adminBad Oxford United trend must be addressed in January window
Clean sheets have been a rare commodity for Oxford United so far this season.
Just two have been acquired in the first 15 Championship matches of the campaign, a 1-0 win over Derby County and a goalless draw with QPR two games earlier being the only occasions.
The U’s have shipped four more goals than they had at this stage last year and boss Gary Rowett has, after more than one game, regretted the ‘poor’ nature of some of his team’s goals conceded.
Individual errors and exposure on transition have been the cause of most of the recent goals shipped. Individually, the centre backs in particular have done some astute defensive work.
January addition Michal Helik ranks high in the league for defensive contributions such as interceptions and clearances and is a visible presence in his own penalty area.
Defensive partner Ciaron Brown brings a slightly more calm air to the backline but also contributes with defensive actions.
The defending of the box is not so much a problem then, but the failure to pick up men making late runs has proved a consistent issue of late.
As many may have noticed, some of the recent goals the Yellows have conceded have been almost identical.
In each of the last three games, goalkeeper Jamie Cumming has parried a shot into the path of an unmarked opposing forward (or Greg Leigh in the case of the West Bromwich Albion defeat).
Lewis Baker found space on the transition for Stoke City in order to tap home and Jake Cooper did the same three days earlier at the Kassam for Millwall.
Likewise, the failure to close down space on the edge of the box has proved a worry.
With defenders busting a gut to defend the penalty area, it has meant that the space on the edge of the box is left free.
Potters midfielder Baker found his second in his side’s 3-0 win after holding his run at the edge of the box to sweep the ball home.
Similarly, Sean Fusire hit the ball first time to pull a goal back for Sheffield Wednesday after the ball became loose at the edge.
This lack of run tracking is a trend that needs to be halted, with the international break potentially being a good chance to do so.
U’s midfielder Will Vaulks can only do so much and often gets into the box himself to try and prevent chances on the transition.
What United need is a defensive midfielder with the positional awareness and ground-covering ability to cover the open spaces on the edge of the penalty area and track late runs.
Easier said than done, yes, but the U’s need backup in that position anyway with Vaulks the only true sitting midfielder – Cameron Brannagan and Brian De Keersmaecker show a desire to get further forward and perform best when doing so.
With the U’s tight budget, dipping into the lower leagues or abroad, as they recently have, may be their best bet this winter as they look to plug those transitional midfield holes.
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