Home Match Day Thread 27/09/2025 - MDT: Oxford United v Sheffield United

[Northstandboy]

 

[uptheus]

Not sure how Currie got MOTM - Helik for me, he was excellent. That said, it was one of Currie’s better games.

Don’t know how it got it either, and don’t think anyone really stood out, but if I had to choose, I’d have pick Long.

 

[RBNO]

so half time team talks changed the game...Wilder got it right....GR didnt.....hmmmm

 

[uptheus]

so half time team talks changed the game...Wilder got it right....GR didnt.....hmmmm

I personally just think they grew into the game, and we seemed too laboured from the off second half. It was although we just thought it would be a matter of time before we scored and went on to win etc!! Again, we then started to have more urgency once we’d gone a goal down, but then it’s hard to change mentally so then it becomes too desperate!

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm trying not to sink as low as some clearly have!

It was such a disheartening 2nd half performance, but overall, there were positives!

First half we were really good, we repeatedly won the ball back quickly, passed it well, and there was a lot of players linking up very well. BDK & Krastev looked awesome in the first half, and Currie and Spencer were having by far their best games for us.

Where it all fell apart, was at the very sharp end of the pitch.
Prelec and Lankshear didn't seem to click at all today. Prelec worked hard, and showed some moments of quality, but with him playing deep off Lankshear, who was awful today, and contributed absolutely nothing positive of any note, it meant that beyond the deep lying Prelec, there was nothing to aim for. Our approach play was very good, but we had no focal point, due to a striker partnership that wasn't clicking, meaning it all kept breaking down at the key moment.

We really need to start scoring when we're on top, and I said at half time that we may regret not being in the lead by that point, as although we certainly deserved to be, we're a 45 min side, not a 90min side, so I had a feeling we'd missed our chance.

There's a real naivety in our play in the final third, crossing the ball when nobody's in the box, then not crossing when there's players in the box, passing when we should shoot, shooting when we should pass, ignoring runs and not playing players through, then trying to play players through, when they hadn't made the bloody run!

And these are all the faults when we're playing well! When we're playing badly, like the 2nd half, then nothing works, it's just a disjointed mess!

We need to harness everything about that first half, and then learn to be more clinical in the final third, make better decisions and make sure once we get into the final third, that they're all on the same page.

And then we need to remember that a game of football lasts for 90 minutes, not 45.

If we can do all that, we'll be alright.

Work to do...

 

[Yellows1]

I still think their goal shouldn’t have counted, it looked out of play beforehand, frustrating, was never going to be easy against Wilder, he’s no mug.

 

[JOHN BOY]

I still maintain we look quite a decent side and will stay up.

 

[battman]

We can’t keep making the excuse that other teams have players worth more than our entire squad .
We beat them last season when they were even stronger- they gave sold 4 or 5 of there best players.
Today’s game was there for the taking during that first half.
We didn’t take it and then allowed them to dominate us in the 2nd .

I’m not making that excuse, I said nothing about money. I’m just think some need to calm down a tad after a 1-0 loss against a team that won 28 league games last season.

Sure, we beat them last year, but that was probably one of the biggest shock results in the Championship last season, and it would’ve been a tall order to repeat it.

I’m not saying we should lie down and accept defeat — because if we did, what’s the point of playing anyone — but we need a sense of perspective when we do lose, otherwise we’ll just start ripping chunks out of each other and the players.

 

[90syeIlow]

We win a game and the reaction is ‘We will comfortably be mid table’.

We lose a game and it’s ’We will be lucky to stay up’.

 

[Mad Dog]

I still maintain we look quite a decent side and will stay up.

If we can play like we did in the first half more consistently, but with more end product, we'll be fine.

However, fail to produce in the final third, then it doesn't matter how well we play, we're gonna struggle.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

I don’t think Sheffield will be either, worse team I’ve seen. May be their win today might kick start their season, but I don’t think they were anything special. Didn’t look that threatening up front and that great at the back at times either.

With the exception of Mee for them at the back I agree.

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

I mean while our strength in depth is much better than it's been in recent years, bringing on Harris to chase a game doesn't fill you with much confidence. Did he touch the ball once?

As poor as Lankshear was (and he was bambi on ice today), he remains our only striker capable of being in the right place and putting something away.

He should have stayed on.

Unfortunately it was a bit of hopeful punt from Rowett, just because the incumbent has looked off it - without considering the fact that the replacement is likely to fare far worse in the circumstances - and did.

