[Archived] Rovers 0 - 1 Arsenal

[Biddy]

OK, we lost today, however, I don't know about anyone else but I now feel a lot more confidant and up for the semi final.

We were never out of that game and created a couple of good chances ourselves. Shame Reidy could shoot straight at the end.

Of course my feelings might change close to the semi's when Arsenal start getting their first team back.

[James No. 7]

Neill is @#/?

Thought lucas had a very good game today.

I thought so too, and I thought Mokoena played a good game as well, although Todd should get the nod at centre back ahead of him anyday.

Johansson was terrible, while Matteo's performance was refreshing.

Emerton played well, and Thompson's passing and shooting should have had him dragged off.

Graham Poll had a terrible game, with his general decision-making.

He let Arsenal get away with a lot of cheating and time-wasting, too.

I thought that we were clearly on top in the first half, although things fell apart a bit in the second.

Arsenal certainly did not deserve the win, even if we didn't create too many chances -- a draw would have been a fair result.

One moment of lapsed concentration cost us.

Start Jon Stead next game, please, since Dickov just doesn't play as a lone striker should.

[tchocky]

or right back for that matter, Neill is @#/?

Oi watch it you'll get SAR on your back.

This game just showed everything that is lacking upfront for us. We just dont know when we get near their box.

[RoyRover]

Quite a disappointing result for Rovers against a hugely under strength Arsenal side. We had a very good first half, apart from the goal, but we failed to create very much going forward. But in the second half Arsenal were the better side, but we has some good chances, with Emerton going close and Reid really should have scored at the end. A win would have put us 11 points clear of the relegation zone and it would have set the semi final up nicely.

[Oklahoma]

Saw the game and we didn't deserve any point

Our attack was awful. Dickov spends too much time arguing with the referee.

I was hoping for Stead to start.

The injury of Matteo, even though i didn't care much of it, ruined our substitution plans.

Instead of Emerton, it should have been Stead to come on.

[neophox]

After watching todays game.

First of all, Arsenal were missing Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, Silva, Ljungberg and Campbell and win 1-0 anyway...thats poor....poor performerance today Im totally gutted.

Points 1-10 ----10 best

Friedel....Did his job - 6

Neill....Played really well - 7

Nelsen...ok today, he and Todd forgot Persie in the goal - 6

Todd...ok..as Nelsen -6

Matteo....defended today but looked nervous and got forward one time -5

Thompson...is too short and just looses balls...anoying, just clapping his hands everytime he dont get the balls...-5

Flitcroft...think he did okay today, work hard..-6

Reid......He and Morten was the best players today and worked hard -7

Mokoena....Played well and worked hard..he likes the big games -6

Pedersen....Man of the match...tried and tried...almost scored from a corner...-7

Dickov.....poor today....just talking too much, got yellow card for that could have been sent off...out of sorts at the moment. -4

Johansson....went wrong from the start then tried -5

Tugay.....did well when came on...but to defensive....-6

Emerton...almost scored and looked dangerous upfront...-6

My scapegoats today....Thompson and Dickov.

Thanks//

Daniel

[greggyk]

hold on!?

Fair enough it was not Arsenals first 11, but still i bet that team they put out, cost well more than the rovers team did.

BTW- How on earth did Pedersen get MOM, he was crap. Every move we made broke down when it got to him

Buy yet another good performance from Reid

Edited March 19, 2005 by greggyk

[Blackpool_Rover]

Just got back, still fuming. Ok so it wasnt the best performance but we worked hard. Arsenal were rubbish 1st half and didnt deserve to score before half time.

Im angry because apart from the arsenal players diving and crying and wasting time, we had a referee who spoilt the game by blowing his whistle every 2 seconds then he has to try and grab limelight by stopping play further to have pointless words with players, aka tugay at the end, totallt messes the game up.

And to top it all off, message board safe words cannot describe what i wud like to do the the arsenal fan driving the audi up the m6 (yes up! not towards london, funny that) that decided to hurl abuse at me at 90mph to top my fun day off. Oh my god. Vein out of forehead

[Paul]

Disappointed because we could have won that game, if we hadn't looked so tired and had a cutting edge. I'm afraid that while Dickov tried hard he just isn't good enough, I'm also sick to death of his bitching and complaining.

