Fan's View MK Dons v Oxford player ratings

[Wandering Yellow]

Apologies if this isn't meant to be its own thread, but I'd be interested to see how others read that game as I have some quite strong opinions on it. I better just mention now I missed our goal after slamming my laptop shut in a fit of rage in the 95th minute but I'll take it into account!

Stevens - 5. Didn't have loads to do, distribution was ok.
Long - 6. Steady, didn't do much wrong.
Moore - 6 A solid performance at the back. No frills.
Atkinson - 6. Solid but I wouldn't have minded seeing him attempt a couple more of his surging runs forward
Ruffels - 5.5. In the first half their wing back had him on toast. He didn't tackle or block the path of the player and just let him breeze into the area. Could have cost us more. However, he did much better in the second half. I love Ruffs but I think we might need a better left back to get promotion. A great lad to have in and around the squad and cover both the LB and midfield positions when needed. I missed the goal but if he did get the assist then well played Josh.
Brannagan - 6.5 Pretty neat and tidy I thought. Close to getting back to his best now?
Gorrin - 6. So much more effective when he doesn't get his early yellow card. Tidy, but not as good on the ball as Kelly IMO (Crucify me!)
Shodipo - 2. Not his day, won't give him a 1 as he kept trying things. Not sure about this player, there's talent in there, but can he do it regularly?
Lee - 6. I thought he was ineffective, and didn't win the freekicks he was clearly trying to, but for being the hero which saved the day he gets a 6.
Barker - 3. Not his day either. I can see there is a lot of talent there, but it didn't come off for him. Will be a Championship player one day minimum.
Taylor - 2. About as use as a glass hammer lately. Badly out of form. Doesn't offer enough as a lone front man at the moment.

Subs
Winnall - N/A. Feel a bit sorry for him.
Henry - 5. Not much to say here to be honest.
Agyei - 8 MOTM. Did more in his 20 minutes than Taylor has done in 3 matches. Their keeper should have been sent off if the referee wasn't an incompetent blind homer moron disgrace. He's a genuine threat down the middle. What exactly does this guy have to do to get starts??
Skyes - 5. Didn't notice him do much. I like him as a player though.
Forde - N/A

Referee - 0. Absolute dirge. If you agree it was a foul on Agyei its a red. You bottled it. The covering defenders were miles way. It was a tap in with Agyei's pace. A disgrace to football. Referees have no accountability at all. Useless. Shouldn't be allowed near a football pitch again. Get to the job centre Oldham.

 

[Foley]

Agyei - He's a genuine threat down the middle. What exactly does this guy have to do to get starts??

I am not sure whether that is a serious question
Did you listen to RO after the game.
Jerome, Nick Harris, Steve Kinninburgh Henry Moran were pretty unanimous.
He has to be far more consistent. He had to do what he did today ( and at other times this season) far more regularly.

 

[Foley]

And Ruffels in my view is worth far more than 5.5.
In commentary is was mentioned numerous times how he was one on one v a very dangerous wide man. I thought that he handled him very well and he rarely got the better of Ruffels

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I am not sure whether that is a serious question
Did you listen to RO after the game.
Jerome, Nick Harris, Steve Kinninburgh Henry Moran were pretty unanimous.
He has to be far more consistent. He had to do what he did today ( and at other times this season) far more regularly.

So Agyei cant get away with doing nothing but Taylor can? Seems fair

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

I am not sure whether that is a serious question
Did you listen to RO after the game.
Jerome, Nick Harris, Steve Kinninburgh Henry Moran were pretty unanimous.
He has to be far more consistent. He had to do what he did today ( and at other times this season) far more regularly.

How can he do it regularly when he’s never in the team as a striker?

When has he played 2-3 poor games in a row as a striker this season?

 

[Oufc28]

In my opinion Gorrin should have been a point higher. His last ditch tackle was unbelievable. Broke up the play numerous times and today wasn't trying too many long range passes, kept it simple. MOTM for me.

Also as much as I can see peoples frustrations with Taylor, he was offered next to no service today. On a couple of occasions he got into perfect positions but it was the ball too him that was the let down. He is feeding off scraps. We could have lewandowski up front at the moment and hed struggle to score as we don't create enough chances for our strikers.

 

[Oufc28]

How can he do it regularly when he’s never in the team as a striker?

When has he played 2-3 poor games in a row as a striker this season?

Doesn't help when he comes off the bench, has an open goal and tries to take on two players before missing instead of tapping it in. That will NOT get you into the starting eleven.

