City's problems

[Rijs]

Mike Ford sounded a positive note in his Ford Focus today, and it's good to be reminded of where we were a year ago as we seek some consolation for a string of disappointing home performances and results recently. The trouble with a good run in the early autumn is that it sets up expectations. We have much the same squad now as then--maybe even better with Chris Wilmott coming in--but we are not playing nearly as well. Why is this? I will suggest a few possible reasons and welcome the views of others.
1. Our pitch is very heavy and makes a passing game more difficult.
I doscount this as other teams have come and kept the ball on the deck--even Hemel today did this more than we did.
2. Key players have lost form and confidence.
There are some signs of this. Felipe has had a good year but he is not making those penetrating runs now--other teams are marking him tightly and giving him some stick, and his head has started to drop. Dazza's passing has not been as crisp, a little urgency has gone from his game. Declan is not having as much impact. No-one is playing badly, but quite a few are a notch below their best.
3. The squad is unbalanced.
Statistics can bear this out. The outfield will normally have six central players and four wide, at least in a standard 4-4-2. In our squad we have thirteen central players and three wide; with Jack gone, only one natural left-footer is in the squad. Yet we keep playing down the left, as we did in the first half against Hemel today--quite fruitlessly. Only when Michael Lyon came up and started getting down the right did we begin to pose a threat. Mike Ford has the problem of keeping a lot of central players happy so he has to play them out of position. So, we have central defenders like Learoyd and Clarke playing right back, central midfielders like Fleet playing left side, and lo and behold, it doesn't work so well.
4. We don't kill off weaker teams.
Our mentality seems too negative--we get a goal, then defend our lead. Again. look at the statistics--how often have City come from behind to win (or even draw), or scored a late goal this season? How often have their opponents done that?
5. We play the long ball too much.
I've said this twice on here recently and I hear fans on the terrace saying the same. It's so unimaginative to boot it long and high. Have we lost the belief that we can keep possession? Do we not run into good positions to receive a pass any more?

[clive]

Today's match was poor. Whilst Hemel were much better than their position suggests ( I expect them to comfortably avoid relegation ), for most of the game City were pretty uninspiring and unimaginative. Only in the last 10 minutes, when play became stretched as both teams went for the winner, did City start playing down the flanks, try and keep the ball on the floor and created some half chances. But we don't know how good the Hemel keeper is as he didn't have to make a proper save all match....

Prior to that the aimless long ball to 2 small forwards reigned supreme. The tactic appears to be to hit it long to make the opposition back four turn, but if so the execution falls a long way short. There was a 30 minute spell when every single ball forward by Martin was high in the air, not one on the floor ( I'm not having a go at Martin who I think is potentially a decent player but it is an indication of the team's mind-set )

The side did look much more balanced after Lyon and Malone came on, but I would start with them ahead of Fleet and Benjamin anyway

[hedges]

Poor match....

Pitch isn't helping, probably the worst pitch in the division, not to sure what can be done about it though (was under the impression things would improve with the new development, but currently the pitch is looking more worn than ever).

I thought it was a strange team selection today, Blossom (Team Captain) apparently not carrying any injuries on the bench?!? ...Lyon, who i think has uped his game a notch this season, not start???.... Clarkey who despite carrying an injury and advised to play only if necessary (leg injury, hence the large amount of strapping) started?

Felipe's form and confidence is gone. I think felipe of afew months ago would have run into the box when he had 3 defenders on his heels and wait to get chopped down for a penalty, the fact he stopped on the edge of the box and turned speaks volumes.....he is now trying to do too much himself and its not working.

As mentioned Pondy has suffered a dip in form aswell and Benjamin played the worst 45mins ive seen from him all season. Fleet hasn't really had any impact on the squad when he has played at all over the course of the season in my opinion....Steele, though not helped by a lack of decent passing is putting himself about but isn't having the best time of it.

Things certainly look better when Malone and Lyon came on....and it has to be said that in each of the last few games Malone has come on he (normally along with 1 other) has made a noticeable positive difference to the team.

