Home Match Day Thread 03/10/2023 L1: OUFC v Shrewsbury

[Malc]

Another 3 points today? I think so, 2-0 to the mighty Yellows.

 

[Jster]

Was Bodin injured?

I was wondering this too. Hopefully just tactical?

 

[Sheik djibouti]

It was the ref’s fault

Evans is a self-centred bastard.

A homeless family could spend the winter quite comfortably in that body warmer.

 

[RgYellows]

Anyone thinking this team solid or unspectacular could note that in our last four league games, we’ve played two teams that were in the top three at kick off, taken maximum points, and outscored the opposition 12-1.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Shrewsbury’s Slovakian ‘keeper Marko Marosi was uncharacteristically poor last night but Reading’s ‘keeper David Button eclipsed him.

 

[Upthecowboys]

We were so much in control last night I was wondering if after the 2nd goal we could have rested players who had loads of minutes in their legs to keep them fresh for Saturday. For example I thought McEachran for Cam Bran might have been the substitution, saving Cam Bran for Saturday.

Greg Leigh is a level above, it's as simple as that. Beadle is absolute class, not just the way he commands his box but his passing is something else. He set up a couple of attacking moves last night with wonderful passes.

I think there were 7 players starting last night (and Saturday) who were here last season. The signings have made a difference but clearly the players are being coached so well. We have got a proper squad this season, there is flexibility in the way we line up, we have a few absolute stars at this level plus we'll have the opportunity to strengthen in January. We should be really confident, but whatever happens lets just enjoy the ride. Life is so much better when your team is doing well!!

 

[uptheus]

Marcus Maguane is different class. I hope we are waving large sums of money at him. Him Cam and RR seem to be bossing it every week absolutely unbelievable compared to last year.

Personally I didn’t think McGuane had one of his better games. He was too safe, just felt he could have shown more attacking desire, but I guess he didn’t need to.

We won, but it wasn’t that inspiring, sorry.

Good test Saturday, and think we’ll need to be more at it.

 

[Matt W]

Difference is @Matt W is eating prawn sandwiches should he watched the superb goal from Fin Stevens whereas you are a cheese and pickle sandwich while you saw the superb goal by Fin Stevens

I like to keep it real Bazzer and ocassionally eat things called 'chips' at the football, makes me feel more like those in the stand away to my right

 

[oufc1991]

Another game another 3 goals another 3 points life as an Oxford fan is great at the moment not to bothered how Pompey got on nobody wins the league in October. Bristol on Saturday is going to be a much more difficult match but at the moment I feel like we can beat anybody so bring it on


Oh a quick note about the Northampton Vs reading game I hope that's being investigated no professional goalie can be that crap to concede 3 goals (reading) one goal( Northampton) like that they weren't trying to save the shots

 

[Joey]

Anyone thinking this team solid or unspectacular could note that in our last four league games, we’ve played two teams that were in the top three at kick off, taken maximum points, and outscored the opposition 12-1.

We've certainly been unfortunate to catch Stevenage, Exeter and Port Vale in what I'm sure will be their highest positions this season but bar the Port Vale abberation we've made out class show. On the other hand I think we caught Barnsley and Charlton at good times, I think both will finish in the top 6 or be very close to it (can still get 4/1 on Charlton doing so).

The common theme, bar Port Vale with extenuating circumstances, is we have enough to beat anyone in this league while looking like we have another gear a lot of the time. We could have taken Shrewsbury to the cleaners last night if we'd wanted to but stayed in second gear. It's a real shame Reading got postponed as we'd have given them an absolute hiding as well.

Goal difference is already looking good. I said pre season we'd be among the top 3 for fewest goals conceded and nothings changed there, Beadle is an absolute revelation. Hopefully Harris finds his shooting boots again and we'll be nigh on unstoppable. What a time to be an Oxford fan.

As an aside the team we picked last night was only a player off what I wanted and that involves 3 centre backs with Thorniley on the bench and Negru not in the squad. The first home game in October last season we were presenting Portsmouth's manager with our player of the month award after he had to fill in at centre back due to atrocious planning and squad building. I'm still amazed in the turnaround we managed this summer, absolutely brilliant.

 

[Older Shotts]

Shrewsbury’s Slovakian ‘keeper Marko Marosi was uncharacteristically poor last night but Reading’s ‘keeper David Button eclipsed him.

Bloody hell, thats Paul Kee levels of direness

 

[West Oxon U’s]

By the way who proof read the match programme last night?

Apparentry Shrews boss Matthew Taylor was born in Stirling and has managed Wigan, Chesterfield, Partick and Exeter.

