United 3 Oxford 1 - report/ratings

[Deadbat]

Firstly, sorry for the very late report – not that people are waiting around for it! I have been busy at work and so was too tired to do last night. The night matches make it harder for me write things up that day sadly.




The Blades continued their impressive league form and it was another 3-1 home victory as United scored three goals for the fourth successive league game. It was not straight forward against a belligerent Oxford side, that led after a Michael Cooper error. However, United improved after a sluggish start and Sydie Peck finished off a well worked move to bring them level. After the break, the home side turned the screw and smart finishes by Andre Brooks and Chieo Ogbenie ensured they took the three points. The Blades now have a margin of comfort from the bottom three and whilst they are still some way off the playoff places, the heady position of 15th, is the highest they have been for some time.



There were three changes for United as back into the starting line up as in came Burrows and Arblaster for the injured McCallum and Davies. Tanganga returned to the side after suspension, for McGuiness. Hjelde was on the bench but fellow new signings, Phillips and Rothwell, were not registered in time but were introduced to the crowd before the game. Oxford started with former Blades academy striker Will Lankshear up front, as they remained mired deep in a relegation fight.



The game had of course been re-arranged from the original date – in early January – where the referee had deemed the pitch as unplayable. It was somewhat ironic that early on into the contest, the rain and sleet changed to snow making conditions tricky. The game began with both teams giving the ball away and there was little fluency. The Blades were slow out of the blocks and taking too long to move the ball on. Former Owls and Miller midfielder Vaulks was called into action to use his long throw from any position inside the Blades half. Peck and Arblaster were careless in possession and despite Brooks getting onto the ball, United could not find much space to create an opening. Peck did try a speculative long-range effort when Cumming’s kick fell to him on halfway but it lacked the power to trouble the keeper.



On 14 minutes, disaster struck though as the home side failed to close the ball and Brannagan hit a long-range effort. This should have been comfortable for Cooper but he made a total mess of it and spilt the ball. PEART HARRIS reacted first and fired home to stun the home supporters.



United tried to recover but Arblaster was overzealous in a tackle, after losing the initial ball, and was cautioned on only 17 minutes. The crowd were starting to get frustrated but Hamer tried to seize the initiative and his low shot cut across Cumming but went narrowly wide. The build-up was too ponderous overall though although Brooks running was a feature of the attempts to find a moment of quality. Seriki overlapped but his attempts to win a penalty were in vain, with the referee deeming the contact to be minimal – replays suggested the full back was looking for the decision continuing a worrying theme of United players hitting the deck recently in the box. Bindon should have done better with a headed opportunity from a corner but his effort went over, when he was unchallenged.



United finally were able to move the ball forward with some purpose and Arblaster’s ball set up the move. Burrows found itself down the right-hand side and used his weak foot to send the ball over into the path of PECK, who clinically swept the ball home. It was more relief that United had drawn level, as Oxford were already sitting back and defending in numbers.



Vaulks went into the book before Hamer nearly scored an absolute beauty. The midfielder came inside and hit a curling shot from over 30 yards that had Cumming beaten all ends up but struck the top of the bar and went over.



United had improve after the disappointing start and would have fancied their chances to complete the turnaround in the second half. Yet it was Oxford who came closest early on, as a cross came in from the left and Seriki had to put in a challenge to put off Peart Harris who looked to score for the second time on the night.



The Blades quickly reacted from here though and were able to go on and dominate the next stage of the game. Brooks continued to be a focal point and with Seriki now well advanced, Oxford were now at full stretch to deny the pressure. Campbell and Soumare came on for O’Hare and Arblaster on the hour and United went with a more orthodox two up front. Harris and Mills came on for the U’s.



On 66 minutes, the pressure saw the home side take the lead. Brooks had gone down with a knock but made a Lazarus type recovery to ensure he got on the end of Cannon’s low cross, after a defender had slipped. BROOKS cleverly used a Cruyff turn to give him space and despite a challenge coming in, managed to cleverly steer his finish high into the net, despite Cumming getting a hand to it.



Brooks departed not long after, as Ogbene made a return to the line up whilst Konak, Ronemy and Dembele were brought on for Oxford in a triple change. On 83 minutes, the game was effectively ended as a contest. Hamer had shown flashes of quality throughout and his ball to make the chance was sublime as he arrowed it into the path of OGBENE. The winger took it down on his stride and finished cooly into the corner, as the Oxford defence were caught on their heels.



There was a debut for Hjelde as he replaced Burrows and Chong came on for Hamer. The game became rather scrappy towards the end and the referee started to lose a grip of proceedings. Oxford players were losing their cool but somehow Cannon and Peck both got booked, along with some of their opponents despite the away side clearly being the aggressors in both moments. The decision to award 8 minutes of stoppage time, was not met with acclaim by anyone, on a bitterly cold evening, However, United ended the game on the attack and were comfortable winners by the time the referee finally blew for time.

 

[Deadbat]

United – We did what we had to and won the game. It was not smooth and we were not totally convincing but we deserved to win the game and showed the far better quality of the two sides. The first half was woeful for the first 30 minutes but once we got level, there was only one team going to win.