The other thing ive noticed is this confidence and lack of form amongst the players coincides perfectly with the absents of Basham who has missed now 5/6 games on the trot, along with the Redbridge defeat.

Im not sold on Wilmot and ive said previously on this forum, no doubting his ability and he certainly has presence, but with Bloss missing for no apparent reason, defenders playing out of position to fit him in his ability is being offset by an unbalance in the team....and frankly im not convinced we needed him at this time...besides to me (and others in the stands) it seems our problems are midfielders not tracking back and doing there job defensively and not defenders making mistakes and being below the required quality....and even this problem is solved when Malone is fit and playing, which is only recently due to previous injuries....so why have we fiddled with a solid back line?

lastly, the attendance was rubbish....boxing day?, reasonable weather, two reasonably local teams yet it seems not too many more than the average Saturday....poor show. though when you see what they missed with our long-ball game, you can understand why they miss out.

[In the know]

Always been Fordys trouble gets players in the club and plays them out of position just to accommodate them and now we can see what happens , he did the same last season and look how that went so be prepared for a bit of the same from now on

[baz]

All I have to say is why does Fordy start 2 of our best and in form players Lyonsy and Bloss on the bench? it beggers belief what game he watches Im sure its different to the majority of the supporters!!!!!

[Rijs]

I don't think we can just blame Mike Ford or team selection. A lot of factors we don't know about influence it. Supposing a player misses training, or turns up late for the pre-match warm-up, looking the worse for wear after a late night party? I'm not saying that's what happened yesterday, only that we don't know.

I also don't agree with Hedges that the main problem on the pitch has been midfielders not tracking back. Andy Ballard, who worked like a Trojan again yesterday, usually does get back and do the defensive side of the job, as does Liam, and if Dazza sometimes doesn't it's because he's the more attacking midfielder who gets into the box and gets goals. In fact, the only good save their keeper had to make yesterday was from a header by...Pond. We've conceded a few goals from set pieces when nearly everyone is back, but that happens: most of our own few recent goals have followed set pieces. If you throw people up for every corner, free kick and long throw, you are going to get the luck of the bounce occasionally--hence Wilmot's goal.

But percentage wise it's not good enough to be the main goal source, because nine times out of ten a decent defence can deal with it comfortably enough. And most teams in this division, even those near the bottom like Hemel and Cirencester, seem to have a decent enough defence. They're just not so good at creating.

So, I don't think it's mainly about tracking back from midfield; defensively we've been good. Only 14 conceded in 19 games apart from our two disasters proves that, whichever formation Mike plays there. Clarkey, Learoyd, Bloss and Wilmot are all good enough and performing well in most matches they play.

The problem, in my opinion, is not passing enough on the ground (and not being accurate enough when we do), therefore giving the ball away too easily in the opposition half, and not using the wings enough, so we don't get behind defences. We either hoof it high (90% chance of giving it away) or pass it square in front of them (no threat) until the move breaks down. Why were the last ten minutes better yesterday? Because for the first time in the match, we started using the wings to get behind them. A couple of one-twos with Lyon on the right, and one with Felipe on the left (I think--might have been Marvin), and we created three moments of danger. If we'd been doing that regularly all match, Steeley would probably have had a hat trick. But to do it regularly, we need quick wingers committed to reaching the goal line. Lyonsy does that on his day, Felipe can but can't cross it with his left, and if he's out there he's not in the middle. Solution: sign a left winger.

Fordy tried that with Nick Stanley. A decent player who scores goals, but not the quickest, and he didn't scare defenders when he was with us. So we need to find, in the Nomads or elsewhere, someone who can do that.

I have one other question for those who get to more away games than I can. How come we are doing so much better away from home? Is that pitches, psychology, noise from supporters, different tactics, or what?

[hedges]

The team selection was more an eye brow raising observation than anything else, specific to yesterday. I for one genuinely believe our rise up the table compared to last season is because we are fielding an almost identical team week in and week out, and it seems stupid to toy with it now for no good reasons (at least from what we know as interested observers)

Only get to the local away days (Didcot (erm did), Brackley, Banbury, Hemel, Chesham, Cirencester) and can say its probably nothing to do with the Crowd, not been to a game yet where the place hasn't been any more than a library....CPF You get afew shouting their piece at the home team but you get that at all grounds.

