Away Match Day Thread +++ 17/09/19 L1: Bolton Wanderers v OUFC +++

[Roge]

Watched it on iplayer like many dissapointed with the result, but those who predicted a " banana skin" before the game did not believe that would be the case if you look at some of the comments. It seemed like a cup game to me they pressured us high up the pitch and we played very little football from the back. Bolton have an experienced bunch of players who reacted positively after the humiliation at Rotherham. Given all the publicity about the saving of Bolton what surprised me was that only 6422 home fans turned up for the start of what I presume is a new era for them. I thought they were a bigger club than that.

 

[Shosho]

This is why I don't personally buy the "we produce some wonderful build up play". No we don't. We pass the ball along the back line, pop it into midfield, back to the defence, centre half has a jog out with the ball, plays it up field to a forward / winger, lays it back to a centre mid, moves it out wide, and then a full back crosses it into the box aimlessly where it's cleared away. There's no cutting edge what so ever. We don't go past people to break the line in the final third, don't move the ball quickly around the box in central areas, and don't look to play balls in behind or down the channels. Our build up play is ineffective - people can say it's as lovely to look at as they like, but it doesn't do anything threatening and it's completely predictable to boot.

Where are the clear cut chances over the last month? Three goals v Coventry: two own goals and a wonder strike from 20+ yards. Three goals v Tranmere: two penalties and a deflection. Goal against Fleetwood: early ball back in from a clearance and a good header from a 6'5" centre back, fair enough. Two goals v Millwall: a deflected shot from 20 yards and a penalty. One goal v Bristol Rovers: a 25 yard curler. For the last month or so we have been relying on penalties, lucky nicks and moments of individual brilliance - we don't create good quality chances and we don't create them frequently. We're badly lacking in pace, and I think it's clear to see just how much we miss Whyte's ability to simply shuffle the ball and go past somebody. Just that simple ability to break a line by nudging the ball forward and running faster than somebody else can cause panic and open up gaps. Now we seem to be stuck in a situation where we need time and space, and if a team backs off us we will keep the ball for fun, have lots of possession etc, but can't actually break a team down, get in behind them and score simple goals from inside the penalty area.

The question I have is what do we do to change it? Would a formation shift help, and if so what formation do we change to? Who plays where? If we go 4-3-3, who is on the right wing? Henry is ineffective unless he's more central and Forde looks a bit like a younger version of him who plays a similar way. Hall... who knows what's going on with him. So we've got Fosu on the left if he's actually fit to start every week, but no right wing option with any pace or real threat, and no real left wing option either if Fosu is out. 4-4-2... do we have two fit strikers? And you still need two wide players like you do in 4-3-3. Three at the back... we only have three centre halves and one of them is currently injured.

What are our options? I would genuinely be curious to see ideas for a team / formation based on what we have.

Ultimately we are performing as a mid table side. The issue is tactical inflexibility - KR can claim different formations etc but it’s still the same players being asked to do the same things. We still move it around in a horseshoe at the back - our only creativity comes from Cadden and whilst decent, as yet, he hasn’t found an end product. Some of that is down to his quality, the wrong type of delivery, some is down to the lack of anyone attacking the box.

For example vs tranmere:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1173884757458989056

I think 4231 at home is largely *fine*. Nothing supersonic but largely we can dominate most teams - it requires us being positionally aware with Gorrin pluging a lot of gaps but #10 is largely missing.

I said a few weeks ago KR will have decisions to make...as yet Woodburn hasn’t been the creative force we thought he would be and for large parts is on the periphery.

I think, especially away from home, we should be going 433. Put Gorrin/Brannagan/Baptiste in the middle (can switch Baptiste for Sykes or Henry). Henry is ok on the right and has decent link up with Cadden so you rely on the pace from Fosu on the left (however Forde isn’t particularly slow). We gave up 15 shots to Bolton yesterday - we didn’t have an attempt until nearly 30mins. Three in midfield would offer more security but once again relies on Cadden and Henry down the right creating...or Fosu weaving.

