FA Cup Round 4:
Oldham Athletic 3-2 Liverpool
Leeds United 2-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Brentford 2-2 Chelsea
Coaches react:
Liverpool coach Rodgers:
“The result is very disappointing. We picked a team to come here and win the game – we know we’ve got a big week of games – but our mentality in that opening period was poor and ended up costing us.
“I was disappointed with the young players today. We’re trying to give them experience and let them see what it’s like to play for Liverpool. It’s not just about playing for Liverpool, you’ve got to be able to be competitive and be a part of a group that is going to challenge for trophies.
“I thought how we reacted to that and how they performed, knowing that that’s what we’re looking for, was disappointing.
“It’s not enough to play for Liverpool and get up for the Arsenal and Manchester City games. If you’re going to win trophies and go far in competitions, you need to be able to come to places like this and win. We weren’t good enough for that.
“Steven Gerrard came on with Stewart Downing and it [became] a different game. For 35 minutes we were terrific, but it was too late then as we were 3-1 down.
“At 3-2 we had some chances, but it wasn’t good enough.”
Tottenham’s coach Villas Boas:
“It was difficult always trying to chase the game,” said Andre. “We had a good 15 minutes at the beginning when we could have perhaps done a little better with our opportunities.
“We always had to chase the game at 1-0 and then 2-0 made it even more difficult.
“The players did extremely well to come back into the game at 2-1, but we couldn’t create as many opportunities as we normally do.
“That was down to Leeds and how they set up, they got into our faces and made it difficult for us, so credit for them for being so competitive.
“We didn’t have a lot of space, maybe more in the first half and less in the second because they gained inspiration from going 2-0 up.
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Chelsea’s coach Benitez:
On the performance
‘In the first half we didn’t do what we had to do,’ said the Spaniard. ‘We knew it would be difficult but we made too many mistakes in our approach and the way we wanted to play.
‘I was very pleased with the reaction of the players in the second half, we showed quality, character and it was much better.
‘I changed [Juan] Mata at half-time and he made a big difference. We were controlling the game and I thought I would bring Demba on for the last 10-15 minutes to try to do something. We were on top of them, but sometimes it’s good if you change things, and Demba did a great job on the left.
‘They were pushing and we knew it could be difficult, but we kept giving the ball away in simple situations which we could have managed better. You have to perform, we didn’t start well and they grew into the game.
‘In the second half we showed our real level, like we did last week against Arsenal. We have no excuses as to why we didn’t play well in the first half, we just didn’t do the right things.
‘Oscar and Fernando scored great goals, and it was because the team were doing well and we were creating things. If we do that, Fernando, Demba, Oscar and Mata will all score goals.’
