Regular BM Oldham fan's opinion here for what it's worth....
As expected, the majority of possession was City's however I don’t think we looked particularly weak in any specific area, which is not something I’ve been able to say in recent years.
Although our back line isn’t the fastest, it was only on odd occasion when someone ran in behind, noteably Jelavic who seemed a little nippy. Fortunately, nothing came of those chances.
You set up with a 3-5-2 with Clichy & Facey as wing-backs – is this something that your first team are looking to employ?
I thought our opening goal was fairly decent, Clichy’s poor pass was picked up by our trialist, who fed a through ball to Simpson, who took a first time placed shot past Hart. The goal didn’t seem to bother City that much though as you kept playing the same way, and in all honesty, you should have scored twice in the first half – Jelavic missing from 6yrds and then hitting the post. Milner did bring a good save from our keeper but I’d have been disappointed if he’d have let it in.
You were quite fortunate for your equaliser, our CB made a good slide tackle but it bounced onto our other defender and into RSC’s path who coolly took it round the keeper and finished. I think it was Ruznak who then hit the bar late on via a save from our keeper again, and then obviously we got the late winner once all your first teamers came off.
Your player ratings IMO:
Hart 6 – Didn’t have anything to do really bar pick the ball out of the net and made a fairly simple save in the 2nd half
Wabara 7 – Looked decent to me. Quite quick
McGivern 6 – Doesn’t look good enough for me, seemed afraid of passing forwards and looked out of position for our opener
Lescott 7 – Made it look simple when he had the ball, could see he was the best defender on your team, composed and rarely looked troubled
Clichy 6 – Looked rusty to me. Put in a couple of decent crosses but other than that, not much from him. Made the error which led to our opener.
Facey 7 – Hogged the right touchline which helped you control the game in the midfield, we only had 4 in the middle so he had plenty of space on the ball and wasn’t afraid to run with it. Think he took a knock in the 2nd half and was subbed
Milner 7 – Looked decent. Controlled the game with NDJ and sprayed a few pinpoint balls to the likes of Facey & Clichy. Had a couple of good attempts on goal
NDJ – 6 I can see why this guy splits opinions on here. IMO, you need someone better than him, someone who can play riskier balls without worrying about not pulling it off. I know he’s one for the dirty work but I think there’s much better out there for you.
Nasri 8 – Best player for me, looked comfortable on the ball, always wanted it, couple of tricky runs.
Jelavic 7 – Quite wasteful but didn’t stop running. He was the one player trying to get behind the line and was unfortunate not to get a goal
RSC 7 – Thought he played well actually. Held the ball up well and played made some neat touches. Composed finish when gifted the opportunity
Subs: Only one worth a decent mention to me was (I think) that Ruznak fella. No 18 was he? Constantly drove at the defense, hit the bar late on and would have gone in had it not been a decent tipped save.
It’d be nice to have a look at some players as Loan options for us, mainly Wabara and Ruznak, although I can’t see it personally.
Overall, enjoyable game, even if we didn’t have that much of the ball!
Very pleased with your attendance though so thanks for that, much needed money for the coffers.
Also enjoyed the “Stand up if you hate Man U” & the “We won the league, in Fergie time” chants.
