comprehensive oldham match report

Ok so ive calmed down now, so here is last nights report :-

1st Half
We lined up again in a 4-5-1 formation, as per rochdale, with the same tactics.
To be fair we started ok, with treacy looking more interested and the new lad williams looking pacey and direct.
As the half wore on, we got so frustrating to watch. We never closed oldham down when they had the ball and never looked likely to break attacking wise with speed, we always slowed the game down.
As a result they always looked threatening as we allowed them a free run to goal all the time, one particular instance their left back had the ball rolled to him by the keeper, jogged forward a bit looking for a pass, nobody closed him down, so he jogged forward a bit more, still nobody closed him down, he eventually ended up in our penalty area having a shot!
This gave oldham more and more confidence on the ball, as they knew they would have time and space all the time and thus could pick their passes better to create chances. We could have been 3/4-0 down easily. Our chances i can remember were treacy hitting the post behind the goal from outside the area and winnall hitting the inside of the post from a cross-shot, that was it.

1-0 With bree on the floor needing attention for a head injury, some of our players stopped and waited for a referee whistle to halt play. This didnt come, so an oldham player hit in a shot and their cf (looking offside) diverted it into the opposite corner wrong footing turnbull (similar to falcao goal for man u) to make it worse before the restart, after bree had had his attention, the referee made him go off the pitch because of the head injury! a very controversial goal.

2-0 With us once more allowing them time and space to do as they please, nyatanga stood off their other cf and allowed him a pot shot at goal from outside the area. it went straight through nyatanga's legs and straight under turnbull's body. a shot that should have been easily blocked and easily saved put us 2-0 behind at half time.

2nd Half
We scored to make it 2-1 fairly early on and you would have then expected us to throw everything at them for the equaliser, having gained the initative - but we didnt.
Once again we sat off them for every one of their attacks allowing them to do as they please and we never had any drive or urgency when attacking. I cant remember one occasion where a midfielder ran on past winnall to try to create a chance.
We had plenty of the ball, but the amount of sideways passes was unbelievable at times. we were strolling as if it was a training session, not a cup tie. other than the 2 goals, i dont actually remember another single shot in the the half.
You could here our fans muttering and getting ready to boo them off, when winnall scored his goal and then it went to pens.

2-1- dudgeon made a great full length pitch run to support treacy, who used him as a decoy and crossed into the box. it deflected out to the edge of the area where berry hit it first time like an arrow into the bottom right corner - stunning strike.

2-2 winnall picked up the ball back to goal outside the area, was allowed time and space to turn, took a step forward and hit a world class power shot bent into the left corner. one of the best reds goals ever and sure to feature on one of whiteys videos in years to come!

Penalties
1-0 Oldham - turnbull dived comically early to his left and the ball was placed simply to his right.
1-1 hourihane - quality pen very hard and low to keepers left. he dove the right way, but couldnt get to it, unlike rochdales world class save. think connor needs to vary it through the season as thats now all 3 pens hit the same way.
2-1 oldham - same as pen 1
2-1 winnall - hit as hard as he could down the middle, keeper dove out of the way, but unfortunately it hit the crossbar and bounced the wrong side of the line
3-1 oldham - same as pen 1 and 2!
3-1 hemmings - woeful powder puff pen slightly to keepers left and easily saved
3-1 oldham - similar to hemmings, but to turnbulls right.
3-2 abbott - cool pen into the right corner under pressure
4-2 oldham - calmly slotted into left corner and game over

Summary
A very frustrating display in tactics, defending and attacking.
I only remember our entire midfield putting one tackle in (ironically bailey got booked for it!) in the entire game. we backed off all the time and never got close at all, this included the centre halfs also. just inviting pressure all the time.
attacking wise, if wilson is going to play 4-5-1 then we have to have at least 1 or 2 midfielders running past the cf when we have the ball, otherwise the cf gets isolated all the time and we will never create anything, again this never happened and by the end i felt sorry for winnall as he was fighting a lost cause and looked well fed up.
also for those saying it was only the jpt, it doesnt matter. well it mattered to the 534 reds fans who paid admission and travel costs to support their team, anys reds game should always matter otherwise we shouldnt bother supporting them. also danny didnt make wholesale changes either, he only changed 3 from the x1 at rochdale.
contrary to belief i am a wilson fan and was happy when he came back. he has had 10 months now in the job to indentify/scout/create this team and then 2 months to train it. yet he is constantly chopping/changing players and systems, he needs to indentify his best x1 and stick to it for a run of games. he has asked us for patience yet isnt showing any himself and therefore the players are struggling to gel and know each other.
i strongly think he should be given to the end of the season at least to be judged fully, in fact i dont think any manager should suffer a knee-jerk sacking. the season is 46 games, not 12 or so, but he certainly is under performing at present.

Player ratings :-

turnbull 6 - should have saved the 2nd goal and was woeful for the pens, but saved us during the game with some good saves again. quality keeper

lb - dudgeon -5 - made the supporting runs for treacy and then cole, you could see he put the effort in

lch - nyatanga - 3 - sat off the attack the entire game as distribution was terrible. very poor game

rch -brown-3- see nyatanga

rb - bree - 6 - seen him a few times now and although he doesnt catch the eye as a fb (like cole/pearce/etc) he is always consistent and always seems to have at least an above average game (like irwin) great prospect, just when we do eventually sell him (as all clubs have to) hope this time we get a decent price/add ons!

lm - treacy - 6 - much improved from rochdale. was just wide with one shot, always on the move, hit a superb 70 yard crossfield pass 1st half and helped create the first goal. surprised to see him go off.

lcm - hourihane - 4 - having seen the opposition this season, this man is one of the most skillful in the division, he can shoot, pass and tackle all well. but he doesnt seem to have any drive in him to either push into the box or run with the ball to create chances/shoot (redfearn/howard) last night he always slowed the play down and took the easy option of a sideways pass then strolled around (mcphail) . so frustrating as this should be sorted on the training ground. connor could be the player of the season, even the division by a country mile but needs a lot of training to achieve this.

cm - bailey - 3 - was he even playing? nothing of note at all

rcm - berry - 6 - gets marked up for his goal, otherwise nothing other than average

rm - williams - 6- got injured early in the 1st half and subbed. looked direct and pacey before then, a threat

cf - winnall - 4 (to 89th min!) his touch was poor all game, nothing stuck to him at all. constantly giving the ball away. then came his goal! absolute world class - worthy of a 10 all on its own

sub - rm+lm - cole - 5 - same role as rochdale, not as effective though
sub - ? - hemmings 5 - wilson totally messed up our formation with this one. kane didnt seem to know where he was playing, wasnt cf, nor rm. also made berry uneasy as to where he should be. basically meant we had nobody on the right
sub - abbott - 5- not on long enough to get anything other than average.

as always my opinion is just one persons among thousands, i just try to say it as i see it and hope its of some benefit to others who couldnt get to the game



coyr

 

Thanks for that. I get to most away games these days but I like reading comprehensively about how we've done when I can't make it.

Sounds like too much back-turning and standing off yet again, which is surprising as there was little of that on Saturday. Good to snatch a draw from 2-0 down but improvements definitely needed, and no more frigging standing off!

 

You are welcome, i dont get to many games at all these days so also like to read as many reports on here as possible. so think it only fair that when i do go, i give my own report.
Standing off players is so frustrating to watch as a supporter, i can understand a lack of skill, but never a lack of work ethic.

I wont prob be able to go another game now till around xmas, due to family issues. So hopefully, there will be plenty of other fans willing to post their own match reports as the season progresses