Away Match Day Thread 24/10/2023 L1: Wigan Athletic v OUFC

[Malc]

Hopefully last Saturday has been flushed down the wc.
Normal service will be resumed tonight with a 4-1 win.

 

[Sarge]

Very poor game of football, we really do lack ideas in the final 3rd I'm afraid

I agree - but Im not scared (yet)

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Harris has got to find a new dimension to his game. He’s been on the periphery of games more often than he’s been decisive. When teams drop their line, he seems completely incapable of getting involved. This is where I thought Perkins would be the perfect alternative as he’s more of a false 9 and without him, teams only have to think about playing one way against us as we can't change it.

I completely agree that Edwards’ absence has created a void we can’t fill and it’s sucked all of the unpredictability out of our attack. He is that player who can create something out of nothing on a regular basis and pins people back. When that’s missing and Rodrigues is kicked out of the game as he was last night, we are reliant on players who just revert to safe movement of the ball. Mills, to his credit, at least tried to make things happen but with zero support from Long who took the easy out all game and brought nothing positive to our play.

Brannagan is a bigger miss than I anticipated. He would’ve had a field day yesterday from range and I wouldn’t have bet against him popping one in. As annoying as it is when he shoots with passes on, it at least gives the opponent something else to worry about. When he’s missing, we are completely shot shy and teams can just focus on defending their box and crowding players out.

We were frighteningly easy to play against yesterday, reminiscent of Cambridge. I thought Wigan were dreadful in the main but executed a good defensive game plan of getting up the arses of our better creative players before they could turn. Need to let the shackles off a bit on Saturday.

Don’t agree re the oppo. Thought Wigan were pretty good once they scored. Had some decent technical players. And more pace then us.

Harris had zilch support. (Apart from Leigh.) . He needs runners off. There were none last night

Mills disappeared after half time.

As posted earlier, there was a real lack of energy . All over the pitch. A very poor evening.

 

[Swaby39]

Don’t agree re the oppo. Thought Wigan were pretty good once they scored. Had some decent technical players. And more pace then us.

Harris had zilch support. (Apart from Leigh.) . He needs runners off. There were none last night

Mills disappeared after half time.

As posted earlier, there was a real lack of energy . All over the pitch. A very poor evening.

Defensively, they were decent. Nothing complicated. They swarmed McGuane and Rodrigues, stopped them turning and gave the space to the players who won’t hurt them. Not rocket science sometimes. But going forward I thought they were distinctly average. Carlisle put more patterns of play together.

I don’t think Harris will find many better supporting acts than Rodrigues at this level. He won’t be spoon fed every week so what’s his answer to that? I also don’t think anything excuses poor touches, getting walked over by defenders and just a general apathy about losing the ball.

Mills was OK, I thought. I think his legs are wasted tracking back to hold hands with Long. I think since we went to this more fluid system with a 3, it’s taken a lot out of us and we don’t look as bright. Not opposed to the shape but are we fit enough? Can we rotate the players enough? It’s slow and pedestrian going back a few games now. Brannagan and Edwards are high-energy players and a big miss.

 

[Nadi-]

Pretty dire last night
Sessengnon done a job on Leigh, so all goal threat was basically snuffed out.
Harris has never been used as the striker that I’ve ever seen, always supporting. And is now struggling.
Wasn’t helped by a very poor Rodrigues.
Agree with the Wigan commentators, Oxford good football but powder puff.
Everyone has a job to do in a team, but as Cambridge it seemed players are looking after themselves.
However good McGuane, and Mceachran are on the ball, without Brannagan they’re woeful out of possession. The amount of times Wigan midfield runners caused panic in possession running at the defence.
Moore struggles with this, and had a very poor game last night.
Beadle although making some good saves, should of done better with the first.
Brown will always compete, seems to be a bit quicker more centrally. And the onl

 

[Nadi-]

At Bristol city v Ipswich
George Hirst now that is what I call a striker. Ipswich very good.
By the way Sykes doing a decent job at right back.

 

[Yellows1]

Wonder if on Saturday Manning will shake it up a bit, bring Negru back into the frame, he NEVER put a foot wrong, Long should be dropped imho - I have every faith in Manning, he’ll get it sorted ️️️

 

[Nadi-]

Just watched a side second in the table.
Who have shown nothing but loads discipline,determination and being well organised. To go to Bristol on a Wednesday and take that following is something to be proud of.
They done everything we didn’t last night, we had the makings of something a few weeks ago, solid defensively slick in midfield and ruthless on the break.
We’ve shown both sides of us recently, unless Manning, can put a hold on the last game and a half. We could easily drift into last season’s malaise.
Have always defended Sam Long but,
Having just watched Mark Sykes at right back, pace, work rate, awareness and ability on the ball.
Long can defend, but hasn’t the abilities wont get the best out of Mills, where Stevens best doesn’t allow for Mills

 

[Symp59]

Yes Ipswich have definitely gone up another level we haven't got the strike force I definitely don't think O donocker will be in the squad Saturday he really has had enough chances. Its not just been a bad results we have not been on it for a few weeks. Bodin as the striker and let's hope it clicks for Rodriguez Saturday a win and a good performance COYY s

 

[Norwich exile]

I think it’s fair to say that a minority of our fanbase don’t appreciate what Brannagan brings to the team, but I think his impact is highlighted by how conspicuous his absence is on our team. He’s the alpha dog in midfield, can put in a tackle and crucially is always looking to drive us forward which has been so sorely missed recently with our ticky-tack sideways passing. His expansive passing to the flanks is also missed (especially now we have the rapid Mills who can take advantage of this), and most importantly he will pull the trigger to shoot when there’s an opening. We need him back in the worst possible way and he is the heartbeat of this team.

