Defence

[Shaun Rice]

I invite anyone to watch the highlights our last few games, yes even Pompey and further back if you wish, and answer the question. Are a couple of strikers really going to solve our problem?

Rob Dickie is having an absolute nightmare! Watch him at Bury if you think I’m being harsh. He might do a few things to convince you he’s okay but week in he lumbers around looking for his next athletic blunder.
Maybe he’s fatigued and needs a rest... oh no wait!

Hanson and Ruffles look like midfielders or rather utility men playing at full back. Again check the highlights if you don’t believe me. Our flanks are so vulnerable. There are so many goals down the channels especially our left where the full back isn’t even in shot! When they are there it’s just too easy to get the cross in.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying we don’t need strikers, god no! But KR has left our Defence all over the place.

 

[Sheik Djibouti]

Getting rid of or never having proven left and right backs is now being exposed as the pure folly it really is. This is the reason our defence looks shaky and exposed. I actually feel quite sorry for Ruffs and Hanson both of who are now seemingly first choice and neither without any real experience at any decent level to play the role.

Learn the role?...maybe they can, but a relegation battle in the 3rd tier of professional is hardly an atmosphere conducive to a positive learning experience!

 

[Oufc28]

I'm going to reserve judgement until after barnsley. If it goes pear shape after then I think defense is a concern.

I didn't go to bury and I won't comment just looking at highlights. However against Portsmouth Hanson was my man of the match. Dickie made one mistake and it led to the Portsmouth goal, however much of a worldie it was.

 

[Ricey]

Add to this Nelsons has been a shadow of himself. I’m not questioning his professionalism but if we stay up or go down does it really matter to him as he is off at the end of the season either way? Psychologically this is effecting his performances, adding to our defensive frailties.

I also question what the team works on in training, right across the team we look disjointed, defence unorganised and the final third is a shambles. Having said all that I feel we have done talented players so there is something fundamentally wrong (we know that look at the table) with how the team is set up or trains. The coaching team needs to take done responsibility here.

 

[Berliner]

Getting rid of or never having proven left and right backs is now being exposed as the pure folly it really is. This is the reason our defence looks shaky and exposed. I actually feel quite sorry for Ruffs and Hanson both of who are now seemingly first choice and neither without any real experience at any decent level to play the role.

Learn the role?...maybe they can, but a relegation battle in the 3rd tier of professional is hardly an atmosphere conducive to a positive learning experience!

Hanson has played at Derby and Wigan predominantly at right back.
Ruffels has played left back numerous times throughout his career.
They are no greenhorns in the position.

 

[Sarge]

offloaded Canice Carroll, Cameron Norman and Raglan (on loan- with view to permenant)since this season started.... plus McMahon gone up north .... none of whom have been replaced, yet ....(albeit most were squad players)- there is an old football adage your teams strength is in its reserves, a revised version would be the strength of a team is in the squad,.... seems we dont have much strength!

 

[RyanioBirdio]

Hanson has played at Derby and Wigan predominantly at right back.
Ruffels has played left back numerous times throughout his career.
They are no greenhorns in the position.

It’s not about having played there before or not, it’s about being any GOOD at doing so. If our full backs are both makeshift ones who can sort of play there and do okay, that’s not going to be great over the course of virtually a whole season.

As for Hanson specifically, a bloke I regularly deal with for work is a Derby season ticket holder, and he outright said to me: “If you play him at right back there’s no point, but if you play him defensive mid and let him kick people in the air he might do okay at a lower level than Championship.”

 

[ZeroTheHero]

We signed Hanson on a ridiculously long contract as a ball winning midfielder. Now it's turned out that he isn't actually much good there KR is using him as a just about competent but nothing to shout about right back. Another example of poor recruitment unfortunately - whoever's choice he was.

 

[Navegante]

... it seems nobody even manages to remember the only specialist full-back on our books in a thread about the defence. I think that in itself tells a story!

 

[Sarge]

... it seems nobody even manages to remember the only specialist full-back on our books in a thread about the defence. I think that in itself tells a story!

Garbutt? .... Sam Long?

 

[holdsteady]

We have a week left to improve the team, obviously we will sign 6 more midfielders in that time, but that means we have to prioritise on the areas we improve. If we can only bring in one more player then it has to be a forward, our only sort of striker is a 33 year old who doesn’t score many goals and has played as many games as winger as up top, plus he can’t play 90 minutes every game.

We could pretty much do with improvements in every area but the most glaring place is our lonely one up top that Robinson insists on. He will probably sign 8 midfielders this afternoon instead though.

