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Post by Paul Cannell on Oct 18, 2017 7:52:23 GMT
Missed the first half but the second half was really absorbing stuff. 2 very good teams playing football fairly. Good point against a strong team. Shame the second last kick of the game didn't Creep under the bar mind. How close was that shot from Richardinho? My goodness he strikes a good ball. Enjoyed the game tonight - two good teams playing the game the right way. We could have nicked it with a bit more quality; Charlton could have nicked it also. A good point. We look to be 1,000 down on the gate which is a concern however. It was about 2 feet over. Shame he was leaning back when he hit it; head over the ball and that would have gone in like a rocket. Very good game, and pretty fair result.
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Post by Yellow River on Oct 18, 2017 7:52:46 GMT
Echo what others have said, a very entertaining game of football. I thought Charlton looked like a play-off side and we matched them.
My main concern is our lack of pace particularly in the last 20 mins when the opposition is tiring. On the counter attack it would be nice to have that pace to really scare defenders.
Obviously Hall can give us that when fit, I can see him becoming an impact player coming off the bench for the last 20-30 mins. Van Kessel may also be able to fill that role but needs to work much, much harder for the team in my opinion.
Early days for the young Xemi, adapting to a new country with a new football culture won't be easy but is going to have to learn fairly quick to make an impact in this squad. Pep obviously sees something in him.
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Post by HeyMcAleny on Oct 18, 2017 7:53:56 GMT
We don't have much depth though. If we can keep this team on the pitch we will do well, but it's a long campaign if we have an FA Cup run and the FLT.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Oct 18, 2017 8:16:12 GMT
I agree with the general opinion that it was an entertaining match and probably a draw was a fair result in the end. A few things...
I thought Charlton's movement off the ball was much better than ours - sometimes we were so static that it was easy for them to ensure the person in possession had no real options.
I also thought they used the width better than we did. Mowett is not a wide player (and it showed) and Henry for all his virtues that are now becoming apparent, is not very quick.
If we are going to take corners and free kicks short, then there has to be more to the plan than just that! Like what to do with the ball next! Just passing it back to the taker - who has now been closed down completely - is ridiculous. Too many times we lost the ball doing this last night, and with our taller defenders up for free kicks it caused us no end of trouble. It is also quite predictable and other teams are now wise to it. Mix it up a bit!
Rolling/passing the ball out from Eastwood. Another area where greater thought needs to be put into it. If you have a man free, great. If that man is rapidly being closed down and his only option is going to pass it straight back to the gk - what is the point? You just introduce an extra element of risk.
Hesitant defense. I don't know what it was but our defense seemed to be standing on ceremony a bit last night. Apart from the calamitous goal we gave away, there were quite a few times when the situation was crying out for someone to take charge and just get rid of it. Instead, we tried to play too much football too close to our own goal.
Slow starts. We were second best by quite a length for the first 25 minutes. The same has been true in quite a few other matches. That translates into stats. In first halves we have scored 4 and conceded 6. In second halves we have scored 19 (!!) and conceded 9. Last night we were the better team in the second half.
Reading that back, it sounds as if I thought we were poor. I don't think that at all, but they were certainly things I noticed. On the plus side, Thomas has gone a long way to improve my opinion of him as a player, the team looks better with people playing in their proper positions and we are a tough outfit to beat. If we can win on Saturday, then we will have had a hugely impressive few weeks (and I didn't think I'd be saying that after those three defeats).
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Post by Best Mate on Oct 18, 2017 8:18:54 GMT
Decent game I thought.
I think some do watch from some rose tainted specs though. They had 3 glorious chances in the first 20 and should have been out of sight. It is something that I think we need to look at where we rarely start on the front foot. I thought their left side was incredibly strong (including the left back who looked excellent).
After this we matched them in an entertaining game - and I think earned a hard fought point. Would have been immense to snatch it - but very harsh on them.
Off the bench we are undoubtably short. We do have injuries / suspensions but think there is no doubt we lack pace in the team.
Thought Thomas was excellent again last night. Generally when I think about it - mist did well.