As ive said and from what I have seen, currently no pitch is cut-up as much as ours, Cheshams and Brackley's, both recent games were pristine compared to it. Be interesting to see what Banbury's is like on Monday....but a passing game on the ground is made doubly difficult at our place than at others.

Tactics we don't seem play that differently away from home, possibly however we do play with abit more freedom, I noticed at Chesham Learoyd (playing Right Back) and Marvin were allowed to get more forward than normal....maybe though that could be Fordy answering one of the other criticisms to allow the fall backs off the leash abit rather than play the Static back 4.

I think we can all agree at least on one thing (remarkably ) that the long ball is restricting what we can do. On the break our tempo rises so much we lose the ball and when we do have the ball we play this long ball. Personally id like to see City control the tempo of the match, even if that means knocking it back to the keeper, at least keeping possession means the opposition cannot score...rather than just hoofing it long for big talk defenders to eat for dinner.

[Davidb1]

Dec 26, 2011 19:03:43 GMT Rijs said:

Mike Ford sounded a positive note in his Ford Focus today, and it's good to be reminded of where we were a year ago as we seek some consolation for a string of disappointing home performances and results recently. The trouble with a good run in the early autumn is that it sets up expectations. We have much the same squad now as then--maybe even better with Chris Wilmott coming in--but we are not playing nearly as well. Why is this? I will suggest a few possible reasons and welcome the views of others.
1. Our pitch is very heavy and makes a passing game more difficult.
I doscount this as other teams have come and kept the ball on the deck--even Hemel today did this more than we did.
2. Key players have lost form and confidence.
There are some signs of this. Felipe has had a good year but he is not making those penetrating runs now--other teams are marking him tightly and giving him some stick, and his head has started to drop. Dazza's passing has not been as crisp, a little urgency has gone from his game. Declan is not having as much impact. No-one is playing badly, but quite a few are a notch below their best.
3. The squad is unbalanced.
Statistics can bear this out. The outfield will normally have six central players and four wide, at least in a standard 4-4-2. In our squad we have thirteen central players and three wide; with Jack gone, only one natural left-footer is in the squad. Yet we keep playing down the left, as we did in the first half against Hemel today--quite fruitlessly. Only when Michael Lyon came up and started getting down the right did we begin to pose a threat. Mike Ford has the problem of keeping a lot of central players happy so he has to play them out of position. So, we have central defenders like Learoyd and Clarke playing right back, central midfielders like Fleet playing left side, and lo and behold, it doesn't work so well.
4. We don't kill off weaker teams.
Our mentality seems too negative--we get a goal, then defend our lead. Again. look at the statistics--how often have City come from behind to win (or even draw), or scored a late goal this season? How often have their opponents done that?
5. We play the long ball too much.
I've said this twice on here recently and I hear fans on the terrace saying the same. It's so unimaginative to boot it long and high. Have we lost the belief that we can keep possession? Do we not run into good positions to receive a pass any more?

[Anon]

I would agree with a lot of what is said. I feel our pitch is possibly the worst in the league and does not assist with the quality of passing we need for any part of the team. If the defence can't pass to the midfield and they in turn cannot feed the forwards how do you expect to create chances, hence the long ball to turn the oppositions defence. There is nothing wrong with the long ball, although not all the time, but we have Steele who has no pace and Phillipe who is young and still learning the game and at the moment does not seem to have any idea when to make runs and when to drop off. The base of this team is young and so far they have done the club proud, so stick with them and encourage. It may not all come together this season but Fordy is getting there.

[graham]

We had a long dry autumn and the pitch held up well and City also played well. Then came the winter rain and the pitch became muddy and the the ball just bobbles about making close control difficult. So the skill factor, which City have quite a lot of has gone out of the game. Then we end up with this boot it up the pitch tactic for it just to be headed back again.

