Home Match Day Thread 12/02/2022 L1: OUFC v Bolton Wanderers

[Scotchegg]

For all the analysis on here, one point is being overlooked. Bolton were a very good side, probably the best side to play at the Kassam since Plymouth beat us. They defended well as a team, with sometimes 7 dropping back in line, and attacked at pace with numbers. They were very well drilled and organised and I'd be amazed if they don't sneak into the playoffs themselves. Having said that, we restricted them to what, 4 maybe 5 chances? The three goals, a tame shout at Stevens in the second half, and one dragged wide? On the other hand, in a fairly equal first half we had the 2 goals, a couple of chances for Taylor and the one-on-one with Whyte where he should have scored. Second half we had a dozen chances, several really decent ones too. We certainly didn't play poorly, and on a good day we win that. But we can't keep conceding the goals that we do. Stevens seems a bit slower to get down than he was before his illness, and the defence is too slow to react to balls dropping in the box or on the edge. Moore seems to be caught on his heels a lot and the second yesterday was another example of a ball dropping to an opposition player in the box who can take a touch and shoot completely unchallenged. Kane wasn't great, but Gorrin doesn't stop any of their goals yesterday so I'm not sure that criticism is valid. And Taylor, Brannagan and others had chances that should have killed the game. Disappointing, work needed at both ends of the pitch, but hardly season ending or reason for the usual worry merchant's to be out in force!!

 

[Swaby39]

Oh and one more gripe, Radio Oxford MUST ask him harder questions and not fear upsetting him, Nathan Cooper NEVER asks any awkward questions, it's all designed to let him off the hook!
Why not ask and press him as to why he didn't bring in a specialist LB or CDM, not if he's worried about our existing players being fatigued or making mistakes?! We know this! We can see it every week! We're paying our money!
Fans want to hear some honest answers Karl, and you'll risk alienating a chunk of our support if you keep going with your refusal to admit your errors.

I can’t think of many managers in charge of a team in 7th place that would come out and criticise themselves just to itch a scratch with the fans. We’ve just come through as tougher run of games as you could ask for and goals conceded is too many, absolutely and that can’t continue if we are to stay there. But it amazes me that the tipping point for many on here appears to be losing to the form team in the league yesterday… I thought they were excellent but to lose was harsh on us and flattery for them.

It begs the question where people honestly thought we’d be at this point? We’re leaking goals, yes, and this needs addressing. But in terms of results we’re still largely on target for what was expected so he’s doing the job that’s been asked of him so far. Next year I expect him to be here but more than likely with an added pressure of a sustained attack on the top 2. I maintain he’s doing a good job for our club but rather than come out and publicly apologise for that, I’d rather he just quietly address the issues behind the scenes ahead of the ‘easier’ run of games ahead.

 

[bazzer9461]

The Eastwood of 2 years ago didn't he was just a calamity at crosses, but not at the same level now unfortunately. We have Eastwood till the end of next season so can't really bring in another keeper. Stevens may improve with age and has only just come back from an illness.

He has 2 more seasons

 

[Oxymoron]

Went straight out after the game, so first view of the comments - some of which I find "strange".

I thought it was a great game between two very evenly matched teams who both had positives but equally, some big and exploitable lapses in their game plan. A draw would have been fair, but on balance either side could have lost and still claimed they could/should have won that game, which on the balance of chances created, should have been us!

Kane obviously was not at the races - I would have hooked him off at half-time for McGuane and Whyte was wasteful with what he was given, Williams for him was the right call, just earlier. I'd also have given Taylor ten/twenty minutes after the break to sharpen up his game or seen Baldock on his place. Of course, Bodin getting injured would have scuppered all that, so who knows how I would have finished the game! And yes, I think Stevens will be "disappointed" with not getting a touch on the first goal, but we had four wonderful strikes and a masterclass on how to score on the break.

Had two first timers sat next to us (had to show them to their seats), who had come along because of the previous 3-2 scorelines. At half time they asked if all the games were as good as this and I did say they were, but also said that we normally attack the East Stand in the second half, which tends to make close games even more exciting as we get towards the end, but it might be a little duller this week and with most of the second half action at the other end, so it proved to be. As newbies, they weren't too upset at the score, but did ask when the next game was as we were leaving, so it sounds like two more might be added to the fold - and they did join in with "Come on you Yellows" type noise!

Playoffs? I said earlier in the season that 3 playoff campaigns back to back would be a huge achievement. I did look it up many months back and seem to recall that Stoke did way back and maybe a couple of others, but after 30+ years, I would imagine you could count the number of teams that have made three consecutive appearances on the fingers of one hand.

 

[captainox]

Three very poor goals to concede from a defensive point of view, though all three were very good finishes.

First - There is absolutely no way that seconds after going ahead, and from the kick-off, that your fullback should be left 1 on 1. I also don't think Stevens will be happy letting a shot across him in from that distance.

Second - Cross comes in too easily, poor headed clearance from McNally, Fossey is stood in acres of space, assume he is Sykes' man because if you pause it as the cross is hit, Seddon is in the defensive line as you would expect for where the ball is coming from. Fossey is beyond Sykes.

