Home Match Day Thread 28/10/2023 L1: OUFC v Wycombe Wanderers

[Northstandboy]

Come on, let's beat the Chairboys!

 

[Matt W]

So then, I think it's safe to say that was the worst refereeing performance I've ever witnessed, whether it was for or against us, he gave so many decisions the wrong way, giving free kicks when they weren't free kicks, not giving free kicks when he should've done, none of the penalties were penalties, yellow cards when they shouldn't have been, and not giving yellow cards when he should've done, the inconsistency and incompetence was unbelievable, and he completely ruined the game, and stopped it being a football spectacle, instead making it a spectacle of refereeing idiocy.

Incompetent amateurs like Seb Stockbridge shouldn't be allowed to officiate professional games, and allowing them to do so is both reckless and negligent by the FA, and something needs to be done, as people are spending their hard earned money to watch football, not some idiot who's clearly got no clue about football and clearly hasn't received the relevant training to take charge of professional football matches. It's embarrassing.

But anyway, enough about that prat.

We were rubbish today, slow and ponderous with our passing, too much sideways and backwards passes, and the few chances we did create, we fluffed terribly.

There was no bite in the midfield, no pace out wide, and no creativity or efficiency in the middle.

McEachran is a fine player, with nice passing ability, but he lacks intensity and doesn't really create anything with his passing, it's all very safe and he doesn't take enough risks, which would be fine, if he was a tough tackling, ball winning midfielder, but he's not, and that's the problem, he just keeps things ticking over when we have the ball, but without an all action, creative box to box midfielder alongside him, he becomes pretty ineffective and pointless.

Similar feelings of frustration with McGuane for me, an excellent player, who holds onto the ball superbly, and possesses so much talent, but soooo much of his play goes sideways or backwards, he doesn't take any risks, and never seems to penetrate the opposition with his passing or running with the ball, it always goes sideways and backwards, and I think him and McEachran playing alongside each other is a problem, as we lose a lot of impetus with them both in the side, and the sooner Cam comes back into the starting lineup to provide some bite, intensity and aggression, the better.

We've got to stop this three at the back nonsense, we were looking so solid with a back four of Long, Moore, Negru/Thorniley and Brown, and although I've never been a fan of 4231, Manning was getting us playing some superb stuff with it, we were scoring for fun, and keeping clean sheets, so WHY THE HELL CHANGE IT?!?!

Long and Brown both look so uncomfortable in a back three, and need to return them to their natural positions, where they have looked so solid this season.

And as for Harris, he's been very poor since returning, and we looked so much better with Bodin as the striker, and were scoring and creating freely every game, so why change it?

It's all gone a bit of kilter in recent games, since these changes have occurred, and that can't be a coincidence, so please Liam, stop this madness NOW, and go back to what was working so well before, before the wheels come off!

Fancy a stint in the dugout during Manning's ban?
I think that makes perfect sense to go back to previous tactics

 

[Bath Yellow]

Think a fit Gorrin would have had a field day against that lot today,

 

[Followtheox1]

Think a fit Gorrin would have had a field day against that lot today,

Not sure he would have had a field day against that ref!

 

[Common Villager]

- I know it's already been done to death but the ref was horrendously poor. Penalty decisions aside (fwiw I think their first was a pen, we should've had one for practically the same thing in the first half, their second and ours were both incredibly soft), the occasion where he failed to play advantage when Harris was played through 1v1 was one of the worst bits of refereeing I've seen in a long time. There's a good chance that would've made it 2-0 and game over

- I thought Harris had an okay game. He ran the channels well and in general his link up play was better than it has been in recent matches. He didn't miss his chance, their keeper saved it

- I don't think it works well with McEachran and McGuane in midfield together. They are both technically very good, but neither is able to drive forward with the ball (I think MM has regressed back to his former self a little in the last few matches). The sooner Brannagan is back fit and firing, the better

- Negru needs to come back into the team. He's our best defender. If he's fit, he should play

- I'm a tad frustrated with our recent performances and results. At times we look unplayable, but seem incapable of doing it over 90 minutes. I appreciate games always ebb and flow to an extent, but one minute I'm thinking we're going to win 5-0, the next I'm thinking I'll take a draw. We need to make it count when we're on top and also keep the pressure on after we score

