Well it was our first game in our quest of winning the FA cup. We came through that test, easily in the end and in great shape, ready to move on forwards.
We had a very poor start, for the first 30 minutes, we looked legless, sloppy in everything we did, and Oldham took the incentive, and controlled the match. For the first 30 minutes, they were much better than us and they deserved their lead, through an utterly unstoppable shot. A left-footed volley from 30 yards right into the top corner, best goal i've seen this season. They should have scored earlier, when Kuqi, got past Coates, too easily, then outmuscled Carragher, and sent hit shot wide - where he should have squared it across goal, and it would have been an easy tap in.
After their goal, it shook us up, and we finally woke up and started to step it up a gear or two. We got an extremely quick equaliser, just after two minutes after Oldham scored; through a very lucky deflection from Bellamy. Shelvey cutting in from the right wing, shooting with his left and Bellamy just deflecting the ball into the net, where the keeper was diving the other way.
After we scored that goal, it gave us the confidence, momentum in the match, and we found some rhythm in our passing - after that, it looked a fairly comfortable win. We stepped it up a gear or two, and Oldham just couldn't cope with our quality.
Late on in the first half, we managed to get a penalty, when Adeyemi fouls Maxi. Gerrard stands up and calmly dispatches it into the top right corner.
After that goal right at the end of the first half, it seemed plain sailing, we controlled the tempo of the match and looked the much better side.
In the second half, we were the much more dominate side, our tails were up, our confidence was high and we had the momentum and we kept attacking them, creating chance, after chance, mainly through the brilliant performance of Bellamy. Instrumental in everything offensive and positive we did today.
We created chance, after chance in the second half with Shelvey getting a beautiful team goal, great build up play and passing, with Bellamy playing a lovely ball from the right to Shelvey making a run on the edge of the box, and calmly placing the ball into the corner of the net. He scores his first goal for us - that loan move to Blackpool has done him the world of good.
Then Andy Carroll comes on for 5 minutes, his first touch of the ball being on the edge of the box, the ball lands to hit feet - as he is turning, he connects beautifully with the ball and it goes right into the bottom right corner. Great, and well taken goal, and he deserves that goal - should do him the world of good.
Another sub arrives, in Downing, and after great build up play down the left wing, John Flanagan sends a shot towards goal, which gets deflected to Downing who does a terrific finish, another one badly needing a goal - hopefully that should give him so much needed confidence.
I think Dalglish deserves a lot of credit for this game: pre-match, a lot questioned his team selection - questioning why Bellamy was starting due to the congested January period of matches, why Carroll wasn't playing. But i think he's proved to be right tonight - Bellamy was far and away our best player, created so many chances for us, and was by far the biggest influence on our win.
Leaving Carroll and Downing out, allowed him the chance to bring on them on towards the ladder stages of the match - when we were comprehensively winning, which allowed them to play without any pressure, and they both have gotten a great goal each - great tactical subs from the King tonight, that worked brilliantly. Also taking off Auerlio after 70 minutes was a very wise thing to do, with his injury record and he got a good run out tonight.
Defensive we were poor today, Carragher and Coates were especially below their expected levels - especially earlier on in the match. I remember Kuqi, getting past both of them way too easy and spewing his chance. Coates seemed to grow into the match, i think he gets nervous towards the start of the game, but once he overcomes that, he seems to play much better. Carragher improved too, but they improved when we took control of the match, and our defence were under much less pressure.
Although we did change our entire back 4, which makes it harder to organise the back four - defences need to be regularly played along side each other, to get a reliable and instant knowhow of their positioning.
Our keeper, Reina, looked good with his shot stopping, his position was excellent as always. The goal they scored was unstoppable, Reina couldn't have done a thing, and the scorer deserves all the credit, not a thing in the world Pepe could have done to stop that. His distribution was excellent once again, got to be one of the best keeper with his feet, so calm and his passes are usually very accurate.
The only worry i had about him in that game, was his clearances from crosses and set plays. I remember him running out to punch a ball clear, and he completely missed the ball, luckily, no one was there to tap the ball in to the empty net. Couple of other times in the game, he got a fist to it, but wasn't done with great conviction, but after his mistake in the previous game, along with missing the cross completely today - he was playing it safe and just trying to clear the ball.
Our full backs were solid:
Kelly down the right looked strong, physical and he was up the pitch causing a big threat too. Kelly has a very good cross on him, and he always gives the players in the box, a chance of getting a head on the ball. Defensively i think he's the best right back we have - i've never seen anyone have the better of him, and he is great defender, he still has so much time to improve too.
I've always liked and appreciated what a talent player Auerlio is. The main thing that really impresses me, is his ability to not play for a few months - then when he does play, he plays brilliantly, like he's been playing for weeks on end. Adjusts to the pace of the game very quickly.
I really like Auerlio, he is terrific at intercepting the ball, and reading the ball so he can already get into the best position to clean up any danger that could arise. Offensive, he didn't bomb down the wing much, but he has a brilliant left foot, and he can start attacks from left back by playing brilliant passes. Brilliant left foot and he always chooses the right option to pass too.
