OXFORD v Barnet

Anything yellow and blue
joepoolman
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by joepoolman »

GodalmingYellow wrote:Slocombe came for crosses!
I agree with most of your post but this?! Really? From the corner that led to the counter attack where Macca got through on goal, at the start of the second half, the ball was played in about 3 or 4 yards in front of the goal and Slocombe still didn't fancy it! Maybe I am just looking for it but I feel he has no presence from set pieces whatsoever.

What upset me most yesterday was that it was that it wasn't an especially difficult game for Barnet to win. I can accept that we'll lose some home games this year but if we want to go up then teams from the bottom half should have to play the game of their life to win here and Barnet didn't. Barnet just watched a tape of the Orient game and saw that we can't deal with diagonal balls into the box, that corners can be played as deep as you like, and that our main threat is down the right so be sure to have 2 vs 2 at all times. If they'd realised quite how good Sercombe is at the moment and stopped him they might have won 0-3!

MApp has brought in some great players and got them playing some great football but has made shocking decisions two Saturdays running. Even an idiot like me could see that Dunkley had to come on after the first goal but Appleton waited and it costed us. Rose has barely but a foot wrong this season whereas Lundstram has been ineffective recently, yet he used his 3rd sub to bring on Hoban for Hylton! Granted Hylton hadn't played well, but we needed to score a goal, and is there anyone out there who really thinks Hoban is more likely to do that than Hylton?

Going back to Dunkley, I believe that Wright and Mullins are better players, but Dunkley needs to start now. Teams will look at the goals we're conceding and do the same thing until something changes. The only other solution I can think of is recalling Crocombe and playing him in goal.

And don't even get me started on refereeing inconsistencies, both within the game and compared to last Saturday...

But the people with the most responsibility are the players, Sercombe was 8/10, Macca 7, the rest of the team were 4s and 5s. Next Saturday will be a different challenge and they must improve to get a result.
OUFC4eva
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by OUFC4eva »

I would have given George Baldock a six.

Lundstram has been good I would say but he struggled
in midfield. Needs to get fitter but missed a large chunk of pre-season
through an Achilles injury. Rose should have come on.
Hoban is way out of his depth and needs to go in January.

Despite losing, I enjoyed the game. - despite many players being below
par we should still have salvaged a point.
Dr Bob
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by Dr Bob »

The surprise for me, given that this was a team that had only got its first point away from home this season in the previous game, was how effectively Barnet applied the pressing game. Our inability to string two passes together for chunks of the first half (the early part of the game in particular) was at least in part down to this.

Our five minutes of madness at the back has been covered - but their players still had to score...something we were not so successful at. And whilst Hoban's miskick was embarrassing, how bad a miss was Roofe's?

Hoban has always divided opinion, between those who highlight is abysmal scoring record and his ability to link play and bring in other players. I have always been in the latter camp - and whilst his ongoing scoring non-record is increasingly hard to defend, I would at least point out that he was the only player all afternoon who won headers against their number 4. I did not pay close enough attention to see what happened as a result of COD being released by Hoban and getting crosses in, but in those closing minutes, between last-ditch defending, excellent goalkeeping and the odd lucky break for Barnet, we created several chances. Before condemning Hoban out of hand, it would interesting to know how many of those chances involved him in the build-up. Which also begs the question - should that link-up role actually be his primary position and role?

And while I am defending what to some might be seen as the indefensible, I thought no example of Barnet players kicking the ball away was as bad as Graham's last week. They got up to far worse than that, once again IMHO of course!
slappy
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by slappy »

Quick "ask the ref" question:-
If no Barnet player goes to take a corner, who do you book for time wasting? The captain?
Kernow Yellow
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Baldock and Sercs played well, Slocombe didn't do much wrong, but the rest of them had off-days. Skarz was done time and again by their number 27 - I understand that he's a more basic full-back than Baldock but opponents shouldn't be able to play around him so easily.

Hylton might not have had his best game, but around the hour mark he played the ball of the match for Macca which resulted in Roofe's best chance, then made a brilliant run and won a throw in deep in Barnet territory. He and we were both starting to look really dangerous, so what does Appleton do? Sub Hylton off! Unbelievably bad decision which took the sting out of our attack.

The real frustration was that when we clicked and played well Barnet couldn't live with us at all. But that only happened for 20 mins before half-time. The rest of the time we tried too hard and lost the ball too often. That was my first view of Jordan Graham and he was really frustrating - he can clearly play but had a tendency to overplay and squandered good positions as a result. Also, why won't he make the run up the line for the ball which Baldock clearly wants to play? And almost got another stupid red card. Infuriating.

My first proper sight of Lundstram too (10 mins at Bristol aside), and he was no better yesterday than he was then. How many times can one man give the ball away? I can see why he's played alongside Sercombe as their styles complement each other, but we can't afford to surrender possession as much as he did. Roofe was just marked out of the game and was trying to make the best of some under-hit balls into his feet. He should have scored after Macdonald's saved shot fell to him - he had time and there was no need to snatch at the shot.

A word for Barnet though - their centre backs, particularly Dembele, were impressive and their front-line caused us problems all game. Their time-wasting might have been frustrating but on that display it's strange to see them so far down the table.
ty cobb
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by ty cobb »

A win can often gloss over issues that a defeat means they are differcult to ignore. If we are going to get rid of a club legend I would expect him to be replaced by someone of better quality. Slocombe for me is not in the same league as Clarke. He is rooted to his line and I rarely see him make a save you wouldn't expect him to, indeed the opposite is often true. The third goal was at an angle and at his near post and I would have hoped he may have got nearer to it.

If you are chasing a game or looking to hang on and catch a team on a break you need a quick goalscorer to bring on. Hoban is neither of these. I wish he would come good but the evidence suggests otherwise. We had a quick goalscorer but we sent him out on loan without giving him a chance.

Danny Rose was one of the stand out players in the early season, if we are struggling to keep hold of the ball he should be brought on, both this and last sat was crying out for him and unfortunately I don't think Appleton rates him which is a big shame.

As others have said balls into the box paaaaaaannnnniiiiiccccccccc.

Still we are a very good team but Appleton should be thinking about how to address the above so we don't end up having a typical Oxford second half of the season.
GodalmingYellow
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Re: OXFORD v Barnet

Post by GodalmingYellow »

slappy wrote:Quick "ask the ref" question:-
If no Barnet player goes to take a corner, who do you book for time wasting? The captain?
I've often wondered the same thing.
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