We dominated the ball throughout but were so slow in how we moved it on and I thought even before we conceded, we never set the tone in how we passed it and moved around. We just looked stagnant and almost like we expected something to happen without making it happen. The goal is of course an error by Cooper but I thought there had been mistakes from many right up to this with Arblaster and Peck not working as a combination again, Cannon struggling on his own and O’Hare not finding any space to get on the ball. It was all too safe and too many touches, with little movement at all. We finally upped the tempo and the goal was made from quicker passes and an excellent cross and finish. After the break we upped it and they could not get out. We did not create lots of opportunities though but it felt like the pressure was relentless and they were at full stretch. Brooks was excellent and Hamer at the heart of the better moves. Eventually we get behind them, Cannon does well and Brooks took it superbly. After this we did what we had to and got the third – another well made and taken goal. We deserved to win the game and all the decent play, on the whole came from us. 3-1 was about right.



It is hard in night matches when the weather is not very good and a less than exciting opponent, you can get sucked into a struggle. Wilder was right that those games are sometimes harder than the ones v Ipswich or Boro. It was vital we build on the impressive performances and results against Ipswich and Millwall and we did that. We still have some questions and players not being available due to injury is still a concern -we are short up front now but we do have midfield reinforcements to come in with Riedewald, Phillips and Rothwell being players that have stood out at this level before – and hopefully can again.



Ratings:



Cooper 3/10 – Cannot rate him higher than that. He had nothing to do other than the odd cross and ball through but the mistake is a horrific one. It was slippy and the weather not ideal but he has to hold it or push it well away from goal. It essentially put it on a plate for the striker. He has been improved in recent games and played well against Ipswich but a big mistake – at least did not cost us.



Seriki 7/10 – Some loose touches and times when he gave it away but as the game went on, he got better. Started to run at his man and linked superbly with Brooks. Only major negative was the dive -needs to be better than that.



Burrows 6/10 – Steady. Set up the goal with a right foot pass. Linked well when he could with Hamer but did not see lots of him going forward outside the assist. Defended ok but not pressured that much.



Bindon 7.5/10 – Played well and one of our better players. One mistake where he lost a header and then got outmuscled and did miss a headed chance at the other end. As the game went on, he got stronger. He read the game well and used the ball sensibly throughout. He gradually won his battle and showed he is technically good. Some impressive tackles. I am not totally convinced by him but he has improved and had some decent games (mixed with some poor ones) but had a good game last night.



Tanganga 6/10 –Solid enough. A few moments early where he mis controlled it or was a bit slow to react but as with the rest of the team – he improved and started to come onto the ball quicker. Worried when he ran into the post on a corner second half!



Peck 6/10 – Started off the pace and seemed to be way too slow to move it on. His combination with Arblaster does not work, both seemed to be doing the same job and we had no link between the defence and attack. He got the goal, which he took well and after this it gave him a real lift and second half was more like his old self and was buzzing around and getting into tackles. Harshly booked.



Arblaster 4/10 – I might get panned for this mark but thought he was poor again. The ball to Burrows was excellent but outside of this, I am struggling to think of too many positives. He gave it away inside a minute and then soon after he did the same when he got in a mix up with Peck. He lost another ball and then got booked with an unnecessary tackle. The ball for the goal was superb and showed he needs to play more positively but he is too safe in everything he does and struggling to move with the ball at his feet. Soumare was even worse when he came on. I do not expect Blaster to play much now we have reinforcements and needs that big summer to get back to his best.



O’Hare 4/10 – Been arguably our player of the season but despite two good wins, he has been one of our poorer players. Thought he was way off it and the ball bounced off him too much or he made poor choices. Just seemed marginalised and not a shock when he came off. Always works hard but did not affect things at all.



Hamer 7.5/10 – Looked a class act and the standout footballer on the field. The one looking to make forward passes or find a moment to break down the opposition. Had a low shot just wide and then a superb effort that hit the bar. Thought he worked hard too and did not hide. The second half he continued to look to find those moments and the third goal was a sublime pass.



Brooks 7.5/10 – Continued his fine form and now three goals in three games. Playing full of confidence and teams look genuinely worried of him. Running at defenders and going both ways, looking quick and strong, He seems to be the main player we are looking to and a lot of our attacks and finally with a run of games, has found some consistency, The goal showed his determination as well as ability. Hopefully was just cramp when he went off. If he keeps this form up, teams will be looking at him. I am glad finally we are starting to see the player we thought he could become.



Cannon 5/10 – Seen wildly fluctuating opinions on his performance. Some said he was dreadful, some said he played well and was one of our better players. This debate carried on when I listened to Football Heaven. I am somewhere in the middle. He began the game behind the play, was caught offside a few times (one looked debatable) and looked weak albeit up top on his own. He did not do much at all first half. Second half he improved with quicker balls forward and did work harder and gave us an outlet. The second goal was due to his tenacity, and a defensive mistake. He had a few other decent pieces of play. Still quite weak though and does not score enough goals. He is now a serviceable striker but doubt he is strong enough to play that lone role.



Subs -



Soumare 3.5/10 – He had done ok prior to that reckless moment at Charlton and seemed to have improved but last night, he was all over the place. The ball came off him like a trampoline and he seemed to have no positional awareness. He is always at full stretch and lucky to not get booked for a cynical pull back. I do wonder now with 3 midfielders available soon (not to mention Davies) if that is the last we will see of him. You cannot envisage him or Matos being used now surely?



Campbell 5/10 – Thought there were some better moments from him after I have been critical of him for a while now. He did actually move around and tried to look to get on the shoulders. Cannot recall any shots/assists/runs but his work rate was improved and gave us another outlet up top and we were better with him, rather than O’Hare.



