Home Match Day Thread +++ 09/09/2018 OUFC v Coventry City match day thread +++

[PottersRightBoot]

No pace up front.Badly timed substitutions. Obika and Garbutt both did well but on far too late.

Browne targeted in first 15 and he didn’t fancy showboating for the tv thereafter. Poor.

Baptiste put his senior teammates to shame.

If Henry plays well we win. He doesn’t like tight marking though. Holmes faded terribly.
I don’t think we can play against in your face opponents. Why not ? Muck and nettles is a basic. Don’t get bullied!

Coventry were fairly useless. But had a good game plan. We should have been ready for them.

There is talent in the team but the talent is not being applied.

Keeper is a good shot stopper but can’t kick reliably and cocked up alarmingly for pen.

Perched up on the TV gantry about 5 yards from Robbo got quieter and quieter as the game progressed. He looked a stressed worried man at the end. He should be.

Despite the very patient Oxford support.

 

[Oldham]

So three games for Robbo and Derry to save their jobs?

Would be a bit harsh to give them the bullet after a good dicking by Man City...
so two games it is ?

 

[Oufcrealist]

We started strongly but faded ever so quickly towards the end of the first half and then totally disappeared in the second. I fear we’re mentally naive and weak. Perhaps a symptom of the Premier League academies? When we are given the space and time to express ourselves, we play some fantastic, beautiful football. BUT, as soon as we are closed down, pressed, and harried, we fall to pieces. We struggle to cope with the ugly elements of men’s football. The physicality often just isn’t there. We get bullied off the ball and we struggle come up with a reply. The number of times we hold off the opposing man, refusing to put a foot in or tackle, perhaps through fear of being booked or fouling the player, it’s infuriating. Likewise, in attack our players seem frightened to take a risk and actually shoot. There is so much fear in the squad at the moment.

We lack a mental fortitude that would allow us to see out more difficult periods of play. As soon as we perceive the tide to have turned, we buckle under the pressure. Ironically, it’s some of the least experienced players in our squad who seem least susceptible to this, namely Baptiste.

Hard lessons need to be learned, and fast. We need to be nasty at times. The defence in particular often seem to shy away from putting a foot in and instead just back off and back off. We can’t always do things the pretty way, sometimes we need to be ruthless and take risks.

Although we do committ lots of fouls. We are top of the L1 fouls table!! So I don't think we are too nice. I think we are naive and teams get us where they want us. Tactically we are very easy to play against and that is a big concern.

 

[begbrokeox]

Although we do committ lots of fouls. We are top of the L1 fouls table!! So I don't think we are too nice. I think we are naive and teams get us where they want us. Tactically we are very easy to play against and that is a big concern.

Interesting. We definitely don’t seem effective enough in the tackle. It seems that when the tackle does come, it’s often too late, when either the player or ball has gone past the defender already. Perhaps that’s the cause of the fouls?

 

[werthersoriginal]

We needed to score when we were on top in the first half. If we had I’m sure we would have won. It’s worrying that although they were a young side City were more canny than us

 

[Bigfella72]

Although we do committ lots of fouls. We are top of the L1 fouls table!! So I don't think we are too nice. I think we are naive and teams get us where they want us. Tactically we are very easy to play against and that is a big concern.

Tbf half the fouls given against us today weren’t fouls! There big No18 couldn’t stay on his feet ?

 

[bazzer9461]

Although we do committ lots of fouls. We are top of the L1 fouls table!! So I don't think we are too nice. I think we are naive and teams get us where they want us. Tactically we are very easy to play against and that is a big concern.

The problem with that’s statement is the refs we have had especially today as soon as the opposition go down it’s a foul yet they haven’t been touched, Holmes went down near the byline near the end of the match that was as bad as their so called fouls and he didn’t get anything. The refs are to inconsistent.

 

[Oldham]

Interesting. We definitely don’t seem effective enough in the tackle. It seems that when the tackle does come, it’s often too late, when either the player or ball has gone past the defender already. Perhaps that’s the cause of the fouls?

Pretty good chance I’d say ?

 

[Johnf]

Very disappointing today I thought the last few games we looked to have turned the corner, but today it seemed it was back to square one.
Coventry looked to want it more than us.

 

[Oldham]

That bloody drum though ?

 

[battman]

Whilst we weren't great for crucial parts of the game, I'm not sure we were as bad as we were at the start of the season. The Portsmouth walloping was horrifically poor, and it does look like we're improving from that. Before today we've won 3 and drawn 1 of our last 4 games.

