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Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2018 11:15 pm
by Geoff
1. Why wasn't Eastwood man of the match?
2. Does our squad practise passing during training?
3. Do our strikers engage brain before deciding whether to shoot or pass to someone in a better position? (I know I often complain that our strikers don't shoot enough but really!)
4. How did we win that game?

Answers on a postcard.

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:09 am
by Werthers Original
Eastwood was clearly MoTM and we were fairly fortunate to come in level at half time but I thought that if we could last till then we had a chance of a late goal. We’re clearly not very good but are very much a patched up side with a lot of injuries. I was impressed by how hard the players worked and for that they deserved something.

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 12:55 am
by Old Abingdonian
I agree with Werthers - we did come to get the upper hand in the second half after the Eastwood double save. Ledson and Carroll showed a fair amount of grit. And how often have we been undone by one quality strike? Obika took his chance very well.

That said, I agree about the passing - GvK especially was not on the same page as the rest of the team, and Payne had one of his weaker games for us.

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:00 am
by OUFC4eva
Image

MoM - Simon Eastwood. A string of superb saves with the acrobatic tip over from Solomon-Otabor's
twenty five yard curler, destined for the top corner, being the pick. Thank heavens for Easty!

Oxford were shambolic again for large periods of the match - seemingly unable to string two or three passes
together but improved in the last 20 minutes. The U's should have scored another couple but for some
terrible decision making in the final third. Blackpool are in a terrible run of form stretching over two months
but looked a half decent outfit.

A massive three points. When did we last win 3 out of four home league matches?

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 10:28 am
by Dr Bob
We defended corners very well. We worked hard. Eastwood had an amazing game. According to reports from the Blackpool side, not taking chances despite dominating the possession and shots tallies has been their story of late. One good cross and we scored. I thought Carroll defended very well. I also thought that, other than a couple of times, including once for his booking, Tiendalli also defended well.

On the other hand, not having overlapping full backs does limit us going forward. The fantasy of playing good football will remain just that until we find a way of being able to pass to each other. The other thing that worried me was a lack of shape in midfield. Too often GvK had stepped up into the forward line (note Thomas going back sometimes to try to fill in the gap and look for the ball). But with Ruffels and, all too often, Payne playing deep, there was a huge gap between the forward and back lines. No wonder we played so many hoof balls out from the back, with limited passing options. through the midfield.

Took me back though - 1-0 against Blackpool with our goal coming on about 80 minutes...

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 1:21 pm
by OtmoorYellow
Doing our own side down is a typical trait of Oxford fans, and probably the wider football supporter base.

Eastwood was clearly MoM. As usual, the sponsors, possibly not knowing who is who, just voted for the goal scorer.

I felt both sides were poor in all areas, although we have improved at the back a little. It was a game of a lot of mistakes.

Eastwood did make 3 exceptional saves, including the curling shot from 30 yards, which was about as good as it gets in goal keeping terms.

But we did create a lot of chances ourselves, albeit that too often the final decision on shoot v pass was bad. Still I would rather a striker shoots than being afraid to shoot for fear of missing - a complaint we often level at our strikers.

Sadly Wes has fallen back into lazy mode, and that didn't help with closing down from the front. Coupled with a mixed up midfield including Payne badly out of position, and Ruffels still in no form at all. But this is what we have available.

If I were the new boy, I might wonder why I had just signed a 2 and a half year deal to warm the bench, even though a central defender was needed when Moose went off.

At the end of the season, the table doesn't mention how you achieve your points, it just says how many you have got. Some games you are luckier than others. We might not have deserved the win on balance of play, but we did deserve it on the only important factor of how many goals we scored.

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 1:45 pm
by Old Abingdonian
Pep / Jerome made it pretty clear that 'the new boy' can expect to start shortly, but he'd had one day only with the squad - imagine the impact on Dickie's confidence if he had come on as sub and Blackpool had scored through a defensive mix-up.

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 1:50 pm
by slappy
Two important wins to get a bit of confidence back. We would have been looking very nervously at the league table right now otherwise.

I liked the comment from behind me on Saturday. "we've got a free kick on the left, so let's make a sub with a left-footed player" - as if that was what our tactics boil down to. Said player delivers in free-kick for the goal.

Re: Blackpool - a few questions

Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2018 3:09 pm
by Geoff
There were some positive aspects to the game. The performances of Eastwood, Ledson and Obika. The team trying very hard from start to finish. A well taken goal. The worrying aspect for me was the quality of the passing. I'm not just talking about long range hopeful passes, which are often worth a gamble, but basic 10 or 20 yard passes; sometimes in dangerous areas. A number of times we worked hard for several minutes to win the ball only to pass it straight back. The three points are very welcome but shouldn't disguise the fact that(on performance) we deserved to lose at home to a team below us in the table. The players are deluding themselves if they think they did well yesterday.