Ogbene 6/10 – Gets a lot of credit for the goal which he controlled superbly and took so clinically. Outside of this, we saw some poor pieces of control and decisions made and made us realise how good Brooks probably is/can be. He did seal the game though and is a better option than Chong, as an alternative.



Chong – Not on for long. Played left wing. Took one dreadful corner.



Hjelde – Did ok and won a few tackles/headers. Looks a decent size which we need in a much smaller team that the one we had last year.





Manager: Wilder 6.5/10 – Starting line up did not work in terms of having Peck and Blaster too deep (could Hamer have played here and O’Hare wide with Campbell up top? – Oxford were so deep and defending in numbers). The pace and intensity was not there but he seemed as annoyed as us watching him on the touchline. Think he made it clear at half time, as we moved it quicker, took set plays at pace and got them moved out of their set defensive shape. We got behind them and forced pressure which led to the goals and a deserved win. He hopefully will have some tricky decisions for forthcoming games with more players back. Bamford being out is a blow but hopefully only a few weeks as the top of the field drops off a fair bit without him being there.





Oxford – I thought they would be near the bottom but felt with Rowett and how he kept them up last year, that they would have enough but they struggled and decided to sack Rowett. Was it the right move? Apparently the football was awful under him – which it often is wherever he goes – but I have a feeling that they would have had a better chance of staying up under him than they would have with another manager. They had Craig Short in for a while as caretaker and then appointed Matt Bloomfield – who struggled at Luton after doing well at Wycombe. I am not sure he can do more than Rowett – in terms of the lack of quality and depth they have? I think they will go down – I do not see two worse teams than them and they need to emulate some of the surprise wins they had last year.



Last night they started ok and slowed the game down but did try and attack early on and got their goal. This made sure they had something to hold onto and they then just packed the defence and made us try and go through them. Oxford were a big, physical side and tried to slow things down. We played into their hands early on and conceding made it even harder. They slowed it down, sat behind the ball and tried to spoil. The referee was woeful and did not penalise some of the things happening and was inconsistent with his decisions. They became a bit feisty and seemed to want to make it an ugly game but just ran out of steam and quality and you never sensed they would get back in it. Can’t recall them having an effort after the one that the striker scooped over, via Seriki, early in the second half and well beaten by full time.





Opponent Man of the Match – The striker scored and put himself about. The lad at the back Brown made a mistake when Cannon got in but he did ok outside of this! Brannagan has a good shot on him but spent most of the game moaning at the ref – he finally booked him.



Opponent Weak link – Lankshear was not in the game and another former local player Vaulks was terrible. He spent most of the time play acting or taking throws. He is dreadful on the ball and normally just hoofed it on when he did have opportunity to kick it!



Referee / Officials – Anthony Backhouse. Did the Leicester game and cannot recall too much controversial in our 3-2 win. Only other game he has done in recent years for us – was the 2-2 draw with QPR – when he sent off Colback near the end. Last night he was woeful. He was so inconsistent. He seemed to want to set his stall out early and gave some soft free kicks and then he started letting things go, then started giving things again and by the end, it was a bit of a free for all. He ended up booking pairs of players when often the Oxford player committed the offence (Peck and Cannon were mystified). He could have booked Soumare for two far worse fouls / pull backs. He was a long way behind the play and seemed to lose control long before he somehow found 8 minutes. Looked a bit like a rabbit in headlights and just was guessing things by the end!





Crowd/Day Out – Flat and with only a few hundred Oxford fans (can you blame them after the original game was postponed so late, meaning they had to travel on an evening in midweek), it made it quiet with little atmosphere. I thought the crowd could have got more frustrated and a lot of the noise was more just wanting United to do things quicker. The crowd did respond, when the team did, in terms of the intensity and speed of attacks which enthused the fans more and saw more goalmouth action.

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

First !!!!!!!’nn

 

[HOT CURRIE 10]

2nd now anall,read it and weep.

 

[bladesince64]

Think I've looked for your report about 20ish times.

Dont feel like I can process the performance until I've ;

listened to CWs post match interview.

read Roys Viewfrom.

Re watched the highlights.

Read your match report.

Become a ritual.

 

[Paisley Blade]

Great report.

Hamer should be clear as MoM, and bang on about the Seriki dive, needs cutting out ( or performed to a much better standard ).

 

[Benitachel]

So according to your marking, Cooper was the worst player in our team!!!!
He made just one mistake when he failed to hold a difficult shot.
Giving him a 3 is just silly.
I like your reports and I appreciate the effort you put into them but Cooper is a good goalkeeper, albeit his kicking can be poor, which it wasn’t last night.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Don't apologise for the Arblaster report. If he wasn't one of r'own - he'd be getting absolute belters! Think you were very generous.

Funny how people started a thread about Peck at the start of the year, but are strangely quiet about how poor Arblaster has been since he returned. I get he's been out for a while, but based on last night, he's worse than Soumare by some distance. At least Soumare has the athleticism to chase the ball after he's given it away. Arblaster just stood and watched....

 

[jono_t2000]

Firstly, sorry for the very late report – not that people are waiting around for it! I have been busy at work and so was too tired to do last night. The night matches make it harder for me write things up that day sadly.

I was actually about to post wherezzzz Deadbat report. I think people enjoy them more than you realize

 

[coolasanidiot]

For me those marks are pretty fair for the first half performance. And rightly mirror what was a drab pondering half.

The second 45 was quicker paced and was definitely entertaining.

Hence all marks Overall I’d add +2.

