Arsenal 3 v 0 Rovers - Cup Semi Final

[Rovermatt]

We were ultimately outclassed by an Arsenal side operating in third gear. Our stout defending is all very well, but Dickov's paltry attempts and a lack of support from midfield meant we stood little chance.

Terrible result.

Edited April 16, 2005 by Rovermatt

[cole]

we may be out, but it was a great run. further than i think any of us ever expected.

i'm going to look on the bright side of this loss, and remember the great cup run we put together, even if it ended a game or 2 short of where we all dreamed.

i'm proud to be wearing the blue and white halved shirt this morning

[krislu]

Andy Todd losing his head, a bloody disgrace!!

Other than that I think we played fairly well in the first half. We gave a 100% today, but quality showed in the end. Hope this doesn't effect our recent PL form..

Btw, anyone else getting sick and tired of Dickov's constant whineing?!

[krislu]

Andy Todd 1 - Van Persie 0

He really needs to improve upon his celebrations, last time it was some pose beyond goal, this time he runs straight into a shoulder...

Even as a through and through Blackburn Rovers supporter I thought that was bloody nasty by Todd! Woudn't be suprised if he got a 3 match ban for that one....

[DanLad]

Andy Todd losing his head, a bloody disgrace!!

There's no way Todd meant that. Todd's is surprised to have run into him and you can see that in his expression immediately afterwards. Todd was looking at the ball looping into the back of the net and so was van Persie. Accidental collision.

[americanrover]

and thats the last thing we need at the moment

[Pål Pot]

Ban for Todd?

Surely he didn't move away but it was van Persie who ran into him. He didn't raise his elbow - van Persie just happened to hit it. And after that his elbow rose.

[Jim J]

Lucas Neill was very poor again today, thought he could have done more for all 3 goals.

All in all, we were outclassed by a better team. We need new full backs, at least 1 new striker, and a few more.

Disappointed, but we should secure prem football this season, and build on our experiences.

[cole]

that's what van Persie gets for watching his pretty ball into the back of the net. keep your head on a swivle, as they say in american football no need to admire your own shot

[americanrover]

i thought neil had a good game. i was surpirsed by matteo giving a good performance defensively. todd i thought wasnt the sharpest tool in the shed though.

[DanLad]

Andy Todd 1 - Van Persie 0

He really needs to improve upon his celebrations, last time it was some pose beyond goal, this time he runs straight into a shoulder...

Even as a through and through Blackburn Rovers supporter I thought that was bloody nasty by Todd! Woudn't be suprised if he got a 3 match ban for that one....

If Todd gets a ban for that Pires should get a ban for trying to kick Neill in the spuds. With the Pires kick there was intent.

Again, no way did Todd mean that and there's no way it could be proved that he meant it in any event. The Arsenal players didn't have a problem with it and I think that speaks volumes.

[cole]

i thought neil had a good game. i was surpirsed by matteo giving a good performance defensively. todd i thought wasnt the sharpest tool in the shed though.

maybe it's just me, but on the first goal, i still haven't been able to find matteo on the replays... where was he?! i haven't seen it indepth, or many times, or in slowmo or anything... but i've seen it full speed a few times, and never saw matteo on the screen.

other than that, i thought he did make a few solid defensive plays.

[DanLad]

3-0 only came about as we chased the game and committed men forward. You may as well lose 3-0 as lose 1-0 in a cup game.

Well played lads. You're all heroes as far as I'm concerned. A semi final appearance in the FA Cup is more than I dreamed of this season. I thought we gave a good, honest account of ourselves and we can hold our heads high.

[DanLad]

i thought neil had a good game. i was surpirsed by matteo giving a good performance defensively. todd i thought wasnt the sharpest tool in the shed though.

maybe it's just me, but on the first goal, i still haven't been able to find matteo on the replays... where was he?! i haven't seen it indepth, or many times, or in slowmo or anything... but i've seen it full speed a few times, and never saw matteo on the screen.

other than that, i thought he did make a few solid defensive plays.

I think Matteo had tucked inside. It was the midfielders job to be picking up Pires IMO, although I see your point that Matteo might have to shoulder some responsibility if he was caught out of position.

I've mentioned how Tommo and Pedersen didn't look comfortable on the 'wrong' flanks earlier so I won't repeat myself. I've not seen a replay too many times, but if Tommo is picking up Lauren then, yes, Matteo might have been out of position.

I agree Matteo played OK overall.

[DE.]

I'm afraid I wasn't impressed with Matteo. The number of times a swear word came in close proximity with his name was too often. Usually when we were going 'forward'.

[DanLad]

I thought that Pedersen was anonymous after he moved up front. I'd have prefered to have seen Stead up top and Pedersen being the supply line, although I didn't see many crosses from MGP today...

[Shevchenko]

Andy Todd 1 - Van Persie 0

He really needs to improve upon his celebrations, last time it was some pose beyond goal, this time he runs straight into a shoulder...