As for Arsenal? The worst Gunners team I have seen in years. I thought they played very, very badly. The majority of the players cheated their way through the match and brought shame on their club and fans. When he first arrived I thought Wenger had more about him than this. If this is what he finds an acceptable level of play and ability for his team he should be ashamed of himself. I'd be embarrassed to be an Arsenal fan, they were utter crap.

[1864roverite]

a little bit of overreaction to Arsenals team.

Yes they were and are not the first 11 but please that team is worth the best part of £150 million in todays prices.

Viera £35m

Reyes £24m

Cole £20m

Clichy £10m

Toure £14m

V Persie £15m

Flamini £10m

Senderos £13m

Fabregas £12-18m

I thought Rovers were the better passing side in the first half but one thing is clearly obvious, when we are in the ascendancy we need 2 that is 2 players up front.

The goal was pure class, no complaints about that and please dont blame NEJ, he miskicked his first touch, he was NOT to blame for that goal.

In the second half Arsenals young guns could have put us to the sword, they didnt, we had some luck and could have even snatched a point if both Emerton and Reid had a wee bit more accuracy about their shots.

It doesnt bode too well for the semi final in the knoweldge that Bergkamp,Henry,Pires,Campbell,Lyungberg,Cygan have all to return from injury. The surface at the MS is NOT the best although it will have probably recovered some by April 16th.

A few pointers from todays game.

the ref was extremely poor, his linesmen were indecisive and his decisions some of the time were a complete nonsense.

Dickov needs to learn to shut his gob, he needs to learn the offside rule and basically for a professional to keep getting yellows for what he does is nothing short of scandlous.

Thompson's passing was indifferent, his game was off and he should have given way earlier on instead of Flitty, who I thought was Rovers best player in the first half.

MGP needs to support the middle man more often simply as he is so good in the air.

Mokoena is NOT a defensive partner for Nelsen, he gives too much away. Great in midfield and leave him there.

For me the midfield should be this

(from the left)

MGP TUGAY SAVAGE EMERTON

=====MOKOENA/FLITCROFT=====

It provides defensive cover, it allows a central or wide player time to break forward and it provides a second wall for the back 4.

Something needs to be done to counter the next threat on the horizon that is manure. They play high tempo stuff from the flanks and the middle.

The game is simply a 90 minute exercise in keeping the goals against column intact.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We huffed and puffed but at the end of the day we simply have NOTHING upfront to hurt top sides like Arsenal ..simple as.

Only 19,000 home supporters?

[AxesFirstTouch]

Saw the game and we didn't deserve any point

Our attack was awful. Dickov spends too much time arguing with the referee.

I was hoping for Stead to start.

The injury of Matteo, even though i didn't care much of it, ruined our substitution plans.

Instead of Emerton, it should have been Stead to come on.

Dickov was useless, every good move was ended but dickov was offside all the time, hes a crap player and should be replaced next season if the club want to move forward. Having a player of dickovs class as our first choice striker says it all.

[krislu]

Yes they were and are not the first 11 but please that team is worth the best part of £150 million in todays prices.

Clichy £10m

Toure £14m

Flamini £10m

Senderos £13m

! How much is Johansson worth then, £3m?!

[DanLad]

Im angry because apart from the arsenal players diving and crying and wasting time, we had a referee who spoilt the game by blowing his whistle every 2 seconds then he has to try and grab limelight by stopping play further to have pointless words with players, aka tugay at the end, totallt messes the game up.

What the hell was the ref doing there? We all know that the team that is defending a free kick stands over it so that it can't be taken. In this instance we had THE REF standing over the ball so the free kick can't be taken and then complaining whe Tugay wanted to take a quickly! What did he want us to do? Time waste of behalf of Arsenal? He was already doing enough of that wasn't he!

How long was added on at the end, I didn't hear. Should have been about ten minutes IMO. We had loads of the Arsenal players going down and staying down for minutes at a time. Obviously seriously injured...wait a sec he's up on his feet now that plays restarted...wait he's back on the field running at full tilt..wow, the Arsenal physio must be a genius!

Another problem is that we hadn't been informed that we weren't allowed to challenge for the ball. Reid wins the ball in the air against Viera. Viera slumps to the floor (of course) and they get a free kick! Why?