 

[Paul Cannell]

I am not sure whether that is a serious question
Did you listen to RO after the game.
Jerome, Nick Harris, Steve Kinninburgh Henry Moran were pretty unanimous.
He has to be far more consistent. He had to do what he did today ( and at other times this season) far more regularly.

In order to do that, I put it to you, he has to play in his proper position, for more than 10 minutes, regularly.

He's not the finished product, and he will never be without the club showing a bit of faith in their investment. But he's quite probably the player in our squad who can go furthest.

 

[Foley]

But he's quite probably the player in our squad who can go furthest.

It's a game of opinions. I would put a lot of money that there are a few players who will go a lot further .

 

[Foley]

So Agyei cant get away with doing nothing but Taylor can? Seems fair

Taylor will score and I reckon once he gets one he will score a number. As he has throughout his career.
Taylor is an out and out proven scorer. Of course he goes through poor spells but he has the confidence/ arrogance in his ability and will score a load of more goals

 

[Paul Cannell]

It's a game of opinions. I would put a lot of money that there are a few players who will go a lot further .

Yeah. It's opinion. I can't see our big-up wingers going far, Brannagan should (hope so), Moore can, and Atkinson could but they both need to be much better defensively. I said years ago that Long can, and he can with a good move. Who have I missed? Oh Stevens with luck, hope so I think he's quality. Anyone else?

 

[Oxford1996]

Stevens 6
Long 6
Moore 6
Atkinson 7
Ruffels 7
Gorrin 8 (just for that tackle)
Brannagan 7
Shodipo 5
Lee 7
Barker 6
Taylor 4

Aygei 8 MOTM.

Kelly & Aygei in for Shodipo & Taylor for me Tuesday.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Stevens 6 - Untroubled. Possible argument he could have done better with MK goal.
Long 6 - Finding his way back, not quite there yet.
Moore 8 - Getting better and better.
Atkinson 7 - Defended well and good with the ball.
Ruffles 7 - Exposed early on but stuck to his task.
Gorrin 6 - Just been slightly off it in last few games.
Brannagan 7 - More like it.
Barker 5 - Had moments but poor decision making.
Shodipo 5 - See Barker but without the moments.
Taylor 5 - Not happening, looking frustrated and low on confidence.
Lee 7 - Bright then faded. A 6 without the goal.

Agyei 8 - Eventful 20 minutes. Earned a start.
Henry 5 - Couldn’t impact the game.
Forde 6 - Tame shot hit the post, was there to be struck better.
Sykes 6 - Like quite a few of our players, looks a better sub than starter.

 

[tim lane]

Taylor will score and I reckon once he gets one he will score a number. As he has throughout his career.
Taylor is an out and out proven scorer. Of course he goes through poor spells but he has the confidence/ arrogance in his ability and will score a load of more goals

But he hasn't scored consistently throughout his career, has he? At Bristol City - OK in the Championship - he scored 9 in 75 appearances. Hardly prolific. In the form he's currently in there is absolutely no certainty that he will score a number of times before the season ends. I genuinely hope I'm wrong. However, what really irked me yesterday was twice just before half time he was strolling back from offside positions, thus rendering the potential to attack null and void. Simply not good enough, I'm afraid.

 

[gingerox]

Thought Gorrin + Brannagan had their best games in a while, especially in the latter stages (more energy conserved due to the front four doing more of the press maybe?).

Forde was impactful off the bench again, twice now (vs Pompey also) he's come close to getting an equaliser. Was also his cross the Agyei that led to the goal, would like to see the both of them starting next game. Forde's defensive work would be useful vs Posh, rather than having both Shodipo + Barker on the wings.

 

[m]

Stevens 6 - Untroubled. Possible argument he could have done better with MK goal.
Long 6 - Finding his way back, not quite there yet.
Moore 8 - Getting better and better.
Atkinson 7 - Defended well and good with the ball.
Ruffles 7 - Exposed early on but stuck to his task.
Gorrin 6 - Just been slightly off it in last few games.
Brannagan 7 - More like it.
Barker 5 - Had moments but poor decision making.
Shodipo 5 - See Barker but without the moments.
Taylor 5 - Not happening, looking frustrated and low on confidence.
Lee 7 - Bright then faded. A 6 without the goal.

Agyei 8 - Eventful 20 minutes. Earned a start.
Henry 5 - Couldn’t impact the game.
Forde 6 - Tame shot hit the post, was there to be struck better.
Sykes 6 - Like quite a few of our players, looks a better sub than starter.

Not sure re Stevens and the goal, looks like he would have been unsighted to me.