One last thought on Nelson - the guy oozes class. But have to say there are times when you just play safe. There were a couple last night where he lets it bounce when he should volley clear and also he touched that for the back pass. Thought Eastwood was left in no mans land by the Miskick and had to let him go by or risk being sent off. In hindsite I am sure he would have narrowed the angle and stood tall.
There were some queries over bookings but Ledson and Henry were both definite bookings (tackle for Ledson and more Henry knew exactly what he was doing and they were on a dangerous counter).
Think they will Def be top 6. We are not a million miles off them. Look Forward to the return leg in Feb and hope we go there in a similar league position.
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Post by Best Mate on Oct 18, 2017 8:21:22 GMT
I agree with the general opinion that it was an entertaining match and probably a draw was a fair result in the end. A few things... I thought Charlton's movement off the ball was much better than ours - sometimes we were so static that it was easy for them to ensure the person in possession had no real options. I also thought they used the width better than we did. Mowett is not a wide player (and it showed) and Henry for all his virtues that are now becoming apparent, is not very quick. If we are going to take corners and free kicks short, then there has to be more to the plan than just that! Like what to do with the ball next! Just passing it back to the taker - who has now been closed down completely - is ridiculous. Too many times we lost the ball doing this last night, and with our taller defenders up for free kicks it caused us no end of trouble. It is also quite predictable and other teams are now wise to it. Mix it up a bit! Rolling/passing the ball out from Eastwood. Another area where greater thought needs to be put into it. If you have a man free, great. If that man is rapidly being closed down and his only option is going to pass it straight back to the gk - what is the point? You just introduce an extra element of risk. Hesitant defense. I don't know what it was but our defense seemed to be standing on ceremony a bit last night. Apart from the calamitous goal we gave away, there were quite a few times when the situation was crying out for someone to take charge and just get rid of it. Instead, we tried to play too much football too close to our own goal. Slow starts. We were second best by quite a length for the first 25 minutes. The same has been true in quite a few other matches. That translates into stats. In first halves we have scored 4 and conceded 6. In second halves we have scored 19 (!!) and conceded 9. Last night we were the better team in the second half. Reading that back, it sounds as if I thought we were poor. I don't think that at all, but they were certainly things I noticed. On the plus side, Thomas has gone a long way to improve my opinion of him as a player, the team looks better with people playing in their proper positions and we are a tough outfit to beat. If we can win on Saturday, then we will have had a hugely impressive few weeks (and I didn't think I'd be saying that after those three defeats). Excellent post
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Post by CheltenhamYellow on Oct 18, 2017 8:26:58 GMT
Just seen the highlights..... WTF was Eastwood doing for their goal? Nelson fucked up. For once. Even more surprising when he’s had such a great season. He’s a class act and we owe him a lot. Let’s forgive him the one mistake, yeah?
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Post by campbell on Oct 18, 2017 8:40:52 GMT
Nelson fucked up. For once. Even more surprising when he’s had such a great season. He’s a class act and we owe him a lot. Let’s forgive him the one mistake, yeah? I think he was merely pointing out it wasn't really Eastwoods fault as a previous poster had said... Climb out his butt hole, people are allowed to say he made a mistake when he did.
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Post by ttg17 on Oct 18, 2017 8:42:21 GMT
This is a splendid side who are a step up from 16/17 version. We were having a debate last night - comparing and contrasting 2016-17 team to the current version. How good is this team? Can’t really say we’re missing Dunkley, Skarz, Edwards, Sercombe, Hemmings any maybe even Lunny! Add Marvin Johnson’s pace out wide left and I reckon we win the game last night. Maguire is the interesting one - technically excellent but a bit of a paradox as to where to play him. What was Mags like in the dressing room? McAleny was good and I would have loved to have kept him. A different type of front player - shooting early with power and accuracy. I actually think last night’s team maybe better than Appleton’s. Appleton’s team was of course more developed and a bit more self confident. This team could achieve more - who knows ! Anyone know what's happened to him? Hasn't scored since the opening day and has barely played since then. Doesn't seem to be injured either. EDIT: Turns out he HAS been injured, and is only now coming back to fitness. Just in time to play us - brilliant!
