Sarge
God like member
- Joined
- 6 Dec 2017
- Messages
- 54,975
He hasI thought he had signed a contract extension beyond this season.
He hasI thought he had signed a contract extension beyond this season.
We were far better against them when it was 11v11. Before Akinfenwa got himself sent off, and for the rest of the first half, I thought they offered very little and it was one of our most comfortable games for a long time.I don’t think we can truly judge Wycombe on their performance/tactics as they went down to 10 men early on, but having said that we outplayed them when it was 11 v 11.
Taking a look at the match again on iFollow and I have to admit that for once, most of the things I noted were about the other team.
Firstly, I didn’t see their goalkeeper timewasting at all. Wycombe build their game around set pieces to a fascinating extent. I would wager that plenty of their goals come from free kicks around the half-way line which are hauled into the box for a knock down. They bring their defenders up, but it looked like Akinfenwa was the primary target. We certainly treated those set pieces with respect, bringing every single man back. People get annoyed when we do that for a corner!
When they went down to ten men, they didn’t win those free kicks, because we didn’t really have to concede them. The goal kicks were therefore their primary source of attacks – to the extent that the 33 passes Allsop attempted were 43% higher than his nearest teammate and more than (deep breath) Gape, Smyth, Aarons, Kashket, Akinfenwa, Bloomfield and Jombati attempted together in the entire match.
They weren’t time wasting, they were setting up for a set piece and taking 20-30 seconds, as we would do for a corner or free kick on the end of the box. You can see Jacobson telling Allsop to slow down and wait for people to get into position, even right near the end of the game.
In the first half, Wycombe didn’t offer much at all. The only time they caused us a problem on the ground was when Akinfenwa hit a direct pass into the left channel, for Kashket to run on to. I would guess Kashket is the best ‘footballer’ in the squad and the one who gets to feed on the scraps. They were noticeable for an almost complete lack of technical or attacking quality in midfield. With Akinfenwa off, they launched aerial balls to Kashket. That isn’t his game at all and we could win the duel, then pass it off calmly.
Why did they get better in the second half? I think they found the aerial match up that they liked, which was Allsop kicking over to Wheeler in RM. I watched every goal kick in the second half and saw four that didn’t go that way – one went to Wheeler, but centrally. One went to the right, but to someone else stood in Wheeler’s position. Two went short, and one of those was promptly launched to – guess who?
They also brought on Smyth for Kashket, and the reason seemed to be that Smyth had a long throw on him. Thus Wycombe could start treating another set piece with the same sort of care you rarely see from other sides. In open play, the two seemed like quite similar players. So Wycombe spent what was a very valuable substitution (given they were down to ten) purely to get another set piece.
Geekery aside, on to Oxford, which is all we really care about.
A great example of what everyone tells you about 4-4-2 coming up against 4-3-3. Their two strikers, especially with Akinfenwa being one of them, couldn’t get near our defenders. Cadden was a spare man who could push up into RM. That left Henry to play a very central role and is why Wycombe got overrun in midfield.
Fosu spent longer on the byline than he has done, with Ruffels running inside in the first instance. This was a neat asymmetry with the Henry/Cadden situation described above. I really like Fosu in this role, because it lets him run at a defender as they backpedal. I think his shots when he cuts inside are his most dangerous. The goal came from a delightful Baptiste pass out to Fosu in this position.
We didn’t create better chances because Wycombe are just exceptionally organised. It is really hard to find an attack from open play where Wycombe do not have four defenders set in textbook positions. On the rare occasions a defender got dragged out, the midfield slotted in perfectly. Around the 70 minute mark we tried to shuffle the midfield a couple of times to cause confusion (Brannagan and Sykes both had a little spell on the left) but without much success. We might sniff at this but mental awareness and concentration were as much a part of any top modern side as technical ability, and Wycombe were brilliant at it for this level.
Which is why I will once again end on a note of man crush for James Henry. He anticipated and followed up on the loose ball so far ahead of this team that he not only got one free shot, but he had enough time to get the second one off before anyone got near him. Even Matty Taylor couldn’t beat their defence to a spilled shot in the second half, and I thought he was the league’s best.
They’re far more fun to watch back when we win.
Taking a look at the match again on iFollow and I have to admit that for once, most of the things I noted were about the other team.
