Player Ratings vs Barnsley

[uptheus]

Regarding Hall - anyone else get the feeling that yesterday he was trying to say to KR 'start me next week!' ? He was our only bright spark yesterday.

KR would have started him if he was 100% match fit. It wasn’t about whether he was good enough, it was whether he was fit or not.

 

[uptheus]

October! Match fit! He a pro footballer, he should be match fit now, not only that he’s a premiership pro footballer, and most people on this thread are giving him 2 or 3 out of ten.

Not if he’s been injured. And he needs to be MATCH fit, not just physically fit. He needs game time, so ideally either start games and see how he goes or come on for 30mins and build the time up. Hopefully by 5-10 games he’ll be back up to MATCH fitness.

 

[greatunclekip]

For what it is worth here is my view:

Eastwood - 6 - people giving him 8 is way to high. Yes he made a couple of great saves, but always slowed us down, and distribution was quite poor. Doesn't make a decision who. To throw or kick to so went long every time even though we were being dominated in the air and not getting any second balls. Should have started playing shorter to give us a chance.

McMahon - 4 - looked OK going forwards, but was caught out by their number 26 every time he went forward.

Dickie - 5 - better of the defenders for me. Looked OK in the air. Poor midfield meant no protection or out ball.

Nelson - 4 - did not look like a leader or captain to me today.

Garbutt - 4 - showed some glimpses of promise but caught of position too often. No protection from Mackie at all.

Brannagan - 5 - I feel sorry for this lad. He is a number 10 and is played too deep. He is not in the team to win the ball but to be a playmaker. He needs a hard aggressive player alongside him.

Ruffles - 2 - extremely poor. The games just keep passing him by. He runs a lot, but cannot tackle, cannot pass and seems to lose runners a lot. Should be 4th choice midfielder at best.

Mackie - 2 - didn't do anything. Didn't seem fit at all.

Henry - 3 - could not get into the game. Too slow. Seems like the Henry at the start of last season.

Carruthers - 4 - a couple of neat touches and plenty of endeavour, but no one playing it to him in good positions.

Obika - 3 - showed more promise than the whole of last season. Some good movement, held the ball up at times BUT he has no quality. No final pass or shot. The time he fell over 1 on 1 was embarrassing for a professional footballer.

Smith - 5 - could be a good signing. Made an impact early on but faded as the game progressed.

Hall - 7 - quick and direct. His running scared Barnsley but he had to try and do it on his own.

Whyte - 3 - no time to make an impact.

Agree with this. I woke today thinking could we really have been that bad. Unfortunately i wasnt hallucinating. That was BAD.

I doubt well get beaten like that again. But we were unfit, unprepared, unorganised and lethargic.

Totally unacceptable.

 

[Gary Baldi]

October! Match fit! He a pro footballer, he should be match fit now, not only that he’s a premiership pro footballer, and most people on this thread are giving him 2 or 3 out of ten.

Think about it. How many games has he played in the past 5 years? 52. He didn't play a single competitive game last season.

For better or worse, he is going to need time to get up to speed and match fit - not gym fit. 25k a week or not, yesterday was the first competitive game he has played since December 2016. It doesn't excuse a poor performance, but once he gets into playing games on a weekly basis and his body is accustomed to playing regualrly, he should look a lot better.

 

[beyondthefourth]

Okay, so I spent my afternoon watching the full replay through on iFollow. It took a lot of effort to get to the end, knowing what was coming, but at least now I can have my opinion here.

Eastwood - 6
Made a few really good saves. But lucky not to concede a penalty in the first half, and also not to be embarrassed with a lob from a poor pass.

McMahon - 5
Did okay defensively, but ended up getting swamped as there was no cover from the right wing (no one even playing on the right wing for a good 10-15 minutes)

Dickie - 5
Did the best he could. Cleared his lines, got a head on things. Had to do a lot of covering for Nelson.

Nelson - 4
Very poor. Not sure if it was a lack of fitness or match sharpness. He was caught out of position a lot, didn't run back from the corners, and relied a lot on Dickie.

Garbutt - 4
Again, hopefully its a lack of match sharpness. Poor delivery from set pieces, and he seemed to feel like no one was helping him out on the left side.

Brannagan - 6
Had a few really good passages of play. Once he gets a unit next to him, he'll be dictating our counter attacks.

Ruffels - 3
Got run around and run through. He's a great option as a utility player from the bench, but not good enough for a top half L1 side.

Carruthers - 5
I didn't see much of him before he went off, but his exit was clearly a catalyst. No one knew what the systems or tactics were once we put an extra man up top, and we ended up a shambles.

Henry - 4
Put in lots of running, but wasn't effective in any way, defending or attacking.

Mackie - 3
Fairly invisible, again hopefully he is given a few weeks to gain fitness.

Obika - 5
I'm definitely going to defend Obika. He was excellent running off the ball, and was exactly where he needed to be at all times. His close control once he gets the ball needs a lot of work though. I still think he will be effective against the majority of L1 opponents, particularly with improved support from the wingers behind him.

Subs;
Smith - 5
Was impressed with his speed, and some of the runs he made. Expecting a few goals from him before the end of the season.

Hall - 7
The one man all afternoon who begged for the ball, took it, and forced things to happen for us. Who wasn't afraid of our opposition, and in fact worried them. Will be huge for us this season if kept fit.

Whyte - N/A


I'm still optimistic. I saw a lot in the match which we can be positive going forward.

Barnsley were the worst possible team for us to play on the opening day. It was a Championship squad that only had one addition all summer, playing against a team still trying to bed in new faces. They knew exactly how to play off each other, which we need to improve ASAP, but it will come to us.

I don't think we will lose another game in that fashion for the rest of the season, but I think Barnsley will win a lot of games in that fashion.