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Post by diagocostapacket on Oct 18, 2017 8:54:41 GMT
A good game of football with two good teams playing football. There were some very good performances throughout the whole team. Charlton look pretty likely to be up there at the end of the season. Well done Ribeiro for a cracking goal on his wrong foot. As somebody suggested it just didn't fall for Payne/ Thomas today or we could have won. Thomas looks a much better player than at the start of the season. His hold up play seems to have improved. Really useful having Obika to give a different problem to the opposition as well. Ribeiros scored a couple of goals on his wrong foot.. I think he's one of the few players comfortable using either.
Their goal was a bit of a gift but these things happen couldn't really fault Nelson or Eastwood, that ball was spinning like Darcey Bussell in her hey day.
Thomas was great, Payne's performances seem to be becoming a bit predictable ...with little no end product... hopefully that will change and they will then become outstanding rather than just very good.
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Post by diagocostapacket on Oct 18, 2017 8:57:27 GMT
Echo what others have said, a very entertaining game of football. I thought Charlton looked like a play-off side and we matched them. My main concern is our lack of pace particularly in the last 20 mins when the opposition is tiring. On the counter attack it would be nice to have that pace to really scare defenders. Obviously Hall can give us that when fit, I can see him becoming an impact player coming off the bench for the last 20-30 mins. Van Kessel may also be able to fill that role but needs to work much, much harder for the team in my opinion. Early days for the young Xemi, adapting to a new country with a new football culture won't be easy but is going to have to learn fairly quick to make an impact in this squad. Pep obviously sees something in him. I suspect the supporters of every club in the league say the same thing.
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Post by scotters on Oct 18, 2017 8:59:55 GMT
If we had more attacking depth in the squad I feel like we could have snatched the win last night. We were all over them for a fair bit of the second half and then with about 20 minutes to go Thomas and Payne just ran out of puff. Combined with Henry and Mowatt not having much pace (and the latter having a generally disappointing game) and we didn't have anyone to really put pressure in the last quarter.
Obika and Xemi are solid players but neither of them had the energy to make things happen. Perhaps a Hall, Van Kessel or Mehmeti would have been able to make some things happen.
But overall it's hard to be too disappointed with the draw.
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Post by Gary Baldi on Oct 18, 2017 9:03:22 GMT
We also missed some chances... Ricardinho had a good shot saved in the first half. Both keepers worked hard to keep their teams in the game, but style wise they looked better at it. Certainly, we looked like we were at the edges of squad depth last night.
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Post by diagocostapacket on Oct 18, 2017 9:04:54 GMT
I agree with the general opinion that it was an entertaining match and probably a draw was a fair result in the end. A few things... I thought Charlton's movement off the ball was much better than ours - sometimes we were so static that it was easy for them to ensure the person in possession had no real options. I also thought they used the width better than we did. Mowett is not a wide player (and it showed) and Henry for all his virtues that are now becoming apparent, is not very quick. If we are going to take corners and free kicks short, then there has to be more to the plan than just that! Like what to do with the ball next! Just passing it back to the taker - who has now been closed down completely - is ridiculous. Too many times we lost the ball doing this last night, and with our taller defenders up for free kicks it caused us no end of trouble. It is also quite predictable and other teams are now wise to it. Mix it up a bit! Rolling/passing the ball out from Eastwood. Another area where greater thought needs to be put into it. If you have a man free, great. If that man is rapidly being closed down and his only option is going to pass it straight back to the gk - what is the point? You just introduce an extra element of risk. Hesitant defense. I don't know what it was but our defense seemed to be standing on ceremony a bit last night. Apart from the calamitous goal we gave away, there were quite a few times when the situation was crying out for someone to take charge and just get rid of it. Instead, we tried to play too much football too close to our own goal. Slow starts. We were second best by quite a length for the first 25 minutes. The same has been true in quite a few other matches. That translates into stats. In first halves we have scored 4 and conceded 6. In second halves we have scored 19 (!!) and conceded 9. Last night we were the better team in the second half. Reading that back, it sounds as if I thought we were poor. I don't think that at all, but they were certainly things I noticed. On the plus side, Thomas has gone a long way to improve my opinion of him as a player, the team looks better with people playing in their proper positions and we are a tough outfit to beat. If we can win on Saturday, then we will have had a hugely impressive few weeks (and I didn't think I'd be saying that after those three defeats). Excellent post Yes very good..