 

[Keen Blade]

Not often I want to correct you DB ,
but when you say Ogbene is a better option than Chong ,
I say he's not -
he's a better option than Cannon as a striker.
Put in the same position , I couldn't see Cannon scoring the goals that Ogbene & Brooks scored last night.
He's just not intelligent enough or skilful enough.
And as a lone striker he's utterly useless.
He tries his heart out but the kindest word I have for him is "hapless".
He's just that crucial bit
Too short , too weak , too slow , too lacking in anticipation , instinct & guile.
He's constantly caught offside and he looks well beaten by his job at the Lane.
Having sympathy with him , I'd like to release him from his present torment and give him a fresh start somewhere else.

 

[ZLB]

United – We did what we had to and won the game. It was not smooth and we were not totally convincing but we deserved to win the game and showed the far better quality of the two sides. The first half was woeful for the first 30 minutes but once we got level, there was only one team going to win.



We dominated the ball throughout but were so slow in how we moved it on and I thought even before we conceded, we never set the tone in how we passed it and moved around. We just looked stagnant and almost like we expected something to happen without making it happen. The goal is of course an error by Cooper but I thought there had been mistakes from many right up to this with Arblaster and Peck not working as a combination again, Cannon struggling on his own and O’Hare not finding any space to get on the ball. It was all too safe and too many touches, with little movement at all. We finally upped the tempo and the goal was made from quicker passes and an excellent cross and finish. After the break we upped it and they could not get out. We did not create lots of opportunities though but it felt like the pressure was relentless and they were at full stretch. Brooks was excellent and Hamer at the heart of the better moves. Eventually we get behind them, Cannon does well and Brooks took it superbly. After this we did what we had to and got the third – another well made and taken goal. We deserved to win the game and all the decent play, on the whole came from us. 3-1 was about right.



It is hard in night matches when the weather is not very good and a less than exciting opponent, you can get sucked into a struggle. Wilder was right that those games are sometimes harder than the ones v Ipswich or Boro. It was vital we build on the impressive performances and results against Ipswich and Millwall and we did that. We still have some questions and players not being available due to injury is still a concern -we are short up front now but we do have midfield reinforcements to come in with Riedewald, Phillips and Rothwell being players that have stood out at this level before – and hopefully can again.



Ratings:



Cooper 3/10 – Cannot rate him higher than that. He had nothing to do other than the odd cross and ball through but the mistake is a horrific one. It was slippy and the weather not ideal but he has to hold it or push it well away from goal. It essentially put it on a plate for the striker. He has been improved in recent games and played well against Ipswich but a big mistake – at least did not cost us.



Seriki 7/10 – Some loose touches and times when he gave it away but as the game went on, he got better. Started to run at his man and linked superbly with Brooks. Only major negative was the dive -needs to be better than that.



Burrows 6/10 – Steady. Set up the goal with a right foot pass. Linked well when he could with Hamer but did not see lots of him going forward outside the assist. Defended ok but not pressured that much.



Bindon 7.5/10 – Played well and one of our better players. One mistake where he lost a header and then got outmuscled and did miss a headed chance at the other end. As the game went on, he got stronger. He read the game well and used the ball sensibly throughout. He gradually won his battle and showed he is technically good. Some impressive tackles. I am not totally convinced by him but he has improved and had some decent games (mixed with some poor ones) but had a good game last night.



Tanganga 6/10 –Solid enough. A few moments early where he mis controlled it or was a bit slow to react but as with the rest of the team – he improved and started to come onto the ball quicker. Worried when he ran into the post on a corner second half!



Peck 6/10 – Started off the pace and seemed to be way too slow to move it on. His combination with Arblaster does not work, both seemed to be doing the same job and we had no link between the defence and attack. He got the goal, which he took well and after this it gave him a real lift and second half was more like his old self and was buzzing around and getting into tackles. Harshly booked.



Arblaster 4/10 – I might get panned for this mark but thought he was poor again. The ball to Burrows was excellent but outside of this, I am struggling to think of too many positives. He gave it away inside a minute and then soon after he did the same when he got in a mix up with Peck. He lost another ball and then got booked with an unnecessary tackle. The ball for the goal was superb and showed he needs to play more positively but he is too safe in everything he does and struggling to move with the ball at his feet. Soumare was even worse when he came on. I do not expect Blaster to play much now we have reinforcements and needs that big summer to get back to his best.



O’Hare 4/10 – Been arguably our player of the season but despite two good wins, he has been one of our poorer players. Thought he was way off it and the ball bounced off him too much or he made poor choices. Just seemed marginalised and not a shock when he came off. Always works hard but did not affect things at all.



Hamer 7.5/10 – Looked a class act and the standout footballer on the field. The one looking to make forward passes or find a moment to break down the opposition. Had a low shot just wide and then a superb effort that hit the bar. Thought he worked hard too and did not hide. The second half he continued to look to find those moments and the third goal was a sublime pass.



Brooks 7.5/10 – Continued his fine form and now three goals in three games. Playing full of confidence and teams look genuinely worried of him. Running at defenders and going both ways, looking quick and strong, He seems to be the main player we are looking to and a lot of our attacks and finally with a run of games, has found some consistency, The goal showed his determination as well as ability. Hopefully was just cramp when he went off. If he keeps this form up, teams will be looking at him. I am glad finally we are starting to see the player we thought he could become.



