Home Match Day Thread 22/01/2022 L1: OUFC v Sheffield Wednesday

Canadian_Yellow said:
Amazing game today. So many positives - Stevens back in goal, Taylor back in the goals, coming back from a goal down twice and KR showing we have a plan B, which, I hesitate to say, may suit the squad we have better than plan A and 4-3-3. Hope we see it again next Saturday but I won’t hold my breath.

Still, really important not to get carried away though. Seddon seems to have got away with one of the most blatant penalties not given this season - go 2-0 down and it’s a completely different game.

Let’s also talk about the second Wednesday goal. McNally has a free kick near the halfway line. He launches it forward and ref makes him take it again (commentators couldn’t figure out why, nor could I). Instead of launching it forward to the edge of their box again or down the line to Sykes, McNally, for some reason, plays it back to our keeper. Stevens completely messes up the clearance while being pressured and Windass’s shot from the mishit clearance spoons out for a throw in by our corner flag. We immediately lose possession from the throw in and 30 seconds later, it’s in our net.

You can cast blame for this goal against at several players but to me, it all stems from the crazy way we make a deliberate choice to go backwards on set pieces when we have the chance to put pressure on our opponents goal. We do this at least once a game and it drives me bananas. The second goal against today doesn’t come about if we don’t make a ridiculous pass back to our goalkeeper from a free kick on the halfway line. I just don’t understand the mentality of doing this. Best case scenario: Stevens (kicking being the weakest part of his game) kicks it just over the halfway line and we have a 50-50 chance of winning the ball. I think 100% of Oxford fans would take a 50-50 chance of winning the ball on the edge of their penalty area from the free kick instead and then a chance may develop - we could get a shot in or work it out wide for a cross.

There was also a throw in in the first half by the edge of their penalty area which we worked all the way back to either Long or Moore in our half and one of them tried to fizz it across to Seddon and it went straight out of play. Result: instead of us making a chance from a throw in a promising position, we give them the ball on the halfway line without them even touching it.

I get that you have to go backwards to go forwards in open play but you don’t at set pieces!! Funnily enough, these set piece annoyances came on a day when we actually looked dangerous at corners for the first time this season. Lots of credit to Bodin for that but please let’s go forwards and put pressure on the opponents goal from a set piece in their half, not pass backwards for no reason and risk making mistakes that gifts possession back to the other team.
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Their second goal came from a free kick we had in half way that we chose to play backwards which ended up with Stevens slicing for a throw in and they scored from that
Why the obsession with going backwards
 
Paul Moody's Left Boot said:
What a match! It's clear that having Stevens back in goal makes a huge difference, and hopefully he stays in goal so we can maintain our winning run.
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Not really, he was vary shaky. Thought he was very slow to get down their first and his indecision lead to his kick being charged down which ultimately lead to their second. Neither of our keepers fill me with confidence, something to address in the summer perhaps?
 
Joey's Left Boot said:
Not really, he was vary shaky. Thought he was very slow to get down their first and his indecision lead to his kick being charged down which ultimately lead to their second. Neither of our keepers fill me with confidence, something to address in the summer perhaps?
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Can’t see why Stevens replaced Eastwood unless KR just wanted to shake things up
 
He has to play him. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of clubs taking a look at him at the moment, and if he doesn’t play he may well look elsewhere.
Jack was phenomenal when given the chance. Eastwood has been good though, and it now gives KR a selection dilemma. I’d imagine he’d have to keep Jack planning in goal for the foreseeable
 
First time I’d seen Bodin who impressed me, although obviously tired in 2nd, McGuane I thought did well although he seems to have a habit of going past people and then waiting to do it again, just keeping running!! Most of all a fantastic game and made me realise the excellent value of lge 1 football!!
 
