Rooney disappointed with Oxford defeat

Wayne Rooney rued familiar issues for his Argyle team as they lost 2-0 at Oxford United.  

After the Greens fell 1-0 down at Kassam Stadium, through Ciaron Brown’s 14th minute goal, Argyle struggled to create sufficient chances to trouble their hosts. Even then, when they had a little of flurry of pressure at the beginning of the second half, Oxford saw it out and scored on the hour mark, via Przemyslaw Placheta. 

The Pilgrims’ Head Coach bemoaned the ease in which the goals were conceded, as well as the lack of creativity, as Argyle’s long wait for an away win goes on.   

“It wasn't good enough,” Rooney told Argyle TV. “I didn't think we deserved anything from the game. I'm really disappointed.  

“I thought it was a quite tight, even game, to be honest, until Oxford scored. It's a goal we've seen, it's a goal we've done a lot of work on over the last two days. After conceding the goals against Coventry from crosses, again we didn't get tight enough at the cross, then Rands (Adam Randell) slips and they get a goal.   

“[It’s] the basics of football that we've been working on and drilling into the players a lot over the last two days but, again, it's cost us today. 

“We always talk about the balance of your team when you're going forward and we got caught in the middle of the pitch. They have one ball through on goal and then you’re 2-0 down and it becomes difficult.  

“We were trying to get opportunities, but we didn't create enough chances. For us, if you want to get something out of the game, you need to create chances, especially when you're behind, and we didn't do that enough.” 

Argyle’s side included four changes, with Ryan Hardie, Morgan Whittaker, Conor Hazard and Matty Sorinola all coming into the starting line-up. Whittaker and Hardie were returning from injury, and their inclusion on the teamsheet was a bit of a surprise. Hazard and Sorinola, meanwhile, came into a defensive setup that had conceded four goals at Coventry City, with Hazard replacing Daniel Grimshaw in the Argyle goal.  

Substitutes on the afternoon included teenagers Caleb Roberts and Tegan Finn, with Rooney explaining that Roberts had himself fought back from injury, and reserving praise for the attitude of Finn, who is still yet to turn 17.  

“They haven't trained but they wanted to play,” said Rooney, of the recovering players. “Ryan's still got his stitches in. It's always pleasing when you've got players who want to get out there. The three players, we needed them at some capacity in the squad because even though it's probably sooner than it should have been, we wouldn't have filled the bench, it would have been three players short.  

“I think it's really unfortunate on Grimmy. The last game, I think he was probably at fault for two goals but, other than that, the goals he conceded, I don't think he was really at fault for many of them, and he's done well in terms of helping us have control of the ball. I think just the amount of goals we’ve conceded, it was probably the right time to make that change,  

“With Matty coming in, it was just a decision of putting Bali [Mumba] on the left and then we had the decision to make who played right-back.  

“I think Tegan was the one plus today. He’s a really young lad, but he came on, showed courage to take the ball and put a couple of really good crosses in the box.   

“He's got a really bright future, and I’m pleased for him. Hopefully he can continue with that, but that was probably the only positive, going right back to the start of the game.”  

Argyle are next in action on 1 January, taking on Bristol City at Home Park, where results have been a bit more positive for Rooney’s men. The boss is looking forward to being back at base, and it anxious that his team respond to a bad week on the road.   

“There needs to be a reaction, of course, to this,” he said. “Today wasn’t good enough but, back at home, on New Year's Day, hopefully we can get a positive result.”