Home Match Day Thread 23/01/2024 L1: OUFC vs Barnsley

[Carpy]

Should be our toughest test of recent times this evening if the form table is to be believed

 

[bazzer9461]

Some of the posters on here are over-reacting just a tad. It wasn't very good, but probably should have been a draw. Conditions were awful. I'm not reading too much into tonight

But it wasn’t.

 

[bazzer9461]

Did Long really do that much wrong? Thought he had a few decent touches and got involved, was unlucky to be challenging on what was a wickedly whipped cross their striker would have likely put in anyway, then got an awful head injury.

To say he was the reason we lost tonight seems a little bit of a stretch to me.

But tbf Sam wasn’t ready for tonight’s game.

 

[bazzer9461]

He definitely wasn't the reason we lost but despite time apart, Stevens and him still looked poor together. The amount of time and space they gave that number 7 in the first half was criminal. He lacked pace but had a sweet left foot and they decided to just leave him free time and time again.

No 7 was Nicky Cadden and showed why we pursued him but not hard enough

 

[Swaby39]

My dad beginning of 2nd half ‘oh good we’ve brought Goodrham on’

Me ‘he was playing first half Dad!’

Got what you’ll always get from a young lad. He will have games where he shines and others where he looks like he needs a season elsewhere. Today was the latter, conditions couldn’t have been worse for Tyler and given the luxury I suspect we’d have overlooked him for this one. It was a day to get your best 1v1 wingers on the ball and put it in the box early, don’t overthink. Sadly you then realise we have precious little to aim for so it’s rather unsurprising when it turns out how it did which is rather hopeful football than proper patterns of play.

Barnsley are simply better equipped for a game like that and I don’t think they put a foot wrong. Always a competitive side to their credit, but not sure how many years it is that we need to get undone by sides like that before we start to think how we might want to follow suit. Goodwin is a start, at least.

 

[Canadian_Yellow]

I think people can accept losing games; what people cannot accept is losing while playing such tedious football. We go to football in the hope it will make us jump out of our seats but that was as dull as ditchwater.

How many times did the following happen during today’s game? The ball goes out for a throw in to us between the halfway line and their penalty area. 90% of the time today, we had nobody moving for the thrower and we then chose to throw the ball backwards 10-15 yards and it is back with our centre halves or gk within 5-10 seconds. By the second half, Barnsley seemed to be deliberately leaving the backwards option open, safe in the knowledge that the ball with our centre halves couldn’t hurt them, and we continued to do the same thing.

These tactics are crazy, especially in conditions like this evening. When we finally break through the high press as rarely as we did tonight, it is beyond irritating to watch our players then make a deliberate choice to forgo the attacking progress we have made to this point in winning the throw 3/4 of the way up the field in order to deliberately direct the ball backwards to our centre halves instead of trying to fashion an attacking opportunity from the throw in. We are halfway inside their half. It took a lot of effort to get there so throw the ball forwards down the line and try and get a cross in or win a corner. Throw it to someone who pings it straight back to the thrower to either launch it towards their box or up the line. I hated the Brown long throw in under KR but I would have welcomed it tonight as a refreshing change from these bizarre tactics. How many times did we do any of the above three things tonight? Perhaps once or twice. Instead, our deliberate decision to play the ball back to the centre halves from our throw meant that 30 seconds to a minute later, we had either lost possession and given the ball away or played ourselves into a far worse position than when we had the throw in halfway inside their half.

I could level the same criticism at free kicks in their half outside Cam’s shooting range. Almost every one of these is played backwards to the centre half or sideways. Why did we have to wait until the 94th minute for Cam to launch a free kick into or towards their penalty area?

The conditions made tonight a lottery but we deliberately choose not to play the ball forwards when given every opportunity from set pieces in their half, and so we didn’t buy a ticket. I made a similar post after the Reading game and nothing much seems to have changed. When we are losing like today or not beating an inferior team like Reading, why are we not trying to give it a go by going forwards, instead of endlessly recycling the ball to our gk and centre backs to keep possession at all costs.

I’m a huge Des fan but the above worries me. I’m not here to use it as a stick to beat him with like some others. Not yet at least. He’s a new manager, he will make lots of mistakes and he deserves some time to implement his ideas. He’s forgotten more about coaching than I will ever know. But directing our team to move the ball forwards from throws and free kicks in their half just seems like an easy win to try to generate chances to score so we are not reliant on worldies from outside the box (see Tyler v Carlisle; Smyth v Charlton) or a perfect series of passes (see Harris v Charlton, Harris’s second v Carlisle).

