If I remember (w)rightly, Charlton won 1-0 at Oxford in 1969, the year we finished 3rd in Division 2. Charlie Wright saved a penalty. I'm going for a penalty save and a 1-0 win 50 years later.
Feeling a bit pessimistic about this, I think this will be a tough game and Oxford will be fired up.
As an aside it feels a bit wrong to keep alternating Sarr and Pearce alongside Bauer. It's not as if Sarr needs to rest, CBs generally don't use the energy that the rest of the outfield players use. If anyone needs to be managed carefully it's Taylor who's played an awful lot of minutes and tends to give 110% every game with his running.
They all need managing with so many games coming up. It is Pearce that needs to be match fit should we need him. Same with Solly and Dyksteel, and with the others - Bielik for example.We have a big and good squad, and with almost everyone fit. Just need to manage it as best as we can to ensure everyone recovers the best as possible and does not pick up an injury, which is more likely if you are being overplayed.
The two we cannot rest is Taylor and Vetokele. Bows seems to be managing it as best he can by dropping Taylor out wide during matches so he does not get clobbered as much.
Will be in Kanazawa for this one, eating sea grapes and sea urchins for starter (2:0 to the Karls) but will come back with horse meat shavings in raw egg (Sarr hat trick) 2:3 final score, hard to swallow, but anything for 2nd spot. COYR
Oxford are at last 'improving' under our ex and unlamented manager .. we have improved out of sight under Bowyer .. Bowyer trumps (not Donnie) Robinson .. we win
My favourite line about Karl would be from Bowyer:
’So Lee what is the most important thing you learnt from Karl’
’That you need more than one formation’
I’d like to think of Karl could limit himself to this many words if the question was asked:
’So what have you learnt from the last season in League and from Lee Bowyer’?
’Well like maybe the old formation which is the best formation-if you have all the players and substitutes to play that formation then clearly my formation is the beat formation but I have noticed me teams losing a lot when they play that when I put the wrong people into the wrong formation so I guess at the end of the day when all is said and done I’ve learnt o need more than one formation.
I thought he played 2 strikers up front in their Promotion season in League 1 at MK Dons but I now realise that for most games it was 4231 with Will Griggs as a lone striker, (20 League goals) with Deli Ali in the 3 (16 goals) with any two from Powell, Reeves or Bowditch.
Ben Afobe did play at the beginning of that season but Robinson just seems to have the 1 up front as his default setting.
Assuming Robinson stays true to form and plays his favourite formation then I doubt there are many coaches in football who will know more about combating it than Lee Bowyer and Johnnie Jackson. It’s hard to think that we will be out thought in this game.
Feeling a bit pessimistic about this, I think this will be a tough game and Oxford will be fired up.
As an aside it feels a bit wrong to keep alternating Sarr and Pearce alongside Bauer. It's not as if Sarr needs to rest, CBs generally don't use the energy that the rest of the outfield players use. If anyone needs to be managed carefully it's Taylor who's played an awful lot of minutes and tends to give 110% every game with his running.
They all need managing with so many games coming up. It is Pearce that needs to be match fit should we need him. Same with Solly and Dyksteel, and with the others - Bielik for example.We have a big and good squad, and with almost everyone fit. Just need to manage it as best as we can to ensure everyone recovers the best as possible and does not pick up an injury, which is more likely if you are being overplayed.
The two we cannot rest is Taylor and Vetokele. Bows seems to be managing it as best he can by dropping Taylor out wide during matches so he does not get clobbered as much.
What about a rest for Bauer then? Ideally we would find a way of playing Pearce and Sarr together in one game, but it seems that as they both like playing on the left it wouldn't work.
To be in this position is such an achievement when you consider the lack of squad bodies after the Sunderland game back in August. But can we go further? Very tough game and it will be a struggle on the backfoot. 1-1 and the end of the dream.
Feeling a bit pessimistic about this, I think this will be a tough game and Oxford will be fired up.
