(4-4-1-1) (4-3-3)
The wait since April 20th is over, the Latics finally entered the 2002/3 season but unfortunately for the blues, the start of the season was a major anti-climax and nothing short of a real disappointment as they slumped to their 1st., first-day opening defeat in the new millennium.
The brand new season began with one of the toughest of openings and ended in bitter disappointment. Annoyingly, the tactics smacked of a side desperate not to lose. Fair enough, this is an acceptable aim for the first game of the season but the side looked flat and struggled to create at times. A strange formation was chosen which looked at first like a 4-4-1-1, then a 4-5-1 and sometimes even a 4-3-3. This threw my expectations out of the window immediately. Surely it would have made more sense to pitch 3 defenders against their 3 attackers and use the flanks (an area which Graham Kavanagh had openly admitted they were bare) to attack Cardiff. Not so!
Even stranger was the decision to play a cultured centre back in midfield. The ploy was obvious - Baudet was there to make Kavanagh ' s life a misery and at times it worked. The only problem was that when Baudet had bundled the former Stoke player off the ball, he didn ' t know what to do with it and often gave it straight back. Matty Appleby often did the same thing and struggled on the pitch for 90 minutes, but fortunately John Sheridan played one of his better games as he often relieved the defence of pressure and played the right ball forward.
Other areas where the Latics struggled were upfront as an unfit Killen played alone, with an industrious John Eyre playing behind him (why fans criticised Eyre's performance, I don't know.) I'm not John Eyre's biggest fan but he looks leaner, meaner and at times more creative in his approach and could possibly have equalised in the 2nd half but for a good block. Please tell me where he went wrong?!?!
At the back, Beherall and Hall gave a very disciplined performance whilst Tony Carss looked superb and confident at left back and linked up well with David Eyres on the left wing. Our best football was often played there. On the right though, our obscured right wing was complemented with an obscure, but admittedly unfit Michael Clegg. His performance left something to be desired, but that was not unexpected as his pre-season was non-existent. Again, Iain Dowie left some puzzled with this inclusion.
As one Sunday paper wrote though, the Latics admittedly missed 9 players through injury and suspension. Had the likes of Clint Hill, Chris Armstrong, Dean Holden, Paul Murray and possibly the substitutes (that gave an excellent and worthy account of themselves) been in our starting team, this would probably have been an entirely different game. But it wasn't to be and it took the inclusion of the ever committed Duxbury (pictured) and debutante Lourenco (looked impressive) to make the Latics look a better side.
To be fair though, even before those two had entered the game the Latics looked much tighter, well oiled and fluent with their passing in the second half. This factor meant Cardiff threatened little (we didn ' t create though) so at least we can say two things - this was no 7-1 defeat and this was a decent showing, which with a decimated side we gave the league's favourites a run for their money. Indeed, the opening ten minutes didn ' t show the problems that the Latics were to incur. Infact, they competed with Cardiff and in the 5th minute, the Latics almost drew first blood of the season as a neat link up between Appleby and Sheridan saw the former Tyke dink an effort from the left. The ball curled inwards but sailed wide of the far post.
After this, Cardiff exerted the most sustained pressure in the whole game. The first effort on target saw Whalley flick in a cross for Leo Fortune-West. His header aimed for the top corner but Pogliacomi palmed the ball away. On the quarter hour mark, Cardiff had appeals for a penalty waved away as a cross flicked up off Hall's boot and slapped against his hand. It was an obvious ball to hand, but from the away end you could understand their fans claims.
Minutes later Cardiff pressure took its toll as Andy Campbell, a target for Latics fans taunts after last seasons hat-trick, scored a superb volley. The former Middlesborough man drifted to the back post for a corner and as the ball flew straight across the 6 yard box, he side-footed a neat volley over everyone and into the back of the net from a tight
angle. Pure class! 0-1.
After the goal, the game began to lull as Cardiff looked happier with themselves and the Latics struggled to play with their formation. Hall became a victim of play-acting on 36 as his side-on tackle took both the ball and Fortune-West. The Cardiff striker did more than enough to convince the referee that the tackle was late and vindictive and earn Hall an unfair booking.
This did little to light the Latics passion though and two minutes later, Pogliacomi looked undecided and weakly punched out a corner ball to the edge of the box. Unmarked and with a great chance, Boland leathered an effort just over. That marked the end of a frustrating start for the home side as the Latics trudged off a deserved goal down at the break.
Dowie had obviously torn into the blues during the changeover as the Latics came out of the second half traps like greyhounds. Immediately, Eyres and Carss linked up on the left and after delaying the pass, the former Preston man
slid in Carss for the cross. At pace and off balance, Carss skilfully chipped a sweet cross into the 6-yard box for John Eyre to charge onto. Beating Boland to it, Eyre connected but the defender just did enough to deflect the ball for a corner. From this Killen sent a tame header from the penalty spot just wide.
As the Latics looked much livelier, Baudet then frustrated in front of the Chaddy End. He met a loose ball when completely free in the box, but his first touch made any real chance difficult. With his 2nd touched the French defender snatched at the effort and hit a tame effort just wide.
