LIVERPOOL BOSS BRENDAN Rodgers acknowledged his side were nowhere near their best in their 2-0 FA Cup win over Oldham Athletic.
Liverpool booked their spot in the fourth round – where they will play either Burton Albion or AFC Bournemouth.
They were far from convincing though, and barely registered a shot on target in a below-par first half against the League One strugglers.
Rodgers chose to rest Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho from the start and said Oldham played well, but added that he was also pleased with his side’s response after the break.
“I thought it would be a difficult game and I think you’ve got to give Oldham a lot of credit,” Rodgers said.
“They came here and made it very difficult. For us we were nowhere near the speed of our game in the first half. The tempo was too slow and we didn’t create enough.
“In the second half we were a little bit better but it was always in the balance.”
Rodgers was forced to bring both Suarez and Coutinho off the bench in the second half as Liverpool went in search of victory.
And although the Northern Irishman had hoped to avoid using the attacking pair, he said it was necessary to avoid a replay.
Hard games
“We hoped in a game like this we hoped to rest a number of players and give them that recovery period,” he said.
“A few of the guys have played hard games over the Christmas period, so the idea was for them to recover.
“But we also wanted to win the game. We didn’t want a replay, so the second half was better. We were livelier and ended up with a good victory.”
Liverpool have won the FA Cup seven times in their history, most recently in 2006.
would love to see Pocock win it. all hinges on Saturday’s game
He’s definitely been the player of the RWC. Obviously Cheika deserves a lot of credit for turning the Wallabies around, but it’s no coincidence that turnaround has also coincided with Pocock’s recovery and return to form.
He’s definitely the best player in the world right now, nobody can effect a game the way he does
I was in New Zealand last year when the announced Jonny sexton as one of the nominees. The announcers on the radio started laughing and ridiculing him being nominated! They thought it was a total joke!
It’s why I can’t really be arse watching the final today!
The Aussies are terrible losers and the kiwis even worse winners.
This is more “player of the last 6 weeks” than player of the year. Laidlaw has two good games all year and gets nominated?
Laidlaw? ?
Comical. It’s been hard to take this award seriously in fairness though over the years – some very strange calls.
Yep apparently they heavily favour motms from the RWC final down to quarters. But if that’s the case don’t call it player of the year!
Eh, Paul o Connell? Wyn Jones played 1 more match at the World Cup than POC. Is this award solely based on the WC? POC was sensational during the 6N
A pure popularity contest, the year they gave it to McCaw ahead of O’Driscoll was when it lost all respectability…
Gorgodze or Leitch deserve to be there ahead of Laidlaw for sure
U gotta love Pocock for all his breakdown work with those shovels of hands of his
I’d have Aaron Smith / Bernard Foley / Dan Biggar over Laidlaw & Vermeulen / Warburton/ Burger or SOB over Alan Wyn Jones.
Foleys kicking could cost them the final methinks
They’ll probably mess it up like last year & give it to DC who’s kicking isn’t top notch anymore , opposed to Pocock who rightly deserves it. Either Vermeulen or Sexton should have won it last year as both were the reason & the heart of their teams success ( Sextons kicking & ability to attack the gain line & Vermeulens ball carrying , work rate in defence & huge amount of turnovers & Clearouts at the breakdown) it’ll be given to an All Black though due to their constant success. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong but The Wallabies will need to win the World Cup to get Pocock winning it
Laidlaw what the @#$%
Much like the nomination of Japan as team of the year, the nomination of Laidlaw as World player of the year smacks of a patronising pat on the head for a team whose World Cup exit was patently unfair- In Scotland’s case a referee error and not the scheduling apartheid that the tier 2 nations suffer under. It reminds me of the €5m “loan” that the FAI got after the Thierry Henry handballgate.
Pocock if Australia win and savea if New Zealand win
Greg Laidlaw still hasnt been fit to lace even Conor Murrays boots for the last year so thats nonsense
It’ll have to be DC if they win on Saturday regardless if he deserves it or not. Fairytale end for the best 10 of all time.
No trimble?
Pocock is the best player in the world at present, should surely win it regardless of the result tomorrow.
What about Hernandez ???