Home Match Day Thread 09/01/23: FA Cup 3rd Round - OUFC v Arsenal

[LeftSideBoy]

a striker with some physical aerial, pacey or athletic presence

This is EXACTLY what we need! We don’t have that focal point up top, and we haven’t had that for some time. More often than not, Taylor seems to be dropping deep or coming out wide to get involved. That’s great for linkup play, but when your number 9 is pulled so far away from where he should be, its going to cause problems. Too often he’s the one putting crosses in, and our striker is nowhere to be seen.

For me, I think we need a striker that can play off the shoulder of the last man, do him for pace and get in behind. The whole ‘fox in the box’ style of striker is great when the service is there, but ultimately, we lack any form of plan-B.

Joseph returning will be a big plus, also!

 

[greatunclekip]

If he’s still here

One interesting section in the (Sportsman?) Report pre-game was how the board feel Robbo has earned his chance to correct this season based on previous "success".

We can, and have, debate this all day. But he's going nowhere, so I dearly hope he gets a flash of inspiration from somewhere to make us work..

 

[East Stand Fan]

We did really well for a good hour but one goal was always going to become 2-3+ once we conceded and it was such an unnecessary goal to give away. Just like the first City game back in 2018, we didn’t get thrashed but we never looked like scoring. The team of 2019 would have posed a huge threat to Arsenal’s backline but tonight we had nothing despite a couple of glimmers which came to nothing.

Arsenal players were throwing themselves to the ground, feigning injuries galore and trying to con the ref at any opportunity - just shows how bad the Prem has become and a ref of that league bought everything. It took a £600m+ team to finally break the deadlock which was quite a big achievement but I wish we offered more as it probably looked quite dire on TV.

We desperately need a new striker this window because Taylor is not enough and in any other season, he would’ve been long dropped by now. Murphy was very disappointing on the big stage and failed to work with Anderson who had a great game. Wildschut did nothing of note as per and we should’ve tightened up at the back a lot sooner because the final two goals we good finishes but shouldn’t have happened.

 

[Lincoln.yellow1]

Just back home in Lincoln (12.40am)....
it was always going to be a tough game this evening and made even tougher when we heard the Arsenal starting X1....
We were the nearly men tonight, we got into some good positions, we created half chances to supply the final ball, we didn’t get the rub of the green or that lucky bounce in the box.
Arsenal are a good side, their 2nd string and even their 3rd string are good players.
We have no shame in losing to the Premier league leaders and as always our club did us proud on and off the pitch...

 

[Carpy]

This is EXACTLY what we need! We don’t have that focal point up top, and we haven’t had that for some time. More often than not, Taylor seems to be dropping deep or coming out wide to get involved. That’s great for linkup play, but when your number 9 is pulled so far away from where he should be, its going to cause problems. Too often he’s the one putting crosses in, and our striker is nowhere to be seen.

For me, I think we need a striker that can play off the shoulder of the last man, do him for pace and get in behind. The whole ‘fox in the box’ style of striker is great when the service is there, but ultimately, we lack any form of plan-B.

Joseph returning will be a big plus, also!

I agree, but the likelihood is that we’ll get a loan, and if he does well, either, clubs will be after him other than us in the summer, or the parent club keep him, so our chances of bringing them back are small

If they don’t do well, well you don’t want them back anyway, and if they only do okay, that’s not really what a promotion chasing team is looking for

We’re the victims of our league position this window, I do wonder whether giving GOD significantly more game time is more beneficial than signing a 6 months never to be seen again striker from elsewhere

 

[foghorn]

I enjoyed the game, up to a point. I thought the ground looked as good as it ever can, and I thought the atmosphere was good. It felt like an occasion. As for the match itself, I felt that, while we gave a reasonable account of ourselves, Arsenal were rather wasteful in the first half, and should have been at least one goal up. There were times when the space seemed to be opening up for them, but they delayed too long or didn't play the right ball, and didn't end up getting a shot on goal - hence the half-time stats. Second half, obviously they were much more incisive. We were a bit unlucky with the free kick for their goal - their players certainly went down easily all night - but it was a quality delivery into the box, and there had been quite a bit of pressure leading up to it. Disappointing, as was the remainder of the game. If we'd kept them out a bit longer, maybe it could have become interesting. Despite their gamesmanship (being generous), they passed the ball around very confidently and accurately. In contrast, we didn't have the fluency of a couple of years ago (although the tv commentators seemed to quite like us), and there were a few occasions when we backtracked instead of taking the chance to get a ball into the box - as though we were trying to manufacture the perfect goalscoring opportunity, which probably wasn't a realistic hope.
My MOTM was Djavan. I know his defensive qualities have been questioned, but going forward he has an 'x factor' that makes him a joy to watch. I wasn't convinced when he joined us, but now I'd be disappointed if he wasn't in the starting XI.
Now, can we win on Saturday please?

