What did we learn from Carlisle United's defeat at Oxford?

Let’s take a look.

1 SHOOTING MATCH

It felt like this was not, to say the least, a vintage afternoon for Carlisle in terms of goal threat and a deeper look at the stats bears this out.

While Oxford did not exactly pepper the Blues with shots themselves, they did offer a more likely threat overall.

In attempts on goal, the hosts had eight to Carlisle’s five, but the areas these were taken from sheds the real light.

Carlisle could not find a way through at Oxford (Image: Richard Parkes)

Half of all Oxford’s shots were made from inside the box, while 80 per cent of Carlisle’s attempts came outside the area, going by the numbers on WhoScored.com.

United threatened the most when Callum Guy was taking aim from 25 yards and, while the midfielder has recent form there, that cannot be the limit of the Blues’ threat.

Their frontmen – in this case Ryan Edmondson and Jordan Gibson – mustered one attempt on goal between them and this contrasts with the combined seven by Mark Harris and Billy Bodin.

It suggests, accurately, that Oxford did just enough to break the door down in a game where neither team was emphatic – and highlights that, in the final third, the Blues are simply not offering enough right now.

2 FIXING THE AERIAL

It sometimes feels an overstatement when rival managers lean heavily on an “aerial” or “direct” interpretation of Carlisle’s play.

Certainly, the first half was far from an air-raid when United were having their best spell in the game.

It was as much down to a speed of passing, movement and pressing that the Blues established what looked like a promising foothold.

Fin Back wins an aerial tussle (Image: Richard Parkes)

Liam Manning, the Oxford boss, felt his team did not get to grips with Carlisle’s “direct” offerings in this spell but things were more nuanced than that.

On top of that, Carlisle’s tally of 54 long balls was only marginally higher than Oxford’s 51.

And yet – when United did go in that direction, it cannot be said to have been particularly successful.

This is where Manning’s post-match praise was on the spot, given the way his defenders exerted authority in the air.

Captain Elliott Moore was forbidding, winning 12 aerial duels, backed up by Stephan Negru with seven and, on the left, Ciaran Brown with seven and, to the right, Sam Long with five.

Carlisle’s best offering in this column was striker Ryan Edmondson with five, followed by defender Sam Lavelle with three, and ultimately they did not find a more subtle way around Oxford.

3 A BIGGER IMBALANCE

United tend to favour attacking down the left and the numbers on Saturday suggest the accent was more than ever on that side.

WhoScored reckon some 63 per cent of Carlisle’s forward moves came on the left – three times as much as their right-sided endeavour (21 per cent).

This is simply how United tailor their strengths, with Jack Armer and Jon Mellish a familiar combination and the fact that there aren’t two Mellishes in the side to gallop forward that way.

Jon Mellish attacks down the left (Image: Richard Parkes)

On the right it was a more orthodox defensive set-up with Sam Lavelle the right-sided of the central trio and Fin Back, as wing-back, not getting to the byline as much as Armer.

Tilting the balance a little more would, you would think, be in Carlisle’s interests as they look to hurt teams in different ways.

Another stat, meanwhile, reflects how United, having threatened to exert a little authority early on, never fully turned the screw.

Paul Simpson has, in the past, talked about achieving a certain number of passes before you can consider yourself in control.

Half-a-dozen is the notional figure, but Carlisle’s numbers tacked well below that over the 90 minutes at Oxford.

Their average passing ‘streak’ was three compared with Oxford’s five; one area among several, perhaps, where they missed the ball-mastery of Owen Moxon.

4 SIMMO’S DEMEANOUR

Paul Simpson no doubt shares the frustrations of supporters at Carlisle’s attacking shortcomings right now.

But the manager was not about to project an image of panic or discord so soon into the new season.

While Simpson had been strongly critical of things after Tuesday’s Carabao Cup exit at Harrogate Town, he was keener to accentuate the positives of this performance.

Paul Simpson pictured during post-match interviews (Image: Richard Parkes)

He did not swerve the issues that cost Carlisle, such as the “lapse” for Mark Harris’s goal and their lack of oomph in the final third.

But he did so with a balanced bearing and was just as keen to emphasise his faith in his attacking players as he was to highlight what was missing.

This was always going to be a challenging step up for United and these remain the very formative days of their first League One season for a decade.

They clearly have the right man to pilot them through this period and, in spite of what has been a challenging summer in terms of recruitment, Simpson is smart enough to find solutions (one of whom, Sean Maguire, was unavailable here and another, Dan Butterworth, still getting up to full fitness speed).

Carlisle need the focal point everyone is calling for but it serves nobody for their boss to cast aside trust in the others after two league games, and Simpson, however he's feeling inside, was understandably measured in how he came across.

5 A NEW CHARACTER

It did not take long, even from the high vantage point in the Kassam Stadium, to see that Carlisle have a bold new personality in their ranks.

Beneath his baseball cap, Jokull Andresson appeared the opposite of a shrinking violet even as he emerged for the usual pre-match walkabout on the pitch.

The keeper was garrulous, lively and did not shy from a few capers in front of our photographer, Richard Parkes.

Jokull Andresson finds the camera (Image: Richard Parkes)

This followed an introduction from Paul Simpson when he said the Icelandic international “did not shut up” during his first training session.

“He’s been very good. He’s lively. He’s actually got Tomas [Holy] talking, which is good,” added Simpson on Saturday.

“He never shuts up, especially in training and games. He is a personality.

“He’s got to keep doing that, keep pushing Tomas and be ready when an opportunity comes.”

Whether or whenever that chance arrives, in the meantime someone with Andersson’s spark might help keep spirits at a sharp level at a time Carlisle are finding their feet in League One.