 

[ThatSlopesATwelfthMan]

True about our back line but I'm with others in the sign-a-striker camp this window. Playing how we do our defence is too weak and the overall shape so imbalanced it would take at least three signings elsewhere to make a significant difference. That, along with a rethink of our style, is a job for the summer. At least a striker in front of our decent midfield will help overcome the 2 goal handicap we can expect to start most games with. It could even allow us to set the whole team up to be more solid and hard to beat if there's a prospect of a genuine striker nicking a few. What a mess.

 

[Oufcrealist]

Its obvious that McMahon and Garbutt were signed to be first choices, well that failed.
The back 4 looks very shaky without Mous in front of it. I watched the game the day after and it was so clear that he was missed. Kashi either isn't ready yet or is not as good!
None of the back 4 fill me with confidence, even Nelson who is prone to get caught out. Although he is the better of the 4. Mous provides that calm head and he reads what is coming well, he is no CB though! Hanson is ordinary, no more and Ruffs is hobsons choice seeing as LG has been so poor.
If we sign a striker or two who can click with our wide players I reckon we could just about limp to safety. But Mous must play as the DM.

 

[ljs]

We signed Hanson on a ridiculously long contract as a ball winning midfielder. Now it's turned out that he isn't actually much good there KR is using him as a just about competent but nothing to shout about right back. Another example of poor recruitment unfortunately - whoever's choice he was.

Exactly. Hanson is a poor right back - even in the Portsmouth game his consistent bad positioning and non marking, was somewhat masked by him making two hard tackles.

 

[ljs]

Its obvious that McMahon and Garbutt were signed to be first choices, well that failed.
The back 4 looks very shaky without Mous in front of it. I watched the game the day after and it was so clear that he was missed. Kashi either isn't ready yet or is not as good!
None of the back 4 fill me with confidence, even Nelson who is prone to get caught out. Although he is the better of the 4. Mous provides that calm head and he reads what is coming well, he is no CB though! Hanson is ordinary, no more and Ruffs is hobsons choice seeing as LG has been so poor.
If we sign a striker or two who can click with our wide players I reckon we could just about limp to safety. But Mous must play as the DM.

Now we have Kashi, I hope KR doesn't follow the usual manager's way of trying to prove they are 'right', by playing his player instead of one that is better in the position.

 

[Oufcrealist]

Now we have Kashi, I hope KR doesn't follow the usual manager's way of trying to prove they are 'right', by playing his player instead of one that is better in the position.

Exactly my thought. Mous knows the players inside out. It will take Kashi a while to settle/fit in and even then Mous could still be the better of the two!

 

[guyellow]

That money saved by letting Ricardhino go, when we could have kept him and he wanted to stay, is looking like a false economy.
Yes we need a striker or two but I agree with the OP about Dickie and our vulnerability in the channels. A solid defense would not have let in 5, and we may have won at Bury. A solid defense at Fleetwood may have nailed 3 points.
Even so, biggest issue is inconsistency.
This is going to be a long 3 months to the end of season.

 

[Shaun Rice]

Getting rid of or never having proven left and right backs is now being exposed as the pure folly it really is. This is the reason our defence looks shaky and exposed. I actually feel quite sorry for Ruffs and Hanson both of who are now seemingly first choice and neither without any real experience at any decent level to play the role.

Learn the role?...maybe they can, but a relegation battle in the 3rd tier of professional is hardly an atmosphere conducive to a positive learning experience!

Absolutely 100%
Questions need to be asked as to how the hell KR has managed to assemble a squad worse than the one Pep did with peanuts!
In all my years I’ve never known us to be so thin on the ground.

 

[Shaun Rice]

I'm going to reserve judgement until after barnsley. If it goes pear shape after then I think defense is a concern.

I didn't go to bury and I won't comment just looking at highlights. However against Portsmouth Hanson was my man of the match. Dickie made one mistake and it led to the Portsmouth goal, however much of a worldie it was.

No do look at the highlights, especially of the Pompey goal. Ask yourself where is Ruffles? Why is Graham so far back covering? If Ruffles is in position then he covers for the Dickie error, sweeps in behind so Dickie doesn’t have to play the ball or even gives Dickie an option.
Yes Dickie made the error but would there have been a goal or even cross had the full back been errrr at full back.

 

[unification]

There’s been a lot of criticism of the recruitment this season and most justified – Holmes has always been injury prone, Smith was bigged up too much as a saviour, McMahon (as much as KR bleats it wasn’t) shouldn’t have come if he wasn’t going to move and so on.

However, one rankles me as a signing that should have been a lot better. Luke Garbutt is being kept out by John Ruffels at LB yet his pedigree and experience should have said he would be better than he has been. Why has our Everton loanee been so poor?

