Home Match Day Thread 05/11/2024 - Championship: Oxford United vs Hull City

[ECYellow]

A very pleasing three points.

It has to be said that in the first half we were distinctly abject. Perhaps in part to the change in formation but we just didn't start well. That is consecutive home games now where we have surrendered chances early on, and had either Swansea or Hull had a decent CF on the pitch, they'd have been out of site before Des could have said light show. We really do need to start games quicker.

Second half, we got to grips with the new set up and i thought we pushed on to Hull that bit more and forced them to make more mistakes higher up the pitch.

Throughout the 30+ years i have been watching United, the very best of us has been when our backs are against the wall and we are harrying and pressing oppositions into mistakes, sometimes we have not been the better team but heart, desire and 'bite' have been there and results have often followed. We saw more of that in the second half and it is no coincidence that the crowd reacted to it and the atmosphere improved considerably.

Special mentions for Cumming, Ter Avest, Moore, Tyler & Long, who i thought was excellent when he came on. For me, Will Vaulks had his best game in an Oxford shirt. He was composed in and out of possession and made a few very timely interventions. Maybe, just maybe he is starting to find himself for us.

We will need to be better than we were last night if we are to achieve what we all want this season. That said, any win in this league is not to be sniffed at and IF we could pinch a result at Watford, it would be great to take into the break.

Didn't see the light show, but as we were walking from the Golden Ball it looked as if a UFO was landing at Grenoble Road! Hopefully the light pollution police and Middleton wasn't watching!

Onwards and upwards, Yellows!

 

[YellowsForever]

Couldn't agree more with the above - an excellent light show and an excellent three points when not at our best. A very resilient second 45.

 

[Orkney Islands Yellow]

Yep:

 

[werthersoriginal]

Yep:

People who hate Sam Long literally hate the club

 

[Yellow River]

Yeah Des mentioned filing a couple of holes, and these two did seem very advanced on the press in the first half. So I think they withdrew to create a more solid low block and stop Hull playing. In other words, we went more defensive, but, in doing so, gave ourselves the platform to counterattack more effectively.

After our goal we went into Manning mode with a low block and much more measured in our press.

It might not be how Des wants to play, but needs must.

 

[holdsteady]

Coming on to defend a 1-0 lead into his best position on the right side of a back 3 was perfect for him, he really stepped into it as well. I don't always agree when we describe players who are not good enough for this league as good squad players as some of them don't really have much of a use, but Long actually is at this level, he can come in handy in certain situations while also covering a couple of positions, well worth a squad place.

 

[Mad Dog]

Didn't see the light show, but as we were walking from the Golden Ball it looked as if a UFO was landing at Grenoble Road! Hopefully the light pollution police and Middleton wasn't watching!

I hope they were, and I hope they were outraged!

 

[Yellowoptimist]

The performance of Vaulks might well be because of who he was playing alongside. He and McEachran worked well together

 

[The mighty Aldo]

People who hate Sam Long literally hate the club

I hope nobody hates Sam.
He might be a player that some fans don’t like and don’t rate.
For me he epitomises everything I love about this club. You know he will give 100%, you know he won’t let you down.
Yes he is prone to a mistake but who isn’t
There are more talented players in our squad in the position he plays, but let’s not forget that in the playoff final within 5 seconds he had made a crunching tackle and the Bolton winger didn’t want to know after that thus making their most talented player useless.

 

[Brahma]

Great to see Sam Long come on and put in a solid performance. He's Mr Oxford United and would run through brick walls for us and OUFC, he's exactly the sort of character we need this season.

That's well worth a mention.

The guy was utterly superb when he came on; really impressive performance from ALL the subs to be fair but Sam made some wonderful tackles and won some clever fouls.

Cumming and Moore were superb.

 

[Osei Yaw]

I thought Long was very good when he came on, but Kioso was even better. I thought he was fantastic. Not just at holding the ball in the corner, but he had a few nice touches along with the running, aggression and desire to help get us over the line.

In games like that you do really see the benefits of the 'no dickheads' recruitment policy.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I thought Long was very good when he came on, but Kioso was even better. I thought he was fantastic. Not just at holding the ball in the corner, but he had a few nice touches along with the running, aggression and desire to help get us over the line.

In games like that you do really see the benefits of the 'no dickheads' recruitment policy.

He was congratulating Ter Avest at the end and encouraging him to punch the air, great to see two rivals apparently having a good relationship

 

[holdsteady]

I thought Long was very good when he came on, but Kioso was even better. I thought he was fantastic. Not just at holding the ball in the corner, but he had a few nice touches along with the running, aggression and desire to help get us over the line.

In games like that you do really see the benefits of the 'no dickheads' recruitment policy.

At one point I actually thought Kioso was going to hold the ball in the corner for all 8 minutes of added on time which would have been magnificent and worthy of a DVD release at the end of the season, instead we just had to settle for him doing it for a still very impressive 4 minutes.

 

[werthersoriginal]

At one point I actually thought Kioso was going to hold the ball in the corner for all 8 minutes of added on time which would have been magnificent and worthy of a DVD release at the end of the season, instead we just had to settle for him doing it for a still very impressive 4 minutes.

I hate seeing us do that but it was brilliant

 

[billyturleyscurlywurly]

I hate seeing us do that but it was brilliant

I was the same but after the way O’Donkor did it last season, I grew to love it.

 

[Yellow2K22]

Agreed on Kioso, for 8 minutes of extra time he whittled that away incredibly effectively. I think 3.5 - 4 minutes roughly of solely him either taking a slow throw in or holding onto it in the corner. ‘Jamie mackie esq’

I’m all here for that this year. Every point is vital in our quest for survival.

 

[Eric Blair]

The performance of Vaulks might well be because of who he was playing alongside. He and McEachran worked well together

Completely agree. Was the same with him and Brannagan against Norwich

 

[Big Ron]

Completely agree. Was the same with him and Brannagan against Norwich

He should never play for the club again you know, at least according to one poster a week or two back.

 

[maidenheadox]

Vaulks gave away possession in the first half and for once it didn't lead to the opposition scoring a goal. It felt like a significant turning point, I think he's had a lot of bad luck this season.

 

[RgYellows]

But in a strange quirk, their actual goal tally was 100% less than ours.

I'm not arguing that they didn't create chances but importantly, they couldn't take them and after we scored they were guilty of trying to force the game.

I suggest you look at the post I responded to, which specifically said Hull were the worst team the user had seen based on what they created.