 

[Essexyellows]

I think that went as we expected and as well as we could have hoped.

The first half was brilliant. The stadium was rocking, we were solid and really well organised. We had no attacking quality whatsoever but otherwise we were on top.

Second half we never really came out, and when they brought on their PL regulars we fell to bits. Why GoD didn't come on at half time is beyond me, the game was gone by the time he arrived. Someone who can run with the ball and cause trouble in the final third- we missed that.

Anderson did brilliantly. McGinty and Moore were impressive. Oh and Brown was good. I thought Brannagan might have done better.

It was nice to experience some enjoyment this season. Even if it was for just 45 minutes. It'll be sad crashing back to the utter misery of this season, tomorrow morning.

I`ll go with that.

GoD should have been on earlier as he is a menace and the ball "sticks" to him.

KR out thought after an hour and "running late" with the subs - again.

There is some quality in our squad, Brown & Moore were rock solid and Anderson was a joy to watch.

And the NS ball boy should have hidden that towel...........

 

[Daviddidcotexile]

Well for what it's worth I thought we looked very impressive against a strong Arsenal team. It does make me chuckle when Saka and Martinelli are kept so quiet by Brown and Anderson yet posters on here complain about the failure to do more. Anderson is great as a right back. He has a special talent running with the ball from deep but is totally ineffective starting higher up the pitch. Let's not tinker with him. Nailed on right back. Man of match just for sprinting back alongside Martinelli who is tremendously fast. What a player

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Well for what it's worth I thought we looked very impressive against a strong Arsenal team. It does make me chuckle when Saka and Martinelli are kept so quiet by Brown and Anderson yet posters on here complain about the failure to do more. Anderson is great as a right back. He has a special talent running with the ball from deep but is totally ineffective starting higher up the pitch. Let's not tinker with him. Nailed on right back. Man of match just for sprinting back alongside Martinelli who is tremendously fast. What a player

Quite agree about Anderson and he’s a joy to watch. Offers so much speed and quality on the ball from deep and now looks fully match fit and has nailed down that right back slot.

He’s probably the first name on the team sheet at the moment and our most valuable player. He was signed for a season with an option for a further year.
Need to keep him.

 

[ECYellow]

Thought Murphy was awful tonight.

BuT hE’s ThE bEsT PlAyEr In LeAgUe One

 

[Sheik djibouti]

BuT hE’s ThE bEsT PlAyEr In LeAgUe One

I thought that was Sam Winnall[emoji848]

 

[TailsWeWin]

BuT hE’s ThE bEsT PlAyEr In LeAgUe One

No, no…. that’s Bate. No, hold on, it’s Wildshut. Or is it Brannagan? KR is blessed with so many Best Players.

I thought we did a good job last night, however. Radio 5 say we were “stubborn for an hour” which is about right. Oh for a striker!! We just didn’t look like scoring.
Our midfield deserves better.

 

[McXal]

Fun evening. Don’t think we really laid a glove on them in all honesty - but we worked hard, defended manfully for an hour with some decent individual performances (Anderson, Brown, Bate).

To cause an upset in games like this you need to carry a genuine threat (as we did in the games against the likes of Newcastle, Swansea or the West Ham drubbing) so you can capitalise if the PL team isn’t on it. And I didn’t think Arsenal were particularly ‘on it’ - especially in the first 45. Compared to the two Man City teams who visited the Kassam I didn’t think they were as good. But, as we’ve seen in the league, we are so unbalanced, one-paced and toothless as an attacking side that we never really carried that threat unfortunately…so were just waiting to be picked off by a moment of quality (or, in the end, a couple of moments of poor defending for their first two goals).