BDK and Brannagan were both awful but (rightly) stayed on. Because you don't hook your best players regardless.

Especially when the alternative is such a massive drop off in quality.

 

[holdsteady]

We win a game and the reaction is ‘We will comfortably be mid table’.

We lose a game and it’s ’We will be lucky to stay up.’

Don’t actually think there will be much between those positions though, the gaps are not big between teams in this league this season.

Disappointing but you will have days like that, but we do need to start getting clean sheets, that’s the biggest disappointment for me so far this season, we have lost 3 games 1-0 where if we had kept it tight at the back a couple of times we have two more points.

 

[JayOx88]

As poor as Lankshear was (and he was bambi on ice today), he remains our only striker capable of being in the right place and putting something away.

He should have stayed on.

Unfortunately it was a bit of hopeful punt from Rowett, just because the incumbent has looked off it - without considering the fact that the replacement is likely to fare far worse in the circumstances - and did.

BDK and Brannagan were both awful but (rightly) stayed on. Because you don't hook your best players regardless.

Especially when the alternative is such a massive drop off in quality.

Totally agree. It was so frustrating that we seemed to fix one problem with Mills coming on, taking his man on and getting the ball into the box as soon as there was space, only to find the man who would die for that service was off the pitch and his replacement was loitering somewhere around the left wing...

 

[East Stand Fan]

Hard to believe that Greg Leigh was our best attacker today and he was only on 5 minutes! Good first half but failed to make our dominance and chances count, then as per usual, a second half towards the east stand of absolutely nothing where our end-product was non-existent. Sheff Utd handled Lankshear well but our crossing today was probably the worst I have seen for years in terms of accuracy and effectiveness and we just couldn't create that opening particularly outside of the area.

Although we haven't disgraced ourselves yet and we've also had some incredibly tough games on paper, we need points out of these winnable matches coming up.

 

[windmill]

Is it my imagination, or is this ref cr*p?
Over to you Sarge

Sarge did not attend.

 

[eraser]

Totally agree. It was so frustrating that we seemed to fix one problem with Mills coming on, taking his man on and getting the ball into the box as soon as there was space, only to find the man who would die for that service was off the pitch and his replacement was loitering somewhere around the left wing...

Yes - I'm afraid bringing Marris on means you lose the fox in the box and are basically down to ten men. People are saying Lankshear looked off his game- I think the vastly experienced premier league quality Mee had him in his pocket.

 

[LowerSouth]

Yes - I'm afraid bringing Marris on means you lose the fox in the box and are basically down to ten men. People are saying Lankshear looked off his game- I think the vastly experienced premier league quality Mee had him in his pocket.

The lack of crosses from Placheta didn’t help Lankshear’s cause

 

[SirAndyOfCrosby]

The lack of crosses from Placheta didn’t help Lankshear’s cause

If Placheta has the ball, out on the right, at pace, with one defender to beat and the opportunity to knock it past him and cross using his right foot, does he:

A) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a shot.
B) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a safe pass.
C) Stall, and cut inside on his left and try and beat a players he's already gone past.
D) Beat his man, on the outside, and cross the ball.

The answer is anything but 'D'. Every single time.

If he can't use his right foot, put him on the left - I'd forego one or two worldies a season if it meant 2 or 3 useful crosses per game...

 

[Steve Gilbert]

If Placheta has the ball, out on the right, at pace, with one defender to beat and the opportunity to knock it past him and cross using his right foot, does he:

A) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a shot.
B) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a safe pass.
C) Stall, and cut inside on his left and try and beat a players he's already gone past.
D) Beat his man, on the outside, and cross the ball.

The answer is anything but 'D'. Every single time.

If he can't use his right foot, put him on the left - I'd forego one or two worldies a season if it meant 2 or 3 useful crosses per game...

I said in the week that Mills should have started today as he is much more direct and better at getting crosses into the box. A lot of people shot me down due to Shemmy’s confidence after 1 good game.
Today showed that Shemmy is still very inconsistent at this level and needs to do better at the basic stuff of wing play.
Give Mills a run of games now IMO.

 

[holdsteady]

I said in the week that Mills should have started today as he is much more direct and better at getting crosses into the box. A lot of people shot me down due to Shemmy’s confidence after 1 good game.
Today showed that Shemmy is still very inconsistent at this level and needs to do better at the basic stuff of wing play.
Give Mills a run of games now IMO.

