Richard of York gave battle in vain.

Anything yellow and blue
Snake
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Richard of York gave battle in vain.

Post by Snake »

Did anyone enjoy the first 88 minutes of that match?

I know I enjoyed bits of it. For a start it looks like we have a decent keeper this season, even if the rest of the team were about as joined up as the colours in a rainbow.
Geoff
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Post by Geoff »

York were a decent side who hurried and harried us for large parts of the game. Clarke mad a good early save, as he did against Villa. We started slowly and just as we looked like we might start passing the ball gave a poor goal away. The substitutions helped, especially removing Sandwith and taking Murray off the wing. As the match progressed we gradually upped the tempo but were very lucky to take all three points. Bulman was my Oxford man of the match. He and Constable worked their socks off.

Plus points - Bulman, Creighton, Clarke &amp Rhodes.
Negatives - Sandwith, Foster, Murray's role and CWs team selection.

It should be obvious to CW now that Murray is like a fish out of water on the wing. He's a good central midfielder and can also play behind Constable in a central role but a winger he ain't. I'd also like to know what Carruthers has done to annoy CW. To me, Carruthers looks a much better proposition at left back than Sandwith.
OUFC4eva
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Post by OUFC4eva »

No way was Creighton a plus point for heavens sake !

He barely could get off the floor and was done in the air time and time again for a big guy of 6 ft 3&quot. Rankine had Creighton on toast and Foster struggled to cope with the rugged Brodie.

Sandwith was no worse than anyone else but seems always to be singled out - infact it was a shocking performance from United for 88 mins. Rarely has an Oxford team won a match in that fashion despite almost every player having an off day (Clarke and Bulman excepted)

We had no cohesion,balance, shape, confidence, sharpness or pace for long periods.

It's bizarre that we have so many good players and finding the right blend may take a long time.I have no idea what the team should be but what I will say is that Chapman is a quality midfielder and never a full back. The lad is class on the ball and for me should play with Bulman. Clist can play at left back as he did at Barnet as I am unconvinced when he is up against teams with plenty of physicality.

The THREE POINTS were a massive bonus and Chris Wilder will have learned loads from that shambles at times.
Matt D
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Post by Matt D »

the three points were some kind of bizarre gift, i'm not sure how we came about them.

as i'd not seen any pre-season games, it'll take me a while to get used to the new players. midson and green were the two that stood out for me - midson played some very intelligent balls, but others (including constable) didn't seem to be on his wavelength yet. green made a big difference. he only needs another 29 goals now, and i'll be wholeheartedly cheering him again.

our defence looks - well it doesn't look very cohesive.

midfield looked confused. agree with OUFC4eva, murray doesn't play well on the wing - he can't let the ball run across him, he can't turn.

york did look good though. rankine particularly i thought. still, it was oxford who kept pushing to the end, and york who collapsed. i can't do that another 45 times though - please mr. wilder can you work this team out so that we can have a good number of comfortable wins, rather than these frenetic last minute games? it's the start of the season, my voice is struggling, and it's not good for my heart either.
Dr Bob
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Post by Dr Bob »

A very disjointed first half. Giving everyone a run-out in pre-season is understandable, but I guess the inevitable flip-side is that we cannot start the season with a settled line-up. That does not explain poor individual performances, though and too many players choosing to play long hoofs upfield too often. I agree with the comment that picking on Sandwith misses the point that they were all poor....although I disagree with the praise lavished on Bulman, at least for his first half performance (but hey, as football fans we cannot all agree on everything. Whatever next?)

I did think the substitutes and formation change did the trick. Apart from one almighty cock-up of a pass into touch, I thought Rhodes looked very positive, while Green's running certainly helped in the spread of nervousness amongst the York players as time went on, culminating with their keeper making his one big error of the game, conveniently dropping the ball for our winner.

And why the big fuss about Green's goal? The decision was taken by the one person in a decent position to make the call. I also thought that, by the general standards of this league, the referee was pretty OK. I cannot imagine there being many games this season when no cards are shown (although, as so often, Constable was at times lucky not to talk himself into a stupid card).

What is that cliche about playing poorly and still winning? Or the one about the game lasting right up until the final whistle? On the quality of play York deserved at least a point. But so long as we keep outscoring opponents......
Kernow Yellow
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Post by Kernow Yellow »

Well, I wasn't at the game (Jerome), but I was over the bloody moon at five to five! I'm not too concerned by reports of lack of cohesion - it was the first game of the season with a new team after all. The desire to snatch the three points has to be a big plus.

Roll on Tuesday night. If we can get 4 points from our next couple of fixtures I'll be absolutely delighted.
recordmeister
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Post by recordmeister »

Mmm... Not a lot to come away from that game with, in terms of positives.

clarke was excellent. He looks so assured on the ball, and he was used almost like a sweeper.

Creighton: er, well done on the goal. Now to work on the other 90 mins of your game.

Formation: was Batt injured? If, so then why was he on the bench? If not, why wasn't he on the pitch.

Murray on the wong: why?

Green: excellent.

Potter: excellent.

Points: 3. How?!?!
Swissbloke
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Post by Swissbloke »

I agree, Why was Murray on the Wong?

Anywhoo glum faces at 4.45 all changed to a euphoric bouncy bundle of joy.

The game could well help shape the next 9 months. Poor start, rollicking at half time and that turn around must give the players confidence.

Green, Bulman and Clarke get top praise.

Sandwith, Murray, Chapman and Kelly will have better days.

I've said it before, before Wilder United would have collapsed, these are better days.

