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.

 

[dickwalton1964]

I certainly wouldn’t liken us to any of the Jim Smith sides in the 80’s, they were far more expansive and risk taking. What I will say is that Manning is building one of the most regimented, disciplined and in control teams I can recall as an Oxford fan for the past 50 years or so. It’s not edge of your seat football we are witnessing but we are watching a team who look like they know how to win football matches by quite simply keeping the ball.

I’m in SSL and Manning was continually bellowing ‘quicker’ to his players tonight. It’s clear that once we ally speed to this possession football we will begin to see a team reminiscent of the MK side under Manning that went close to promotion playing a very watchable brand of football.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

 

[West Oxon U’s]

See what that t*at Evans says afterwards

It was the ref’s fault

 

[Oldman159]

Excellent performance tonight. Thank you, yellows.

about half way through I said to the guy next to me “That goalie is ripe for the picking…he is so far forward all it needs is a chip from someone out wide …..” but Greg’s goal (GoD assist) was something else. Keystone cops? You betcha! Cool but so so funny. Greg was MotM for pure entertainment value alone.

I also noted how well coordinated the shrews back 5 were at line dancing.

 

[bicesterox]

Greg Leigh. Magician. Just sees things and takes the chance.

Reminded me of Yemis goal against Daggers when their Keeper Roberts pissed about with it abandoned Temi just hooked it back over his from way out

 

[bazzer9461]

I felt the same in SSL, we must have had the same angle. Everyone around
me was cheering the Harris goal.

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

 

[werthersoriginal]

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

Kitcat Chunky Man, me, but yeah.

 

[Joey]

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?

Once again in complete control. Was good to see Harris back, he's not as involved as Bodin when he plays there but gives us another dimension running in behind and in the channels. Had to score in the first half when sent through though, about the only chance we had to counter attack and it was lethal. I thought Stevens was very good again and is growing into the team, he uses the ball well and will stick a tackle in too. Rodrigues is coming more and more into things although sometimes could do with releasing the ball quicker. Thought we got worse when Tyler replaced Bodin, most his touches took him backwards and he was rarely able to face them up and run at them.

Beadle absolutely different class. No saves to make but he took a few high balls incredibly easily at the edge of his box and his passing was at another level. He's so important for us, if he gets injured we'll need to make some changes to how we play.

Apart from me not getting a winner the only negatives are Pompey and Bolton both winning, especially with Pompey being so late. We can only control what we do but a chance to go top and perhaps 4 points clear before they play at the weekend would have been great. Also if you think the Shrews keeper was bad, have a look at the Northampton v Reading match here, the Northampton keeper has a shocker for Reading's goal but the Reading keeper looks like he's never played the game before. Hilarious.

 

[Oufccraig45]

I'm getting to like Stevens game by game and I thought he was superb against Stevenage but tonight he was class and the goal was class ( GOT MY VOTE)thought long had a poor game and his passing was awful tonight and Harris didn't have the best of games tonight. Marriott scored again and hopefully be in yellow in January as I think we are still crying out for an out and out striker on tonights proformance would of had a field day with the crosses that went into the box tonight.

 

[BristolOx]

if you think the Shrews keeper was bad, have a look at the Northampton v Reading match here, the Northampton keeper has a shocker for Reading's goal but the Reading keeper looks like he's never played the game before. Hilarious.

Wow. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before, that keeping is dreadful. I criticised Easty but even with him in goal you'd have won that game 1 - 0.

Back to your earlier point I removed from the quote, I was disappointed we weren't more aggressive in the last 20minutes going what looked like second gear back down into first. How can we really moan though when we win 3 - 0? Tonight was a total breeze, I was confident before kick off. Then the game was over after 8minutes.

 

[Marked Ox]

oooopsy


(another own goal credited to me)

At least you've scored more than Cheltenham.

 

[tonto]

You’re right, it sounds mad to moan but it was a dull game in a silent stadium, perked up by Leigh’s late goal. I couldn’t help wishing we’d go four at the back and really take them apart. But we’d have been top if not for Pompey‘s 98th minute winner!

There was plenty of singing before Leighs goal.

 

[ttg17]

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?

 

[tonto]

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.

 

[Marked Ox]

720

Brakspear doing the measuring?

 

[Marked Ox]

With respect to some of the decent keepers we've had since then (as well as plenty of dross), I think he's the best keeper we've had since Whitehead*. Exudes the same sense of calm and unflappability. And his distribution is better than any keeper I've seen at this level.

(*someone is surely going to bring up Paul Gerrard.....but while his shot-stopping was stunning, I'm not sure his all-around game was as good.....)

PG's all-round game was good enough for 130 odd Premier League appearances though.

 

[Marked Ox]

I had exact reaction too

I think most of the Oxford crowd and players did as well.

 

[Marked Ox]

Wow. I'm not sure I've ever seen that before, that keeping is dreadful. I criticised Easty but even with him in goal you'd have won that game 1 - 0.

Back to your earlier point I removed from the quote, I was disappointed we weren't more aggressive in the last 20minutes going what looked like second gear back down into first. How can we really moan though when we win 3 - 0? Tonight was a total breeze, I was confident before kick off. Then the game was over after 8minutes.

That is highly amusing keeping. To think they wanted one of the transfer embargoes to end so they sign him.

I think the players were conserving energy for Saturday. 'Keep the ball and the game is won' approach.

 

[Marked Ox]

Luvverly jubbly. A cruise even in 1st gear.


Haven't seen any recent updates but I hope the Leyton Orient fan makes a full recovery. Doesn't sound good though from the brief bits I've read on it.

 

[akilham]

Having looked again at tonight's goals - how bad was the Shrews goalkeeper? An absolute nightmare. I wouldn't ever let him play for my team again. Reminds me of when (I think) Wayne Brown had to cover for us in a game - awful!