Friendly
August 6th. 2000
True, some my see this as a wise idea by Ritchie, in order to protect the more vital members of the team from any serious injuries, however like myself, some may feel aggrieved that this wasn't done on Sunday vs a reserves Leeds United side. That was now irrelevant however.
The game opened quite lively. However it wasn't too long before the first City goal came. Sheridan, who is prone to the misplaced pass, this time presented the ball to Bob Taylor. With Weah running diagonally, Taylor released the ball into his path. Holt attempted to tackle but Weah had already pulled the trigger and placed it past Kelly into the far left corner. The Rochdale Road End and a third of the Chaddy End celebrated this outstanding goalscorer as he did the business for City.
The Latics do tend to leave themselves bare at the start of the game and it was hoped that better was to come. As night follows day it did for a time. Nine minutes in Dudley somehow beat two City defenders and managed to turn 180 degrees from the dead ball line, to put over an outswinging ball. Jobson's defensive header fell to straight to the on-running Innis who struck a first time effort fizzing wide of the far post. City replied. Weah put an effort just over the bar from outside of the area and then 2 minutes later the Latics returned the effort as Boshell's left wing ball fell to Corazzin in the area and the striker with his back to goal turned and fired over. His control was sweet and it was nice to see his hunger for goal.
Then Man City started to get the better of the game. On 18 minutes Adams failed to get close enough to Kennedy to stop his dangerous in-swinger. Weah jutted inside his marker and found himself free at the far post but headed the ball wide. Minutes later the now rampant side again fed Kennedy and his ball was well headed for a corner by Garnett. From the corner, City patiently passed the ball around before Wright-Phillips put in Taylor. From just inside the area and central to the goal, Taylor placed the ball low and hard towards the bottom right corner, but Kelly tipped it around the post for another corner. This time the Latics cleared it.
For 10 minutes City kept possession. The Latics struggled to get a hold on the ball and when they did it was quickly given away. Then around the half hour mark, City struck again. Weah managed to get in front of the defence and then embarked into the edge of the area. Garnett attempted to tackle Weah but as it looked like the City hitman was about to shoot, he cleverly back-heeled the ball into the path of unmarked Bob Taylor who rammed it past a despairing Kelly. 2-0.
The Latics continued to struggle. Eventually, they should have mustered a goal on 39, when a Sheridan free-kick was cleverly ground-passed behind the defensive wall and from it sprung Corazzin who met the ball, unmarked, 6 yards out. The angle proved too much as his attempt was rammed against the bar and away.
On 40 City, who now found the counter attack their best weapon, had another effort tipped over by Kelly, as Kennedy tried his luck from 25 yards out, from the left. Weah complemented a minute later with a similar attempt from the right, which Kelly again got a finger to. Then another goal came. On 42 City broke yet again from a Latics forward move. A long ball by Wiekens found Taylor who ran into the area on the right hand side. His ball evaded Weah, but as Kelly, Jones and Garnett all scrambled to clear, the ball came out on the left of them all, leaving Kennedy to steam on in and tap home the easiest of goals. A rout was now looking on.
This was fast turning into a nightmare for Latics fans and more was to come in the 2nd half. Within 6 minutes of the restart, Man of the Match, Shaun Wright-Phillips played a dangerous ball into the area, however Holt managed to scoop that away from a corner. Then minutes later a 4th blow came. As the Latics line attempted to step up and catch Dickov offside, Garnett failed to comply and Weah neatly put the City number 9 through and one on one with Kelly. As Kelly tried desperately to stay big, Dickov took the ball around him and calmly slotted home. 4-0.
As the game became a battle for possession, Kennedy still managed to enjoy supremacy on his wing. On 54 he played a quick ball straight through the 6 yard box. Nobody picked that up. On the hour mark Ritchie swapped Sheridan, Jones and Corazzin for Rickers, Futcher and Tipton. This made a significant change. Oldham gained more possession and began to press more. Tipton had a scissor kick effort from 6 yards out saved by the knees of Wright and also had another effort cleared from under the bar. That consolation just wouldn't come.
To finish a dying game Pollock sent an effort high and wide on 74 and Whitehall had a free-kick deflected off of the wall. Wright again managed to retrieve the ball. A small amount of luck, a disjointed team and an excellent job by Man City culminated in a pretty hard-to-swallow 4-0 defeat. Having Holt in the 3 man defence was in hindsight a mistake as even he was skinned time and time again by the astonishing Weah. He may be 33, but you try and tell his legs that!
Latics Ratings
1 Gary Kelly - 8 - Kelly had no chance with any of the goals. Also, he made
some excellent to keep the tally down.
3 Andrew Holt - 6 - Not much you can say when you face a world best.
Especially as Centre Half is not his area.
4 Shaun Garnett - 5 - Not much of a rock at the back. With the 3 man defence
gaps appeared everywhere.
29 Paul Jones - 6 - Struggled with the pace of Kennedy. Sometimes managed to
suss him, but still this was a losing battle.
24 Neil Adams - 6 - Going forward, he was fine, though every early ball
struggled to find a Latics player in the area. Tracking back, Adams either
lacked pace or if close to the opposing player, he often stood too far off.
11 Mark Innis - 6 - Was influential when on the ball, but he didn't see
enough of it to turn the game.
8 John Sheridan MD - 6 - The pass master again seemed to find the
opposition more often than a Latics player. Struggled.
18 Danny Boshell - 5 - Too young and inadequate. Wants way too long in
possession. Chose the wrong ball too often and gave it away too much.
17 Craig Dudley - 7 - Came out of a difficult game with some credit.
Especially as he played for the first time ever on the left, in Holt's usual
left wing berth.
10 Steve Whitehall - 5 - Rocking horse shit. You couldn't find him anywhere.
Too slow and lacking ingenuity, Whitehall must go. Allott, Corrizan and
Dudley should be the first 3 strikers now.
19 Carlo Corazzin - 7 - Decent performance for someone who often ran back
and forth over the halfway line. When he got the ball he held it up and
attempted to take players on. Likes to turn those defenders and also doesn't
mind having his back to goal. Shows good ball skills - This lad is looking
all right.
Subs Used
7 Paul Rickers - 6 - Not really noticed in the time he had on.
9 Matthew Tipton - 7 - Fine 30 minute display. Battled hard, had a chance or
two and looked a decent player. Shame he isn't though.
12 Mark Allott - Only had a few minutes when Dudley went off injured. Not a
lot to say.
29 Ben Futcher - 5 - Made a bit of a fool of himself. Played the ball to
the opposition. Futcher is starting to take steps backwards, not forwards.
Ritchie must be mad for letting Thom out on loan to Scunthorpe. If we need
back up, I wouldn't relish the idea of Futcher being the one to cover.
Overall
We had a poor squad out, with 3 ball-passers in midfield and no bruisers. With Rickers and Duxbury out, we looked weak in that part of the pitch and it is fair to say, that was where we often lost the ball. When we did get forward, we lost it to easily and were often punished on the counter by a very strong adequate City side.
City did the job properly and after the defeats by Burnley and Stockport, somebody was in line for an arse-kicking. Make what you will of the team (my opinion says that a) it was a cause of the defeat and b) with Horton the Vale manager there, ulterior motives may have fuelled the team selection) City did a job which should have been expected. Defensively though, if I was a City fan, I would throw caution to the wind. If things had gone our way a little, we could have scored a couple.
This game will now be forgotten. Saturday will herald both a fresh start and a team that can perform as it did against Leeds last Sunday. We will be all right - a defeat like this will free us from over-optimism and we can use that to our advantage. Last season's start should be a thing of the past. We need not worry!