On this day was headed up 26th August ?

With clubs deciding not to print programmes our’s is still a really good read, though, overall.

 

[Grumpy Git]

Evans is a self-centred bastard.

A homeless family could spend the winter quite comfortably in that body warmer.

He’d let them freeze!

 

[Oufccraig45]

It was the ref’s fault

He is right though the Refs are s**t he has just said what every manager is thinking but a fine coming his way as the FA doesn't like the truth

 

[Left Wing Cross]

Absolute piece of P**s tonight. Telling that we basically declared at 2-0 and got a third whilst almost actively trying not to score. All about control with Manning it seems rather than going for the throat which is all well and good unless like me you had £2.50 on Stevens first goal and 4-0 and £3.57 on Stevens and 5-0. Come on Liam, are you saying we couldn't have had a bit more of a go when they were down to 10?

After 2-0 and the sending off, LM's thinking about the 12.30 KO match against Rovers on Saturday

 

[Beast]

I thought it was a very professional performance last night. We will play a lot better than that, buts it’s the kind of game, in other seasons we would have probably lost 1-0. We pretty much controlled the whole game, if anything they looked better after going down to 10 men, only because I felt we thought it was too easy and made some sloppy passes. I thought LM would have freshened things up more after we went 2-0 up, but it was a bit like a training game in the 2nd half.

The interesting thing for me, is how long he sticks to this formation. For me we look so organised playing like this, but also dangerous going forward at the same time. It helps when you have proper wing backs at the club too in Leigh and stevens!. Brown looks so comfortable too on the left of a 3. I think it will be the same for Saturday, but I could be wrong and back to the 4-2-3-1.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I need someone, with a better football brain than me, to explain what Taylor means by 'in control out of possession'. By definition, this must mean the other team had the ball and therefore in control of the possession. Considering that said team were 1, 2 or 3 nil up it seems the most ridiculous of comments from Taylor - or any other manager who wants to peddle that rubbish when his team need goals to get a point even.

Unless that opposing team are going to boot the ball in their own goal how the hell is being 'in control out of possession' anything positive ? Brannagan, McGuane & Co could still be out there now, 12 hours later, moving it all over the pitch and getting back behind the ball in numbers whenever Shrewsbury had the ball. It was that easy. Oxford had complete control of that game - in possession and out of possession. At no point did Shrewsbury have any control or dictation of play.

Also, Taylor says three errors. One maybe, in the 96th minute, but the first goal was a hell of a cross and first time finish on the back post, no obvious error. The second was a good delivery, balls falls for Oxford and a tidy finish, again no obvious error. I know these under pressure managers will have their chairman listening intently to every word but just hold your hand up and admit you were outclassed from minute one.

 

[m]

He’d let them freeze!

Or eat them.

 

[m]

I need someone, with a better football brain than me, to explain what Taylor means by 'in control out of possession'. By definition, this must mean the other team had the ball and therefore in control of the possession. Considering that said team were 1, 2 or 3 nil up it seems the most ridiculous of comments from Taylor - or any other manager who wants to peddle that rubbish when his team need goals to get a point even.

Unless that opposing team are going to boot the ball in their own goal how the hell is being 'in control out of possession' anything positive ? Brannagan, McGuane & Co could still be out there now, 12 hours later, moving it all over the pitch and getting back behind the ball in numbers whenever Shrewsbury had the ball. It was that easy. Oxford had complete control of that game - in possession and out of possession. At no point did Shrewsbury have any control or dictation of play.

Also, Taylor says three errors. One maybe, in the 96th minute, but the first goal was a hell of a cross and first time finish on the back post, no obvious error. The second was a good delivery, balls falls for Oxford and a tidy finish, again no obvious error. I know these under pressure managers will have their chairman listening intently to every word but just hold your hand up and admit you were outclassed from minute one.

Agree, apart from the last paragraph.

The first goal the keeper puts into Stevens' path.

The second is a direct result of a foul.

 

[Left Wing Cross]

I need someone, with a better football brain than me, to explain what Taylor means by 'in control out of possession'. By definition, this must mean the other team had the ball and therefore in control of the possession. Considering that said team were 1, 2 or 3 nil up it seems the most ridiculous of comments from Taylor - or any other manager who wants to peddle that rubbish when his team need goals to get a point even.

Unless that opposing team are going to boot the ball in their own goal how the hell is being 'in control out of possession' anything positive ? Brannagan, McGuane & Co could still be out there now, 12 hours later, moving it all over the pitch and getting back behind the ball in numbers whenever Shrewsbury had the ball. It was that easy. Oxford had complete control of that game - in possession and out of possession. At no point did Shrewsbury have any control or dictation of play.