Reyes tries to turn Neill, but Neill reads it and wins the ball. Reyes starts holding his face, even though Neill was nowhere near his face, and they get a free kick. Why?

Reid challenges for the ball when we've just lost possession and the ball is loose. Free kick Arsenal. Why?

Dickov challenges for a header, but doesn't get anywhere near player or ball. Free kick Arsenal. Why?

There were numerous occasions where I saw Arsenal players have there arms across Rovers players shoulders to 'maneuvre' them wawy from a ball int eh air, but nothing was given. Why?

Rant over!

What was wrong with Toddy? Did he pick up a knock?

Dan Lad

[duff]

I'm very disappointed. In the first half we played some decent moves and Arsenal couldn't put a string of passes together. I thought If we are to win this one, we should score now. But we didn't. How should we? With Dickov upfront and mostly just little support there's no chance to score against Arsenal - and even their "reserve team". With Dickov it won't come good in the long run. Actually, I don't really look forward to seeing him on the pitch again. (Bellamy got his first hat-trick at Celtic).

Pedersen did some nice moves and passes, but in the end I thought, Rovers never really believed that they could get something out of it.

[seahawkdad]

Well, I missed the first half (my body seemed to think sleep was more important than waking for a 7:30 start here on the East coast of the US), but a couple of observations from the second.

We shouldn't play with one up top. Dickov can't do it by himself and doesn't have the numbers coming up fast enough in support when he gets the ball. Further, there were a few times where we have a frontrunner with the ball on the flank and no one coming up fast enough to cross to. No one making a timely center and far post run.

Very frustrating.

[Exiled_Rover]

Yes they were and are not the first 11 but please that team is worth the best part of £150 million in todays prices.

Clichy £10m

Toure £14m

Flamini £10m

Senderos £13m

! How much is Johansson worth then, £3m?!

Well going by those inflated prices you'd get £8m for Johansson

As for the game, well Arsenal were just pathetic, a very difficult team to enjoy watching (and we'll leave it at that)

[philipl]

Back to Earth time! That semi final doesn't look such a great adventure any more, does it?

Random thoughts:

4 points against the 4th and 5th placed teams obscured the fact that 3rd place is different class.

Van Persie was brilliant but Todd's illness allowed the space for him to excel in- there was an extremely cute turn in the build up to the goal as well.

Has anyone seen MGP go past a defender?

Only one attempt on target- MGP's spring and header in the first half. 10 off target. Bad day at the office from everybody up front then

Emerton was in perfect body position to hit across as well as through the ball- the slightest fade would have taken it in.

Why oh why did Reid miss at the end when he had a yard of empty net to hit?

Matteo looked brilliant before he was injured (now there's a first)

Our crossing and final third passing was bad (now I'm repeating myself)

Flitcroft's pass success rate couldn't have been above 50%. Savage's return is as important to us as Henry's return will be for them (he said hopefully)

First half fouls- Rovers 10, Arsenal 1. A problem with the refereeing methinks. Brad and Lucas kept the ball in play but it was a corner to the Arse- linesman crap at the Darwen End. At least two offsides called which weren't in H2- linesman crap at the Blackburn End.

[DanLad]

Well, I missed the first half (my body seemed to think sleep was more important than waking for a 7:30 start here on the East coast of the US), but a couple of observations from the second.

We shouldn't play with one up top. Dickov can't do it by himself and doesn't have the numbers coming up fast enough in support when he gets the ball. Further, there were a few times where we have a frontrunner with the ball on the flank and no one coming up fast enough to cross to. No one making a timely center and far post run.

Very frustrating.

It's the price we are playing for keeping solid at the back. There was very little support for the front man. What I could see was Reid being asked to make runs to support Dickov initially down the middle with Pedersen joining from out wide when possible. In the second half Emerton was being asked to play behind Dickov and provide the support. The trouble is that the pace that Arsenal have got means there is literally no margin for error when supporting the front man and going forward. Any small mistake and we surrender possession again. I was surprised that we didn't switch to two up front at some stage today. I'd have prefered to see Stead given a run alongside Dickov than Emerton being cobbled into an unfamiliar role.