Cannon 5/10 – Seen wildly fluctuating opinions on his performance. Some said he was dreadful, some said he played well and was one of our better players. This debate carried on when I listened to Football Heaven. I am somewhere in the middle. He began the game behind the play, was caught offside a few times (one looked debatable) and looked weak albeit up top on his own. He did not do much at all first half. Second half he improved with quicker balls forward and did work harder and gave us an outlet. The second goal was due to his tenacity, and a defensive mistake. He had a few other decent pieces of play. Still quite weak though and does not score enough goals. He is now a serviceable striker but doubt he is strong enough to play that lone role.



Subs -



Soumare 3.5/10 – He had done ok prior to that reckless moment at Charlton and seemed to have improved but last night, he was all over the place. The ball came off him like a trampoline and he seemed to have no positional awareness. He is always at full stretch and lucky to not get booked for a cynical pull back. I do wonder now with 3 midfielders available soon (not to mention Davies) if that is the last we will see of him. You cannot envisage him or Matos being used now surely?



Campbell 5/10 – Thought there were some better moments from him after I have been critical of him for a while now. He did actually move around and tried to look to get on the shoulders. Cannot recall any shots/assists/runs but his work rate was improved and gave us another outlet up top and we were better with him, rather than O’Hare.



Ogbene 6/10 – Gets a lot of credit for the goal which he controlled superbly and took so clinically. Outside of this, we saw some poor pieces of control and decisions made and made us realise how good Brooks probably is/can be. He did seal the game though and is a better option than Chong, as an alternative.



Chong – Not on for long. Played left wing. Took one dreadful corner.



Hjelde – Did ok and won a few tackles/headers. Looks a decent size which we need in a much smaller team that the one we had last year.





Manager: Wilder 6.5/10 – Starting line up did not work in terms of having Peck and Blaster too deep (could Hamer have played here and O’Hare wide with Campbell up top? – Oxford were so deep and defending in numbers). The pace and intensity was not there but he seemed as annoyed as us watching him on the touchline. Think he made it clear at half time, as we moved it quicker, took set plays at pace and got them moved out of their set defensive shape. We got behind them and forced pressure which led to the goals and a deserved win. He hopefully will have some tricky decisions for forthcoming games with more players back. Bamford being out is a blow but hopefully only a few weeks as the top of the field drops off a fair bit without him being there.





Oxford – I thought they would be near the bottom but felt with Rowett and how he kept them up last year, that they would have enough but they struggled and decided to sack Rowett. Was it the right move? Apparently the football was awful under him – which it often is wherever he goes – but I have a feeling that they would have had a better chance of staying up under him than they would have with another manager. They had Craig Short in for a while as caretaker and then appointed Matt Bloomfield – who struggled at Luton after doing well at Wycombe. I am not sure he can do more than Rowett – in terms of the lack of quality and depth they have? I think they will go down – I do not see two worse teams than them and they need to emulate some of the surprise wins they had last year.



Last night they started ok and slowed the game down but did try and attack early on and got their goal. This made sure they had something to hold onto and they then just packed the defence and made us try and go through them. Oxford were a big, physical side and tried to slow things down. We played into their hands early on and conceding made it even harder. They slowed it down, sat behind the ball and tried to spoil. The referee was woeful and did not penalise some of the things happening and was inconsistent with his decisions. They became a bit feisty and seemed to want to make it an ugly game but just ran out of steam and quality and you never sensed they would get back in it. Can’t recall them having an effort after the one that the striker scooped over, via Seriki, early in the second half and well beaten by full time.





Opponent Man of the Match – The striker scored and put himself about. The lad at the back Brown made a mistake when Cannon got in but he did ok outside of this! Brannagan has a good shot on him but spent most of the game moaning at the ref – he finally booked him.



Opponent Weak link – Lankshear was not in the game and another former local player Vaulks was terrible. He spent most of the time play acting or taking throws. He is dreadful on the ball and normally just hoofed it on when he did have opportunity to kick it!



Referee / Officials – Anthony Backhouse. Did the Leicester game and cannot recall too much controversial in our 3-2 win. Only other game he has done in recent years for us – was the 2-2 draw with QPR – when he sent off Colback near the end. Last night he was woeful. He was so inconsistent. He seemed to want to set his stall out early and gave some soft free kicks and then he started letting things go, then started giving things again and by the end, it was a bit of a free for all. He ended up booking pairs of players when often the Oxford player committed the offence (Peck and Cannon were mystified). He could have booked Soumare for two far worse fouls / pull backs. He was a long way behind the play and seemed to lose control long before he somehow found 8 minutes. Looked a bit like a rabbit in headlights and just was guessing things by the end!





Crowd/Day Out – Flat and with only a few hundred Oxford fans (can you blame them after the original game was postponed so late, meaning they had to travel on an evening in midweek), it made it quiet with little atmosphere. I thought the crowd could have got more frustrated and a lot of the noise was more just wanting United to do things quicker. The crowd did respond, when the team did, in terms of the intensity and speed of attacks which enthused the fans more and saw more goalmouth action.

Vaulks was terrible. He spent most of the time play acting or taking throws. He is dreadful on the ball and normally just hoofed it on when he did have opportunity to kick it!
——
I would like to apologise to the fans around me at the foot of the kop when Vaulks was writhing around after a nothing challenge. I shouted some very bad things.

After five minutes of being in agony he then trotted along the touchline and of course ran back onto the pitch. Hate that.

 

[Pittsburg Blade]

Good report DB. Maybe Roy can show you how to turn pro and make millions from ads for retirement homes and ladies underwear.

With hindsight maybe that’s more to do with my search history.

 

[sitwell]

That fucking referee , complete whopper.

