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Brief Synopsis!!!
- Thread starter Mark Pedlar
- Start date
Dire performance. Absolutely overran from minute one. They jogged through our midfield and exploited all the space down our left hand side. Hourihane and Wotton weren't nearly fluid enough compared to how they were on Tuesday at Newport. Hourihane didn't get out left nearly enough and Wotton didn't drop back enough to cover Nelson who was playing two positions. Tactically we were absolutely all over the shop. Oxford on the other hand started like a train and we were lucky not to be already behind by the time they scored. It really could have been 5-0. There were times when we looked bright on the break- if only Thomas had scored that first half header for example. But on the whole we can have absolutely no complaints. If anything 2-0 flattered us. Few individual players had what I would call absolutely stinkingly awful games- but as a unit we were a shambles and no-one was really good either. The well-drilled, professional if not attractive outfit that we saw at Newport on Tuesday descended into absolute jelly who Oxford really ought to have demolished by a higher scoreline. Load of crap:
Cole-6. Made two excellent saves at 0-0 but also flapped a lot and made some silly decisions.
Blanchard-5. Was alright before the sending off. A couple of his trademark six yard box challenges which could have saved us from conceding. Idiotic red card to get though and the 3rd of his Argyle career.
Trotman-6. You seem to get the same game every week from him. A couple of dominant header/saving tackles when we're under pressure which is obviously a good thing. However, mentally his ability to concentrate and stay aware of where his attackers were in relation to him was as haphazard as it ever is. He'd be on my list to shift this summer.
Nelson-5. Perhaps a harsh mark as he had to play two positions. He's partly got other players around him to blame for making him play such a stretched role but he still didn't play it particularly well imo. Should have done more to tighten the space that they had on the left-hand side. It was Wotton's look out to cover the centre which he did dreadfully.
Gurrieri-3. Absolute mare. I think he's had quite a good season but he still has a game like this occasionally where he runs around so much and literally nothing he tries to do with his feet ever actually works. You'll always get enthusiasm from him and his end product is better than it was but today he epitomised headless chicken.
Wotton-3. Vying with Gurrieri for worst player of the day. A waste of player for most of the game. I don't normally like the line that he's past it but my god he looked it yesterday. Entirely static and powerless to prevent the stem of Oxford players flowing through our midfield. Crap game.
Hourihane-6. Meh. Poor first half in which, as I said, I don't think he covered anything like well enough. He picked up in the second half a lot going forward when we through caution to the wind. In fact he was probably our only good player of the second half getting a few good balls forward (albeit which nothing really came of when they reached our forwards). Still should be doing better than that performance though.
Thomas-5. Couldn't defend. Left a massive hole down the left. Looked pacey on the counter but even going forward, that enthusiasm was hampered by his atrocious finish with that header in front of the Devonport End that would have equalised it. Lively but not the best end product possible and was damaging defensively.
Reid-4. A game of two halves and a game of two Reid's. The first half he showed signs of the hustler and bustler who would get his body in the way of defenders and win most long balls that came up to him on the counter. The second half he was so quiet and out of things I literally can't remember him doing a thing.
Alessandra-6. Probably the best of the starting players. Even when the rest were all playing awfully there were still flickers of the Alessandra that we saw in January-March when he got his head down and ran with the ball. However I suspect still not quite 100% fit- he wasn't quite ready to absolutely have centre-backs on toast like he did before his injury. A lot of his good runs with the ball ultimately came to nothing. Signs of promise were there though and he didn't wilt under the pressure.
Showumni-3. Like Reid, I just can't remember him getting involved much at all. Jekyll and hyde player. Can be a real menace on his day and useless when it's not his day.
Berry-6 MOTM. Only man of the match because of the awfulness of the other players. He may not have played for long but I can't think of anyone else who would have been remotely deserving of the award without it being a laughing stock. Two excellent tackles and he looked focused throughout and knew what he was meant to be doing-more than most did.