The home side had to step up the chase for an equaliser and as the hour mark passed, Dowie took off a tired Killen and changed things. Into defence went Baudet, onto the wings went Clegg and Carss and up front went John Eyre. In essence, this was now the 3-5-2 that I believed we'd begin with. To increase the tempo, Duxbury (pictured) came on and Lourenco received his league debut and impressed with his efforts.The Sporting Lisbon loanee's best contribution was a threatening run at the Cardiff defence which created a gap for a superb through ball. With just a touch too much fizz on the ball, Duxbury's cutting run onto it meant that although he had only the keeper to beat, he just couldn't get enough on and his slight tickle of the ball bounced agonisingly wide.
That miss would be rued as minutes later, Pogliacomi, a keeper that looks very green and unconvincing so far, offered Cardiff the game. Only their second venture at goal in the 2nd half saw the Bluebirds put the game beyond doubt.
Admittedly it took a replay to convince me that Pogi had dropped the ball and not been fouled, but how costly that such a poor blunder had allowed Earnshaw with the easiest of 6-yard tap-ins. 0-2.
After having had the most bizarre of stoppages in the 2nd half (to presumably look over the sprinkles, with groundsman Jack Walker entering the field of play) the referee indicated there would be 7 minutes of injury time to play. However, like during most of the game, the referee did his best to disrupt things and did very well in wasting most of that time. Fortunately though, Duxbury grabbed a consolation which will hopefully go some way to proving Dowie what he is worth. His goal came through a similar type error to that of Pogi's, as Cardiff keeper failed to keep hold of a ball in. A much difficult finish was needed, but the former Bradford midfielder coolly hooked the ball home. 1-2.
And with that, the game ended and the Latics started the season with a disappointing home defeat. Much better is needed. like Dowie says, if we can play the way we did for the opening 15 minutes of the 2nd half, we'll be ok this season. Fingers crossed.
Team Ratings:
GK - 16 Pogliacomi - 5 - Very green. Needs a lot of grooming. At fault for costly goal in important season opener. Not good.
LB - 31 Carss - 8 - Whether he played LB or LWB, Carss was committed at defending or getting forward. Superb show.
CB - 21 Hall - 8 - Coped very well in toughest game of his career. Strong against Fortune West.
CB - 20 Beherall - 7 - Commanded at the back well. Never looked stretched. Fitted in with Hall nicely.
RB - 14 Clegg - 5 - Never looked at his best. Was both unfit and unskilled. To be fair, he was never fit enough to play.
LW - 28 Eyres - 8 - Usual committed self. Linked up well with whoever he had to, be it Carss, Sheridan or Appleby.
CM - 15 Baudet - 6 - Often won ball in unusual midfield berth, but then handed it right back. Obvious lack of midfield skills.
CM - 8 J.Sheridan - 7 - Relieved pressure with well worked, precise balls. Rekindled his art of turning defence into attack.
CM - 11 Appleby - 5 - A misfit. Hope it's a one-off. Played poorly, passed poorly, shot poorly & couldn't take corners properly.
RW/IF - 10 Eyre - 6 - Foraged and tried his best in a strange formation. Was made to work all over front 3rd of pitch.
FW - 24 Killen - 6 - Similar situation to Eyre. Looked isolated on his own, especially when fitness was against him.
MOTM: Many gave Hall the man of the match, but I personally felt that for the defending and attacking which CARSS had to do, he did both jobs very well. Linked up with Eyres well when he could get forward. So he gets my man of the match.
Team Selection (out of 10): 5 - Not impressed with an unfit Clegg starting, Baudet in MD & had doubts about Eyre over Lourenco.
Tactics (out of 10): 4 - Starting tactics were poor and we paid for it. Should have had 3 at back against their 3 hot strikers.
Changing it (out of 10): 7 - Changed it early to the aforementioned 3-5-2. Looked much better for it.
Substitutions (out of 10): 7 - Introductions of Lourenco & Duxbury made a big difference. Looked much more creative and fiery.
Match Comments (out of 10): 7 - Dowie almost admitted afterwards that he had got the system wrong. Agreed the changes made us look a lot brighter and more like scoring.
Dowie's Final Score (out of 50): 30
Needs to improve on his first match. His opening game smacked of not wanting to lose. Not the way football should be played, especially at home and especially against one of the strongest teams in the division. If anytime was best to try and go gung-ho, it was the first day of the season. We didn't but I have faith that Dowie will learn from this one.
Opposition Star Players: Leo Fortune West - 8 - Had a fantastic battle with Hall.
Andy Campbell - 8 - Dangerous every time he was near the ball. Excellent finish.
OTHERS: Boland and Whalley both impressed.
Referee Rating (out of 10): 5
Not impressed. Stop-started the game all the way through. Booked players either needlessly or because he had been conned into it. And wasted most of the injury time.
Entertainment Value (out of 10): 5
Only 2 periods of the game saw any real life and passion. For Cardiff 15-30 minutes was their hot spell, whereas the Latics fired on all cylinders from 45-60 minutes. Other than that, the game drifted from lull to lull.