Taylor had one attempt yesterday where he was played in behind the defence - this is the threat we need to work on as we are so one dimensional.

A very easy way to improve also is to come up with 2/3 set piece routines that aren’t just ‘float it to Moore or Dickie’. We put a block on the keeper which is good, however there is also no surprise in our attacking set pieces. Get the set pieces nailed you are looking at 10/15 goals a season - we’d be pretty happy if we had a striker hitting those numbers!

TLDR; 433 away from home, 4231 ‘ok’ at home, work on set pieces

 

[TailsWeWin]

This is why I don't personally buy the "we produce some wonderful build up play". No we don't. We pass the ball along the back line, pop it into midfield, back to the defence, centre half has a jog out with the ball, plays it up field to a forward / winger, lays it back to a centre mid, moves it out wide, and then a full back crosses it into the box aimlessly where it's cleared away. There's no cutting edge what so ever. We don't go past people to break the line in the final third, don't move the ball quickly around the box in central areas, and don't look to play balls in behind or down the channels. Our build up play is ineffective - people can say it's as lovely to look at as they like, but it doesn't do anything threatening and it's completely predictable to boot.

Where are the clear cut chances over the last month? Three goals v Coventry: two own goals and a wonder strike from 20+ yards. Three goals v Tranmere: two penalties and a deflection. Goal against Fleetwood: early ball back in from a clearance and a good header from a 6'5" centre back, fair enough. Two goals v Millwall: a deflected shot from 20 yards and a penalty. One goal v Bristol Rovers: a 25 yard curler. For the last month or so we have been relying on penalties, lucky nicks and moments of individual brilliance - we don't create good quality chances and we don't create them frequently. We're badly lacking in pace, and I think it's clear to see just how much we miss Whyte's ability to simply shuffle the ball and go past somebody. Just that simple ability to break a line by nudging the ball forward and running faster than somebody else can cause panic and open up gaps. Now we seem to be stuck in a situation where we need time and space, and if a team backs off us we will keep the ball for fun, have lots of possession etc, but can't actually break a team down, get in behind them and score simple goals from inside the penalty area.

The question I have is what do we do to change it? Would a formation shift help, and if so what formation do we change to? Who plays where? If we go 4-3-3, who is on the right wing? Henry is ineffective unless he's more central and Forde looks a bit like a younger version of him who plays a similar way. Hall... who knows what's going on with him. So we've got Fosu on the left if he's actually fit to start every week, but no right wing option with any pace or real threat, and no real left wing option either if Fosu is out. 4-4-2... do we have two fit strikers? And you still need two wide players like you do in 4-3-3. Three at the back... we only have three centre halves and one of them is currently injured.

What are our options? I would genuinely be curious to see ideas for a team / formation based on what we have.

Thoroughly agree. ONE of the answers would be to drop Woodburn and put Henry in there.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

I am without any stats to back this up - but it still 'feels' to me as if Long should be at right back with Cadden in front of him and Henry should be more central.

 

[Shosho]

I am without any stats to back this up - but it still 'feels' to me as if Long should be at right back with Cadden in front of him and Henry should be more central.

Is a tricky one as long would be more solid...however then prevents Cadden running from deep on the overlap. Wouldn’t be against it happening as Cadden primarily played RW in Scotland before his final season

 

[Whingit]

I thought Long should have played last night. Also, I think that if we play with a 10 then we need 2 CDMs instead of just Gorrin and a box to box type.

 

[m]

Thoroughly agree. ONE of the answers would be to drop Woodburn and put Henry in there.

That's the difficult one for me.

Woodburn plainly has bags of ability but has so far been hugely disappointing.

Stick or twist?

 

[Teddydee1980]

Is a tricky one as long would be more solid...however then prevents Cadden running from deep on the overlap. Wouldn’t be against it happening as Cadden primarily played RW in Scotland before his final season

What I find odd is that last season ALL our attacking play was about hitting teams on the break. Graham, Brown, Whyte, Sinclair were all tasked with this...it was a great antidote to teams hitting us on the press....I cannot fathom why we didn't continue in that vein or, if we have, in any sense....put ALL of that onus on a right back who will be with us for another 3 months....