 

[Rochdaleblade]

It looked to me on the replay of the Seriki incident that the defender caught his heels.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

United – We did what we had to and won the game. It was not smooth and we were not totally convincing but we deserved to win the game and showed the far better quality of the two sides. The first half was woeful for the first 30 minutes but once we got level, there was only one team going to win.



We dominated the ball throughout but were so slow in how we moved it on and I thought even before we conceded, we never set the tone in how we passed it and moved around. We just looked stagnant and almost like we expected something to happen without making it happen. The goal is of course an error by Cooper but I thought there had been mistakes from many right up to this with Arblaster and Peck not working as a combination again, Cannon struggling on his own and O’Hare not finding any space to get on the ball. It was all too safe and too many touches, with little movement at all. We finally upped the tempo and the goal was made from quicker passes and an excellent cross and finish. After the break we upped it and they could not get out. We did not create lots of opportunities though but it felt like the pressure was relentless and they were at full stretch. Brooks was excellent and Hamer at the heart of the better moves. Eventually we get behind them, Cannon does well and Brooks took it superbly. After this we did what we had to and got the third – another well made and taken goal. We deserved to win the game and all the decent play, on the whole came from us. 3-1 was about right.



It is hard in night matches when the weather is not very good and a less than exciting opponent, you can get sucked into a struggle. Wilder was right that those games are sometimes harder than the ones v Ipswich or Boro. It was vital we build on the impressive performances and results against Ipswich and Millwall and we did that. We still have some questions and players not being available due to injury is still a concern -we are short up front now but we do have midfield reinforcements to come in with Riedewald, Phillips and Rothwell being players that have stood out at this level before – and hopefully can again.



Ratings:



Cooper 3/10 – Cannot rate him higher than that. He had nothing to do other than the odd cross and ball through but the mistake is a horrific one. It was slippy and the weather not ideal but he has to hold it or push it well away from goal. It essentially put it on a plate for the striker. He has been improved in recent games and played well against Ipswich but a big mistake – at least did not cost us.



Seriki 7/10 – Some loose touches and times when he gave it away but as the game went on, he got better. Started to run at his man and linked superbly with Brooks. Only major negative was the dive -needs to be better than that.



Burrows 6/10 – Steady. Set up the goal with a right foot pass. Linked well when he could with Hamer but did not see lots of him going forward outside the assist. Defended ok but not pressured that much.



Bindon 7.5/10 – Played well and one of our better players. One mistake where he lost a header and then got outmuscled and did miss a headed chance at the other end. As the game went on, he got stronger. He read the game well and used the ball sensibly throughout. He gradually won his battle and showed he is technically good. Some impressive tackles. I am not totally convinced by him but he has improved and had some decent games (mixed with some poor ones) but had a good game last night.



Tanganga 6/10 –Solid enough. A few moments early where he mis controlled it or was a bit slow to react but as with the rest of the team – he improved and started to come onto the ball quicker. Worried when he ran into the post on a corner second half!



Peck 6/10 – Started off the pace and seemed to be way too slow to move it on. His combination with Arblaster does not work, both seemed to be doing the same job and we had no link between the defence and attack. He got the goal, which he took well and after this it gave him a real lift and second half was more like his old self and was buzzing around and getting into tackles. Harshly booked.



Arblaster 4/10 – I might get panned for this mark but thought he was poor again. The ball to Burrows was excellent but outside of this, I am struggling to think of too many positives. He gave it away inside a minute and then soon after he did the same when he got in a mix up with Peck. He lost another ball and then got booked with an unnecessary tackle. The ball for the goal was superb and showed he needs to play more positively but he is too safe in everything he does and struggling to move with the ball at his feet. Soumare was even worse when he came on. I do not expect Blaster to play much now we have reinforcements and needs that big summer to get back to his best.



O’Hare 4/10 – Been arguably our player of the season but despite two good wins, he has been one of our poorer players. Thought he was way off it and the ball bounced off him too much or he made poor choices. Just seemed marginalised and not a shock when he came off. Always works hard but did not affect things at all.



Hamer 7.5/10 – Looked a class act and the standout footballer on the field. The one looking to make forward passes or find a moment to break down the opposition. Had a low shot just wide and then a superb effort that hit the bar. Thought he worked hard too and did not hide. The second half he continued to look to find those moments and the third goal was a sublime pass.



Brooks 7.5/10 – Continued his fine form and now three goals in three games. Playing full of confidence and teams look genuinely worried of him. Running at defenders and going both ways, looking quick and strong, He seems to be the main player we are looking to and a lot of our attacks and finally with a run of games, has found some consistency, The goal showed his determination as well as ability. Hopefully was just cramp when he went off. If he keeps this form up, teams will be looking at him. I am glad finally we are starting to see the player we thought he could become.



Cannon 5/10 – Seen wildly fluctuating opinions on his performance. Some said he was dreadful, some said he played well and was one of our better players. This debate carried on when I listened to Football Heaven. I am somewhere in the middle. He began the game behind the play, was caught offside a few times (one looked debatable) and looked weak albeit up top on his own. He did not do much at all first half. Second half he improved with quicker balls forward and did work harder and gave us an outlet. The second goal was due to his tenacity, and a defensive mistake. He had a few other decent pieces of play. Still quite weak though and does not score enough goals. He is now a serviceable striker but doubt he is strong enough to play that lone role.