So while I liked our (rare) corners again tonight after Carlisle (and hope that throw ins and free kicks go under the microscope soon too), think we probably “deserved” a draw tonight on the balance of play, and 6th place after 27 games is far better than I could ever have anticipated in August, the above is why this team is frustrating me enormously and I’m guessing I’m not alone.

 

[m]

Too many ‘stars’ didn’t fancy it tonight , they know who they are.

Absolutely this!

 

[Jster]

I thought Burey was ok - got back well to defend a few times. Going forward, not a lot, but that was no different to the rest of the team really!

 

[Jakeyboy13]

How can we be ‘nowhere near’ good enough if we’re 6th 27 games in? We’re currently near being good enough!

We were closer to being good enough a couple of months ago..if you think we're good enough to go up then fair enough,thats your opinion.We are way off in my opinion.

 

[dickwalton1964]

Some thoughts from tonight..

That chance in the first half and the one early in the second half that Harris had you would have expected a more accomplished finisher to put away. The one in the second half all he had to do was round the keeper but decided to chip it at him. I like Harris a lot but tonight showed his finishing up.

Bennett has been great for us and I hope it's not a serious one but Greg Leigh showed what we have been missing. He was excellent. He got very frustrated with Brannagan at times as he ignored him more than once when he was in space down the left.

I thought Smith was class tonight. He showed composure, great touch, drive and an ability to pass. On this showing, I definitely would like to see him in central midfield.

McGuane was not great tonight. A bit negative. Needs competition and JM isn't it. See Smith above.

We didn't get Burey into the game or he didn't get himself into it, I can't quite tell which.

That was Brown's poorest game with the ball I have seen.

I can see why he started Long but he and Stevens have never looked good together and didn't tonight, giving that no 7 so much space. Hopefully Long's head injury is not serious.

Looking at how Barnsley whip balls in, why does Brannigan float every corner and set piece in? Have we got nobody who can whip a ball into to vary it?

I thought second half was much better which makes sense with the conditions as they were. I'm not too down hearted as although our decision making let us down at times (Goodrham etc), I thought it was a tight game and a draw would have been fair. Second half there was signs of how Des wants to play. No need to panic. Barnsley will be around the playoffs but are no Derby or Peterborough.

That‘s a very accurate summary. I, too, thought Smyth‘s use of the ball was class. My only criticism of him was that he looked very slow, at times, in deciding which pass to make. I think it’s time to rest McGuane and play Smyth in there, if only to shake it up a bit and try something different to find a winning formula.

 

[West Oxon U’s]

Barnsley were the more complete team in every area of the pitch.
We are still 6th.

Barnsley played with more intensity and more aggression. We struggled to compete after the first five or ten minutes.

They did the basics better and in those conditions that was what was needed.

 

[Jster]

We were closer to being good enough a couple of months ago..if you think we're good enough to go up then fair enough,thats your opinion.We are way off in my opinion.

Indeed - we had 27 points from the first 11 games. Since then 22 from 16, which is what - lower midtable form?

 

[LeftSideLarry]

The conditions were as crappy as the result and too many of our players couldn’t cope, though I suspect that Barnsley would’ve won even if the conditions were perfect.

I like DB. I’m desperate for him to be a success, but I left the game downhearted with this question on my mind:

What is DB’s system/style of play?

He keeps saying that it’s high-tempo attacking football, but I seldom see it. In fact, I’m too often unsure of what it is we’re trying to do. He’s had some wins, of course, but I don’t see anything that gives me confidence that we’re really building momentum.

How long must we wait until we see that?

 

[Jster]

The thing that really annoyed me was that we seemed entirely to rely on potshots from distance in the second half. Basically hit and hope. Now that almost paid off, when Cam hit the bar, but there were many occasions when we had runners available and instead of trying to slip the ball through, there was yet another wayward shot from distance. I understand that in the conditions just getting long shots in is not a bad idea at times, but as our only strategy?

 

[Dubai Yellow]

In hindsight JM should have started over MM last night. Lately with MM, you get the odd flash here and there, but he's nowhere near involved enough. Games just seem to pass him by. He should be in the guts (But that's what he seems to lack unfortunately). Not sure if Saturday is a good time to bring JM in either, against a more energetic and physical side like Bristol Rovers, but at least when he plays, he sits in front of the back 4, he's always involved and we have a better midfield outlet (than MM).

No point getting hung up on last night, overall we dominated possession and chances, in terrible conditions, with a bit more luck we would have won that game. I wouldn't read into it too much. Unlike some, i have faith in Des. I think he will get us up next season, if it doesn't happen sooner.

