Home Match Day Thread 26/12/2020 L1 OUFC v AFC Wimbledon

Bit of a keystone cops second half performance, however I wanted 3 points and wasn’t bothered how they came so reasonably satisfied
 
Teams definitely target our left side....and Gorrin. With Gorrin having to playing such a large role (on the ball and plugging gaps) if you can disrupt him you can mess up our defensive shape. Gorrin’s weakness (relative to the rest of his game) is his passing...get pressure on him and you can create errors.

Not to criticise either players (I especially love Gorrin!) but if you were to create a plan against us, pressuring Gorrin and Ruffels would be it...you certainly wouldn’t sit off and allow us possession up to the half way line attempting a low block as Northampton did and Wimbledon attempted for ~20mins
Agree completely with the Gorrin analysis here.
 
Ruffels has improved his positioning a bit (it was really terrible a few games ago, standing way too far off his opponent). I think it might have been for fear of getting skinned. Now he’s getting closer in he’s having some more success getting a foot on the ball, but is also getting skinned more.
 
A win was the most important outcome. But we rode our luck and Stevens won us the game. Also, two good blocks on the line from Henry who otherwise was very ordinary again. McGuane is decent but he has no left foot. That's why he has to constantly turn to keep the ball on his right. If he had scored that sitter it would have been all over at half time. But the ball was on his left and it was an awful miss. Don't get me wrong, he can play but his lack of a left foot is a weakness.
 
Despite his assist, Ruffels had an absolute shocker. Yet again. If we are able to get a decent LB in January, I would really like to see him pushed for his place in the side. I know we harp on about him being one of our own (he’s not), but without the defensive discipline of Obita ahead of him, he would have been ruined today and that’s been the case for many games this season. Sorry to say this but, but he’s not good enough.
I think everyone considered him a solid performer in our playoff side last year
 
Teams definitely target our left side....and Gorrin. With Gorrin having to playing such a large role (on the ball and plugging gaps) if you can disrupt him you can mess up our defensive shape. Gorrin’s weakness (relative to the rest of his game) is his passing...get pressure on him and you can create errors.

Not to criticise either players (I especially love Gorrin!) but if you were to create a plan against us, pressuring Gorrin and Ruffels would be it...you certainly wouldn’t sit off and allow us possession up to the half way line attempting a low block as Northampton did and Wimbledon attempted for ~20mins
Gorrin's passing is definitely better this season than previous. It would also help if Gorrin had a few more options to pass to as the movement of the rest of the midfield is a bit lacking at times. The majority of Gorrin's passes seem to be backwards.
 
Ruffels has been skinned on a regular basis this season though. Yes he’s been good, if not excellent for us previously, turning out 7/10 performances most games, with the occasional 8/10 thrown in there. However, the past seasons are irrelevant now (eg your argument that he’s been a key figure previously etc) - this season, he’s been very poor, almost disastrously at times. The very fact that you say he will get back to his usual high standards shows that you’re accepting he hasn’t been good recently. And couldn’t you make exactly the same arguments for keeping Simon Eastwood in the team - he’s been good for us before, it’s the defences fault as well, etc etc - and yet look what happened when you take him out of the team. What’s the difference between Eastwood and Ruffels? Why can Josh put in 3/4/5 out of 10 performances every game and yet not be dropped?

And the previous point was relevant, as it showed that your argument that ‘as we haven’t been conceding goals, so Ruffels can’t be playing poorly’, is wrong. Ruffels has been playing poorly all season, and should be dropped.

I'd agree he was poor when he first came back from injury in a team that lacked confidence but I don't agree that recently he has been poor or been skinned on a regular basis. I think we'll have to agree to disagree.
 
I'd agree he was poor when he first came back from injury in a team that lacked confidence but I don't agree that recently he has been poor or been skinned on a regular basis. I think we'll have to agree to disagree.
Ruffels hasn’t been great this season but he’s not been costing us goals like Eastwood and Clare were, and he’s done some good things too.
 
Gorrin's passing is definitely better this season than previous. It would also help if Gorrin had a few more options to pass to as the movement of the rest of the midfield is a bit lacking at times. The majority of Gorrin's passes seem to be backwards.
Yeah definitely - a jump this season probably due to Brannagan out so needing to take more responsibility. Our entire plan is to get the ball wide...we rarely work through the middle. With Brannagan Gorrin can just offload to him and allow him to do the rest. McGuane can carry and Kelly is lacking influence atm (19 passes yesterday!)
 
Long post to make a simple point.
Were other people shouting at the screen "just pass it - play the simple ball!!" v Wimbledon?
So many times, particularly in the last 30 minutes, when we did bring the ball out of defence we would lose it or give it away.
I appreciate we have a better view of the pitch on TV/ high up in the South stand compared to a player on the pitch. But I'm not talking about spectacular 60 yard switches of play - just a simple 10 yard pass to someone in space.
It's about decision making on the ball that Karl and others often mention. And maybe it is one of the key differences between a premiership/championship player and a league 1 player. They can quickly see a pass and instantly play it. Whereas often we seem to see a pass, think about it, take another touch, take another couple of strides and then (surprise, surprise) the pass isn't on any more.
The if you're Marcus M you try a 360 degree turn and hope to win a free kick (a la Jack Grealish) or if you're Dan A you're not quite sure what to do.
Not sure if this skill can be coached? Video replays should at least make people aware of it.
Who have we been missing who, I think, can do this ... Cam B!
 
Long post to make a simple point.
Were other people shouting at the screen "just pass it - play the simple ball!!" v Wimbledon?
So many times, particularly in the last 30 minutes, when we did bring the ball out of defence we would lose it or give it away.
I appreciate we have a better view of the pitch on TV/ high up in the South stand compared to a player on the pitch. But I'm not talking about spectacular 60 yard switches of play - just a simple 10 yard pass to someone in space.
It's about decision making on the ball that Karl and others often mention. And maybe it is one of the key differences between a premiership/championship player and a league 1 player. They can quickly see a pass and instantly play it. Whereas often we seem to see a pass, think about it, take another touch, take another couple of strides and then (surprise, surprise) the pass isn't on any more.
The if you're Marcus M you try a 360 degree turn and hope to win a free kick (a la Jack Grealish) or if you're Dan A you're not quite sure what to do.
Not sure if this skill can be coached? Video replays should at least make people aware of it.
Who have we been missing who, I think, can do this ... Cam B!
McGuane has no left foot, that's why he keeps on doing full turns. He just does not want to use it. The sitter he missed to put us 3 up fell on his left and the effort at a tap in was dreadful.
 
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