Subs -



Soumare 3.5/10 – He had done ok prior to that reckless moment at Charlton and seemed to have improved but last night, he was all over the place. The ball came off him like a trampoline and he seemed to have no positional awareness. He is always at full stretch and lucky to not get booked for a cynical pull back. I do wonder now with 3 midfielders available soon (not to mention Davies) if that is the last we will see of him. You cannot envisage him or Matos being used now surely?



Campbell 5/10 – Thought there were some better moments from him after I have been critical of him for a while now. He did actually move around and tried to look to get on the shoulders. Cannot recall any shots/assists/runs but his work rate was improved and gave us another outlet up top and we were better with him, rather than O’Hare.



Ogbene 6/10 – Gets a lot of credit for the goal which he controlled superbly and took so clinically. Outside of this, we saw some poor pieces of control and decisions made and made us realise how good Brooks probably is/can be. He did seal the game though and is a better option than Chong, as an alternative.



Chong – Not on for long. Played left wing. Took one dreadful corner.



Hjelde – Did ok and won a few tackles/headers. Looks a decent size which we need in a much smaller team that the one we had last year.





Manager: Wilder 6.5/10 – Starting line up did not work in terms of having Peck and Blaster too deep (could Hamer have played here and O’Hare wide with Campbell up top? – Oxford were so deep and defending in numbers). The pace and intensity was not there but he seemed as annoyed as us watching him on the touchline. Think he made it clear at half time, as we moved it quicker, took set plays at pace and got them moved out of their set defensive shape. We got behind them and forced pressure which led to the goals and a deserved win. He hopefully will have some tricky decisions for forthcoming games with more players back. Bamford being out is a blow but hopefully only a few weeks as the top of the field drops off a fair bit without him being there.





Oxford – I thought they would be near the bottom but felt with Rowett and how he kept them up last year, that they would have enough but they struggled and decided to sack Rowett. Was it the right move? Apparently the football was awful under him – which it often is wherever he goes – but I have a feeling that they would have had a better chance of staying up under him than they would have with another manager. They had Craig Short in for a while as caretaker and then appointed Matt Bloomfield – who struggled at Luton after doing well at Wycombe. I am not sure he can do more than Rowett – in terms of the lack of quality and depth they have? I think they will go down – I do not see two worse teams than them and they need to emulate some of the surprise wins they had last year.



Last night they started ok and slowed the game down but did try and attack early on and got their goal. This made sure they had something to hold onto and they then just packed the defence and made us try and go through them. Oxford were a big, physical side and tried to slow things down. We played into their hands early on and conceding made it even harder. They slowed it down, sat behind the ball and tried to spoil. The referee was woeful and did not penalise some of the things happening and was inconsistent with his decisions. They became a bit feisty and seemed to want to make it an ugly game but just ran out of steam and quality and you never sensed they would get back in it. Can’t recall them having an effort after the one that the striker scooped over, via Seriki, early in the second half and well beaten by full time.





Opponent Man of the Match – The striker scored and put himself about. The lad at the back Brown made a mistake when Cannon got in but he did ok outside of this! Brannagan has a good shot on him but spent most of the game moaning at the ref – he finally booked him.



Opponent Weak link – Lankshear was not in the game and another former local player Vaulks was terrible. He spent most of the time play acting or taking throws. He is dreadful on the ball and normally just hoofed it on when he did have opportunity to kick it!



Referee / Officials – Anthony Backhouse. Did the Leicester game and cannot recall too much controversial in our 3-2 win. Only other game he has done in recent years for us – was the 2-2 draw with QPR – when he sent off Colback near the end. Last night he was woeful. He was so inconsistent. He seemed to want to set his stall out early and gave some soft free kicks and then he started letting things go, then started giving things again and by the end, it was a bit of a free for all. He ended up booking pairs of players when often the Oxford player committed the offence (Peck and Cannon were mystified). He could have booked Soumare for two far worse fouls / pull backs. He was a long way behind the play and seemed to lose control long before he somehow found 8 minutes. Looked a bit like a rabbit in headlights and just was guessing things by the end!





Crowd/Day Out – Flat and with only a few hundred Oxford fans (can you blame them after the original game was postponed so late, meaning they had to travel on an evening in midweek), it made it quiet with little atmosphere. I thought the crowd could have got more frustrated and a lot of the noise was more just wanting United to do things quicker. The crowd did respond, when the team did, in terms of the intensity and speed of attacks which enthused the fans more and saw more goalmouth action.

I’m out of the country so looked forward to your report .. glad to hear Vaulks was terrible as he was giving it the the big un to the Utd fans at their place last year when they beat us

 

[Stretch]

When the game finished and the coaching staff were shaking hands, Wilder appears to say "fucking shithouse him".

I suspect he was referring to the ref, but equally it could have been half of the Oxford team.

 

[ckpe147]

I agree with your report on Oli.

I think we signed two midfielders in january fo be able to give him his rest he so clearly needs, and to be able to play more of a bit part role for the rest of the season.
I do feel, however, that we will see the best of him next season, providing he has a full pre season.

 

[Tarqs]

Whilst i agree with soumare being all over the shop, hes one of the midfielders that actually looks to play the ball forward and that positivity contributed to two goals.

Peck arblaster, phillips etc are way too safe on the ball and rothwell allegedly is way off it fitness wise.

So can still see him playing.

 

[de g.]

Tanganga 6/10 –Solid enough. A few moments early where he mis controlled it or was a bit slow to react but as with the rest of the team – he improved and started to come onto the ball quicker. Worried when he ran into the post on a corner second half!