 

[Followtheox1]

- I know it's already been done to death but the ref was horrendously poor. Penalty decisions aside (fwiw I think their first was a pen, we should've had one for practically the same thing in the first half, their second and ours were both incredibly soft), the occasion where he failed to play advantage when Harris was played through 1v1 was one of the worst bits of refereeing I've seen in a long time. There's a good chance that would've made it 2-0 and game over

- I thought Harris had an okay game. He ran the channels well and in general his link up play was better than it has been in recent matches. He didn't miss his chance, their keeper saved it

- I don't think it works well with McEachran and McGuane in midfield together. They are both technically very good, but neither is able to drive forward with the ball (I think MM has regressed back to his former self a little in the last few matches). The sooner Brannagan is back fit and firing, the better

- Negru needs to come back into the team. He's our best defender. If he's fit, he should play

- I'm a tad frustrated with our recent performances and results. At times we look unplayable, but seem incapable of doing it over 90 minutes. I appreciate games always ebb and flow to an extent, but one minute I'm thinking we're going to win 5-0, the next I'm thinking I'll take a draw. We need to make it count when we're on top and also keep the pressure on after we score

Harris missed a header later on that a more accomplished finisher would have finished. I agree he ran the channels well but unfortunately he is not in the box enough.

 

[Mellowyellow]

Negrhu, badly needed back in defence.
Desperate for a second experiencded striker.
Long and god, again showing they are simply not good enougn.
If we have a deep squad why are there not players that come on and make a difference,

 

[East Stand Fan]

Harris missed a header later on that a more accomplished finisher would have finished. I agree he ran the channels well but unfortunately he is not in the box enough.

That was an excellent chance. I think Leigh whipped it in with some real pace and a perfect height and it only needed to be directed goalward but Harris did not get a convincing contact on it and it merely brushed his face as it went comfortably wide. Any forward at this level needs to bury that. Also missed a good chance first half from a tight angle. He did make a few good runs but is really lacking support in the final third but when he does get a decent chance, his finishing is not up to par.

 

[Steve Gilbert]

Why are we talking about changing the defence when we have the 2nd best defence in the league and both goals today wasn’t even part of the defence I’m so confused

It’s more a case of people suggesting we go back to having 4 in defence rather than 3. We have less attacking threat in games since having a 3 man defence.

 

[Mad Dog]

Why are we talking about changing the defence when we have the 2nd best defence in the league and both goals today wasn’t even part of the defence I’m so confused

We've had a very solid defence until recently, but 5 goals conceded in the last 3 games, suggests there's a problem with recent tactical decisions

 

[Scotchegg]

Long and god, again showing they are simply not good enougn.

Harsh on O'Donkor who didn't play today!!!

 

[Followtheox1]

Harsh on O'Donkor who didn't play today!!!

Maybe he has just lost his faith!

 

[Sarge]

Negrhu, badly needed back in defence.
Desperate for a second experiencded striker.
Long and god, again showing they are simply not good enougn.
If we have a deep squad why are there not players that come on and make a difference,

harsh on O Donker who didnt play

 

[Joey]

For all his obvious faults, Long was doing well at RB, and is all we've got in that position, as Stevens is bloody awful.

Brown has been solid as a rock at LB, and I'd rather play Leigh on the left of the 3 in a 4231, as he will offer a lot in the final third, whilst also providing excellent stability and defensive support down the left.

Once Browne or Edwards return, then Leigh would get the nod over Brown at LB

Long was atrocious again today, a disastrous last 30 minutes or so including giving the ball away under very little pressure for their second penalty, although I don't think it was a pen they still had the opportunity gifted to them. When he does keep the ball it's often so slow as to kill our attack or put extra pressure on the player receiving it.