 

[Eric Blair]

I think it’s fair to say that a minority of our fanbase don’t appreciate what Brannagan brings to the team, but I think his impact is highlighted by how conspicuous his absence is on our team. He’s the alpha dog in midfield, can put in a tackle and crucially is always looking to drive us forward which has been so sorely missed recently with our ticky-tack sideways passing. His expansive passing to the flanks is also missed (especially now we have the rapid Mills who can take advantage of this), and most importantly he will pull the trigger to shoot when there’s an opening. We need him back in the worst possible way and he is the heartbeat of this team.

This is absolutely word perfect in my opinion. Without Brannagan putting some steel into the side we do look very soft. Brannagan (and McGuane to a lesser extent) allow Rodriguez and Leigh to do what they do. Without CB we look a bit lightweight. We will be very vulnerable if he is out for a long time at any point.

 

[Jason N]

Also think the poor second half completely overshadowed the first half performance which was decent, if lacking in cutting edge. Got caught by a sucker punch and final ball wasn't quite there, but generally the build up play was good and we frankly dominated. Shouldn't be forgotten, even if the scoreline was disappointing.

Their first goal was completely against the run of play. Just before they scored, I'd commented that I didn't think they'd even touched the ball!! We kept the ball, passed it well, but no end product. Second half, we looked flat. Harris kept losing the ball up front, Goodrham was anonymous whist on the pitch, but I thought Mills looked threatening when on the ball. Like Saturday, the subs had no impact, although G'OD looked like he was up for it. From where I was sat, I thought Beadle should have done better for both goals.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Their first goal was completely against the run of play. Just before they scored, I'd commented that didn't think they'd even touched the ball!! We kept the ball, passed it well, but no end product. Second half, we looked flat. Harris kept losing the ball up front, Goodrham was anonymous whist on the pitch, but I thought Mills looked threatening when on the ball. Like Saturday, the subs had no impact, although G'OD looked like he was up for it. From where I was sat, I thought Beadle should have done better for both goals.

It was totally against the run of play! We had twenty minutes of PhD-level advanced footballology in their half, then they booted it down the hill and ran after it, 1-0.

 

[Oufcrealist]

It was totally against the run of play! We had twenty minutes of PhD-level advanced footballology in their half, then they booted it down the hill and ran after it, 1-0.

At times that's all you need though. 10 minutes of keepball against a well organised team with nothing to show for it counts for nothing!!
They only had 28% possession at Exeter and did exactly the same to them, 2-0 .
We had 65% possession at Wigan and did nothing in attack of note. Pretty non attacking possession counts for nothing unless it leads to goalscoring opportunities.

 

[werthersoriginal]

At times that's all you need though. 10 minutes of keepball against a well organised team with nothing to show for it counts for nothing!!
They only had 28% possession at Exeter and did exactly the same to them, 2-0 .
We had 65% possession at Wigan and did nothing in attack of note. Pretty non attacking possession counts for nothing unless it leads to goalscoring opportunities.

Yes agree, they weren't a bad side, they didn't cheat or foul, they defended really well and had some pace

 

[RgYellows]

At times that's all you need though. 10 minutes of keepball against a well organised team with nothing to show for it counts for nothing!!
They only had 28% possession at Exeter and did exactly the same to them, 2-0 .
We had 65% possession at Wigan and did nothing in attack of note. Pretty non attacking possession counts for nothing unless it leads to goalscoring opportunities.

It counts for nothing if you ignore that we have a lot more points than they do

 

[Oxford84]

Their first goal was completely against the run of play. Just before they scored, I'd commented that didn't think they'd even touched the ball!! We kept the ball, passed it well, but no end product. Second half, we looked flat. Harris kept losing the ball up front, Goodrham was anonymous whist on the pitch, but I thought Mills looked threatening when on the ball. Like Saturday, the subs had no impact, although G'OD looked like he was up for it. From where I was sat, I thought Beadle should have done better for both goals.

At one point first half we had 86% possession.

 

[ZeroTheHero]

It counts for nothing if you ignore that we have a lot more points than they do

That is of course true (although they have of course had a deduction).

But the discussion is surely not really about that one match? It's about the last 70 minutes of that game, the second half vs Blackpool, the last quarter against Bristol, parts of the Shrewsbury game. And it's not just about the results. It is about a direction of travel - we seem to be playing badly (or at least ineffectively) for longer periods progressively ( bits of a game > 20 minutes > 45 minutes > 70 minutes), producing fewer chances and having fewer shots as we go on. It may be that the last two are due to Brannagan not being there, or a squad-wide sickness bug, playing three at the back, Saturn being in the house of Aquarius or other teams finding a way to play against us - but it is concerning. It is also true that we are all a bit scarred from last season where for periods we *looked* quite good - but got very few points.