Firstly, I didn’t see their goalkeeper timewasting at all. Wycombe build their game around set pieces to a fascinating extent. I would wager that plenty of their goals come from free kicks around the half-way line which are hauled into the box for a knock down. They bring their defenders up, but it looked like Akinfenwa was the primary target. We certainly treated those set pieces with respect, bringing every single man back. People get annoyed when we do that for a corner!
When they went down to ten men, they didn’t win those free kicks, because we didn’t really have to concede them. The goal kicks were therefore their primary source of attacks – to the extent that the 33 passes Allsop attempted were 43% higher than his nearest teammate and more than (deep breath) Gape, Smyth, Aarons, Kashket, Akinfenwa, Bloomfield and Jombati attempted together in the entire match.
They weren’t time wasting, they were setting up for a set piece and taking 20-30 seconds, as we would do for a corner or free kick on the end of the box. You can see Jacobson telling Allsop to slow down and wait for people to get into position, even right near the end of the game.
In the first half, Wycombe didn’t offer much at all. The only time they caused us a problem on the ground was when Akinfenwa hit a direct pass into the left channel, for Kashket to run on to. I would guess Kashket is the best ‘footballer’ in the squad and the one who gets to feed on the scraps. They were noticeable for an almost complete lack of technical or attacking quality in midfield. With Akinfenwa off, they launched aerial balls to Kashket. That isn’t his game at all and we could win the duel, then pass it off calmly.
Why did they get better in the second half? I think they found the aerial match up that they liked, which was Allsop kicking over to Wheeler in RM. I watched every goal kick in the second half and saw four that didn’t go that way – one went to Wheeler, but centrally. One went to the right, but to someone else stood in Wheeler’s position. Two went short, and one of those was promptly launched to – guess who?
They also brought on Smyth for Kashket, and the reason seemed to be that Smyth had a long throw on him. Thus Wycombe could start treating another set piece with the same sort of care you rarely see from other sides. In open play, the two seemed like quite similar players. So Wycombe spent what was a very valuable substitution (given they were down to ten) purely to get another set piece.
Geekery aside, on to Oxford, which is all we really care about.
A great example of what everyone tells you about 4-4-2 coming up against 4-3-3. Their two strikers, especially with Akinfenwa being one of them, couldn’t get near our defenders. Cadden was a spare man who could push up into RM. That left Henry to play a very central role and is why Wycombe got overrun in midfield.
Fosu spent longer on the byline than he has done, with Ruffels running inside in the first instance. This was a neat asymmetry with the Henry/Cadden situation described above. I really like Fosu in this role, because it lets him run at a defender as they backpedal. I think his shots when he cuts inside are his most dangerous. The goal came from a delightful Baptiste pass out to Fosu in this position.
We didn’t create better chances because Wycombe are just exceptionally organised. It is really hard to find an attack from open play where Wycombe do not have four defenders set in textbook positions. On the rare occasions a defender got dragged out, the midfield slotted in perfectly. Around the 70 minute mark we tried to shuffle the midfield a couple of times to cause confusion (Brannagan and Sykes both had a little spell on the left) but without much success. We might sniff at this but mental awareness and concentration were as much a part of any top modern side as technical ability, and Wycombe were brilliant at it for this level.
Which is why I will once again end on a note of man crush for James Henry. He anticipated and followed up on the loose ball so far ahead of this team that he not only got one free shot, but he had enough time to get the second one off before anyone got near him. Even Matty Taylor couldn’t beat their defence to a spilled shot in the second half, and I thought he was the league’s best.
They’re far more fun to watch back when we win.
Cadden is irreplaceable but time will tellSecond half just highlights how important Gorrin is. His reading of the game and positioning is exceptional- desperately needed when we are so fluid going forward.
With the Gorrin- Brannagan- Baptiste midfield we're a certain play off team. So athletic and balanced. I pray we can keep them fit and together as, for me, the rest of the squad is more changeable and disposable.
Surprised they weren’t given a slap.....can see it now they’re boasting we took Cornmarket StreetI'm sure local Christmas shoppers were terrified if not a little confused, that song doesn't really work in the context of the city centre, maybe they should've waited until they got in the ground
Taking a look at the match again on iFollow and I have to admit that for once, most of the things I noted were about the other team.
didn’tWycombe build their game around set pieces to a fascinating extent. I would wager that plenty of their goals come from free kicks around the half-way line which are hauled into the box for a knock down. They bring their defenders up, but it looked like Akinfenwa was the primary target. We certainly treated those set pieces with respect, bringing every single man back. People get annoyed when we do that for a corner!