Perhaps the reason why City have done better away from home in the last couple of months has been due to better pitches? We have all said before there are just too many matches played on this pitch. There is no doubt we will end up with another pitch resembling a beach come April.

I am not sure it is ever going to change so we must adapt to this to go forward. I am sure Mike is aware of all this and we will be winning at home again soon.

[In the know]

Do not keep blaming the pitch the reason is we have too many players playing out of position ,next your be saying that's the reason we got knocked out of the cups ,and we all know why that was playing the wrong tactics and wrong players

[happy hoop]

if we want a playable pitch this winter then first team matches only, not even training, as it resembles Derby countys baseball ground and that got dug up!

[clive]

The Didcot website is reporting that Jamie Heapy has re-signed for them. Probably another natural consequence of City signing Willmot....

[clive]

And the Oxford United website reports that Aaron Woodley has signed on loan for City for the rest of the season, and is in line to play against Banbury, where he has been on loan for the first of the season....

[hedges]

IM holding the horses, but im not liking the way this is going, but will keep an open mind for the next few games as its the performances and results that count.

Aaron will hopefully prove to be an asset.

Not however happy about Jamie leaving, already very short on Defensive cover and Jamie was a) Experienced b) versatile so could play in pretty much any position along the back line and midfield....I said Wilmott is a good signing, but not if it unsettles the established team that hasn't really done a huge amount wrong thus far this season or means letting half our team go in order to pay his wages....Is it reasonable to suggest, from an outsiders point of view both seem to be taking place?

we'll see what happens in the next few games.

[Brian]

None of this makes sense had a team that have played well and in a good position in league. And then keeps bringing in new players and leaving the other players out of team or getting rid of them, they have got city where they are, I think most people would have been happy with the way things where going at city why all this change and upset in the team.

[ChrisB]

Dec 30, 2011 20:07:49 GMT @happy hoop said:

if we want a playable pitch this winter then first team matches only

Given the amount of treatment, sand-slitting etc., that the pitch had in the summer, it has not stood up well to a season that, so far, has not been unduly wet. The goalmouths, having been raised, are a bit better, but the middle two-thirds does seem uneven.
Training, I guess, could be on 3G for some of the time, but Oxford City Nomads clearly need to play on the main pitch.

[Radman]

I think the Hemel game was a good draw . They are a fighting team and will beat more teams just watch them . I think our problems is midfield and the front players the midfield do not track back and help the defence .the gap between the defence and midfield is to big and the other team run in to the gap . The front men are not playing well steel off form .he will say he not playing if you ask him and he knows it ,felipe is not holding the ball and is losing it to easy .and I think the reason the defence are putting it long is on one in midfield is asking for the ball last year sav would call for the ball and go mad if it was not passed to him you don't hear a thing from the midfield now and I think that is y they put it long .as a defender myself you don't have a lot of time on the ball so if no one calls for the ball just get rid. And y balard captain you don't hear a thing form him yet blossom would shout all the game and most of it was at the midfield ,and you hear the fans shouting at the midfield for not getting back .but hey look were we are at the mo doing well .and of course we all could better if we were playing. Give the team a break and manager and get behind them

[clive]

Nomads didn't seem to have much problem with the pitch today - only scored the nine goals !

[Rijs]

In fact the pitch should HELP City because they will be more used to it than their opponents. And as I said earlier in this thread, it doesn't so far seem to have stopped teams like Totton and Hemel playing a passing game on it.

[mark]

its about time people realise we have had some bad weather over the last month or so,and if i would of come down at 10 o/clock on the morning of the Totton game then you would have seen the effort it took to get the game on for your pleasure.We are talking about December and January which are about the worsed 2 months for bad weather.Considering all the hard work the groundsman puts in i dont thing they have done a two bad a job.If you want to help im sure it will be welcombe.

[In the know]

Do not keep blaming the pitch if the Nomads can play good attacking football on it and score plenty of goals, it can only be one thing the tactics that M F comes up with ie,just get it up the field as fast as you can (big boot up field and hope for the best) 5 foot nothing forwards against 6 foot plus defenders