Charlton however have a set up that is biased towards attacking midfielders about 5 of them in the team last night and all pretty quick ..that's where the difference was.. they overran us for the first 20 minutes or so and the defence had hardly any respite at all. When we did get it clear it was coming straight back.
I disagree to some extent with the hoof it principle.. at times when you are under such pressure its important to try and keep possession and play the ball around. When we did that we looked much better.
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Post by ZeroTheHero on Oct 18, 2017 9:22:56 GMT
I disagree to some extent with the hoof it principle.. at times when you are under such pressure its important to try and keep possession and play the ball around. When we did that we looked much better. I agree thoroughly, but there is a time and a place. Farting about with it on the edge of your own penalty area and across the back line when there are loads of opposition pressing you is a recipe for disaster IMO. I'm a great believer in remembering the fact that players at our level all have a mistake in them however comparatively good they are (e.g. Nelson last night) - I'd rather any cock-ups were made a lot further away from our goal! I think the answer (easy to say, difficult to do!) is to have more movement in the midfield and up front to give the defense an out ball - lots of time last night there was nobody available. (Actually, Thomas did make several very decent runs that were either ignored in favour of a 'safe' pass, or the pass was delayed to long.)
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Post by Best Mate on Oct 18, 2017 9:23:59 GMT
Its obvious we are encouraged to play from the back and I like that we are. I think the comment is around times when we were pressed or under pressure - i.e. when Nelson actually did backpass it and should have taken control and cleared it away into the stand before.
Either way - I think we can all see it was more than a decent performance against a very good side - and should stand us in good stead. If we can beat Rotherham Saturday - it will be an excellent point.
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Post by Marked Ox on Oct 18, 2017 9:49:10 GMT
Firstly, Charlton should have won that game before we scored. The movement off the ball and their speed caused us major problems. Our defending helped by being static, poor communication and at times being chaotic.
Good finish by Ribs though to level. Thought Henry's booking was ridiculous. 2nd half was even with Pep's tactical changes definitely helping.
Other observations:
Curtis Nelson had a very poor game by his high standards last night. Seemed edgy, especially the 1st half and it was appalling defending for their goal along with Clint's misjudgement. He seemed especially hesitant when dealing with Magennis, losing just about every battle with him in the 1st half.
Ribs (even with the goal) and Ricardinho weren't much better in the 1st half, often losing their man.
Mous wasn't great in that 1st half but he took control of that defence in the 2nd half as nobody was in the 1st half.
The midfield were overrun in the 1st half but bounced back in the 2nd half like the defence.
Wes Thomas I thought played well considering he had little support in the 1st half and caused their defence problems.
One other negative was the defending at set pieces was woeful with the man-marking non-existent at times.
What was positive though is we kept battling and clawed our way back into the game to get a point. Also good to see Jon Obika back.
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Post by Marked Ox on Oct 18, 2017 9:52:48 GMT
Even more surprising when he’s had such a great season. He’s a class act and we owe him a lot. Let’s forgive him the one mistake, yeah? I think he was merely pointing out it wasn't really Eastwoods fault as a previous poster had said... Climb out his butt hole, people are allowed to say he made a mistake when he did. Agree that Nelson was at fault but so was Eastwood as he got his charge out badly timed. It was comedy defending by both.
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Post by ssu1965 on Oct 18, 2017 10:05:11 GMT
did anybody else think Simon Eastwood wasn't himself? His distribution wasn't up to his usual standards. Still a decent enough game but looked a little edgy to me so hope all ok
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Post by foley on Oct 18, 2017 10:27:08 GMT
did anybody else think Simon Eastwood wasn't himself? His distribution wasn't up to his usual standards. Still a decent enough game but looked a little edgy to me so hope all ok I thought that he came and claimed the ball 2-3 times very well against some very tall Brighton players. A misjudgement for their goal but he could easily have got it more wrong and been sent off.