Also, Taylor says three errors. One maybe, in the 96th minute, but the first goal was a hell of a cross and first time finish on the back post, no obvious error. The second was a good delivery, balls falls for Oxford and a tidy finish, again no obvious error. I know these under pressure managers will have their chairman listening intently to every word but just hold your hand up and admit you were outclassed from minute one.

Control out of possession comes from positioning and pressing. It's about manoeuvring the opposition to play the ball either to places where they can't hurt you or into traps where the press is triggered. However, I fail to see how that applied to Shrewsbury.

 

[brassmonkey]

A very weirdly dull game, but, because of this, perhaps the most pleasing of our recent run. Teams that go up from this league have a habit of grinding out unspectacular wins against the teams they should be beating - you're not going to smash everyone 5-0 - and tonight was an absolutely prime example of that for us. We never got out of first gear (except perhaps for the moment that led to Harris' chance and the pass from Beadle that led to the ball over the top that got their man sent off) and still won comfortably. It was all just so routine and so controlled, Shrewsbury were kept at complete arm's length all game. Impressive stuff.

I think this formation is really contributing to this sense of control. The 'box' of CB and MM with the two CAMs seems to just be too much for other League One midfields to deal with. (I really like RR dropping in and doing his bit in that 'box' - his touch and composure on the ball I think are an underrated element of our ability to retain possession and control in the middle of the pitch. He's great.) It does leave us a little exposed to balls in behind the WBs - obviously the goal came from there on Saturday and our only slightly hairy moments today came from those balls and Long/Brown getting pulled across to deal - but does allow us to make the most of the talent we have in the CM and CAM roles. It also allows us so much flexibility - there was one point in the first half today where CB spent about 10 mins filling in at left back and RR was out at right wing, and then, in the blink of an eye, RR was back in at CM and CB had pushed up so that he was effectively a striker. Must be an absolute nightmare for defences to track and try to contain.

In a game where noone really stood out for me, as everyone seemed fairly solid and unspectacular, Stevens impressed me. I'm warming to him a lot. I wasn't much a fan initially, I couldn't really see what it was he was actually good at. But I think he's quietly good at pretty much every element of the WB role, and really stands out in this formation. Superb engine, got in good attacking and defensive positions and showed some good distribution. Not sure quite why Shrews had it in for him in that second half but you must be doing something right to be winding up the oppo like that. I also thought Harris looked better than I expected first half (though admittedly didn't have much influence in the second). The miss when clean through is obviously not great, but you can attribute that to rustiness. (I'd also rather he missed the corner by a whisker than put it tamely into the keeper's arms - at least he had the right idea.) The run itself was also sharp and some of his play off the ball generally was really good, most noticably when he made a chance out of nothing by easing Dunks out of the way of a bouncing ball (no small feat!) and breaking through (although, to be fair to our old boy, he put in a hell of a recovery tackle). Good to have him back.

Perhaps one tiny gripe from today would be MM. I thought he reverted slightly to last season's MacGuane tonight. He obviously made some very neat touches and carried the ball well, but I felt it was slightly flattering to deceive. In a game where the opposition were sitting deep and we needed someone to pick the lock, I thought some of his decision-making around the box was frustratingly 'safe'. He's been brilliant this year at helping us to control the midfield and releasing pressure through retaining and carrying the ball etc., so I understand his role isn't generally to score or create much. I just feel like in games like today, I would like to see him add that bit of attacking spark to his game. I also hope GOD is still not quite fully fit, because he's not seemed on it really in either of his cameos (today or Saturday). Seems a little slow off the mark and reactive (whereas pre-injury this season and last he seemed much more hungry and physical). Hopefully he gets back to this level with game time.

Not fussed at all about Pompey. All I care about is the gap to third place. We've added another point to our cushion tonight, and our rivals have one game fewer to catch us. I know it's stupidly early days, but we really do look the real deal this year. From what I've seen, we've got that blend of solid, robust professionalism and individual quality and spark to be serious promotion contenders this season. I think it does also help that the league is really quite surprisingly poor this year. I think we all expected a drop-off in general standard from the last few years, but, from the games I've seen in person this year (Vale, Stevenage, Shrews), all have looked really limited sides. Perhaps that's us just stifling them but they really have not looked good at all.

Finally, fair play to the Shrews fans who travelled, that's a long way to come to watch what you know is probbaly going to be a loss, having not scored in a month. Fair play too to their side for continuing to take the knee before matches - are they the only side still doing this?

Great summary. I actually cheered when MM had a shot in the second half. More of that please.