Brown is solid enough defensively but again offers nothing on the ball. If we have 2 full backs who can't progress the ball then we're going to struggle breaking teams down, we started the season with them but generally scored most our goals on the counter attack rather than building up ourselves, we've not managed much of that recently so can't afford to have a couple of key positions not doing anything going forwards, they aren't good enough defensively to justify their lack of contribution going the other way. Stevens hasn't impressed so far but not had a run of games, to call him awful and say Long is fine is a strange view. I suspect neither are good enough but with Long so out of form Stevens should get a run of games to see what he can offer.

Why are we talking about changing the defence when we have the 2nd best defence in the league and both goals today wasn’t even part of the defence I’m so confused

Because Leigh is clearly a step up from Brown and Long is getting targeted every week. If you're not putting any blame on Long for their second then you've clearly made up your mind and will see what you want to see. I also don't know why some people are still labouring under the illusion that full back that don't contribute anything in build up play is fine. Individually you could look at them and make an argument they're doing fine but it doesn't help the team build attacks at all which a modern full back needs to do. I really thought when Leigh came in people would see what we were missing but it seems not, we need to expect more.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Theory (not really thought through): since Leigh is so good we’ve changed our game plan to get him on the ball more but it isn’t working. We look slow and there’s a lot of pressure on him to attack since Stevens isn’t his equal. The subs, whoever they are, are finding it difficult to affect the game, maybe because changing formation is difficult for players at this level. We have some decent wide players but aren’t using them enough, and without Cam they haven’t had the service. It looks like we need three players in Jan but we can simplify and return to four at the back until then.

 

[Big Ronaldo]

While I agree about long not covering himself in glory this season, it should be noted that today when we were in a desperate search for that equaliser at the end of the game he was at least bringing the ball forward while some others were happy to pass sideways. We needed that and it paid out.

 

[East Stand Fan]

Another observation is the amount of sideways passes in the midfield particularly from McGuane. Not his fault though as we have very little width in the current system especially on the right, and no real pace getting forward aside from Mills either.

Stevens and Long just feels like we’re playing with two right-backs. There’s just not enough movement in the middle right now and no options. Wycombe broke with so much purpose at times today and they also chased us down out of possession. We’ve really lost that zip and attacking shape like we did prior to the international break.

 

[IsleofWightYellow]

The wing backs basically play as quite attacking fullbacks, then the three centre backs sit deep so we have hardly anyone up the pitch. Watch us when we break, we’re constantly countering with only 3 players in attacking positions

 

[dickwalton1964]

Feel a bit for Harris. He took a good touch and was in, centre of the goal and a great opportunity, only for the ref to pull it back for a free kick. Then 2 minutes later he takes a pretty poor touch and gives the goalie a chance to make the save. Then of course there's the header in the second half, although I think that was harder than it looked.

He's not a natural finisher but I think a goal would do his confidence the world of good, it's a shame the first (and best) opportunity he had was pulled back for a free kick no Oxford fan (or player) wanted. We obviously need another striker, but he did do a lot of very good work all throughout the game, and the only reason we sustained some of our attacks was because of him chasing down or nipping ahead of a defender.

Also a fantastic flop to the floor for our penalty.

Not that I think anyone is getting on his back, but we've got to stick with him. He's all we've really got until January (unless Perkins perks up).

In what way was that header harder than it looked ? Saw it live and seen it again since and that’s on a plate six yards out. He just needs proper contact and that’s in.

 

[Andy1505]

If we were to go back to 4 at the back could Leigh not play further forward and Brown revert to LB? I just think the three/five isn't working currently and we looked more solid with the 4?

-Long/Stevens would have to play the RB with Moore and Negru/Thorniley centrally, Brown LB

-MM sitting, Cam and Rodrigues just ahead of him, Leigh wide left, Mills/Murphy wide right behind Harris or Bodin? Edwards to
come back I know but could he play off the right?

I guess two flying wingers is the dream but we know Manning is more pragmatic than that....but the facts are that its not working currently, we've been a bit pants lately! He has to be looking at himself and what he could do better - more flexibility? Be a bit more direct at times?

Why can't we put two halves together consistently?!

 

[greatunclekip]

In what way was that header harder than it looked ? Saw it live and seen it again since and that’s on a plate six yards out. He just needs proper contact and that’s in.

He is not a natural finisher. He is a very good attacking midfielder/number 10 playing too far forward.