Home Match Day Thread +++ 25/9/18 OUFC v Manchester City Match day thread+++

[Phantompieman]

Did KR give an interview tonight - and can anyone please give a synopsis here?

Said could have won despite conceding 3, and two ruled out

 

[holdsteady]

A strange game, more interesting than entertaining as at times it resembled a training session.

It was ok as a novelty, but I didn’t need to see us play them to realise they were much, much better than us, plus we were never going to get anything with our attack so it was a tension free game, had the feel of a well attended friendly.

Back to the real stuff on Saturday, it was a nice diversion from a very real relegation battle. We didn’t embarrass ourselves, that’s probably the night summed up.

 

[uptheus]

Not a great game, but we conceded less than I was expecting! Shame we couldn’t have got a goal or a shot with some conviction.

Big game Saturday now for the club/Robinson!

 

[carefreeoufc]

Bit of a nothing game really but definitely not as bad as I expected. Surely the highest value squad/11 to ever grace the hallowed turf of the Ka££am.

Thought we looked ok in spells and the defence solid until we tired and it opened up. Dickie/Nelson for me at the back on sat.

I did wonder whether Baptiste as captain (particularly after his new contract) was a bit of a shop window decision. Thought he played well and if scouts were watching he did well.

Two important games coming up now. Where the goals will come from I don’t know?! KR reckoned that our injured “star” players could be in contention by the end of next week? Seems early to me.

 

[Foley]

Did KR give an interview tonight - and can anyone please give a synopsis here?

He did say that both Nelson and Mous suggested that the captain's armband went to Shandon.
Apparently when it was offered to him he said 'ok then and that was it.
KR suggested that nothing phases Baptiste.

 

[saddletramp]

Bizarre tactics,leave Mahrez and Diaz(Sterling) all the room in the world,all night long.
I know man to man marking against a team like Man City is suicide,but surely somebody should have been marking the wide men ?

 

[Foley]

Bizarre tactics,leave Mahrez and Diaz(Sterling) all the room in the world,all night long.
I know man to man marking against a team like Man City is suicide,but surely somebody should have been marking the wide men ?

Mmm. After that I am not sure that the defensive tactics could be particularly criticised
Considering the team we were playing I would have thought that we defended well as a team?
Mahrez had lots of the ball but did little except for long range shots over the bar. He looked frustrated at times.

 

[Gary Baldi]

And if you are a potential investor in OUFC, tonight was a night where the potential for the club showed itself. We can be better than L1, with the right stadium and investment

 

[werthersoriginal]

Bizarre tactics,leave Mahrez and Diaz(Sterling) all the room in the world,all night long.
I know man to man marking against a team like Man City is suicide,but surely somebody should have been marking the wide men ?

Yes that was odd but in a way it worked, the goals didn’t come from there. The only thing that annoyed me a bit was the second goal, why was our main centre half out on the wing for a protracted spell? Still, they all did well

 

[Teddydee1980]

It was fun enough tonight, good atmosphere and a pleasure to have some (more!) quality players playing our lot. It is in some way a testament to us that, in this game against the champs, we saw exactly the same Oxford we've seen all season.

Our weaknesses tonight have been our weaknesses all season. The keepers kicking, ponderous bringing the ball out from the back, the lateral passing, the lack of options, players going off injured, Obika holding it up occasionally but not having a single shot, no real attacking threat, the insistence on 4231 even with both Smith and Obika on the pitch... All same old same old.

It's testament to us because, despite some geniune scares, had we done something about those things, we'd have REALLY given City something to think about.

So whilst RadOx were talking of 'Just what we needed' in terms of performance, I'll be unusually pessimistic and say it was more 'exactly what we've been getting'.

Robbo now has, imo, games against Wimbledon, Luton and Southend to save his job...