A little generous on the captain there I think. His passing was the major factor that slowed us down over much of the first half; his sideways passes were consistently behind the man and allowed Oxford to reset their block.

Also, as entertaining as the niggle made the game, he should have been calming down his players. "We're 3-1 up lads, there's no need to pick up silly bookings." Some of those could come back to bite us.

 

[andy m]

Don't apologise for the Arblaster report. If he wasn't one of r'own - he'd be getting absolute belters! Think you were very generous.

Funny how people started a thread about Peck at the start of the year, but are strangely quiet about how poor Arblaster has been since he returned. I get he's been out for a while, but based on last night, he's worse than Soumare by some distance. At least Soumare has the athleticism to chase the ball after he's given it away. Arblaster just stood and watched....

Ever ruptured your ACL?

 

[TJ blade]

Vaulks was terrible. He spent most of the time play acting or taking throws. He is dreadful on the ball and normally just hoofed it on when he did have opportunity to kick it!
——
I would like to apologise to the fans around me at the foot of the kop when Vaulks was writhing around after a nothing challenge. I shouted some very bad things.

After five minutes of being in agony he then trotted along the touchline and of course ran back onto the pitch. Hate that.

Thought Brannigan was worse than him! Dirty little bastard!

 

[Tarqs]

Ever ruptured your ACL?

Does it matter where reviewing his performance is concerned?

Wilder playing him far too much imo.

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Ever ruptured your ACL?

What the titty fuck does that have to do with it?

We're not a charity. We're trying to win games of football...

Regardless of excuses, if players aren't performing we need to be ruthless...

 

[Deadbat]

So according to your marking, Cooper was the worst player in our team!!!!
He made just one mistake when he failed to hold a difficult shot.
Giving him a 3 is just silly.
I like your reports and I appreciate the effort you put into them but Cooper is a good goalkeeper, albeit his kicking can be poor, which it wasn’t last night.

I think Cooper is a good keeper and has been much better recently. However, it's a dreadful mistake and essentially cost us a goal. He did not make another save all game. It's difficult to give him much more than a 3/10.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I think Cooper is a good keeper and has been much better recently. However, it's a dreadful mistake and essentially cost us a goal. He did not make another save all game. It's difficult to give him much more than a 3/10.

I laugh my head off when I see your scores every week because I just know that someone will get hacked off with one of them and start having a go at you about it

The mistake from Cooper was poor, I’m with you. If you can’t catch it, push it wide. I’ve heard all the “it swerved” and “it were rainy” excuses. Balls swerve and it rains, they aren’t a defence for doing what Cooper did. It doesn’t make him a bad keeper, but he had little to do and did it badly last night.

The assertion that by giving him a 3/10 you don’t think he’s a good keeper is hilarious. Both can be true.

 

[Dkc]

So according to your marking, Cooper was the worst player in our team!!!!
He made just one mistake when he failed to hold a difficult shot.
Giving him a 3 is just silly.
I like your reports and I appreciate the effort you put into them but Cooper is a good goalkeeper, albeit his kicking can be poor, which it wasn’t last night.

Agreed. Cooper was fine apart from the mistake that unfortunately led to the goal. The vast majority of times he catches shots like that, no need to parry it out. He's caught this one but somehow it slips out of his hands when he hits the deck. Others have said that he should have taken note of the conditions and parried it but I prefer an over-confident keeper to an under-confident one. Other players make errors that lead to goals but they don't get a 3/10 if they perform well otherwise.

Thanks as always for a good report DB.

 

[Blackheath Blade]

Vaulks was terrible. He spent most of the time play acting or taking throws. He is dreadful on the ball and normally just hoofed it on when he did have opportunity to kick it!
——
I would like to apologise to the fans around me at the foot of the kop when Vaulks was writhing around after a nothing challenge. I shouted some very bad things.

After five minutes of being in agony he then trotted along the touchline and of course ran back onto the pitch. Hate that.

ZLB - no apology necessary. I sit at the front of the Kop too so you may have heard me giving Vaulks dogs abuse when he went down, did the customary turf slapping, then rolled back onto the pitch.
I lost count of the number of things I was shouting, each rant ending with "you fuckin pig". A fraud of a footballer.
Upon sitting back in my seat, my father in law queried "tha dunt like that number four does tha?"

 

[bakeblade]

Think I've looked for your report about 20ish times.

Dont feel like I can process the performance until I've ;

listened to CWs post match interview.

read Roys Viewfrom.

Re watched the highlights.

Read your match report.

Become a ritual.

You need to add Coolblade's excellent observations to your ritual.
Us Blades are spoilt with the efforts of Deadbat, Roy etc on this forum and the Utube and podcasts from such as SU way, Jimmy Ramble and the Pinch lads.
Many thanks to all who take the time to contribute.

 

[bakeblade]

Not often I want to correct you DB ,
but when you say Ogbene is a better option than Chong ,
I say he's not -
he's a better option than Cannon as a striker.
Put in the same position , I couldn't see Cannon scoring the goals that Ogbene & Brooks scored last night.
He's just not intelligent enough or skilful enough.
And as a lone striker he's utterly useless.
He tries his heart out but the kindest word I have for him is "hapless".
He's just that crucial bit
Too short , too weak , too slow , too lacking in anticipation , instinct & guile.
He's constantly caught offside and he looks well beaten by his job at the Lane.
Having sympathy with him , I'd like to release him from his present torment and give him a fresh start somewhere else.

I'd say that Ogbene is better than Chong, however only because he's slightly less crap.