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Post by Paul Cannell on Oct 18, 2017 10:31:00 GMT
did anybody else think Simon Eastwood wasn't himself? His distribution wasn't up to his usual standards. Still a decent enough game but looked a little edgy to me so hope all ok I thought that he came and claimed the ball 2-3 times very well against some very tall Brighton players. A misjudgement for their goal but he could easily have got it more wrong and been sent off. Should have gone to SpecSavers?
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Post by foley on Oct 18, 2017 10:45:11 GMT
I thought that he came and claimed the ball 2-3 times very well against some very tall Brighton players. A misjudgement for their goal but he could easily have got it more wrong and been sent off. Should have gone to SpecSavers? Ha ha that'll teach me to post having just watched Match of the Day!!
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Post by McVicar on Oct 18, 2017 10:50:18 GMT
I think if I was a Charlton fan I would be feeling pretty similar to how we felt coming away from MK Dons - a blistering opening 20-25 minutes but then fell away somewhat in the second half. Despite a few scares on the counter attack in the second half I felt their threat was nowhere near as dangerous as it was early doors. Whether that was down to us upping our game or them running out of ideas - probably a bit of both. Another gripping game though - after 20 minutes I was feeling a bit deflated with it all, by the end I was leaping out of my seat at regular intervals again, great stuff!
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Post by CheltenhamYellow on Oct 18, 2017 11:05:15 GMT
Even more surprising when he’s had such a great season. He’s a class act and we owe him a lot. Let’s forgive him the one mistake, yeah? I think he was merely pointing out it wasn't really Eastwoods fault as a previous poster had said... Climb out his butt hole, people are allowed to say he made a mistake when he did. Yes, thank you. Think I was able to work that one out for myself. Plonker.
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Post by grumpygit on Oct 18, 2017 11:36:03 GMT
What Karl Robinson has said after the game. “Oxford have an outstanding team at this level. I thought we were the better team, they might say different. We had six or seven really good chances - chances we normally take. “We looked as fluid and as classy as I’ve seen us this season against one of the best teams - away from home. I thought it was James Corden
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Post by shosho on Oct 18, 2017 11:37:01 GMT
Firstly, Charlton should have won that game before we scored. The movement off the ball and their speed caused us major problems. Our defending helped by being static, poor communication and at times being chaotic. Good finish by Ribs though to level. Thought Henry's booking was ridiculous. 2nd half was even with Pep's tactical changes definitely helping. Other observations: Curtis Nelson had a very poor game by his high standards last night. Seemed edgy, especially the 1st half and it was appalling defending for their goal along with Clint's misjudgement. He seemed especially hesitant when dealing with Magennis, losing just about every battle with him in the 1st half. Ribs (even with the goal) and Ricardinho weren't much better in the 1st half, often losing their man. Mous wasn't great in that 1st half but he took control of that defence in the 2nd half as nobody was in the 1st half. The midfield were overrun in the 1st half but bounced back in the 2nd half like the defence. Wes Thomas I thought played well considering he had little support in the 1st half and caused their defence problems. One other negative was the defending at set pieces was woeful with the man-marking non-existent at times.What was positive though is we kept battling and clawed our way back into the game to get a point. Also good to see Jon Obika back. We seem to do a zonal/man marking hybrid. I remember at the start of the season man marking with Williamson free on the penalty spot free to mop up and control the middle of the box. I didn’t pay huge attention to it last night however. Will look again this Saturday! There is scope for huge improvement from all of our set pieces. Considering Pep loves to analyse the game, I’m surprised we haven’t used corners etc to create an edge. With the quality of delivery (Henry/Payne) and Mousinho/Nelson we should be better than we are. As an aside, I assume to protect Thomas a little we now have Ledson doing his running? Ledson often breaks out of the midfield to press the opposition back 4, with the rest of the team backing him up.