 

[Common Villager]

Whilst it is true that the weather played a big part last night, it's also true that Barnsley adapted to and even utilised the conditions much better than we did. In the first half, with the wind behind them, they put a lot of dangerous balls into the box which continuously asked tough questions of our back line and Cummings. In the second half they put the ball in behind our back line, knowing that the wind would hold it up and they'd be able to get out and press us high.

On the other hand, in the first half I thought we tried to 'play' too much. With the wind against us, it was hard to get out and allowed Barnsley to keep the pressure on. On the few occasions we went a bit more direct and asked questions of Barnsley's defence, we looked a bit more likely to create chances e.g. McGuane's 'lob'. In the second half it took us far too long to realise the wind and wet surface would mean long balls in behind would run out of play. Brannagan, Brown, Moore, Leigh were all guilty of overplaying passes that ran out of play on multiple occasions. We didn't manage to get enough crosses into the box or shots away to test their keeper.

Other than that I won't get too nitpicky as it wasn't a 'normal' game. My overriding feeling was that we didn't cope with the conditions as well as Barnsley, which was disappointing. Whether that was down to the players or Des/the coaching team, I'm not sure.

 

[Symp59]

We are going to struggle to stay in the play offs ,under Des we have played Peterborough, Bolton ,Derby now Barnsley and got 1 point. I hope we can get a strong midfield cdm in for nights like last night. But with form like that against the top teams we will be out of the top 6 before we know it.

 

[Teddydee1980]

Touch philosophical about last night. Fine margins etc.

It feels a bit done to death to say what the problems are but we are lacking pace and our paciest players are made of glass. First half Barnsley had levels they could go to, whilst we were chasing shadows.
Second half, we figured out how to make more of what we have, but ultimately got the result we deserved.

Defensively I don't think we're too bad, the frustration is how we build attacks. Ciaron Brown is a solid CB, he is not an Andrea Pirlo quarterback. Asking him to start every attack and mix it up creatively seems desperate. There is a lack of options in front of him, and unfortunately we're not in a position to allow many/any players an off day (Ruben, McGuane, Stevens)

In terms of personnel, we could turn to very little on the bench to make a difference. Barnsley could replace two attackers with another two attackers and we'd have been happy to sign any of the 4.

Could we do something about it and bring in something different in the Transfer window - yes

Will we - no.

Our business model isn't to buy players who have had notable success at L1, it's to buy players who have achieved either at a lower level or haven't made the grade at Champs, and in both cases, need development. Big reward if it works, but also big risk and its not working out at the moment so you have to accept your fate a bit.

 

[TailsWeWin]

Yes I gave it the thumbs up, because I agree with it entirely.

Some of the comments are embarrassing with one describing it as "a dogshit performance". Barnsley scored and shut up shop, and fair play to them, they managed the conditions well. But we were far from awful and a draw would have been more than deserved, and a little composure and luck would have hot us a point at least.

We've got our scapegoat back in Sam Long, despite a number of players performing far worse. But his injury, and that of Bennett, limited the options to make other changes that might have been more effective.

No ones happy with a defeat, especially when Barnsley were nothing special. But 19 games to go, and we'll win plenty of them and will still be in the mix come April.

But misery loves company and some find a good rant quite cathartic, so fill your boots.

You often forget that everyone is entitled to their opinion - even those who don’t actually happen to agree with you. And particularly those who were actually at the match last night.
It’s not “filling my boots” to suggest that we were beaten by a quite ordinary-to-good side who did a job on us and deserved to win. They made us look what we are at the moment; an average league one team. There are some extenuating circumstances, of course, and injuries haven’t been kind, but we are what we are - slipping gradually down the league playing pretty average football. I was also at Carlisle and in the first half we played like we did in the first 60 minutes last night. And got away with it.
You “fill your boots”, Scotch, with your continued and one-eyed defence of the team, fair enough. But allow criticism where criticism is deserved. Last night we were very poor.

 

[uptheus]

I thought Burey was ok - got back well to defend a few times. Going forward, not a lot, but that was no different to the rest of the team really!

I thought he looked very poor, just hoping it was the conditions/first start etc, but don’t feel that’s the case. Let’s see!

 

[battman]

It’s not “filling my boots” to suggest that we were beaten by a quite ordinary-to-good side who did a job on us and deserved to win.

But this ‘quite ordinary-to-good side’ is 5th in League One and is four points off top with a game in hand. So maybe they’re a bit better than you’re suggesting?

I won’t say you can criticise certain aspects of last night’s performance, and in truth it should have been one we picked up a point in, but it feels like a lot of people are downplaying the relative quality of the opposition as a justification for how bad we were.