Oxford United kicked off their new League One campaign with defeat on the road to Cambridge.
The U’s fell behind after just 16 minutes and the hosts doubled their lead 12 minutes later.
Here are three talking points from the game:
Formation and Line-Up
There was very little surprise when Liam Manning announced his first Oxford side of the season as it was the same starting line-up as the one that beat QPR in their last pre-season friendly.
Summer signing James Beadle began between the sticks with Sam Long and Ciaron Brown as the full-backs. Returnee Jordan Thorniley partnered Elliott Moore in the heart of defence.
Oxford-born Josh McEachran began alongside Cameron Brannagan in the middle of the park with Ruben Rodrigues, signed after winning promotion from the National League with Notts County, began in the number ten role.
Marcus Browne, who netted three goals during pre-season, and Tyler Goodrham, who scored three vital goals as the U’s avoided relegation last season, began in the wide areas with another new arrival in Mark Harris leading the line.
Simon Eastwood, Stephan Negru, Marcus McGuane, Billy Bodin and Gatlin O’Donkor began on the bench, alongside new signings Fin Stevens and Stanley Mills.
Lack of Team Pressing
Unlike during the pre-season games, the U’s players failed to press the opposition as a unit.
Their goal against Swansea, and on several occasions during the win over QPR, came from the team pressing together, while at the Abbey Stadium there was a lack of that.
Hopefully, the players will rediscover that desire and determination in the upcoming fixtures, which start at Bristol City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
Like-for-Like Substitutions
Liam Manning used all five substitutions in this game but when the U’s were chasing, the formation remained the same.
McGuane replaced McEachran and Mills came on for Goodrham before Bodin came in for Browne and O’Donkor was swapped for Harris. Manning ended his changes with the addition of Stevens in place of Brown.
With Oxford behind, the tactics were to stick to what they were doing as opposed to putting more bodies in attack. Granted, this will work on some occasions and the tactics will pay off, while the contrast to that is last season when under Karl Robinson, the players were pumping long balls up towards the likes of Goodrham and O’Donkor.
Hopefully, this will be just a blip, a reality check, or maybe a wake-up call following a positive pre-season, but it’s clear that Manning is confident in his plans.
