Just back...

I don't presume to think that people want to read my 'in depth analysis', unlike yourself. I'm not that self important and indulgent. I'll no doubt have something to say midst. If it's ok with you. I'll keep it cogent and interesting and brief (ish) though. Watch and learn.  

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

They broke in numbers and at pace.  We could not handle this.  (Not used to teams doing this in NL).

Exactly !
Did anyone also notice Oxford exploiting "gaps" between our midfield and in front of the back 4 ?
Not suprised Hurst mentioned "defensive midfielder" at all.

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

No one played well.

Well I thought Lenny was outstanding 1st half and Disley marshalled the midfield quite well.

Quoted from 120797

Wasn't half as bad as the scoreline suggested IMO.

Was actually quite impressed again with some of our football 1st half.

Goals change games.
If Lenny's shot goes in, I really think we go on to win.

We started off what looked to me like 4-2-4.
Seemed to change to 4-3-3 as the game went on,
Then after the subs came on 2nd half, 4-4-2.

Listening to Hurst in the car on the way back, thought he was spot on !
Albeit a little harsh on himself/the team I thought, even if he made some excellent observations.

Was thinking myself players maybe stood off them too much and dropped a little bit too.
And yes perhaps Pearson should have showed him down the line (good point !).

But let's be honest, you could see Oxford's class in attack and it was a great 1st goal from their "highly rated" winger.
And the 2nd came when they hit us on the break. (looked offside to me !)
Add to that a shocking ref who didn't award a pen and gave us near zilch.

So all in all, yes there are 1 or 2 things here and there to look at.
(Will give my player thoughts in a bit.)

But for me, I remain confident for Tuesday.

No doubt in my mind we can win gain promotion.
If we didn't already know by now....
KEEP THE FAITH

"Wasn't half as bad as the scoreline suggested"---Yes it was. Did you really go to the game??????
"harsh on himself"--- so he should be, the way he set the team up today was all wrong and he should have changed things at half time but didnt.
I was so looking forward to the game today and having the buzz of a good cup run but I think the players conned the fans today No balls, No graft and No idea.
Will be at BP Tuesday to see a lot better performance UTM  

Maybe you're right, he should have changed it at HT.

Could've been better I agree.
All I meant was we started brightly, played some good stuff, Lenny hit the post and the goal(s) knocked the stuffing out of us a bit.

That said 2nd half was gutted Pittman didn't pull the ball back for Neilson cos he was wide open in space.  
To be fair, would have shown great vision had he done.  

Also starting to wonder if the refs higher up the pyramid are really any better than NL.

Thought the ref was much better than what we normally get in our League

Really ?
I thought he gave us very little.

Quoted from 120797

Really ?
I thought he gave us very little.

He shouldn't be 'giving' us anything should he?

I think he should be giving us those decisions we deserve !
Anyway it's all about opinions...

During the first half , chattin to the chap next to me , we both agreed that Neilson would have made a difference
and we missed him... his jinky runs and clever play.  When he finally came on he did just that...  I hope he starts on Tuesday.

I thought the referee had a poor game.. some of his decisions were a little baffling to say the least...

Overall feeling of disappointment for me.

A game I thought we could win and we were comfortably beaten. Perhaps more concerning was how much we were outplayed and the gap between the teams appeared much greater than it actually is.

The first 10 minutes we were reasonably bright. LJL unlucky with his shot that hit the post.
After that, Oxford settled into their passing game and their very expansive formation.
Before the 1st goal I thought we had looked the most likely to score despite having less possession. But definitely after the first goal Oxford settled down and played out from the back quite well. However, we made it easy for them to do this.

We weren't trying to win the ball very high up the pitch. We stood off men and tried to react too late after the ball went to them. We didn't re-organise and manage the problems they were giving us on the pitch. That's where you need a Scott Kerr type player in there for a bit of game-management on the pitch and leadership in midfield.

We went with 2 up front for the start of the second half and it was long overdue. We should've done that after half an hour and stopped allowing the centre-backs to split and play the ball out. Either that or get Arnold closer to LJL, or Mackreth and Pittman pushed further forward to impose ourselves on them. None of that happened and we were nearly out of sight by half time.

Both goals were down to our daft decisions in Oxford's half and getting done on the break. The third killed us so early in the second half although it looked like we could have had a penalty? Oxford continued to pass and move very well and they looked better footballers than us all over the pitch. But again, the time we allowed their centre-backs and the bald holding midfielder to have was disappointing as those three looked like if we had pressured them we would have had some success and forced errors.

We miss Brown massively in midfield and although I haven't seen Pell in a Town shirt I am sure he would've improved our chances too.
But I think Appleton and the way his team are set up caused too many problems that Hurst was slow to react to and couldn't really nail down.

Disappointing (especially after beating 2 League 2 sides last season) but not the end of the world. We win Tuesday and today is forgotten.