 

[Salaghaf]

You're one of those people who gives everything a 1 star review on Amazon for the most trivial reasons.

My opinion is that is the worst performance I’ve seen in over 30 years of following Oxford.
Not one of the worst, but the worst. Hence my scores.

 

[milburn]

I’d like to see KR incorporated into these ratings. We had no idea what we were doing tactically when Smith initially came on. He’s not renowned for a plan B and his hand was maybe forced but tactics/shape/organisation comes from the manager.

 

[BigCrompy]

My opinion is that is the worst performance I’ve seen in over 30 years of following Oxford.
Not one of the worst, but the worst. Hence my scores.

Marlow? Droylsden? Histon? Tonbridge Angels...?!!

 

[Mystery Yellow]

My opinion is that is the worst performance I’ve seen in over 30 years of following Oxford.
Not one of the worst, but the worst. Hence my scores.

Did you see many games under Wilder & Pep? Week in week out it bad under Wilder as for Pep that was totally embarrassing

 

[oldabingdonian]

Cheltenham in the cup last season?

A 0 -2 at home to Hartlepool in March 2015 rather sticks in the memory. Oh, and we had Roofe and Baldock on the pitch.

Make no mistake, we were thrashed, because we were outthought and outfought in midfield. If I have one enduring concern, it was how easily McMahon was beaten time and again.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

Okay, so I spent my afternoon watching the full replay through on iFollow. It took a lot of effort to get to the end, knowing what was coming, but at least now I can have my opinion here.

Eastwood - 6
Made a few really good saves. But lucky not to concede a penalty in the first half, and also not to be embarrassed with a lob from a poor pass.

McMahon - 5
Did okay defensively, but ended up getting swamped as there was no cover from the right wing (no one even playing on the right wing for a good 10-15 minutes)

Dickie - 5
Did the best he could. Cleared his lines, got a head on things. Had to do a lot of covering for Nelson.

Nelson - 4
Very poor. Not sure if it was a lack of fitness or match sharpness. He was caught out of position a lot, didn't run back from the corners, and relied a lot on Dickie.

Garbutt - 4
Again, hopefully its a lack of match sharpness. Poor delivery from set pieces, and he seemed to feel like no one was helping him out on the left side.

Brannagan - 6
Had a few really good passages of play. Once he gets a unit next to him, he'll be dictating our counter attacks.

Ruffels - 3
Got run around and run through. He's a great option as a utility player from the bench, but not good enough for a top half L1 side.

Carruthers - 5
I didn't see much of him before he went off, but his exit was clearly a catalyst. No one knew what the systems or tactics were once we put an extra man up top, and we ended up a shambles.

Henry - 4
Put in lots of running, but wasn't effective in any way, defending or attacking.

Mackie - 3
Fairly invisible, again hopefully he is given a few weeks to gain fitness.

Obika - 5
I'm definitely going to defend Obika. He was excellent running off the ball, and was exactly where he needed to be at all times. His close control once he gets the ball needs a lot of work though. I still think he will be effective against the majority of L1 opponents, particularly with improved support from the wingers behind him.

Subs;
Smith - 5
Was impressed with his speed, and some of the runs he made. Expecting a few goals from him before the end of the season.

Hall - 7
The one man all afternoon who begged for the ball, took it, and forced things to happen for us. Who wasn't afraid of our opposition, and in fact worried them. Will be huge for us this season if kept fit.

Whyte - N/A


I'm still optimistic. I saw a lot in the match which we can be positive going forward.

Barnsley were the worst possible team for us to play on the opening day. It was a Championship squad that only had one addition all summer, playing against a team still trying to bed in new faces. They knew exactly how to play off each other, which we need to improve ASAP, but it will come to us.

I don't think we will lose another game in that fashion for the rest of the season, but I think Barnsley will win a lot of games in that fashion.

A more balanced view at last.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

My opinion is that is the worst performance I’ve seen in over 30 years of following Oxford.
Not one of the worst, but the worst. Hence my scores.

Wigan last season?

 

[greatunclekip]

I’d like to see KR incorporated into these ratings. We had no idea what we were doing tactically when Smith initially came on. He’s not renowned for a plan B and his hand was maybe forced but tactics/shape/organisation comes from the manager.

Agreed. I like a lot about KR but he is tactically naive to put it bluntly.

 

[Sheik djibouti]

Agreed. I like a lot about KR but he is tactically naive to put it bluntly.

I think the whole coaching and scouting set-up need to hold their hands up. Whilst he may have ultimate say on tactics employed, I would suggest that he is not that arrogant or naive as to not take the evidence gathered from videos and scouting opposition, nor the opinion of his coaching team into account when reaching his conclusions.

I would like to think that they would plan for several scenarios but maybe, just maybe the loss of Carruthers after 20 odd minutes against a pretty much Championship quality side was not one they were expecting to have to cope with. That said, would Carruthers staying on for the whole game have affected the overall result on the day? Probably not because he was only part of a bigger problem with squad and tactics.

We were well beaten by a quality opposition and our weaknesses were laid bare for all to see.

 

[MiddleBartonYellow]

Agreed. I like a lot about KR but he is tactically naive to put it bluntly.

I don't think there is much a coach can do if players play badly except leave them out for the next game. Nine of them in this case.

 

[stokeu]

Vale? Cheltenham? Wigan? Bury? And that's just last season

 

[n1]

Agreed. I like a lot about KR but he is tactically naive to put it bluntly.

You're probably right but DF and SD must make a contribution. If tactics are his weakness then hopefully he has people around him who are tactically strong.

 

[windmill]

Marlow? Droylsden? Histon? Tonbridge Angels...?!!

Lost six nil to Cheltenham in 1960. Far,far worse!!