Third - Narrow defensive line, allows for the ball to go down our left hand side, where the space always is (every game), Seddon is picking up their number 17, Sykes gets caught between tracking Fossey or coming towards the man with the ball, and McGuane doesn't press the passer of the ball fast enough. If you pause it at the beginning of the move, our defensive line actually looks okay with an arc of 5, but the 4 players in the middle of the pitch are in a clump - Kane & McGuane practically next to each other on the halfway line - and Bolton spot this and get the ball wide.
It's a great pass for Fossey to run onto, good cross, and good finish. But of no surprise at all, that it came from a ball into the space behind our left sided players.

 

[OX14]

He has 2 more seasons

Forgot he signed a 3 year contract.

 

[Bath Yellow]

Problem is Seddon, going forward he is great, once caught out up field he is exposed down that side, its not rocket science for KR to see this, leaving so much room for a quick break. Answer, Seddon goes forward some one drops back as cover, just not happening, this is where we are conceding goals.

 

[captainox]

Problem is Seddon, going forward he is great, once caught out up field he is exposed down that side, its not rocket science for KR to see this, leaving so much room for a quick break. Answer, Seddon goes forward some one drops back as cover, just not happening, this is where we are conceding goals.

He wasn't caught up field for any of the goals yesterday though. We defend so narrowly and the midfielder in front doesn't pull out into the space created by us being narrow.

 

[ECYellow]

Problem is Seddon, going forward he is great, once caught out up field he is exposed down that side, its not rocket science for KR to see this, leaving so much room for a quick break. Answer, Seddon goes forward some one drops back as cover, just not happening, this is where we are conceding goals.

Is he great going forward though? Great?

 

[OX14]

Is he great going forward though? Great?

He's no Chris Cadden or George Baldock. I know they play the other side but you get the idea.

 

[windmill]

For all the analysis on here, one point is being overlooked. Bolton were a very good side, probably the best side to play at the Kassam since Plymouth beat us. They defended well as a team, with sometimes 7 dropping back in line, and attacked at pace with numbers. They were very well drilled and organised and I'd be amazed if they don't sneak into the playoffs themselves. Having said that, we restricted them to what, 4 maybe 5 chances? The three goals, a tame shout at Stevens in the second half, and one dragged wide? On the other hand, in a fairly equal first half we had the 2 goals, a couple of chances for Taylor and the one-on-one with Whyte where he should have scored. Second half we had a dozen chances, several really decent ones too. We certainly didn't play poorly, and on a good day we win that. But we can't keep conceding the goals that we do. Stevens seems a bit slower to get down than he was before his illness, and the defence is too slow to react to balls dropping in the box or on the edge. Moore seems to be caught on his heels a lot and the second yesterday was another example of a ball dropping to an opposition player in the box who can take a touch and shoot completely unchallenged. Kane wasn't great, but Gorrin doesn't stop any of their goals yesterday so I'm not sure that criticism is valid. And Taylor, Brannagan and others had chances that should have killed the game. Disappointing, work needed at both ends of the pitch, but hardly season ending or reason for the usual worry merchant's to be out in force!!

If you think Bolton were the best side to visit this season, then you clearly missed the Rotherham fixture.

 

[OX14]

If you think Bolton were the best side to visit this season, then you clearly missed the Rotherham fixture.

And the Wigan, Plymouth fixtures.

 

[OxfordYankee]

I see the ‘merchants’ merchants are out in force.

 

[Shosho]

Watching some of it back this morning I thought we played pretty well. Taylor with a few attempts dragged wide, the Whyte 1on1…there was plenty in there. The first half was frantic with neither team able to control the midfield.

Kane getting some stick, but worth noting he is a box to box 8. That was his best and most productive position at Doncaster, his passing quality making him the candidate as the ‘quarterback’. When he has played in the final third both yesterday and vs Portsmouth he has a load of quality (ball round the corner for Brannagan vs Portsmouth & again yesterday), but in Kane and Brannagan you have two players that want to play in a similar way. Fwiw, I think Kane does his share of defensive work, steps into the back four when McNally/Moore move out, but he doesn’t cover the width behind the full backs like Gorrin does.

A load of teams are in for a 6 this summer - players like Gorrin are rare. Players like Gorrin that can also have quality on the ball are even tougher to find. A young defensive midfielder and lb cover would have been ideal in January - Joe Tomlinson would have been ideal in the summer.

Anyway, we have what we have and it’s now down to the coaching to improve the situation. Prior to the season I was told ‘Oxford have a hell of a budget’ and that ‘KR would have failed if he doesn’t get you up’. Next season is when the pressure poles on to KR. The owners want championship football and have clearly backed him like nothing we’ve seen before (and tried to seemingly back him further). That said, there will be a hefty squad turn over looking at those OOC in the summer, plus the possibility of Brannagan leaving.

See how many points we can collect in the run in, still a way to go!