 

[Dubai Yellow]

Ruffles probably has been our most consistent defender which pretty much says it all (not a pop at Ruffles)

 

[WokinghamYellow]

KR was very clear at the start of the season that Ruffles was the back up left back to Garbutt when he was questioned about only having 1 left back

 

[Morris Oxford]

I actually think Ruffels & Hanson are in the side on merit.

Ruffels is better than Garbutt or Long.

Hanson is better than Long or Norman was. It’s a close call between Hanson & McMahon, but that’s academic as McMahon’s gone back up north. Hanson was excellent against Portsmouth.

As has been said before Dickie is not comfortable on the left side of central defence, plus he’s obviously going through a loss of form at the moment and could probably do with a break. Perhaps the ‘plan’ is to get Kashi fit, play him defensive midfield with Mousinho taking the place of Dickie?

Mousinho makes a huge difference to the side when he’s playing in front of the back four, not just as a player but as a leader and organiser, and we plainly miss him when he’s not in the starting XI. Mousinho might look a better central defender with a better defensive midfielder* in front of him than he has had before in his OUFC career.

*Whether Kashi (when fit) is a better defensive midfield option than Hanson, Ruffels, Brannigan or Mousinho remains to be seen.

The defence is far from perfect, but for me it’s the striker issue which has been our biggest issue from day one of the season. Poor, poor recruitment whichever way you look at it.

 

[Shaun Rice]

I actually think Ruffels & Hanson are in the side on merit.

Ruffels is better than Garbutt or Long.

Hanson is better than Long or Norman was. It’s a close call between Hanson & McMahon, but that’s academic as McMahon’s gone back up north. Hanson was excellent against Portsmouth.

As has been said before Dickie is not comfortable on the left side of central defence, plus he’s obviously going through a loss of form at the moment and could probably do with a break. Perhaps the ‘plan’ is to get Kashi fit, play him defensive midfield with Mousinho taking the place of Dickie?

Mousinho makes a huge difference to the side when he’s playing in front of the back four, not just as a player but as a leader and organiser, and we plainly miss him when he’s not in the starting XI. Mousinho might look a better central defender with a better defensive midfielder* in front of him than he has had before in his OUFC career.

*Whether Kashi (when fit) is a better defensive midfield option than Hanson, Ruffels, Brannigan or Mousinho remains to be seen.

The defence is far from perfect, but for me it’s the striker issue which has been our biggest issue from day one of the season. Poor, poor recruitment whichever way you look at it.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m in no way saying we don’t need a striker actually two. What gets me is that KR, the club hasn’t even mentioned the defence and it’s obvious to anyone who knows b****r all about football that we look all over the place at times.

 

[FalmouthOx]

Rather than cringe in embarrassment that we played so badly at Bury he just shrugged off the issue by offering to refund 101 people. No questions asked. Incredibly short in so many positions and playing patchwork selections each week but I wouldnt be surprised if we see one or two out next week and no one in at all. Ready for the forum meltdown? Still good enough to stay up if the workman knows how to use his tools. Can see whats coming - already called them bad players - oh the fun

 

[NottsYellow]

All players in the back 4 are good players in themselves, what is lacking is good management, coaching, and organisation.
We have an assistant manager who has played 800 odd games at centre half but seems incapable of putting any structure in the defence and the supporting midfielders when the opposition are attacking.
I very much doubt our manager gives them much motivation and confidence. He probably barks out different, contradictory instructions each training session and each match.

 

[Foley]

The defence has not been as good recently.
Personally I am not worried about the full backs. I would class Ruffels almost as a left back now and Hanson has spent a lot of his career as full back.
I couldn't make last week but mates who Went all had Hanson as one of the best 5 Oxford players v Pompey.
In perspective Pompey had 5 shots and TWO on target last Saturday against Pompey who have scored 47 goals this season.
To me the problems have been due to Dickie having a dodgy month or so.
As a team we need to defend better.
On the basis that the deadline finishes wednnesdatband it is likely that we will get in one or 2 players a striker is of far more importance in my view.

 

[Foley]

All players in the back 4 are good players in themselves, what is lacking is good management, coaching, and organisation.
We have an assistant manager who has played 800 odd games at centre half but seems incapable of putting any structure in the defence and the supporting midfielders when the opposition are attacking.
I very much doubt our manager gives them much motivation and confidence. He probably barks out different, contradictory instructions each training session and each match.

Really? The manager 'probably barks out different contradictorary instructions each training session and match' Are you seriously? Do you have any evidence of that?
One of the more ridiculous comments in my view.
The two shots on target v Pompey was clearly just a fluke!