When they went down to ten men, they didn’t win those free kicks, because we didn’t really have to concede them. The goal kicks were therefore their primary source of attacks – to the extent that the 33 passes Allsop attempted were 43% higher than his nearest teammate and more than (deep breath) Gape, Smyth, Aarons, Kashket, Akinfenwa, Bloomfield and Jombati attempted together in the entire match.
They weren’t time wasting, they were setting up for a set piece and taking 20-30 seconds, as we would do for a corner or free kick on the end of the box. You can see Jacobson telling Allsop to slow down and wait for people to get into position, even right near the end of the game.
In the first half, Wycombe didn’t offer much at all. The only time they caused us a problem on the ground was when Akinfenwa hit a direct pass into the left channel, for Kashket to run on to. I would guess Kashket is the best ‘footballer’ in the squad and the one who gets to feed on the scraps. They were noticeable for an almost complete lack of technical or attacking quality in midfield. With Akinfenwa off, they launched aerial balls to Kashket. That isn’t his game at all and we could win the duel, then pass it off calmly.
Why did they get better in the second half? I think they found the aerial match up that they liked, which was Allsop kicking over to Wheeler in RM. I watched every goal kick in the second half and saw four that didn’t go that way – one went to Wheeler, but centrally. One went to the right, but to someone else stood in Wheeler’s position. Two went short, and one of those was promptly launched to – guess who?
They also brought on Smyth for Kashket, and the reason seemed to be that Smyth had a long throw on him. Thus Wycombe could start treating another set piece with the same sort of care you rarely see from other sides. In open play, the two seemed like quite similar players. So Wycombe spent what was a very valuable substitution (given they were down to ten) purely to get another set piece.
Geekery aside, on to Oxford, which is all we really care about.
A great example of what everyone tells you about 4-4-2 coming up against 4-3-3. Their two strikers, especially with Akinfenwa being one of them, couldn’t get near our defenders. Cadden was a spare man who could push up into RM. That left Henry to play a very central role and is why Wycombe got overrun in midfield.
Fosu spent longer on the byline than he has done, with Ruffels running inside in the first instance. This was a neat asymmetry with the Henry/Cadden situation described above. I really like Fosu in this role, because it lets him run at a defender as they backpedal. I think his shots when he cuts inside are his most dangerous. The goal came from a delightful Baptiste pass out to Fosu in this position.
We didn’t create better chances because Wycombe are just exceptionally organised. It is really hard to find an attack from open play where Wycombe do not have four defenders set in textbook positions. On the rare occasions a defender got dragged out, the midfield slotted in perfectly. Around the 70 minute mark we tried to shuffle the midfield a couple of times to cause confusion (Brannagan and Sykes both had a little spell on the left) but without much success. We might sniff at this but mental awareness and concentration were as much a part of any top modern side as technical ability, and Wycombe were brilliant at it for this level.
Which is why I will once again end on a note of man crush for James Henry. He anticipated and followed up on the loose ball so far ahead of this team that he not only got one free shot, but he had enough time to get the second one off before anyone got near him. Even Matty Taylor couldn’t beat their defence to a spilled shot in the second half, and I thought he was the league’s best.
They’re far more fun to watch back when we win.
Keeper wasn’t time wasting? Maybe you had ifollow on 2x speed or ifollow edited out the Wyscumb goal kicks
Keeper wasn’t time wasting? Maybe you had ifollow on 2x speed or ifollow edited out the Wyscumb goal kicks
Agree, why go to a championship club and start again when there's a real possibility we could be playing in the championship next seadon?Why would any of our players want to leave in January when there's a real possiblity of winning something this season? I accept that some will leave but won't they have a better pick of where to go during the Summer? We might be in the Championship by then!
Really? I have never seen a man walk so slowly to put the ball down for a goal kick and wander back at the pace of an arthritic snail before doing his little bit of running on the spot and then kicking it. He did it all match. I suppose you could say 'lack of any urgency' rather than 'timewasting' if you were generous!Firstly, I didn’t see their goalkeeper timewasting at all.
Surprised they weren’t given a slap.....can see it now they’re boasting we took Cornmarket Street
Didn't get this at all did he think they were winning 1-0?Really? I have never seen a man walk so slowly to put the ball down for a goal kick and wander back at the pace of an arthritic snail before doing his little bit of running on the spot and then kicking it. He did it all match. I suppose you could say 'lack of any urgency' rather than 'timewasting' if you were generous!