 

[McXal]

Highlights of the night for me were Sam Long deciding he fancied a piece of Sterling and crunching him repeatedly, and KR’s interview where he still couldn’t resist having a pop at referees and upset that we didn’t get a penalty! (Although I thought the rest of his interview was composed and realistically reflective of the game we’d all just seen - which isn’t always the case on his part)

The third goal was a disappointment for me. 2-0 was a fair score line - they had all the ball but didn’t endlessly slice us open and most of their shots (up until the last 15 when we opened up to chase it a little) were potshots from outside the box. For the most part they kept it in areas where I didn’t feel they were going to hurt us. 3-0, along with the stats, make it seem like more of a drubbing than it actually was.

Thought Nelson, Dickie and Mitchell were all superb. Holmes was also outstanding, and we really missed his experience and positional sense (he cleverly doubled up with Garbutt on Mahrez all night) when he went off.

A little frustrating that there were periods where we got into decent positions - but lacked the composure and quality to ask a question of their keeper. Not that we didn’t already know we are lacking in a bit of quality in the striking department...

Thoughts on City - Jesus did nothing except that goal, which he ridiculously over-celebrated. Slightly disappointed we got involved in booing Sterling given England’s exploits in the summer, though pleased that Stones got some applause. Silva and Kompany were effortlessly outstanding at times too...

All in all an acceptable night. We didn’t disgrace ourselves, hopefully built a little confidence going into the Wimbledon game, and players like Whyte, Hanson, Brannagan, Dickie and Baptiste will be better for the experience. Fingers crossed Branno’s injury isn’t anything serious...

 

[Shosho]

Yes that was odd but in a way it worked, the goals didn’t come from there. The only thing that annoyed me a bit was the second goal, why was our main centre half out on the wing for a protracted spell? Still, they all did well

Because he was taking the long throws.

The only thing you can critique is nelson not leaving the ball to go for another throw. The 2nd and 3rd goal show why you can’t force vs Man City.

Not sure how anyone can criticise after tonight.

 

[ttg17]

Brief thoughts:

Slightly disappointed that we didn't show them our physical side a bit more. I would have liked to see us clatter into a couple challenges and rough them up. Incidentally, didn't Hanson have a reputation for this kind of thing before he came here? Not really seen it.

As another poster said on here before the teams were announced, I would have liked to see Whyte or even Smith start up front. Obika was never going to win anything against Otamendi and Company, and Whyte's pace was, predictably, about the only threat we had going forward. On a separate but related point, I've long been an Obika apologist, as I think he gets an unfair amount of stick from our fans, but he really frustrated me tonight. Often making no more than a token effort to close down. The only half chances we had came from closing them down and nicking it in CM, and that closing down needs to start from the top. Not exactly like he needed to conserve his energy for sprinting onto balls down the channels either.

Perplexed by the decision to start Long over Norman. Not really any fault of his own given how long it's been since he started for us, but didn't look at it. The only one of our players to get consistently beaten by his man. By all accounts out of position for the first goal too, and if we'd gone in at HT 0-0, who knows?

The way City killed the game after 2-0 was scarily comprehensive. Total control. We didn't have a sniff.

A word for Mitchell. Come under some criticism recently but made some superb stops.

Overall, have come out of that feeling a bit flat. Yeah we did fine but it wasn't exactly the rousing performance from which momentum stems. Hopefully the likes of Nelson, Baptiste and Hanson learnt a bit from playing against some of the world's best.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Would’ve liked just one proper shot on target in a 90 minute game of football. Just one. Of course we were always going to get turned over, that isn’t the point. To not have a proper shot at goal, at home, in an hour and a half... I don’t think that’s great. It doesn’t deserve happy clapping.

For me tonight wasn’t about anything other than showing some purpose and a bit of intent, and I’m afraid I didn’t see that. Running about and chasing the opposition is the bare minimum regardless of quality and ability. That’s what we got tonight, but with absolutely zero quality in their half.

Great for the kids, a handy chunk of change for the club, but I can’t hail the team as heroes like some have tonight.