 

[werthersoriginal]

And if we only conceded one goal per game (a few clean sheets wouldn’t go amiss but let’s start small) instead of two or three as has been the case of late, the forwards would be able to afford to miss the odd chance rather than having to operate at 100% all the time. It goes both ways. You can’t just say “well if we had scored four then it wouldn’t have mattered that they scored three.” Top teams in any league shouldn’t be losing (or even failing to win) games that they score twice in, especially at home.

You can’t try to win every game 3-2. It is unsustainable over the course of a season.

Especially if it’s against a team like Bolton yesterday who weren’t world beaters and didn’t have a load of pressure or chances

 

[werthersoriginal]

No, it's not a daft suggestion. I was thinking just the same thing this morning.

I feel we should use him more. Presumably the idea has been considered and maybe tried in training though.

 

[christenedinjericho]

For all the analysis on here, one point is being overlooked. Bolton were a very good side, probably the best side to play at the Kassam since Plymouth beat us. They defended well as a team, with sometimes 7 dropping back in line, and attacked at pace with numbers. They were very well drilled and organised and I'd be amazed if they don't sneak into the playoffs themselves. Having said that, we restricted them to what, 4 maybe 5 chances? The three goals, a tame shout at Stevens in the second half, and one dragged wide? On the other hand, in a fairly equal first half we had the 2 goals, a couple of chances for Taylor and the one-on-one with Whyte where he should have scored. Second half we had a dozen chances, several really decent ones too. We certainly didn't play poorly, and on a good day we win that. But we can't keep conceding the goals that we do. Stevens seems a bit slower to get down than he was before his illness, and the defence is too slow to react to balls dropping in the box or on the edge. Moore seems to be caught on his heels a lot and the second yesterday was another example of a ball dropping to an opposition player in the box who can take a touch and shoot completely unchallenged. Kane wasn't great, but Gorrin doesn't stop any of their goals yesterday so I'm not sure that criticism is valid. And Taylor, Brannagan and others had chances that should have killed the game. Disappointing, work needed at both ends of the pitch, but hardly season ending or reason for the usual worry merchant's to be out in force!!

Without trying to put the boot into Gorrin who is unfortunately injured but who is to say that a fully fit Gorrin would have stayed on the pitch for more than an hour yesterday if he played. Gorrin would have probably with the game fully gung ho at 2-2 would have already been on a yellow at that time with a second yellow delivered by the 60th minute. We would have then probably gone on to lose this game by 4 goals to 2 lol. As fans when we lose we all look for answers and to me personally Gorrin yesterday wouldn't have been the answer in this all action game. So, what is the answer then? In hindsight to me it's a simple one, and that is to simply stay focused immediately after we either take the lead or draw level in any game and this when even I played football was drummed into me even when I was at under 11 level. In all probabilities we get this right KR and we stay in the game. Simples.

As for the game I'm still disappointed with the result this morning but any new young fan for the first 45 couldn't have been disappointed in the speed, skill and entertainment given and hopefully their appetite wasn't taken away too much by the trotter's winning goal.

Let's get to the Valley next Saturday and get a big result.

COYY'S

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I thought the game was pretty even. Both teams looked quite good going forward, both defences looked shaky and neither team actually seemed to want to hang on to the ball in midfield for very long! Any of the three possible results would probably have been fair enough.

The obvious points from our point of view are the conceding of multiple goals (again), the inability to hold onto a lead for very long (again), the lack of form for some of our players (Kane was very ineffective and needs to stop silly little flick passes - they never seem to go where they are supposed to, McGuane looks more and more like a 'luxury' player, Whyte was decent in the first half but I can see why he was taken off in the second, Long looking like a shadow of the player he was etc), the carbon copy goals against (down our left, shot across the goal into the far corner - is Steven's positioning correct?), Seddon's positioning (surely he is being *told* to be so high up the pitch?) leaving a gap at the back you could drive a bus through, missing chances, generally playing too slowly, daft cross field passes that get cut out. Many of the things that have become all a bit to common in recent games - even those we have won!

The next two away games are unarguably important (although I am sure someone will give it a go!) - given that clubs above us have games in hand, is 4 points now the minimum we need?

 

[PottersRightBoot]

And the Wigan, Plymouth fixtures.

And Sheff Wed.

 

[Joey]

If you go up the leagues there’s a fair few teams that have been successful conceding, shall we say, too many goals. Peterborough, for example, have got promoted a few times over the years playing some basketball style football. Ideally, you have German style efficiency and win every game 2-0 - grow into the game, score after half hour, take control, get a second on the hour and see out the last half hour. If only it was a perfect world.

I've not seen if anyone has replied to this but this isn't the case. They played an attacking style and missed the playoffs every season, the season before that got stopped early they scored more goals than anyone but still missed out. They finally went up last season when they only conceded 46 goals, we're already on 41 with 14 games still to play. They didn't get promoted until they sorted the defence out.

The key is that it isn't either/or. Under Appleton we played brilliant football but we could mix it as well. No one is talking about revolution, just a few tweaks to add a bit of size/know how amongst the squad and have some different options rather than almost completely neglecting the defence and having 3 versions of the same striker.