Player ratings v Oxford (14 Viewers)

[fatso]

Absolutely and it was lovely to see.

I have felt that he was improving bit by bit lately but I reckon this was the first time that he has been at his absolute best since his shocking injury.

With Saka back on song and our injured players returning we really have to believe that we can make the playoffs.

Now, I'm not wishing to take anything away from Sakamoto or his performance today, but as i said before, Oxford had no fit left back, we knew that before the game, and we targeted that position.

I'm just saying we need to keep that in mind when assessing his performance.

Next week, I'm sure Stoke will man mark him and dish out some rough stuff, let's see how he performs then before saying he's "back to his pre injury best"

 

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[steve101]

Dovin 6
Van Erwijk 6.5
Thomas 6
Kitching 5.5
Bidwell 5
Eccles 6
Grimes 7
Rudoni 7.5
Sakamoto 8 motm
Simms 6
Mason-Clark 6.5

Sheaf 6
Wright 5
Allen na
Paterson na

 

[Speedies_Chips]

Yeah he looked off it in the 7 minutes between kick off and his goal......

Ffs

And 3 of those minutes nothing was going on because of 2 injuries!

 

[Legia Sky Blue]

Always felt Simms would miss as he isn't the cleanest striker of the ball at the best of times

I was surprised he took it given he didn't take one of the semi final penalties last season. Eccles has been clinical when taking penalties at Wembley and in the cup earlier this season and for me would have been the logical taker from the players on the pitch at the time.

 

[rob9872]

I was surprised he took it given he didn't take one of the semi final penalties last season. Eccles has been clinical when taking penalties at Wembley and in the cup earlier this season and for me would have been the logical taker from the players on the pitch at the time.

Agree, I think Eccles 6 from 6. Simms as a forward I guess wanted a goal for confidence but backfired. At least we won or might have been a bigger problem for him.

 

[Legia Sky Blue]

Agree, I think Eccles 6 from 6. Simms as a forward I guess wanted a goal for confidence but backfired. At least we won or might have been a bigger problem for him.

Confidence issues might have also been behind Eccles not stepping up. With his recent form being a bit in and out and elements of our support picking him out as the new boo boy, a missed penalty was probably the last thing he needed.

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

I actually thought Simms had a decent game today despite the penalty miss. Frankly, I didn’t have confidence that he would bury it and it wasn’t a good strike.

He brought a lot of physicality against their CBs and pinned them back a bit when we lumped the ball up. Haji had some nice flashes but felt he could’ve done with the space that playing as a second striker/wide player would afford him. As a lone striker in this match, he was bullied a bit.

Sakamoto had a great game today and was at his best. His goal was a typical Saka goal where he places the ball so well.

 

[StrettoBoy]

Now, I'm not wishing to take anything away from Sakamoto or his performance today, but as i said before, Oxford had no fit left back, we knew that before the game, and we targeted that position.

I'm just saying we need to keep that in mind when assessing his performance.

Next week, I'm sure Stoke will man mark him and dish out some rough stuff, let's see how he performs then before saying he's "back to his pre injury best"

You make a fair point but - to use the old cliche - you can only play what’s in front of you and he played very well. He also got in an excellent strike for his goal.

I have sensed in recent games that he was getting his confidence back and the fear of getting another horrible injury was receding.

I really hope he can keep it up because Saka on song is a real asset to the team and a joy to watch.

 

[SIR ERNIE]

I was surprised he took it given he didn't take one of the semi final penalties last season. Eccles has been clinical when taking penalties at Wembley and in the cup earlier this season and for me would have been the logical taker from the players on the pitch at the time.

I'd have told Grimes to take it.
Strikes a ball very cleanly.

 

[Bristol sky blue]

I'd have brought on Haji Wright to take it... and then subbed him again if his lack of fitness was an issue!!

 

[Jimmy87]

Hard to dissect that. We couldn't decide if it was sloppy, gritty or just a bad combination of both. A couple of players off their game today.
We seemed wide open down the left, i'm sure that will have been picked up on. I'm probably not the only one who thought the Allen substitution should have come much earlier.
With that said, who cares, another win. What a brilliant run it's been. So much credit to the new coaching staff, they've really done a job with this squad.
Would say Sakamoto MOTM today, EMC not far behind. Dovin did well with the sun taken into consideration etc.
Simms with some good hold up play again, not going to shame him for the pen, it wasn't great, just as Torp's miss previously, doesn't mean the rest of his game was bad.
I heard Rudoni was supposed to be on pens with Wright and Torp off the pitch, with him off i personally thought Grimes would step up. Not going to dwell on it, we won.
Felt that perhaps a little bit of complacency set in after going 1-0 early, but at the same time, it was such a gritty game, misplaced passes everywhere, and a very physical Oxford side.
Lampard spoke about mentality in midweek, i think from here on in is a real test. We can't afford too many games like that.
Hope Rudoni isn't out for a long period, good news is that Torp is back in training.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Don't agree about Rudi, thought he looked a bit off it today even before the goal.
You're right about Bidwell, the Temu Todd Cantwell tore him apart and it carried on after he went off.