Really don’t get some people’s issue with McGuane. He reminds me a lot of Joe Rothwell, who seemed to get a similar level of stick here and is now tearing it up at the top of the Champ, with Prem interest mooted. The way he glides past players is brilliant. The more he plays the better he will get.
 
ciaranjonlucas said:
Really don’t get some people’s issue with McGuane. He reminds me a lot of Joe Rothwell, who seemed to get a similar level of stick here and is now tearing it up at the top of the Champ, with Prem interest mooted. The way he glides past players is brilliant. The more he plays the better he will get.
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Would love to have a rapid carrier like Rothwell in the team again. Rothwell did so further up the pitch (and scared opposition defences) which I appreciate is difficult for McGuane as he is playing deeper with both Gorrin and Kane out.

I think for most, the frustration is that he clearly has so much talent but it’s easy to forget that he really hasn’t played a lot of football. He certainly has a ceiling.
 
ciaranjonlucas said:
Really don’t get some people’s issue with McGuane. He reminds me a lot of Joe Rothwell, who seemed to get a similar level of stick here and is now tearing it up at the top of the Champ, with Prem interest mooted. The way he glides past players is brilliant. The more he plays the better he will get.
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Rothwell is a funny one in terms of his time at Oxford. He was clearly talented and there were often some impressive performances, but I don't think we ever got the best out of him, probably due to also having Lundstram, Ledson, Sercombe and of course Xemi at the same time.
 
Joey's Left Boot said:
Highlights are up: https://www.skysports.com/watch/vid...rd-united/12523054/oxford-3-2-sheff-wednesday

Enjoyable game and a much needed win. Good to see we have a plan B. McGuane's best game for us.

Think Stevens could've done better with their goals.

Let's hope it's the start of another second half of the season run!!
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How often we come on here saying we'd hate to watch the opposition every week.....

..... safe to say that does not apply on this occasion - the movement for their two goals alone was excellent
 
Osei Yaw said:
Rothwell is a funny one in terms of his time at Oxford. He was clearly talented and there were often some impressive performances, but I don't think we ever got the best out of him, probably due to also having Lundstram, Ledson, Sercombe and of course Xemi at the same time.
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He seemed to suffer a lot with injuries I thought and didn't have too many runs in the side
 
Joey's Left Boot said:
Not really, he was vary shaky. Thought he was very slow to get down their first and his indecision lead to his kick being charged down which ultimately lead to their second. Neither of our keepers fill me with confidence, something to address in the summer perhaps?
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First game back after glandular fever , was excellent and a main reason why we got in the play offs last season .
Young , got a bid from Villa over the summer and could develop to be on of our best .
 
Thomas/Brock/Jones said:
First game back after glandular fever , was excellent and a main reason why we got in the play offs last season .
Young , got a bid from Villa over the summer and could develop to be on of our best .
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You can also add that one of theirs was in his eye line for the first goal but of course that's not offside anymore if the guy makes no attempt to touch it
 
A few thoughts.

What an excellent game of L1 football that was, credit to Sheff Wed they played some good stuff and i guess
not many teams will do the double on them so in that respect we have done really well.

I was really impressed with how the switch to a back three happened, no fuss, no panic, everyone seemed to
know what they were doing and full credit to the players for pulling it off, obvs massive credit to KR and staff,
i believe we now have a viable plan B. I used to be a bit of a champion of the 4-4-2 diamond but thats defo
had its day and we should only be using that if we are playing on the narrowest pitch in the world, this 3-5-2
i would be more than happy to see again.

Talking of being more than happy to see again, i thought Bodin had an excellent match, he never stopped running
and some of his touches and vision were high calibre, if he can keep this up he could be a really big player for us.
No blame on Moore or Thorniley both are good players but i want to see McNally a bit more often, this is one very
impressive young man, the only thing he needs is gametime, but in KR i trust and time will tell.

Winnall, really happy for this bloke, he has come in for a lot of stick but yesterday he was bang on it, as Bodin was
making his way to the corner Winnall calls him over and has a quick word, seconds later the ball was in the back of
the net, that was Winnall believing in himself and telling Bodin to whip one in onto the 6 yard line, he really wanted it
and that was good to see, if ever a player needed a goal... Fingers crossed he can stay fit.

One thing that i wasnt so happy about was with how deep we dropped in injury time, we invited them to put us
under pressure, they missed 2 big chances that on another day could have been buried.
 
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