As an aside it feels a bit wrong to keep alternating Sarr and Pearce alongside Bauer. It's not as if Sarr needs to rest, CBs generally don't use the energy that the rest of the outfield players use. If anyone needs to be managed carefully it's Taylor who's played an awful lot of minutes and tends to give 110% every game with his running.
They all need managing with so many games coming up. It is Pearce that needs to be match fit should we need him. Same with Solly and Dyksteel, and with the others - Bielik for example.We have a big and good squad, and with almost everyone fit. Just need to manage it as best as we can to ensure everyone recovers the best as possible and does not pick up an injury, which is more likely if you are being overplayed.
The two we cannot rest is Taylor and Vetokele. Bows seems to be managing it as best he can by dropping Taylor out wide during matches so he does not get clobbered as much.
What about a rest for Bauer then? Ideally we would find a way of playing Pearce and Sarr together in one game, but it seems that as they both like playing on the left it wouldn't work.
Played 4-3-3 for much of the season and at The Valley, Robinson matched us up as a diamond.
I get the joke but it doesn’t really apply this season other than the lone striker.
Have to admit I thought Robinson actually out smarted Bowyer at the Valley earlier in the season
I am unsure I would’ve described it as outsmarted, but more showed us respect by matching up. Everyone was expecting him to go with his usual formation but he didn’t. He showed his experience in management and by the time we could have done anything to counter his tactics, Oxford had already settled and we weren’t playing the greatest.
We must remember that Oxford’s goal shouldn’t have stood as the game should have been stopped for Cullen’s head injury. If the official had followed the laws correctly, we could have won the game.
At home after a good run, I wouldn’t expect him to change his formation so would assume he will play 4-3-3, but after it working at The Valley, it could be an option to match us up with James Henry in the hole behind the front two.
Interesting match up tomorrow, and hopefully we do the business as I fully expect us to.
Two editions of tomorrow's programme. One on sale around the ground, the Charlton one inside. For collector's this is a cracker, although puzzling why Oxford do this.
Played 4-3-3 for much of the season and at The Valley, Robinson matched us up as a diamond.
I get the joke but it doesn’t really apply this season other than the lone striker.
Have to admit I thought Robinson actually out smarted Bowyer at the Valley earlier in the season
He more or less knew all the players in last October’s game. BFG was missing, Sarr was on the bench and didn’t get a game, Bielik came on at 88mins for Fosu. Igor obviously wasn’t playing. Steer was in goal. There had been an international break before which we’d lost 2-1 to Coventry and 5-3 to Scunthorpe. We are a different team now to what we were then.
Comments
The two we cannot rest is Taylor and Vetokele. Bows seems to be managing it as best he can by dropping Taylor out wide during matches so he does not get clobbered as much.
Oxford United 0 v CAFC 2
’So Lee what is the most important thing you learnt from Karl’
’That you need more than one formation’
I’d like to think of Karl could limit himself to this many words if the question was asked:
’So what have you learnt from the last season in League and from Lee Bowyer’?
’Well like maybe the old formation which is the best formation-if you have all the players and substitutes to play that formation then clearly my formation is the beat formation but I have noticed me teams losing a lot when they play that when I put the wrong people into the wrong formation so I guess at the end of the day when all is said and done I’ve learnt o need more than one formation.
thanks lee’
Ben Afobe did play at the beginning of that season but Robinson just seems to have the 1 up front as his default setting.
1.1
I get the joke but it doesn’t really apply this season other than the lone striker.
We must remember that Oxford’s goal shouldn’t have stood as the game should have been stopped for Cullen’s head injury. If the official had followed the laws correctly, we could have won the game.
At home after a good run, I wouldn’t expect him to change his formation so would assume he will play 4-3-3, but after it working at The Valley, it could be an option to match us up with James Henry in the hole behind the front two.
Interesting match up tomorrow, and hopefully we do the business as I fully expect us to.
A scrappy ugly affair with masses of “we would of lost that one under that fat p***k”
automatic really could happen, up the Addicks.
and that doesn’t make sense....