In the 6 mins before the goal lol

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Hard to dissect that. We couldn't decide if it was sloppy, gritty or just a bad combination of both. A couple of players off their game today.
We seemed wide open down the left, i'm sure that will have been picked up on. I'm probably not the only one who thought the Allen substitution should have come much earlier.
With that said, who cares, another win. What a brilliant run it's been. So much credit to the new coaching staff, they've really done a job with this squad.
Would say Sakamoto MOTM today, EMC not far behind. Dovin did well with the sun taken into consideration etc.
Simms with some good hold up play again, not going to shame him for the pen, it wasn't great, just as Torp's miss previously, doesn't mean the rest of his game was bad.
I heard Rudoni was supposed to be on pens with Wright and Torp off the pitch, with him off i personally thought Grimes would step up. Not going to dwell on it, we won.
Felt that perhaps a little bit of complacency set in after going 1-0 early, but at the same time, it was such a gritty game, misplaced passes everywhere, and a very physical Oxford side.
Lampard spoke about mentality in midweek, i think from here on in is a real test. We can't afford too many games like that.
Hope Rudoni isn't out for a long period, good news is that Torp is back in training.

Can’t afford too many wins like that

 

[Jimmy87]

Can’t afford too many wins like that

A better team would have probably punished us, i think too many having an off day. Don't get me wrong though, as i said it was gritty, as you would expect next week will be too. Teams fighting a completely different battle to us as they are doing anything they can to pick up points to survive. When we can't get the ball down and play our football then these are absolutely the games you love to win, earlier in the season, i don't think we grind out a result. What i'm saying is, i hope complacency doesn't set in. The spirit shown to get the result was what we need till the end.

 

[robbiekeane]

Can’t afford too many wins like that

We can afford as many wins like that as possible

 

[SAJ]

Always felt Simms would miss as he isn't the cleanest striker of the ball at the best of times

I was surprised he took it. Given he didn’t take one at Wembley didn’t take one against Sheff Wed. I thought they would give it Eccles. He’s taken 3 pressure penalties 2 at Wembley and 1 v Sheff Wed and they have all been top class.

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

A better team would have probably punished us, i think too many having an off day. Don't get me wrong though, as i said it was gritty, as you would expect next week will be too. Teams fighting a completely different battle to us as they are doing anything they can to pick up points to survive. When we can't get the ball down and play our football then these are absolutely the games you love to win, earlier in the season, i don't think we grind out a result. What i'm saying is, i hope complacency doesn't set in. The spirit shown to get the result was what we need till the end.

Last 20 mins I thought we were pretty comfortable

 

[PVA]

Can’t afford too many wins like that

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Sorry should have put a question mark cause I couldn’t understand what the person was going on about

 

[hill83]

On record for not rating Saka. But he’s been a machine last few games. When there’s no real defence needed from him and he can do what he does, not many better in this league.

 

[hill83]

Also todays bench made me have to change my boxers

 

[Adge]

Also todays bench made me have to change my boxers

Looked like a farmer had ploughed a field and then ran over them………

 

[Mucca Mad Boys]

A better team would have probably punished us, i think too many having an off day. Don't get me wrong though, as i said it was gritty, as you would expect next week will be too. Teams fighting a completely different battle to us as they are doing anything they can to pick up points to survive. When we can't get the ball down and play our football then these are absolutely the games you love to win, earlier in the season, i don't think we grind out a result. What i'm saying is, i hope complacency doesn't set in. The spirit shown to get the result was what we need till the end.

It is worth noting that Oxford have a strong home record so this was never going to be a walk over.

It was disappointing in parts because we left ourselves open and gave them chances to get something from the match. They hadn’t had a shot on target for a few games before today. The build up for their 2nd was very poor, the defending up to the 1v1 Dovin kept out was poor and then we concede the corner.

We deserved to win, even if it was ugly at times. Would take it every day of the week though if that’s how we make the playoffs.

 

[Jimmy87]

It is worth noting that Oxford have a strong home record so this was never going to be a walk over.

It was disappointing in parts because we left ourselves open and gave them chances to get something from the match. They hadn’t had a shot on target for a few games before today. The build up for their 2nd was very poor, the defending up to the 1v1 Dovin kept out was poor and then we concede the corner.

We deserved to win, even if it was ugly at times. Would take it every day of the week though if that’s how we make the playoffs.

