DJ Barry Hammond

Or - as I keep pointing out, Stockport get a easy ball into their front 3 and suddenly our front 7 are having to turn and sprint back. That’s exactly where their goal came from.

Something I like about Lundstram already is his willingness to use whatever foot the ball is sat naturally at. Apparently, he’s right footed - I couldn’t meaningfully tell that from that opening 45 minutes.

I don’t think he’s been that bad - he’s suffering a little due to the role he’s being asked to play (tracking Stockport’s right mid).

We’re going man to man against their 3-4-3… with Braybrooke taking their middle centre half. It’s not working.

No!!! Crazy.

How have they not scored there?

That was sublime; with the ball we’ve been excellent. Without it, however, is another matter. I guess we’re going man to man with Braybrooke taking the middle centre half and Riis and Cullen taking the two outside of Stockport’s back 3 - but that forces Page and Lundstram very high to track their midfield 2, making a pass into the forwards behind them far too easy.

Yeah, this pressing scheme is suicidal; you can’t leave huge spaces in front of your back four.

That space taken advantage of.

Our midfield 3 are pressing very high - Braybrooke, often beyond our striker. My worry - Page and Lundstram are pushing up so far, they’re leaving a large amount of space behind them for a ball into the strikers feet. Souttar has already been caught once from this.

Lundstram looks useful; vocal, getting about the pitch.

That clip ball from Alves is so dangerous

Get out of the way Riis!

There we go… ish!

Seems not - other games are 😏

Once again, no natural central midfield cover on the bench (because we’re playing all 3 in the 11). I’m not a fan of that given ideally you want the option to freshen your engine room at least once, if not twice, during the 90. Case could be made for Tommy Neale’s inclusion on the bench for one of our many wingers… but that is somewhat a problem if you have 4 of them, plus Cullen who is presumably playing on one of the flanks this afternoon. You could take this further and point out that Martin (along with the recruitment team) have been a little negligent with their squad planning given not only are we short in central midfield, we’re massively over stocked in others; the wide positions, behind the striker and central defence.

Forget about being sacked; if Martin had anything about him he’d be offering his resignation after this.

That’s astonishing management. You make a change at halftime, start brightly; but barely give your instructions and change 10 minutes. Double substitution on 56 minutes; goal a minute after. Make another change on 59; goal a minute after. It’s quite evident Martin’s own changes negatively impacted his own side!

Given how we started the half… I’d have waited at least another 5 with the changes. Instead, Martin broke collective concentration and suddenly your two down!

Hmmmm - I get Riis is moving his body across, but couldn’t he have done that whilst actually going for the shot?

That could easily have been a red.

But that’s because Oxford have stopped Page getting the ball - he’s not been available. Same sort of thing is happening with Alves, they’ve bottled him up; so it’s down to Martin to adjust our shape / player positioning to get these two into the game more. We also need to sort out our link up play with Riis - I get why he started, but this was always a potential problem of chucking him straight in.

Oxford have played well and you can tell we’re playing a first game with a new striker; our linkup play isn’t quite there. I still think our biggest problem is having too many players beyond the ball and up against their back line during attacking phases - I don’t like the way Martin uses his two 8’s.

That shouldn’t be a surprise really; but yes, organised, can move the ball well and have a clear threat with their right winger. Still - I’d love to see us drop Braybrooke back a touch and play him alongside Page.

When we get into the final third, too many of our passes are to players with their back to goal; meaning the only quick balls from the receiver are sideways or backwards. Need more players getting themselves available for the ball on the half-turn.