 

[yellowbow]

I couldn’t go tonight due to my partner working and me being on childcare duties so I understand if people say I don’t have the right to an opinion but (and I’m going to put my tin hat on here..) I’m not sure how I feel about the whole evening other than a little flat. I listened to the game on RO but couldn’t get excited about what I heard. I’m happy that some players gave a good account of themselves but it would’ve been nice if we taken the game to them a little bit more - I know that’s easier said than done against a team like Man City but when words like ‘valiant’ and ‘plucky’ get used when we only manage one shot on goal it sounds quite patronising. I can’t help wondering what sort of fist of it Appleton’s team from a couple of years ago would have made of it and whether our expectations have dropped so much now. Sorry to put a dampener on things, I don’t mean to disrespect the players efforts. Maybe I expect too much just because I really wanted to see them get the glory tonight.

 

[werthersoriginal]

I couldn’t go tonight due to my partner working and me being on childcare duties so I understand if people say I don’t have the right to an opinion but (and I’m going to put my tin hat on here..) I’m not sure how I feel about the whole evening other than a little flat. I listened to the game on RO but couldn’t get excited about what I heard. I’m happy that some players gave a good account of themselves but it would’ve been nice if we taken the game to them a little bit more - I know that’s easier said than done against a team like Man City but when words like ‘valiant’ and ‘plucky’ get used when we only manage one shot on goal it sounds quite patronising. I can’t help wondering what sort of fist of it Appleton’s team from a couple of years ago would have made of it and whether our expectations have dropped so much now. Sorry to put a dampener on things, I don’t mean to disrespect the players efforts. Maybe I expect too much just because I really wanted to see them get the glory tonight.

TBH we got just as much of a runaround from Blackburn in the cup under Appleton, and the same score

 

[Osei Yaw]

It's quite funny reading some of the criticisms here. We played a side who had their 7th choice attacking midfielder/winger playing as their 4th choice left back and repeatedly smashing the ball 60 yards cross field to a 60 million pound Premier League player of the season who was either trying to score or give the ball to a lad that plays up front for Brazil.

All the players did their best tonight and were a credit to themselves and the club. They now need to show the same application and professionalism to drag us out this s**t position in the league.

 

[bazzer9461]

It was fun enough tonight, good atmosphere and a pleasure to have some (more!) quality players playing our lot. It is in some way a testament to us that, in this game against the champs, we saw exactly the same Oxford we've seen all season.

Our weaknesses tonight have been our weaknesses all season. The keepers kicking, ponderous bringing the ball out from the back, the lateral passing, the lack of options, players going off injured, Obika holding it up occasionally but not having a single shot, no real attacking threat, the insistence on 4231 even with both Smith and Obika on the pitch... All same old same old.

It's testament to us because, despite some geniune scares, had we done something about those things, we'd have REALLY given City something to think about.

So whilst RadOx were talking of 'Just what we needed' in terms of performance, I'll be unusually pessimistic and say it was more 'exactly what we've been getting'.

Robbo now has, imo, games against Wimbledon, Luton and Southend to save his job...

Thought his kicking was a lot better tonight.

 

[PottersRightBoot]

Think some are being churlish on here. An enjoyable evening.

Thought we defended very well and the decision to pack the penalty area and give them the flanks generally worked.

Long was up to the pace - a pleasing performance.

Like 3 in midfield as well.

As for City, their pressing and muck and nettles stuff is unbelievably good. Far better at the basics than us.

All their players blend into team ethic, there are no stand out players. A pleasure to watch them. And also a pleasure to see us try our damndest.


That volleyed pass by Zivchenko in second half will not be forgotten. Brilliant.


COYY
Ps Obika is far more effective than Smith.

 

[Jerome'SAle]

Bizarre tactics,leave Mahrez and Diaz(Sterling) all the room in the world,all night long.
I know man to man marking against a team like Man City is suicide,but surely somebody should have been marking the wide men ?

Foot all is a game of managing space. You can't cover the whole pitch. You therefore decide to be narrow or wide. As a massive underdog against a team like City you have to concede something somewhere. Conceding the wide areas was the percentage call and it worked. In the words of Guardiola himself, " the touchline is the world's best defender"