 

[Wandering Yellow]

Shodipo getting 5's?? If that's his average performance offload him now

 

[Scotchegg]

But he hasn't scored consistently throughout his career, has he? At Bristol City - OK in the Championship - he scored 9 in 75 appearances. Hardly prolific. In the form he's currently in there is absolutely no certainty that he will score a number of times before the season ends. I genuinely hope I'm wrong. However, what really irked me yesterday was twice just before half time he was strolling back from offside positions, thus rendering the potential to attack null and void. Simply not good enough, I'm afraid.

On both occasions, Taylor had pressed the keeper into making a much quicker clearance rather than eating up the last minute of the half. With everyone else 40 yards further up the pitch it would have been impossible for Taylor to get back on side once, let alone twice. Maybe rather than getting irked, you should look at the incident in context and relax a little!

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Apologies if this isn't meant to be its own thread, but I'd be interested to see how others read that game as I have some quite strong opinions on it. I better just mention now I missed our goal after slamming my laptop shut in a fit of rage in the 95th minute but I'll take it into account!

Stevens - 5. Didn't have loads to do, distribution was ok.
Long - 6. Steady, didn't do much wrong.
Moore - 6 A solid performance at the back. No frills.
Atkinson - 6. Solid but I wouldn't have minded seeing him attempt a couple more of his surging runs forward
Ruffels - 5.5. In the first half their wing back had him on toast. He didn't tackle or block the path of the player and just let him breeze into the area. Could have cost us more. However, he did much better in the second half. I love Ruffs but I think we might need a better left back to get promotion. A great lad to have in and around the squad and cover both the LB and midfield positions when needed. I missed the goal but if he did get the assist then well played Josh.
Brannagan - 6.5 Pretty neat and tidy I thought. Close to getting back to his best now?
Gorrin - 6. So much more effective when he doesn't get his early yellow card. Tidy, but not as good on the ball as Kelly IMO (Crucify me!)
Shodipo - 2. Not his day, won't give him a 1 as he kept trying things. Not sure about this player, there's talent in there, but can he do it regularly?
Lee - 6. I thought he was ineffective, and didn't win the freekicks he was clearly trying to, but for being the hero which saved the day he gets a 6.
Barker - 3. Not his day either. I can see there is a lot of talent there, but it didn't come off for him. Will be a Championship player one day minimum.
Taylor - 2. About as use as a glass hammer lately. Badly out of form. Doesn't offer enough as a lone front man at the moment.

Subs
Winnall - N/A. Feel a bit sorry for him.
Henry - 5. Not much to say here to be honest.
Agyei - 8 MOTM. Did more in his 20 minutes than Taylor has done in 3 matches. Their keeper should have been sent off if the referee wasn't an incompetent blind homer moron disgrace. He's a genuine threat down the middle. What exactly does this guy have to do to get starts??
Skyes - 5. Didn't notice him do much. I like him as a player though.
Forde - N/A

Referee - 0. Absolute dirge. If you agree it was a foul on Agyei its a red. You bottled it. The covering defenders were miles way. It was a tap in with Agyei's pace. A disgrace to football. Referees have no accountability at all. Useless. Shouldn't be allowed near a football pitch again. Get to the job centre Oldham.

Taylor is bang out of form and petulant, should he have been sent off? Thread 'Were we lucky Matt Taylor didn't get sent off yesterday?' https://yellowsforum.co.uk/threads/were-we-lucky-matt-taylor-didnt-get-sent-off-yesterday.4988/

 

[Scotchegg]

Thought Gorrin + Brannagan had their best games in a while, especially in the latter stages (more energy conserved due to the front four doing more of the press maybe?).

Forde was impactful off the bench again, twice now (vs Pompey also) he's come close to getting an equaliser. Was also his cross the Agyei that led to the goal, would like to see the both of them starting next game. Forde's defensive work would be useful vs Posh, rather than having both Shodipo + Barker on the wings.

I completely agree with the introduction of Forde having (almost) the same impact as Agyei. However, have a 15 minute burst is different to starting and I'm not sure exactly where he would fit into the starting line up. I would agree with either Barker of Shodipo, but I think Lee looks better through the middle which would maybe give a psace to Sykes or Henry on the right, rather than Forde who would leave us very narrow. Alternatively, Lee to the right, Forde in the middle and maybe push Brannagan a little further forward into a no10 (ish) role. Or leave Gorring to sweep and give Forde and Brannagan more freedon and the central 2, leaving Lee with a freer role (like Henry) and Barker/Shodipo offering pace on the left.

Baically, I don't know!!!