Home Match Day Thread +++ 21/12/19 OUFC v Wycombe Wanderers +++

[Sarge]

I thought he had signed a contract extension beyond this season.

He has

 

[ljs]

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.

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.

The second half they re organised and did what a lot of teams do when down to 10 men, as in pack the defence and make themselves difficult to break down. This, along with Gorrin being replaced, resulted in us losing our attacking fluidity and being a bit unsure what to do and hesitant when we got to just outside there box.

Their only real atracking threat was the long throw and punts into the box, which can sometimes drop the way of the attacking team. I guess that's how they get most of their wins by the single goal. Very 80s Wimbledon.

Passes -
Oxford 575
Wycombe 146

Long balls -
Oxford 58 (10% of passes)
Wycombe 66 (45% of passes)

Says it all really.

 

[RgYellows]

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.

 

[MJB]

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.

That’s probably the best tactical analysis - in narrative terms - that I’ve read on here. [emoji1303]

 

[beyondthefourth]

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.

Enjoying life in Luton, Bondy?

 

[Yellow Mustard]

Second 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.

 

[WhyteMustard]

Second 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.

Cadden is irreplaceable but time will tell

 

[Johnf]

Good all round team performance again yesterday. Although it was difficult to fashion many chances after they went down to 10 men I thought we controlled the game well and the defence did their job when they had to. Was worrying when Brannagan went down and looked like he was coming off because he is vital to the team.
As for Wycombe I’ve got a feeling they will be coming down with the Christmas decorations.

 

[Yellow River]

The defensive midfield position is very important in the way KR sets his teams up.

Our best football last season had Mousinho and then Kashi playing there. Prior to that we were struggling. This season it’s Gorrin. These 3 players all know how to play in that position, they all move the ball quickly and that I think is the key.

Baptiste and Henry are both technically excellent at this level, however they both hold onto the ball for too long in the holding role, perhaps looking for the killer/Hollywood pass when that’s not their role.

Gorrin is a really important player for us.

 

[Paul Cannell]

Hmm, interesting. Maybe that's why our pace dropped so dramatically after half time?

 

[bazzer9461]

I'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

Surprised they weren’t given a slap.....can see it now they’re boasting we took Cornmarket Street

 

[Paul Cannell]

They'll have to bring it back, it's far too big to fit in Wycombe.

 

[Manorlounger]

Watching the highlights back it was clear to see that Gorrin did not actually touch the player in the tackle that got him a card. The dive and rolling around in "agony" was pure theatre. The shove, by Akinfenwa on Cadden, was so strong as to cause Cadden's neck to snap forward and could have resulted in serious injury. He may come across as a nice chap in interviews and as a pundit but, he certainly has a dark side about him.

 

[bazzer9461]

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

 

[beyondthefourth]

Keeper wasn’t time wasting? Maybe you had ifollow on 2x speed or ifollow edited out the Wyscumb goal kicks

You seemed to miss the point of RgYellows post.

 

[christenedinjericho]

Before the game I thought High Wycombe's gameplan would be to spoil the game and snatch a point or maybe three. However, after a few minutes or so the only spoiling that actually happened (for us) was seeing the beast getting sent off as he had obviously had enough of being no more than a slow pedestrian trying to bridge the gap in class that was truly happening up front with the game passing him by. What a stroke of luck for him that he had already got himself a booking and snuck a easier chance to get himself sent off. He must had been mightly relieved to be heading into the relative easier passage of the changing rooms rather than chasing a real time lost cause with the game and speed of passing actually passing the big man by. Tbh I thought the big man was hung out to dry a little by GA as our slick passing game was always going to be a slog for anyone let alone a 37 year old who probably over his career deserved better.

As for the game we had this done before he got his orders. They High Wycombe are a team who will either run out of steam or a team that will finish off what little support they have before their season is out. There football if you can call it is dire. We are very lucky to be watching a 3rd division team in championship clothing.

Now for their support. It would have been a travesty if they didn't bring 1800 supporters just the 28 miles or so down the road as I'm damn sure a team like Crawley given their support and league position would take this amount to Brighton if they too were top of their respective league. They're singing of 'chairboys' sort of mixed my mind a little of a cross between 'in house games' at Hogwarts and St Trinian's...hello there.

Great end for a really decent week and lets hope that Lincoln aren't going to come to the kassam on Boxing Day and play anything like the last two league opponent's have and spoil what could be touch wood a bit more festive cheer for the men in yellow.

Coyy's.

 

[Oxford Aesthete]

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!

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?

 

[ZeroTheHero]

Firstly, I didn’t see their goalkeeper timewasting at all.

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!

 

[Oxford Aesthete]

Surprised they weren’t given a slap.....can see it now they’re boasting we took Cornmarket Street

Lucky the blighters didn't bump in to any of our chaps they would've been served up a bloody good hiding

 

[Oxford Aesthete]

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!

Didn't get this at all did he think they were winning 1-0?