Blizzard-3. How on earth did he play so many times in League One. Utterly useless- probably the single slowest player I have ever seen. I reckon you could give him a 5 yard headstart and he still wouldn't win a loose ball which is what defensive midfielders need to be doing.
The fat lady is testing her mic but due to other results she hasn't quite sung yet. I think in typical inconsistent fashion this season we'll beat Bury to get us all excited again but then fluff it up against Wimbledon.
Cole-6. Made two excellent saves at 0-0 but also flapped a lot and made some silly decisions.
Blanchard-5. Was alright before the sending off. A couple of his trademark six yard box challenges which could have saved us from conceding. Idiotic red card to get though and the 3rd of his Argyle career.
Trotman-6. You seem to get the same game every week from him. A couple of dominant header/saving tackles when we're under pressure which is obviously a good thing. However, mentally his ability to concentrate and stay aware of where his attackers were in relation to him was as haphazard as it ever is. He'd be on my list to shift this summer.
Nelson-5. Perhaps a harsh mark as he had to play two positions. He's partly got other players around him to blame for making him play such a stretched role but he still didn't play it particularly well imo. Should have done more to tighten the space that they had on the left-hand side. It was Wotton's look out to cover the centre which he did dreadfully.
Gurrieri-3. Absolute mare. I think he's had quite a good season but he still has a game like this occasionally where he runs around so much and literally nothing he tries to do with his feet ever actually works. You'll always get enthusiasm from him and his end product is better than it was but today he epitomised headless chicken.
Wotton-3. Vying with Gurrieri for worst player of the day. A waste of player for most of the game. I don't normally like the line that he's past it but my god he looked it yesterday. Entirely static and powerless to prevent the stem of Oxford players flowing through our midfield. Crap game.
Hourihane-6. Meh. Poor first half in which, as I said, I don't think he covered anything like well enough. He picked up in the second half a lot going forward when we through caution to the wind. In fact he was probably our only good player of the second half getting a few good balls forward (albeit which nothing really came of when they reached our forwards). Still should be doing better than that performance though.
Thomas-5. Couldn't defend. Left a massive hole down the left. Looked pacey on the counter but even going forward, that enthusiasm was hampered by his atrocious finish with that header in front of the Devonport End that would have equalised it. Lively but not the best end product possible and was damaging defensively.
Reid-4. A game of two halves and a game of two Reid's. The first half he showed signs of the hustler and bustler who would get his body in the way of defenders and win most long balls that came up to him on the counter. The second half he was so quiet and out of things I literally can't remember him doing a thing.
Alessandra-6. Probably the best of the starting players. Even when the rest were all playing awfully there were still flickers of the Alessandra that we saw in January-March when he got his head down and ran with the ball. However I suspect still not quite 100% fit- he wasn't quite ready to absolutely have centre-backs on toast like he did before his injury. A lot of his good runs with the ball ultimately came to nothing. Signs of promise were there though and he didn't wilt under the pressure.
Showumni-3. Like Reid, I just can't remember him getting involved much at all. Jekyll and hyde player. Can be a real menace on his day and useless when it's not his day.
Berry-6 MOTM. Only man of the match because of the awfulness of the other players. He may not have played for long but I can't think of anyone else who would have been remotely deserving of the award without it being a laughing stock. Two excellent tackles and he looked focused throughout and knew what he was meant to be doing-more than most did.
Blizzard-3. How on earth did he play so many times in League One. Utterly useless- probably the single slowest player I have ever seen. I reckon you could give him a 5 yard headstart and he still wouldn't win a loose ball which is what defensive midfielders need to be doing.
The fat lady is testing her mic but due to other results she hasn't quite sung yet. I think in typical inconsistent fashion this season we'll beat Bury to get us all excited again but then fluff it up against Wimbledon.
r4h4al":17vp47ue said:
Because he was useless! What did he do right? I can recall him making several of the poorest, most predictable passes ever. They'd travel a couple of metres before an Oxford player would intercept and say 'thank you very much'. Then, he didn't really defend at all. He'd just chase a player that was much faster than him. Genuinely, a '5' rating would be generous, never mind the 10 you gave him earlier!