Oh and nice start for Norwich and that A420 lot :-p
boris
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Post by boris »

The more I see of Chris Wilder the more I'm impressed by him. Every substitution he made yesterday was spot on. Kelly was having no effect on the left, so bring on Potter on the right (I remarked during the half-time break that York's left looked pretty vulnerable but with Murray on the wong there was no one to take advantage of it). Then Green for the woeful Sandwith (and he was poor, even by the standards of yesterday's first 80 minutes - he made five passes in the second half, each one of which conceded possession), while Clist looked surprisingly assured at left back. However, it was clear that Green wasn't very effective on the wing, so on comes Rhodes for the tiring Midson and hey-ho, the game turns again with Green's pace up front causing havoc in the York defence, and Potter and Rhodes (backed up by Chapman and Clist) ripping the fullbacks apart, and Murray and Bulman doing good things in the middle. Hey-ho!

And I thought Creighton was okay - yes, Rankine beat him a lot in the air, but there won't be many strikers and big and strong as Rankine, who was woeful when the ball was at his feet and didn't do anything. Brodie's pace surprised Fozzie I think, but in the second half neither York striker got past the defence so presumably Wilder spotted what was going wrong and fixed it.

At 87 minutes my match report was going to start &quotOne of the problems when you believe your own hype is that you often end up severely disillusioned&quot. At 95 minutes I'd almost forgotten all the dross that had led up to that outstanding finale. Bring on K'tring.
Mark G
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Post by Mark G »

Pleased for Green, a clever little dink over the keeper for the goal and he got involved challenging and harassing their defenders like they had us for the vast majority of the game. Agree with Dr Bob, re. Green's goal, there was no controversy, it was over the line according to the Asst Ref and the defender's foot looked well behind the line when he actually kicked it, from what I remember (In seats behind goal in Ox Mail Stand). As for Martin Foyle's claims of a foul, he can take a hike, Rankine and Brodie were doing that all game, in amongst Brodie's blatant diving, so the Ref was at least being consistent in not giving any of them as a foul.

Fantastic save by Clarke from Ferrell early on and this plus Rhodes, Potter and Green all deserve the credit for getting the 3 points as their attempts at running at York's defence exposed their nervousness at the end allowing the goals to happen. Please Mr Wilder, don't play Murray as a wide player, as a central midfielder/attacking midfielder, he can be fantastic but as a wide player he doesn't have the appropriate skills. Please play the wide midfielders/wingers in the squad in the wide positions!
GodalmingYellow
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Post by GodalmingYellow »

I'm not sure where this poor for 88 minutes is coming form. We were poor in the first half. Second half was pretty even stevens until the last 20 minutes when we were very much on top.

Wilder's subs were very well thought out, but his starting line up was not.

I'm amzed Kelly got into the starting squad, let alone the starting XI. He wasn't at the races, and nothing he did worked. Caught out of position loads of times and caught in posession just as often.

I agree with Boris that Sandwich was very poor even by the poor standard of the first half. But then I don't rate him anyway.

Ver disappointed that Batt wasn't starting at right back. He's a quality full back with excellent qualities going forward. Chapman is not a full back, but is a top midfielder. I suspect Wilder was trying to fit certain players into the squad, rather than concentrating on players in their best positions.

Bulman has got a bit of unfair stick. In the first half he was one of the few players working his socks off. Clist and Murray didn't really get into the game, and I would have preferred Carruthers at left back, despite his frailties.

Clark was excellent. A step in class above Turley. He commands his area better, his kicking is better and his reaction saves are better.

Foster had an off day and didn't look at all comfortable alongside Creighton who was too slow and lumbering. Both will need to up their game several notches.

Constable was hard working as ever but was heavily marked out of the game by 3 players.

I was a little disappointed by Midson. He sat too deep (although that may have been under instruction). I think hime and Constable will work better along side each other.

Green and Potter both looked excellent when they came on and transformed the game for us.

Ref was pretty good I thought.

As I said on this ere forum a week ago, York will be strong this season, and yesterday showed us why.

First XI should be:

Clarke
Carruthers
Creighton
Foster
Batt
Green
Murray
Chapman
Potter
Constable
Midson

Subs:
Turley
Bulman
Clist
Day
Rhodes
Geoff
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Post by Geoff »

I heard a rumour that Turley stormed off in a huff before the game. Did anybody else hear anything?

BTW. Nice to meet you Boris. Sorry I had to run straight off but I was trying to catch someone up!
Geoff
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Post by Geoff »

Ignore that post, I've just seen the other thread. :roll:
Dr Bob
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Post by Dr Bob »

According to Radio Oxford before the game, Wilder does not normally have a substitute goalie on the bench, but did last season because of Turley's knee problem. Maybe Turley is not the team-player he has made himself out to be in interviews....or maybe there is another explanation. Unlikely we will ever know the truth for certain (but no reason not to keep speculating). This also may help explain the decision to prefer Clarke (although being the better keeper is probably necessary AND sufficient).

I also want to repeat the comment made by others, that Wilder's substitution decisions are really most impressive. On the basis of last season, I wondered at half time if he would make a substitution then and, sure enough.....How many previous managers would leave those kind of changes until it is too late for the match to be influenced in the way it was yesterday?
Baboo
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Re:

Post by Baboo »

&quotGodalmingYellow&quot wrote: First XI should be:

Clarke
Carruthers
Creighton
Foster
Batt
Green
Murray
Chapman
Potter
Constable
Midson

Subs:
Turley
Bulman
Clist
Day
Rhodes
Wot no LSD?
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