Absolutely, man.
We were saying before the game we don't expect any game to be a walk over from here on in,
I can't help but feel that after the early goal a little complacency crept in, we can't afford to let that happen. It will be a test of mental strength now.
You're right that it was disappointing in parts, the left felt wide open all game, but like you say, even if it was ugly, we won and will take that. Their heads didn't drop and the spirit shown to get the result was really good. As i said, earlier on this season, those are the types of games we wouldn't be getting a result from. Credit to them all.

 

[CBS16]

Simms was an 8 out of 10 had he not missed the pen. I thought he was absolutely fantastic up top today. On the flip side Haji didn't seem to know the offside rule and didn't win a single duel, really poor cameo from him but I'll put it down to rust for now

 

[MalcSB]

I said to my lad that Simms would miss the pen, he said have confidence, I said I am confident...he will miss

It was a bit of a Dabo moment. I think the Sky commentators said we have missed 5 of our 9 last penalties and implied that didn’t include the penalty shootouts.

 

[MalcSB]

Now, I'm not wishing to take anything away from Sakamoto or his performance today, but as i said before, Oxford had no fit left back, we knew that before the game, and we targeted that position.

I'm just saying we need to keep that in mind when assessing his performance.

Next week, I'm sure Stoke will man mark him and dish out some rough stuff, let's see how he performs then before saying he's "back to his pre injury best"

We taegted that position with whom. Sakamoto and MVE, same as whenever those two are in starting eleven. Sounds like you are doubting him upon the basis that he successfully implemented the game plan, due in no small part to his fitness, technical ability/ skill and willingness to take players on as well as his support in tracking back and helping the defence out. EMC could learn a lot from Tats in that regard. Bidwell probably wishes he was right footed or that Tats was solely left footed rather than two footed.

 

[fatso]

We taegted that position with whom. Sakamoto and MVE, same as whenever those two are in starting eleven. Sounds like you are doubting him upon the basis that he successfully implemented the game plan, due in no small part to his fitness, technical ability/ skill and willingness to take players on as well as his support in tracking back and helping the defence out. EMC could learn a lot from Tats in that regard. Bidwell probably wishes he was right footed or that Tats was left footed rather than two footed.

I'm not doubting him at all, I thought I went to some length to state that.

I'm saying he played very well, but against who?
Oxford had no fit LB in their squad, so is a coincidence that our RW got a goal, and an assist and m.o.m ???

I think he will have tougher games than today, so people saying he's back to his pre injury best MAY be a bit premature.

I hope he has a m.o.m performance next week as well, but I think Stoke will target him and he may find it much harder to have such a big impact.

Let's wait and see.

 

[SkyBlue_Bear83]

Another thing, I could be reading something into this that's not there but Thomas looked a bit pissed off at the end and seemed to storm off from the end of game celebrations

Celebrations seemed a bit short from all the team, lampard was fist pumping and the team were already heading back

 

[Samueljames1991]

Celebrations seemed a bit short from all the team, lampard was fist pumping and the team were already heading back

Onto the next one elite mentality

 

[junglej13]

Thought Sheaf was very good when he came on.

Bidwell was strange today. Played the 2nd half very high up the pitch which I suppose paid dividends in the end, but he is often very narrow in a back four and leaves a winger with a lot of space.

 

[Chicken Mcgraw]

Their second is just as bad as I remember. Horrific pass from Grimes and a pathetic attempt at saving the header from Dovin. Luckily didn’t cost us

 

[stevefloyd]

Absolutely, man.
We were saying before the game we don't expect any game to be a walk over from here on in,
I can't help but feel that after the early goal a little complacency crept in, we can't afford to let that happen. It will be a test of mental strength now.
You're right that it was disappointing in parts, the left felt wide open all game, but like you say, even if it was ugly, we won and will take that. Their heads didn't drop and the spirit shown to get the result was really good. As i said, earlier on this season, those are the types of games we wouldn't be getting a result from. Credit to them all.

I just cannot understand why Frank didn't do something to cover the left, Bidwell was getting roasted, even when Rudoni went off he didn't try and get Eccles to at least try and help...strange

 

[Sky Blue Pete]

Their second is just as bad as I remember. Horrific pass from Grimes and a pathetic attempt at saving the header from Dovin. Luckily didn’t cost us

Wow your choice of who to blame is bonkers

 

[fatso]

I just cannot understand why Frank didn't do something to cover the left, Bidwell was getting roasted, even when Rudoni went off he didn't try and get Eccles to at least try and help...strange

EMC was guilty of not tracking his man back on a number of occasions which left Bidwell badly exposed.
Also, Kitching was taken out off the ball for Oxford's first equaliser, which left a massive hole behind Bidwell which they then exploited.