Aaron Ramsey learns ‘harsh lessons’ in Oxford United defeat

Aaron Ramsey’s side showed flashes of quality, there were some bright individual performances from the younger generation of the football club, but there was also fragility – particularly as the game wore on and began to stretch after the break.

I felt there wasn’t a huge amount to separate the two sides in the first half, with the goalless score line a fair reflection of the game.

Oxford weren’t hiding their desire to control proceedings through possession, but without a shot on target to show for it, our chance creation and threat in the final third was limited.

And that was one of the biggest themes of the evening.

Oxford had plenty of the ball, but too often there was a lack of conviction in what we should do with it and when we should do certain things.

There were far too many tentative and indecisive moments in possession, and at times we looked like a team that hadn’t been instructed to have this volume of the ball for a very long time.

And, in fairness, that adjustment was always going to take time.

You are asking a group of players, many of whom were part of our Championship ventures, to go from having 30 per cent of the ball in a game to now comfortably having more than the opposition.

That shift in approach cannot be achieved overnight and definitely not within the space of a single pre-season and four competitive matches.

Oxford United winger Mo Missanga (Image: Oxford United)

For a side to go from control, to control with utter purpose and dangerous intent, it requires decisiveness, trust, punch and discipline.

That is not just to unlock opposition teams, but also to reduce teams from hurting them on the turnover.

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Huddersfield’s third goal came from exactly that, Sam Long attempted to play a forward pass from the backline, it was recovered by the opposition and they scored from a fast breakaway with Oxford outnumbered and disorganised defensively.

There were, however, positives to take from the evening.

Oxford United captain Cameron Brannagan (Image: Oxford United)

Mo Missanga made his first league start and showed his quality, particularly with his ability to carry the ball over large distances and drive Oxford up the pitch.

Leo Snowden also looked bright and produced a lovely cut-back for fellow academy graduate Gatlin O’Donkor, who continued his red hot early-season goalscoring form.

So, to suggest that Ramsey’s first competitive defeat was a total disaster would be untrue and, in my opinion, a rash view of what was a difficult evening.

It certainly wasn’t all doom and gloom but there were plenty of harsh lessons to be learnt.