How come you weren't fined for being on the field Sam? (Just trying to bring a bit of cheer after a sad day!)GreenSam":1usazofr said:
Match highlights.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3fkSxv_CYM
What a miss from Thomas, he should have buried that header, a pity it wasn't Reid on the end of Alessandra's cross. Thomas also missed a header for Oxford's first goal although to be fair a player like him shouldn't be put in that position at the back post when defending a free-kick.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3fkSxv_CYM
What a miss from Thomas, he should have buried that header, a pity it wasn't Reid on the end of Alessandra's cross. Thomas also missed a header for Oxford's first goal although to be fair a player like him shouldn't be put in that position at the back post when defending a free-kick.
C
Cobi Budge.
Guest
I must be one of the only people who thought Harvey did quite well, looked comfortable in the middle and aware of what's around him.
PL2 3DQ":39j2xn4l said:
Pl2 3 DQ...hold on there. you could also say what an awful miss from the oxford player who missed an open goal with a header from about 1 yard...........Should have also played with a decent left back from the start. Berry could have started there but no,sheridan decided against it. The buck stops with Sheridan on this one.
C
Cobi Budge.
Guest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3fkSxv_CYM
1. No idea what the defence is doing for their first goal, Trotman, Blanchard & Gurrieri all motionless.
2. Really poor miss from Thomas, that's a sitter from a wonderful cross.
3. On second viewing the Blanchard sending off looks soft, what a dive.
4. Their goal came from Shownumi pointlessly giving away possession, while Trotman just lazily watched the Oxford striker score. He has to be replaced.
A very bad day at the office, very bad.
1. No idea what the defence is doing for their first goal, Trotman, Blanchard & Gurrieri all motionless.
2. Really poor miss from Thomas, that's a sitter from a wonderful cross.
3. On second viewing the Blanchard sending off looks soft, what a dive.
4. Their goal came from Shownumi pointlessly giving away possession, while Trotman just lazily watched the Oxford striker score. He has to be replaced.
A very bad day at the office, very bad.
On the ball I agree he looked quite sharp especially early on- picking out some good passes too. However, on the ball is only part of what football's about. Off it we may as well have been playing an empty space there. He's got potential but also a lot of learning to do. That said, he was far better off the ball AND on it at Newport on Tuesday. He seemed drained for a lot of yesterday's match.Cobi Budge.":10gqlmbt said:
1. Looks like it was Trotman's man, but he goes AWOL when the ball comes back across.
2. Yup, should have buried it. The cross was brilliant, the way he turned back onto his left foot and lofted the delivery reminded me of Norris' cross for Evans in 2004 v QPR.
3. Was soft, but stupid. Maxi deserved to be off for sheer stupidity.
4. Trotman has been responsible for 3 goals over the last week, I've really liked him over the season, but we could really do with a 2012 Darren Purse to lead and command the team.
2. Yup, should have buried it. The cross was brilliant, the way he turned back onto his left foot and lofted the delivery reminded me of Norris' cross for Evans in 2004 v QPR.
3. Was soft, but stupid. Maxi deserved to be off for sheer stupidity.
4. Trotman has been responsible for 3 goals over the last week, I've really liked him over the season, but we could really do with a 2012 Darren Purse to lead and command the team.
Cobi Budge.":ekv29q23 said:
Im with you up to a point Cobi.
He can at least control the ball and play it into the path of attacking (?) teammates or to feet if that is required. He was certainly not the worst midfielder by a long shout. But at times the game past him by because Oxford worked their plan a lot better than we could muster, the net result being our players were being pulled out of position.
You could argue they didn't appear prepared for such an eventuality, but after Tuesday night, they should have expected what was coming from a better team.