Trouble is Mills is his exact opposite, he crosses whatever the situation. Neither of them are big on a bit of variation, you don’t have to do the same thing every time.

 

[eraser]

The lack of crosses from Placheta didn’t help Lankshear’s cause

Because he's left footed and playing on the right! Mills on the right and leave Lankshear on. Not bring Mills on and replace Lankshear with a ghost like Marris who is never in the bloody box.

 

[eraser]

Trouble is Mills is his exact opposite, he crosses whatever the situation. Neither of them are big on a bit of variation, you don’t have to do the same thing every time.

That's not the trouble - that's what you want with Lanks and Prelec - cross it all the bloody time...

 

[werthersoriginal]

If Placheta has the ball, out on the right, at pace, with one defender to beat and the opportunity to knock it past him and cross using his right foot, does he:

A) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a shot.
B) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a safe pass.
C) Stall, and cut inside on his left and try and beat a players he's already gone past.
D) Beat his man, on the outside, and cross the ball.

The answer is anything but 'D'. Every single time.

If he can't use his right foot, put him on the left - I'd forego one or two worldies a season if it meant 2 or 3 useful crosses per game...

Krastev is right footed isn’t he? It’s obviously a really deliberate thing to play them on their wrong sides, though I don’t really understand it.

 

[holdsteady]

That's not the trouble - that's what you want with Lanks and Prelec - cross it all the bloody time...

Not when someone is stood two yards in front of him and he just fires it straight at them.

 

[HillBilly]

If Placheta has the ball, out on the right, at pace, with one defender to beat and the opportunity to knock it past him and cross using his right foot, does he:

A) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a shot.
B) Stall, and cut inside on his left for a safe pass.
C) Stall, and cut inside on his left and try and beat a players he's already gone past.
D) Beat his man, on the outside, and cross the ball.

The answer is anything but 'D'. Every single time.

If he can't use his right foot, put him on the left - I'd forego one or two worldies a season if it meant 2 or 3 useful crosses per game...

Pretty sure I saw him go route D once today, but I know what you mean. Sheffield did a bit of a number on him/us by sitting quite deep and not giving him the space to get in behind. At the same time that's maybe part of the reason we enjoyed so much possession in the first half (60%), which I was quite shocked by. Whatever people think of his playing style, you know Placheta gives our opponents the willies.

Maybe Krastev is worth a go on the right, especially when you've got Prelec who could cut in and shoot on his left, but unlike Bristol (where they were quieter) Krastev and Currie created the majority of our chances in the first half on that side and teamed up well. I reckon they'll only improve with a few more games together.

The key thing for me is who comes in to replace Placheta and Krastev (as subs or possibly this week as starters). Rowett has been talking about having too many attacking options, but in the next couple of games one or two of them are really going need to have an impact.

 

[uptheus]

Is it my imagination, or is this ref cr*p?
Over to you Sarge

I thought he was poor from the start with his overall management of the game.

 

[Symp59]

Yes it would be nice to see them swapping wings ,I've got a great friend who played for Spurs then Arsenal as a right winger and he said they used to swap around as wingers in most games to keep the defenders litterly on there toes .The game was decent at times Sheff utd won't be down the bottom for long ,we will have to battle every week. We have definitely got a better team than last year but we have got to keep players fit and we have got to get points on the board home or away .I still love Leigh I like Currie but Leigh looks like scoring when he's on. The goals seem to have gone from the defence so far this season but Brown will be back soon.

 

[Northernyellow]

I wasn't particularly surprised at today's result tbh. Wilder is a very, very structured and organised manager. He sorts stuff out straightaway- just as he did with us when he took over from the gormless Patterson. There was no way they were going to lose seven on the spin. This was basically the team that got 90+ points last season. If their Board hadn't made the bizarre decision to fire Wilder end of last season, they'd be top six now. Play like we did in the first half for most of the rest of this season and we'll be ok. We've got a core of some very decent players.

 

[uptheus]

Sheffield United fans i spoke to said the ball was out of play just before their goal ( haven't seen replay). We also had a stonewall penalty turned down. CB was clearly pushed over..

It looked out from where I was sat in the SSU!

 

[West Oxon U’s]

The goal we conceded is criminal defending.

Whether Ogbene delivered from behind the bye line or not , there were FIVE yellow shirts and Cumming in the box yet O’Hare is able to take a touch before firing in.

That just can’t happen.

It’s an unforgiving league and that defending was unforgivable.

We find ways of conceding cheap goals.