 

[Shaun Rice]

Don't worry, I still think we'll beat Lincoln 6-0!!! ??

You know that’s just OUFC, we might just go and do that!

 

[Shosho]

What I find odd is that last season ALL our attacking play was about hitting teams on the break. Graham, Brown, Whyte, Sinclair were all tasked with this...it was a great antidote to teams hitting us on the press....I cannot fathom why we didn't continue in that vein or, if we have, in any sense....put ALL of that onus on a right back who will be with us for another 3 months....

It looked in the summer we had gone more towards ‘technical’ players with Henry/Forde/Woodburn but with Mackie up top there isn’t a huge amount of movement to aim for. Again, I tweeted early on that it’s a worry we are putting nearly all our attacking impetus through someone that may not be here in january ?‍

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

We have lost our two best players and it really shows doesn’t it. Not defending well enough and no real pace up front. This is a common theme for us every year and I don’t see it changing much either.

I expect that Taylor will score the goals once he gets going but it’s going to be the same as last year, misfiring up to Christmas and then finishing strong. All a frustrating more than anything else.

 

[Oldman159]

Watched it on iPlayer in Tenerife.

Dissapointing just about sums it (the game, not Tenerife) up for me.

I have one question which someone might be able to answer:

Why does Fosu always turn his back on the oppositions goal and fall down a lot? Just askin for Mrs OM who felt she needed to support me by watching too.

 

[yellowbow]

This is why I don't personally buy the "we produce some wonderful build up play". No we don't. We pass the ball along the back line, pop it into midfield, back to the defence, centre half has a jog out with the ball, plays it up field to a forward / winger, lays it back to a centre mid, moves it out wide, and then a full back crosses it into the box aimlessly where it's cleared away. There's no cutting edge what so ever. We don't go past people to break the line in the final third, don't move the ball quickly around the box in central areas, and don't look to play balls in behind or down the channels. Our build up play is ineffective - people can say it's as lovely to look at as they like, but it doesn't do anything threatening and it's completely predictable to boot.

Where are the clear cut chances over the last month? Three goals v Coventry: two own goals and a wonder strike from 20+ yards. Three goals v Tranmere: two penalties and a deflection. Goal against Fleetwood: early ball back in from a clearance and a good header from a 6'5" centre back, fair enough. Two goals v Millwall: a deflected shot from 20 yards and a penalty. One goal v Bristol Rovers: a 25 yard curler. For the last month or so we have been relying on penalties, lucky nicks and moments of individual brilliance - we don't create good quality chances and we don't create them frequently. We're badly lacking in pace, and I think it's clear to see just how much we miss Whyte's ability to simply shuffle the ball and go past somebody. Just that simple ability to break a line by nudging the ball forward and running faster than somebody else can cause panic and open up gaps. Now we seem to be stuck in a situation where we need time and space, and if a team backs off us we will keep the ball for fun, have lots of possession etc, but can't actually break a team down, get in behind them and score simple goals from inside the penalty area.

The question I have is what do we do to change it? Would a formation shift help, and if so what formation do we change to? Who plays where? If we go 4-3-3, who is on the right wing? Henry is ineffective unless he's more central and Forde looks a bit like a younger version of him who plays a similar way. Hall... who knows what's going on with him. So we've got Fosu on the left if he's actually fit to start every week, but no right wing option with any pace or real threat, and no real left wing option either if Fosu is out. 4-4-2... do we have two fit strikers? And you still need two wide players like you do in 4-3-3. Three at the back... we only have three centre halves and one of them is currently injured.

What are our options? I would genuinely be curious to see ideas for a team / formation based on what we have.

I made the same point yesterday though not as articulately! What can we do to change things with such a lopsided squad.? Too many players who play the same positions and not enough (fit and ready) options in attacking and defensive areas.