Highlight of the night for me is beyond doubt the amount of press and exposure the new stadium banner received. Well done to all involved!

Now back to business, and grinding our way to L1 safety so we can put this wasted season to bed, learn from it and move on without doing damage to our League status…

 

[Eaststanding]

Let’s not talk about on the pitch.

Let’s talk about off it.

Where the f**k was the big cup atmosphere under the lights? Embarrassing. Could hear a pin drop for large periods.

If you were at the game you’d know it was a decent atmosphere. Go and troll somewhere else, it’s boring.

 

[Score in a minute......]

Can’t play Bodin and Taylor together in a team again. No pace and Bodin very little foot in fight. For 5 mins in the first half we had Arsenal rocking as we looked like a team that was going to be physical and they didn’t like it. within mins of GOD coming on he caused problems. We need pace and fight otherwise we could have a difficult few months.

 

[unification]

We did really well for a good hour but one goal was always going to become 2-3+ once we conceded and it was such an unnecessary goal to give away. Just like the first City game back in 2018, we didn’t get thrashed but we never looked like scoring. The team of 2019 would have posed a huge threat to Arsenal’s backline but tonight we had nothing despite a couple of glimmers which came to nothing.

Arsenal players were throwing themselves to the ground, feigning injuries galore and trying to con the ref at any opportunity - just shows how bad the Prem has become and a ref of that league bought everything. It took a £600m+ team to finally break the deadlock which was quite a big achievement but I wish we offered more as it probably looked quite dire on TV.

We desperately need a new striker this window because Taylor is not enough and in any other season, he would’ve been long dropped by now. Murphy was very disappointing on the big stage and failed to work with Anderson who had a great game. Wildschut did nothing of note as per and we should’ve tightened up at the back a lot sooner because the final two goals we good finishes but shouldn’t have happened.

I thought exactly the same re. the 2019 KR side. With Dickie, Baptiste, Fosu, peak Taylor et al, I think they would have caused Arsenal more trouble.

We were far from bad and was proud that it took Arteta to turn to the bench to eventually allow Arsenal to win the tie. We looked organised, didn’t resort to primitive tactics and had some performances that caught the eye – Anderson was great, Bate looked comfortable and for a CB playing at LB against Saka I thought Brown stood up to the task. The lack of anything resembling a goal-scoring chance was a major disappointment. We can point the fingers at Taylor who is that half yard slower now in the main, but our shape that serves us well doesn’t really allow for anyone else to be charging into the box.

I’m also disappointed that KR didn’t react to Arsenal’s subs with either substitutions of our own or by picking players to track Xhaka. Oh well – we never had much hope against the side top of the pile but we could have maybe hung on for longer or generated a few more chances to get that bit closer.

 

[Manorlounger]

Interesting ITV asking questions of Karl about our ground. Good stuff. Really good stuff. And he answered that question (if not others) well.

Ahem.

Then that's what the club should do, on live TV Monday evening. In fact, any opportunity to mention the prospective new stadium and Stratfield Brake/Frieze Way should be at the forefront of any club official with an opportunity to speak to the media. Let's get the word out there.

I wonder!

 

[Golden Dr Otto]

Can’t play Bodin and Taylor together in a team again. No pace and Bodin very little foot in fight.

This ^^^^ massively so.

Both need to be offloaded they offer absolutely nothing. And as I’ve said before certainly can’t be played together. People seem to be taken in by Bodins technical charm to turn back in and play a ball backwards or infield. But a winger who does that and can’t knowingly beat his full back is an opposition coaches dream

KR has had five years in charge and we appear to possess no forward line.

 

[outsidethebox]

Not read the entire thread. Enjoyed the match overall but it was evident that Taylor wasn't going to trouble the Arsenal defence so GOD needed to come on at the hour mark. He didn't, Arsenal scored and added two more in the 13 minutes it took Robinson to get GOD on. To me, that was absolutely shocking management.

 

[Oufccraig45]

BuT hE’s ThE bEsT PlAyEr In LeAgUe One

Murphy, Taylor both s**t Taylor needs dropping ASAP and both offer nothing all Taylor is good for is falling to the floor JUST HOPE that we sign a decent striker ASAP