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.
