Oxford
travel to Cheltenham on Tuesday on the back of three straight defeats
after a poor display at Burton Albion. Previous defeats at York –
although perhaps undeserved – and to Exeter – probably deserved
depending on who you speak to – were followed up by a mauling in
Staffordshire. Calvin Zola and Jacques Maghoma both scored twice as
United failed to turn up at the Pirelli. It’s hard to write a
lengthy report on a game that left the yellow and blue army feeling
so deflated but one can attempt.
Zola
and Maghoma had both scored fantastic goals to put the home side 2-0
up by half-time. Zola hit a stunning volley on the turn into Ryan
Clarke’s top corner and Maghoma curled a beauty into the opposite
corner to leave Burton deservedly in the lead at the interval. They
were not the only chances the Brewers had seen in the first half.
Damien McCrory had earlier hit the bar from 25 yards and a long
bouncing ball from the Burton backline was eventually dealt with by
Clarke after a moment’s rush of blood saw him have to flap the ball
onto the bar. For Oxford, Michael Raynes headed a Chapman corner
over the bar and Damian Batt had a long strike ruled out (rightly)
after the referee had blown his whistle due to a head injury to Deane
Smalley.
2-0
was a fair scoreline but that wasn’t the most worrying thing. The
performance was flat from United, the passing game of recent weeks
had been abandoned and a more direct style onto the head of Smalley
and more bizarrely Alfie Potter adopted. A new shape at the back was
also seen although I’m still not sure what the first-half formation
was. Daniel Boateng was brought into the side in place of the ill
Jake Forster-Caskey and seemed to be a third centre-back alongside
Raynes and captain Jake Wright. Tony Capaldi and Damian Batt appeared
to be wing backs but offered very little width.
Chris
Wilder himself seemed to see his new tactical move had failed as
Boateng was replaced at half time by Tom Craddock, JP Pittman also
entered the action, in place of Sean Rigg as United adapted a 4-2-4
formation. For 20 minutes, it appeared that this switch in style
might bring some rewards with Pittman testing Burton keeper Tomlinson
and Craddock going close twice. This spell proved to be only
temporary as Maghoma curled home a free-kick after Wright had upended
Zola. And it was the former Crewe man who scored the game’s final
goal. A cross from the left hand side found him unmarked around 8
yards out and he had time and space to pick his spot and dispatch a
powerful shot past Clarke.
At
4-0, a few chants of 'Wilder Out' were heard on the away terrace,
chants that could become much more regular if this poor run
continues. 11 goals conceded in 3 games is worrying, but the team
performances appear to be getting worse as time goes on. Players such
as Batt and Simon Heslop are clearly suffering from a lack of
confidence, although in the latter’s case perhaps just a case of
not being a League Two footballer. The pressure is on Wilder and
is only likely to increase if 3 points are not brought back on
Tuesday night.
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