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Post by Marked Ox on Oct 18, 2017 13:28:46 GMT
Firstly, Charlton should have won that game before we scored. The movement off the ball and their speed caused us major problems. Our defending helped by being static, poor communication and at times being chaotic. Good finish by Ribs though to level. Thought Henry's booking was ridiculous. 2nd half was even with Pep's tactical changes definitely helping. Other observations: Curtis Nelson had a very poor game by his high standards last night. Seemed edgy, especially the 1st half and it was appalling defending for their goal along with Clint's misjudgement. He seemed especially hesitant when dealing with Magennis, losing just about every battle with him in the 1st half. Ribs (even with the goal) and Ricardinho weren't much better in the 1st half, often losing their man. Mous wasn't great in that 1st half but he took control of that defence in the 2nd half as nobody was in the 1st half. The midfield were overrun in the 1st half but bounced back in the 2nd half like the defence. Wes Thomas I thought played well considering he had little support in the 1st half and caused their defence problems. One other negative was the defending at set pieces was woeful with the man-marking non-existent at times.What was positive though is we kept battling and clawed our way back into the game to get a point. Also good to see Jon Obika back. We seem to do a zonal/man marking hybrid. I remember at the start of the season man marking with Williamson free on the penalty spot free to mop up and control the middle of the box. I didn’t pay huge attention to it last night however. Will look again this Saturday! There is scope for huge improvement from all of our set pieces. Considering Pep loves to analyse the game, I’m surprised we haven’t used corners etc to create an edge. With the quality of delivery (Henry/Payne) and Mousinho/Nelson we should be better than we are. As an aside, I assume to protect Thomas a little we now have Ledson doing his running? Ledson often breaks out of the midfield to press the opposition back 4, with the rest of the team backing him up. Absolutely room for improvement. What worried me was they didn't learn and made the same mistakes on subsequent free kicks when defending. For example the 1st clear chance they created from a freekick, the Charlton player was free at the back post but fortunately he missed. They got a free kick in a similar position and did the same routine yet we did exactly the same with the same result except 2 of their players got free, fortunately the kick was overhit. On both free kicks, we had 4 vs 4 but Nelson took up a strange position and nobody seemed to be taking control. I agree on the attacking set pieces, we really should be doing better. Why do we use the short corner as the norm when surely it is a greater surprise when used more sparingly? Good point on Lego, hadn't really thought of it like that.
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Post by Common Villager on Oct 18, 2017 14:38:55 GMT
We also missed some chances... Ricardinho had a good shot saved in the first half. Both keepers worked hard to keep their teams in the game, but style wise they looked better at it. Certainly, we looked like we were at the edges of squad depth last night. Small point, but I'm 99% sure that shot was blocked by the defender.
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Post by shosho on Oct 18, 2017 14:59:01 GMT
We also missed some chances... Ricardinho had a good shot saved in the first half. Both keepers worked hard to keep their teams in the game, but style wise they looked better at it. Certainly, we looked like we were at the edges of squad depth last night. Small point, but I'm 99% sure that shot was blocked by the defender. It was from watching the extended highlights
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Post by Yellow River on Oct 18, 2017 15:15:07 GMT
We seem to do a zonal/man marking hybrid. I remember at the start of the season man marking with Williamson free on the penalty spot free to mop up and control the middle of the box. I didn’t pay huge attention to it last night however. Will look again this Saturday! There is scope for huge improvement from all of our set pieces. Considering Pep loves to analyse the game, I’m surprised we haven’t used corners etc to create an edge. With the quality of delivery (Henry/Payne) and Mousinho/Nelson we should be better than we are. As an aside, I assume to protect Thomas a little we now have Ledson doing his running? Ledson often breaks out of the midfield to press the opposition back 4, with the rest of the team backing him up. Absolutely room for improvement. What worried me was they didn't learn and made the same mistakes on subsequent free kicks when defending. For example the 1st clear chance they created from a freekick, the Charlton player was free at the back post but fortunately he missed. They got a free kick in a similar position and did the same routine yet we did exactly the same with the same result except 2 of their players got free, fortunately the kick was overhit. On both free kicks, we had 4 vs 4 but Nelson took up a strange position and nobody seemed to be taking control. I agree on the attacking set pieces, we really should be doing better. Why do we use the short corner as the norm when surely it is a greater surprise when used more sparingly? Good point on Lego, hadn't really thought of it like that. Re the marking at free kicks, I also noticed certainly on at least one occasion in the first half, Charlton's two centre backs getting a run at the back post with Nelson & Mousiniho in the centre. I've never seen an Oxford defence zonal mark before but I think that's what was going on. We looked vulnerable at those particular free kicks.
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