Even as a through and through Blackburn Rovers supporter I thought that was bloody nasty by Todd! Woudn't be suprised if he got a 3 match ban for that one....

Couldn't see much intent there. Van Persie didn't see where he was going, looked acidental to me, if that warrents a ban then I agree with danlad, Pires should get one for trying to castrate Neill...

[LeChuck]

Btw, anyone else getting sick and tired of Dickov

I've cheekily cut out part of your quote to sum it up better.

We weren't good enough all over the pitch today, Nelsen put in the worst performance of his Rovers career so far and Matteo somehow managed to be worse than usual, I don't think I've ever seen such an incompetent player at left back. Mokoena didn't seem to do much in the holding role other than 5 yard passes, none of his trademark tackles today.

The most baffling thing about today was Hughes' substitutions and tactics. Why on Earth was it left until the 82nd minute to bring on Jon Stead? He looked pretty sharp when he came on too, I'm sure we would have had a far better chance of getting a goal with him up front for more of the game. Pedersen was having a good game on the left but went out of the game when he was pushed up.

It wasn't all negative...Friedel was amazing, Reid and Pedersen had good games and for periods of the game we matched them possesion wise. 3-0 was maybe slightly harsh, 2-0 would have been a fairer reflection, but without Friedel it could have been a lot worse.

[Zak]

[vyeo]

i'm surprised i havent seen anyone bash the referee yet... seriously. yes, we weren't the best going forward, and in any case, arsenal probably did deserve to go through, but i thought the referee was incredibly abysmal. terrible, to say the least. he was determined to hand the game to arsenal, and for every yellow card that we received, i can name an arsenal player who committed the same offence.

plus, if neill had taken a leave out of pires' book and went down holding his crotch, he might have been off. instead, he chose to stand up like a real man, totally unlike the arsenal players. vieira for instance, we all know how strong he is, yet he fell over every single time someone challenged him.

gutted by the scoreline, but the final 2 goals only came about cos we threw almost everyone forward, and they were 2 great finishes.

as for todd, no way was that intentional. both of them were not even looking at each other when the collision occured, and they literally just ran into each other.

if anything, today again showed that if we're to make the step up, at least two steps must be taken. first, we need a new strike pairing; dickov is simply not good enough. second, thommo should just be left on the bench or stuck in the reserves till he regains his form. he's clearly out of sorts, and in all reality deserved a sending off of his own.

[Bobby G]

The lack of cutting edge showed for us.

We just dont have the quality to open up teams and score, especially against the better sides. As soon as we concede the first goal, its almost sunk in that we wont score.

But, I cant fault anyone for work-rate, brilliant from all of them.

We need a couple of strikers and a quality midfielder.

[Billy Castell]

And how biased were the Sky commentators ?. I had to turn off after they said Blackburn were dirty and boring for the 56th time. Yes, we are not too exciting, and we are quite dirty, but we can play as well. Martin Tyler and Andy Gray are probably still in the Arsenal dressing room, deliberately dropping the soap.

[RoyRover]

A very disapointing result, considering the bright start that we made. In the end we were out classed by Arsenal. Again we didn't have much going forward and even though you look to keep it tight when you play against the top sides, we barely troubled Lehmann. Over the last couple of weeks we have been physical and I haven't minded because it was fair, but today we just look like a dirty side. Friedel was outstanding and I thought that Neill had a decent game. I still hate Dominic Matteo and I don't know what he has done to merit his inclusion in the team. Paul Dickov is terrible in general. He did nothing today apart from foul, bitch and complain. It is so obvious why we need new strikers at the club. As for Todd's collision with Van Persie, I thought that it was an accident. The jump at the end makes it look like he jumped into him, but I don't think that he did. We have done very well to get this far and has been our best cup run for years. Hopefully now Hughes will bring in some quality players which will improve our play and help us get this far again next year.

Edited April 16, 2005 by RoyRover

[cole]

we do have hope for the future, and getting this far again (or farther) next year... especially now that we have a manager who respects the competition and sees the merit in a long cup run.

i still say there's a big bright-side to look at... now's the time to sit back and reflect on how far we've come under hughes, and set our sights on next season, with some proven strikers.

[rover6]

Ultimately we lost to a superior team with much more attacking flair.

Only MGP and Tugay, from our squad, are capable of a moment of magic to open up the opposition.

Tugay was consigned to the bench and should surely have come on instead of Mr 'I can kick people but not much else' Robbie Savage.

MGP isn't up to playing as a striker, apart from a few flick ons he contributed very little. Hughes should have left him on the left wing or subbed him for Stead. However, regardless of all that, Arsenal were much the classier team and thoroughly deserved to win. Well done to them.

(And Andy Todd should get a fine for losing his rag. He's the captain and should be setting an example).

Edited April 16, 2005 by rover6