Our central defenders were alright, but it certainly wasn't anywhere near their best games.
Carragher started shakily, and he should have tackled much stronger and quicker when Kuqi ran straight past our defence. His distribution was typical Carragher, he hoofed regularly which sometimes, lost us possession. Kuyt or Bellamy wasn't winning many headers up front. After a poor start, he improved in the second half, and we kept a very good defensive line, which is mainly due to Carragher's organisation skills.
Coates started off poorly too. He's only played a handful of games among this defence unit, so it will take time to adapt to a new style. Although, after a shaky start, he slightly improved and he started to play better, as we got better as a team. His distribution was decent, he tried to pass the ball around to available midfielders, and looked calm with the ball.
Our defensive midfielder, the terrier, or Jay Spearing as he's known, had another solid game. He got his foot stuck in, never winced out of a tackle and always gives every game 100%. He always has an effect on the game due to his work rate and willingness to get stuck him.
I am very impressed with his technical ability with the ball - i always thought, he was a limited player with the ball, but i was wrong. He has outgrown my expectations and his passing is very accurate, and he chooses the right options too. He played deeper, which let Gerrard play slightly ahead of him, making more forward runs, and he made many passes great passes and through passes for Gerrard to run on too.
Gerrard had a great game today. When he has the ball at his feet, you just feel a sense of optimism because you know he can create anything, and score from any angle - you just feel, every time he touches the ball, we might score or something special could happen.
In the first half, his passing was sloppy, especially the riskier passes he tried playing, but after that penalty, the whole team improved and he controlled the tempo of our play. Very good performance from our captain, and a great penalty into the top corner, shows his composure and the others how to score from the spot.
He's our 4th highest scorer this season - says it all about our lack of goals, and how massive he is to this team.
Great to see him get the full game, good performance and didn't seem to get tired. Another big millstone for him.
Maxi had a fairly quiet game, didn't do too much, and seemed to disappear in the game - a trait that can be frustrating of his. He had a big chance when Bellamy, on the right crossed in, and it was a simple tap in but he messed it up. A few times he came through the middle and played a couple of nice through passes, but i don't think he had the greatest game.
Shelvey had a good game, in my opinion. First half, he was played out of position on the right, but he was still a threat. He made some lovely forward passes and he gets into very smart positions to receive the ball. He played a big part in our first goal, by producing the shot that caused the deflection off Bellamy sending it into the net.
Second half, he played more centrally, and Bellamy played more on the right, and i thought Shelvey's performance improved when he moved positions. He made a few great balls to Bellamy on the right, made a few great runs into the box, where he scorer our third goal, which we need to be seeing more often. Runs from midfield into the box, giving the wide player more options.
Shelvey looks a great talent, he played great against Villa and dropped for the next few matches; i sincerely hope, he gets more playing time, because he was brilliant at Blackpool, great when he's played for us and he must be full of confidence.
Dirk Kuyt wasn't that great today. He worked hard, came wide to help link up the play, but he didn't really look anything like a threat in front of goal. He didn't get his head on any crosses, he didn't get in dangerous positions to give himself a good chance of scoring and he lost the ball regularly.
I like Kuyt, i think every Liverpool fan has a soft point for him, for his work rate and attitude, but he's in serious decline at the moment. He can't score and other then grafting, and hard work, he doesn't offer us much without his goals, he's gotten throughout his career.
Craig Bellamy was my man of the match, he had a brilliant game. He was extremely lively when playing as a striker, working hard, linking up play very well, getting in deeper areas around the box, causing Oldham all sorts of problems. He was the big difference between the teams - he was involved in everything positive we did. He scored the vital equaliser, through a luck deflection, and he also produced a beautiful assist to Shelvey.
Quite a few posters were wondering why he was playing, due to his chronic knee injury, but Kenny proved everyone wrong, and Bellamy played a brilliant game.
Andy Carroll started from the bench, surprisingly. Thought it was the perfect game to play him to start, but Dalglish didn't think so and his decision proved to work, once again. He came on from as a sub, and scored a beautiful left football goal. He has got a lovely left-foot on him - i bet Carroll's confidence has sky rocketed, and he's probably thriving to be back on the pitch again. He probably should have headed that free header, from a great cross from Downing, into the back of the net though.
The other player who's got the confidence of a rubber duck, Downing, came on and impressed me. He looked fairly sharp, and he was at the right place, at the right time, and the ball deflected to his feet after Flanagan's shot - where he put it into the net, making it look easy then it actually was.
He did a lovely cross to Carroll, as i mentioned earlier, just a weaker floated ball straight for him which gave Carroll a great chance to score - and he should have converted it.
Another important win, another step closer to our 8th FA cup and Gerrard got a full 90 minutes. With Carroll and Downing, having small sub appearances and both scoring a goal each.
Brilliant result - and after they scored, we stepped it up a gear or two and led us to a comprehensive performance, and result.
Onwards and upwards, come on you reds !!!!
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