...he is – as the chant went – England’s worst ever player.
The bean pole striker had the cheek to try and claim his first goal. If you haven’t seen it yet, I advise you don’t go looking to see it.
Poor defending from the Latics as they backed off the striker, his shot deflected off Arjan de Zeeuw and looped up into the air. It should have been a bread-and-butter catch for Mike Pollitt who only managed to palm the ball into his own net.
The occasion seemingly getting the better of the Latics goalkeeper, something that a number of his team-mates would also suffer from as the game wore on.
Neither Damien Francis, nor Graham Kavanagh got to grips with Steven Gerrard who was allowed to run all over the pitch un-marked, making a number of surging runs from midfield. Both players feared facing the England midfielder.
Surely it would have been wise to have him man-marked?
The Latics had no width and couldn’t keep the ball. McCulloch and Bullard offered little on the flanks while Kavanagh and Francis were even worse in the middle of the field.
The zonal marking system in midfield wasn’t working and the lads were being over-run in the middle, a switch the man-to-man marking was needed.
Service up to the front two was very poor with numerous long, high balls pumped forward to Camara and Roberts. Camara is not going to beat Hyypia in the air.
Hyypia and Carragher defended deep to help eliminate the fear of being beaten for pace, safe in the knowledge that Gerrard and co. would have the beating of Wigan in the midfield department.
Full backs Baines and Chimbonda had good games for the Latics and did well to keep both Kewell and Garcia quiet. Garcia’s goal came from a corner.
Aside from the opening Liverpool goal, Mike Pollitt did well. He made some very impressive saves. The only problem was the 18 minutes and 42 seconds that it took him to acclimatise to playing at Anfield.
De Zeeuw was substituted before half time with a knee injury and is a doubt for the Latics’ trip to Stamford Bridge next weekend. Matt Jackson came on the replace him and put in a good solid performance to compliment his good display in midweek against the Toon.
Alongside Jacko at centre back, Henchoz will have been unhappy with his return to Anfield. He was beaten by Crouch who was less than impressive. Instead of battling with the big man for the header, why not just go for the second ball? Instead the Swiss defender gave away countless free-kicks.
What disappointed me was Paul Jewell's decision - or lack of - to change anything. He kept the essentially the same team throughout the game. Connolly came on mid-way through the second half for Francis.
The decision to remove Francis was a good one, but surely replace him with Skoko who would have the ability to get Camara or Roberts through on goal.
Instead Connolly came on and the midfield battle was truely lost with the club fielding three strikers, and no way to get the ball upto them.
Skoko did take to the field with 12 minutes to go but it was too late for him to have an impact.
Despite being beaten in midfield and poor upfront, the Latics players didn’t give up and showed good teamwork. So much so that the game could have been turned on its head should Henri Camara have been awarded what looked like a certain penalty with the scores at 2-0.
I was warned about the big teams getting all the decisions at home before the season. I didn’t actually think it would be the case but all became clear yesterday.
Next up is a difficult trip to Chelsea who will want revenge for being pushed all the way back in August at the JJB.
If the Latics can maintain the team-spirit then the lads have every hope.
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