigue but that’s all part of a football season and they’ve played just as many games. They looked fresher, more organised and more dominant in both boxes and we just never took the game to them like I thought we would. The midfield was there for the taking but neither team really grasped the opportunity and that was our route back. You could argue the goals were soft but I think they bullied certain players in to basic mistakes. We didn’t stand up to the challenge and looked flimsy and reality is we got rolled over quite easily which is hard to accept.

Heads dropped quickly after the first goal and there was just no urgency to our passing and a lot of safe sideways passing when we needed someone to be brave, take us forward and provide some cutting edge and a few risks. Even balls in to the channels were short and lacked conviction so everything was in front of them.

Playing for pride on Friday but for all the crap we’ll get off fans elsewhere, I’ll take this feeing over wondering what might have been if we’d just taken another couple of points over 46 opportunities.

Superb post. Put it better than I ever could.

 

[WALLY OX]

It very disappointing to admit, but Blackpool were/are better than us.
they were the team to avoid in the playoffs.
i am hoping for an early goal on Friday and you never know. I am sure we will play better than tonight, whether that will be enough, who knows.
either way, It’s been an enjoyable season.
win or lose...up the U’s.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Pondersome, yes, that works.

Ponderosa.
Dum diddle um diddle um diddle um diddle um dum,
Dum diddle um diddle um diddle um, dum diddle um dum dum.
Diddle um dum.

repeat.

 

[Bigfella72]

Not read thru but again fine margins could have made the result much better.
sykes fouled twice by “last man” that could have seen red for either. Possibly hand ball for a pen. The one in the second minute is massive and the other two came at 2-0 as we were seeming to be making headway but got caught on the break for the third.
no doubting Blackpool are a decent side and deserve to go up as they finished third but no way was that a 3-0 score line.

 

[Leysboy]

What was wrong with winall, I didn’t see any reason for him to be relaxed apart from achieving nothing of note,

Hes a sick note.

 

[Oslernorth]

Just got back. b****r!!!

 

[Northstandboy]

Hes a sick note.

Hamstring, same as Cam.

 

[Oslernorth]

Blackpool have the best defence in the league; 270+ minutes and we haven’t scored against them this season. We had the best goals against tally in L2 when we got promoted, but hardly anybody remembers that. Did having the best defence make us boring that year? No. It gave us a platform to play off, which is what Blackpool had tonight, as well as the victory at our place a few months back. They look like a team built for success. They’re the benchmark in terms of what the next step looks like for us.

Defences win you things, whether people want to admit it or not. You need to earn the right to swashbuckle your way around. Otherwise you end up with a few great days but nothing tangible to show for it. We need more quality, more depth, and a willingness across the board to keep things just that little bit tighter before we play out. Gung-ho looks great when it pays off, but there’s a reason our record against the best teams this season has been poor. Too naive, too easy to pick off, too open. Not enough nous.

Friday is the ultimate free hit now. See what happens, try to win the game on the night and if it isn’t enough, hopefully we will learn a bit from this season. Nights like tonight are only a washout if they don’t teach you anything.

It was just nice to be in a stadium with fans again, tbh.

Completely agree. And brilliantly articulated

 

[Essexyellows]

It's only halftime folks...........................................

 

[makv]

Who or what is that

Don’t know. But the acronym for that is “tip”. Might be a clue there.