I played with two completly different line-ups in my first two fixtures so I could get a look at as many different players as possible.
Ashton United 1 - 4 Oldham
This clash against local rivals was a comfortable afair and can be seen as just a fitness and morale builder along with an opportunity for me to see the players, not a competitive fixture however due to the weakness of the opposition. The line-up shown in my example of the tactic is the one that played this match. Lee Hughes scored once, Alessandra scored twice and one goal was an own goal. I was impressed with Alessandra who got MOM and has gone up in my estimations, will need to prove he can score against tougher opposition but this is a good start. In the 58th minute, after our four goals so maybe we were sitting too comfortable, we conceded a long range goal from the edge of the area into the bottom right corner, I was dissapointed that Supple could not keep a clean sheet against Ashton United. Eardley missed a penalty in the 60th minute so I have learnt to let someone else take them! I made no substitutes because everyone was not that tired as its the first game and also they don't need to be fit for the next game anyway. The best performers this game were Hughes, Alessandra and Babayaro (my new signing - on a free). The worst performers were Supple, Eardley and Ferriera.
Stalybridge 0 - 5 Oldham
The next performance was even more emphatic than the last. The entire line-up changed except Hughes and Hazell remained, that is because I have 3 CB's and 3 ST's so I had nobody to rotate in. This time around I was impressed with another young striker, Matty Wolfenden scored twice and got MOM with a rating of 8.7, of course these are weak opposition but their are promising signs that the two youngsters can provide good back-up to my main strikeforce in the league campaign. Alessandra scored again after coming on late sub. Experienced Lee Hughes scored a brace. Lomax got a good rating at right back, showing he is up for staying at the club - we shall see. This game was Fleming's chance to play in goal and he didn't let me down, the clean sheet puts pressure on Supple's place as first choice currently. The wingers impressed me also, experienced Liddell played well as did Fabrice Fernandes who has been brought in to fill the left midfield gap.
Oldham 0 - 0 Barnsley
The next game was against Barnsley, as they are a league above I predicted it to be a difficult fixture. I was not so bothered about the score as I experimented by trying out the diamond formation, this formation would have been more effectively tested against weaker opposition as it is an attacking one, not against a tough team, but it was interesting to see. It resulted in my side having 13 shots in comparison to Barnsley's 10. I know what Hughes can do so I started with Alessandra and Wolfenden, unfortunatly Wolfenden had to leave the field injured and was replaced by Hughes. The strikeforce did not score but I am not that bothered as we were playing a tough defensive unit. I am however really pleased with my defence, and in particular Crossley who's turn it was in goal. The other two keepers played much weaker teams and he played better, good shout for the place. With a weakened side (rookie Black at LB and full-back Jones on the wing) I was pleased with this result. The MOM was their RB (van Homoet) which shows we gave their defence something to do, our best performers were Hazell, Greegan and Crossley.
Oldham 0 - 2 Derby
The unbeaten run was ended, but I feel no shame in losing to a team that played Premier League football just months before this fixture. The main problem was that it was our 4th game in 8 days and therefore the whole team was shattered and had little fitness. They did well to only let in two goals considering, and one was considered late on becuase I sent my team out attacking after the break. We started the game with the original 4-4-2 and at 70 minutes when we were losing 1-0 (Kazmierczak '34) we switched to a 4-3-1-2 and attacking tactics, this could of led to victory has a GK and CB not been in CM positions, we conceded as we were left open at the back when attacking. The defence (Supple-Lomax-Hazell-Stam-Jones) were ok but not that stable and due to fitness the attackers did not perform as they should. I ended up having to make lots of substitutions to be able to finish the game, fitness even led to Crossley playing 20 minutes at LCM. In hindsight maybe it would have made sense to cancel or relocate this fixture as game congestion leading to poor fitness made it pointless. Not a performance against a better side though.
After more than 50% of the pre-season games I am fairly pleased with my side, I have certainly learnt a lot. The next games as Ipswich and Man City I expect to lose as they are big clubs, but opefully we shall learn from the experience. The games just then showed me that there are areas that definatly need bulking up as there is no strength in depth.
I will report back soon.
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