Baptiste was immense, Norman looks comfortable at this level and the attacking midfield 3 look to have something about them - if we had Whyte available to bring on that could've made the difference. Hanson is coming back in too and surely he'd be partnered with Baptiste. Easty I hope won't be too far away from a comeback - Mitchell is a decent shot stopper but I remain unconvinced by other parts of his game.

I think we're slowly but surely going in the right direction, whether it'll be enough for KR until the axes falls, time will tell.

 

[ljs]

Some of the abuse Mitchell got today was embarrassing to listen to. The moaners need to accept he won't be playing it long down the middle, no matter how loudly and swearily the protest. He's being asked kick it there by the manger

If he is going to pass it the back line EVERY single time, then it's a bad tactic as so predictable and easy for the opposition to press. It's needs to vary occasionally!

 

[Osleroad]

Would be a bit harsh to give them the bullet after a good dicking by Man City...
so two games it is [emoji41]

Thank heavens it's not on TV!

 

[holdsteady]

I thought today’s game showed we missed Whyte, he is our most direct attacking threat, without him we went back to the pedestrian side with little urgency.

 

[Oxfordpete]

Well Home from game and skimmed tho the game on tv, too many players had bad games
We don’t battle, Baptiste aside that is, we were so slow going forward, they closed us down very quickly, often putting 2 or 3 on Holmes and Browne at times. We weren’t close enough to them which game them space something we didn’t get, awful performance really, but misses change game and how Nelson failed to connect with that header is beyond me, we didn’t work their goalie enough, well at all ....... you can’t score unless you shoot on target.....
I know Whyte is away, Hall and Sami ate injured and Hanson banned but the bench looks week, yes Okiba scored and it’s a pity he wasn’t on the end of that Nelson chance,
He’s not great in the air and was regularly beaten in the air when long balls came at us
And why oh why did so many of our players seem to slip over the Coventry lads didn’t
A very very poor display with a distinct lack of fight

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I thought today’s game showed we missed Whyte, he is our most direct attacking threat, without him we went back to the pedestrian side with little urgency.

But Whyte didn't come on until after an hour gone against Sunderland and we started with the same team? You'd have hoped they would have been able to recapture some of the attacking intent they showed in that game.
I do have a worry though, that our best period in many games seems to be the first quarter of the match and we fade badly as time goes on...

 

[Deleted member 222]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned that Coventry should of been down to 10 men after just 12 minutes as Junior Brown's tackle on Marcus Browne was a shocking challenge that should of been a straight red.

 

[Joey]

As a text I n Radox pointed out 5yard passes aren’t always going to work. I have moaned in the past about my next point and I’m going img t moan again “ what the f**k are these continuous passes along our defence all about “ we almost got caught out again. And the free kick in the 2nd half Mitchell comes right out of goal to take it almost gets there and Nelson takes yes and again along the back line with a gaping goal. Come on Robbo sort it out.

Robinson was next to us at the back of the SSU and he was fuming at this. Also wasn't happy with a lot of Mitchell's distribution and was screaming for Obika to go up front when he came on rather than drop into midfield.

Overall a decent start today but poor overall. Did their keeper make a save all game? There are some decent players out there but it seems disjointed. Henry was pretty poor today, Browne seemed to be playing for the cameras and Holmes didn't have a big impact. We don't have a good enough striker although Mackie did at least get somewhere close to holding the ball up. If the strikers aren't going to score goals, and there is nothing in any of their histories to suggest they're going to get even to double figures, then they need to be doing more than sometimes laying a ball off otherwise they're a waste of a player. It's a shame as Obika has the physical attributes to be a real handful but not the mentality, he doesn't throw his weight around as he should and for a big guy he doesn't look to get on crosses, he always pulls back to the edge of the box or mills around at the back post, he actively hides from the ball and shirks any responsibility for trying to score which isn't a great trait for a striker.

 

[RCYellowRC]

The problem is simple, second balls in midfield. Didn't get to them enough. Again we lose to a team who play 442, the last two teams Burton and Sunderland played 1 up top and we matched them. Coventry played us at our own game. Did to us what we did to Burton and Sunderland. Robinson needs to go back to 2 upfront because we competed as soon as he did that. Drop one of the 3 behind and use them as a option off the bench as we have nothing on there.

 

[RCYellowRC]

ll. Did their keeper make a save all game?.

One really good save to deny Henry at 1-0. Low down and Palmed it to the exact area Holmes was for his goal against Burton.