I secretly enjoy matches where a "B team" is selected as much as any big match, it's that foray into the unknown and the possibility that at some time the stars will align and you will be able to look back in 20 years and say "I saw Robbie Fowler in his first Cup game and you knew he was a superstar then". It's the unpredictability that makes the FA Cup so special, unknown players from a shite mill town team halfway down the football league you've never heard of, washed up never was beens and Cinderella stories of "he's a postman, he works in a bank and that one's a bin man" flood the football commentary of the special weekend and yet as much as they try and dilute it with the continuous repetition of "magic of the F.A. Cup" deep down we all love it.
With that said it is no surprise Oldham were fast out of the blocks, for all of the players concerned this was the biggest game of their careers. This was no B-Team, this was Oldham at their best and giving every drop of blood, sweat, and at one point tears, for the cause. Liverpool on the other hand were a rabble of strangers, unsure of their positions, too eager to play that extra short ball and for 20 minutes Oldham were on top.
In a tactical sense the first 20 minutes was a shambles. Dirk Kuyt was supposed to be a focal point in attack yet dropped 20 yards at any occasion, while Carragher and Coates played at a pace that can kindly be called "glacial", however the biggest tactical error came from the full-backs. While Johnson and Enrique can often be found in the final third of the pitch providing width and an "out" ball Aurelio and Kelly were static and maintained a flat back 4. Maybe this was a tactic to keep a relatively highish line while maintaining some pace at the back but ultimately it didn't work. Maxi and Shelvey played as inside-wingers and this allowed Oldham to tuck inside and fill any gap with bodies, there was no space created out wide and it meant every pass that was played was an attempt to thread the eye of a needle, that every move consisted of 2 passes to many with players seemingly scared to shoot only further played into the Oldham gameplan and the only suprise after 20 minutes was that it was only 0-1.
After the goal there was an instant reaction, the devils that sit on either side of Craig Bellamy awoke and started telling him that the Oldham back line called his mum a slag while Steven Gerrard realised that if he went through Oldham, rather than around, they would wilt. Soon enough we were back on track but it was not until half time tactical changes from Kenny that we saw a truly different team.
At half time Bellamy was pushed to the right while Gerrard played the second striker role and Shelvey dropped deep. This suited everyone, it suited Gerrard who prefers a shot, Bellamy who likes to run at players, Kuyt who received better balls, and Shelvey who didn't have to provide that "killer" pass.
This is what concerns me, we only have a few "greedy" players, that is players willing to choose to shoot over the decision to pass. Far too many times this season we have been too intricate and too slow in our build up with too few players willing to just have a shot. Adam has done this a few times, Henderson less so, Downing almost never. It is only players such as Suarez, Gerrard, Bellamy and Maxi who have the guts to regularly risk the wrath of their team-mates and ignore them in favour of a shot.
By the 80th minute the toll was showing on Oldham and good cameos from Carroll (a support striker if ever I saw one -NOT a target man) and Downing showed that their is hope for them. Shelvey grew into the game and eventually found his natural position between Gerrard and Spearing as Oldham pushed back. Like Henderson young Jonjo is talented but still needs to learn the positional elements of the game and most importantly that it is OK to take a risk whether it be through a forward run or a shot, it's OK to lose the ball if you're trying things.
All in all it was a flattering scoreline but ultimately an expected one. We advance to the 4th round with relatively little surprises from our B-Team with the possible exception of Coates may not be as ready as some think, what I will say though is John Flannaghan was very impressive off the bench and that did surprise me.
With the football out of the way it brings me on to a sad part of tonight's match.
I was in the Kop, block 105 not far from the front, I never heard or saw what, or in what manner it was, said to the Oldham right-back and I certainly will not have a go at a fellow Kopite on rumour and conjecture. What I will say though is that we really need to get rid of this collective chip on our shoulder now.
In the middle of the Suarez song it looked to me like something bad was said to the Oldham right back. Immediately, with his extreme reaction, everybodies thoughts were that something had been said with a racial tone. Some took it as the Oldham lad having a problem with the Suarez song and sung it louder, I have no problem with that. What I have a problem with is that as time went on it was clear this wasn't the case and the Oldham player was singling out one of the crowd. Something was said. What I didn't like was a large portion of the Kop then started booing the lad, for all we know he has a genuine grievance and has a right to kick off and the look on his face said to me that it did. To then boo this lad, or for that matter the lad in the Kop, without knowing ANY facts is wrong and we need to realise that if we don't get rid of this chip on our shoulder we're going to end up on the wrong side of where we want to be not just as a football club but as people.
Bring on the 4th round, it can't come soon enough.