[RoyRover]

I just have to say how bad Dickov was today. He can work as hard as he likes, but when you are a poor footballer and you are up against a class side then you will get found out. I think that he should be kept, because he would make a good squad player. But in the summer Hughes needs to buy a striker, to possibly pair with Stead, or two new strikers, to form a new partnership.

[RevidgeBlue]

I would have to take issue with the management for the second home game running as I thought we were excellent in the first half today, dominating possession and only undone by a momentary lapse in concentration for the goal.

There was really no need to make wholesale changes to the formation and I thought we were accordingly much less effective in the second period.

I have to comment on Dickov though, yet again he offered absolutely nothing and is incapable of playing the lone striker role. Stead held the ball up and linked play far better at Anfield and can consider himself very unlucky to be dropped. I really can't understand why we insist on wheeling Dickov out half fit week after week, he has nuisance value but is not really good enough at this level when fully fit anyway. It's not like we're missing out on Shearer or something if the former Leicester man fails to make it onto the pitch.

[roversWASmylife]

Wasn't really a good game.

We looked tired and ran out of ideas really.

Started the game of really well, had a few decent chance in Thompson and Pedersen.

Their goal was what Arsenal are about, they play in three/four passes threaded through and eventually they break through, defensively we were ball watching.

Second half was a bit dissapointing and we never really got at them until late on. Emerton and Reid with both chances, should have done better.

Dickov looked tired and can't do the job up front on his own, but works his socks off all the time.

Reid I thought was the man of the match, never stopped working, getting tackles in and trying to create something.

Arsenal did go over too easily but what did you expect? It's not like they haven't done it before and Poll should know better.

No wonder they've been knocked out of the Champions League.

Blackburn 0 - 1 Arsenal

[grizfoot]

My Match Ratings

Friedel, 6, Didn't really have to much to do

Neill, 7, One of his better games

Todd, 6, Had to go off at half time and the team looked more vunerable to conceding

Nelsen, 7, Had another solid game

Matteo, 6, Was doing okay until he got injured

Thompson, 4, I thought he was absoultely terrible he lost the ball on numerous ocassions. Surprised he wasn't subbed.

Mokoena, 6, Had a decent game he certianly looks better at DMC than at centreback

Flitcroft, 6, Had a good solid game put in some good challenges

Reid, 7, Probably the man of the match ran all game made runs foward also getting back and defending.

Pedersen, 7, He must of been practising set pieces in training becuase they where much better than they where against Liverpool.

Dickov, 5, Had no really service.

--------------------------------

Tugay, 6, Nothin special, did okay

Nissa, 6, Gave away the throw in that lead to the goal.

Emerton, 7, Should of started IMO. Looked dangerous when he came on

Overall it was a quite even game but i'm afraid we just don't create enough going foward. Dickov had no service all game whatsoever. Saying that we could have easily took a point with Reid and Emerton both having chances near the end.

Edited March 19, 2005 by grizfoot

[key76]

Viera £35m - who the hell is going to pay that??? Real who are in debt? Man Utd? I don't think so!!!!

Reyes £24m - I think Real Madrid will pay little more than £10m seeing as Arsenal have only paid £12m so far for him

Cole £20m - Chelsea might stretch to that in today's deflated market

Clichy £10m - hasn't played 20 Premiership games not a chance £10m

Toure £14m - not in a million years, would anyone pay that?

V Persie £15m - someone who was valued at £2.5m 8 months ago!!!

Flamini £10m - are you having a laugh he's only a kid

Senderos £13m - had what 10 first team games???

Fabregas £12-18m - I think £3-4m at the moment he's not completed a full season yet

Have you watched the value of players plummet in the last few years????

Edited March 19, 2005 by key76

[DE.]

I don't think Dickov deserves this much critisism. I saw the game today from start to finish and whilst I agree he definately lacks the quality that a lone striker needs, he wasn't that bad today. He whines and moans a lot, yes, but today was probably justified, the referee was a disgrace. Dickov did do some things right though, his holding up play(when he received the ball at his feet) was superb, as was his closing down, at one point in the game it was his closing down that directly led to a Rovers chance from nowhere. Like it or not he is our top scorer and works damn hard for this club. I do however think Stead should begin starting, whether in a 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1 formation. We already know Dickov's (by his own admission) playing at 70%, and that's just not good enough. He needs to rest and get at least to 80/85% before he is starting for us again.