 

[Sarge]

I made the same point yesterday though not as articulately! What can we do to change things with such a lopsided squad.? Too many players who play the same positions and not enough (fit and ready) options in attacking and defensive areas.

and a couple of fit ones 'out of favour' .... Long & Sykes. incidentally when theyve played (cup games) this season Oufc have won ( granted one was on pens)

 

[werthersoriginal]

This is why I don't personally buy the "we produce some wonderful build up play". No we don't. We pass the ball along the back line, pop it into midfield, back to the defence, centre half has a jog out with the ball, plays it up field to a forward / winger, lays it back to a centre mid, moves it out wide, and then a full back crosses it into the box aimlessly where it's cleared away. There's no cutting edge what so ever. We don't go past people to break the line in the final third, don't move the ball quickly around the box in central areas, and don't look to play balls in behind or down the channels. Our build up play is ineffective - people can say it's as lovely to look at as they like, but it doesn't do anything threatening and it's completely predictable to boot.

Where are the clear cut chances over the last month? Three goals v Coventry: two own goals and a wonder strike from 20+ yards. Three goals v Tranmere: two penalties and a deflection. Goal against Fleetwood: early ball back in from a clearance and a good header from a 6'5" centre back, fair enough. Two goals v Millwall: a deflected shot from 20 yards and a penalty. One goal v Bristol Rovers: a 25 yard curler. For the last month or so we have been relying on penalties, lucky nicks and moments of individual brilliance - we don't create good quality chances and we don't create them frequently. We're badly lacking in pace, and I think it's clear to see just how much we miss Whyte's ability to simply shuffle the ball and go past somebody. Just that simple ability to break a line by nudging the ball forward and running faster than somebody else can cause panic and open up gaps. Now we seem to be stuck in a situation where we need time and space, and if a team backs off us we will keep the ball for fun, have lots of possession etc, but can't actually break a team down, get in behind them and score simple goals from inside the penalty area.

The question I have is what do we do to change it? Would a formation shift help, and if so what formation do we change to? Who plays where? If we go 4-3-3, who is on the right wing? Henry is ineffective unless he's more central and Forde looks a bit like a younger version of him who plays a similar way. Hall... who knows what's going on with him. So we've got Fosu on the left if he's actually fit to start every week, but no right wing option with any pace or real threat, and no real left wing option either if Fosu is out. 4-4-2... do we have two fit strikers? And you still need two wide players like you do in 4-3-3. Three at the back... we only have three centre halves and one of them is currently injured.

What are our options? I would genuinely be curious to see ideas for a team / formation based on what we have.

To be fair we’ve also been putting in some good hard crosses , generally when we cross early, that no one has got on the end of or even been near. Caddens high aimless crosses don’t seem to cause much trouble

 

[uptheus]

We have no consistency.

We do!!

 

[Sarge]

We do!!

consistently inconsistent?

 

[uptheus]

consistently inconsistent?

I was thinking worse than that!

 

[Shropshire U]

Why does Fosu always turn his back on the oppositions goal and fall down a lot? Just askin for Mrs OM who felt she needed to support me by watching too.

Good question! He's got skill and trickery and he could be a real asset. His quick feet in tight situations will often draw fouls: so we need to be better at making use of the free kicks he might win.
But the fact that he draws fouls seems to cause him to look for the foul, so he goes down at times when he's not really been touched. He was lucky not to have been booked for this at Bolton.

 

[Oxfordpete]

We always struggle against teams who close us down, we always appear to stand off and therefore give other teams/players space to move or run with the ball, Bolton recruited 9 players at the last minute of transfer day, but appear to look like a team, unlike us, who appeared not to know what the rest of our team was going to do or try. It will be interesting to see what Bolton do on Saturday. If they get stuffed again it will show how poor we really were, because I thought we looked awful Tuesday, if Bolton win on Saturday perhaps we will look back and be grateful for a point, it will also show us how good their last minute recruitment was