[Archived] Blackburn Rovers 1 Arsenal 0

[tcj_jones]

Bellamy single handedly set up our goal yesterday by drifting out on to the wing and beating Senderos all ends up with pace and skill. I have no probelsm with the style in which he plays.

[thenodrog]

if there was a slight criticism today we sat back far too deep for the final 20 minutes and stopped doing the things that had got us in a winning position in the first place. But that's perhaps being churlish and we held out without too many problems.

386559[/snapback]

Best thing to do Simon. Henry is like Dracula he is scared of crosses! We all know that he cant head crosses from deep but rather thrives on defences pushing too far forward by expoliting the space behind em, so at 1-0 up Hughes tactic to deny him that space was spot on. Henry had the quietest game that I can ever recall.

Also Reid went off his game when he was pulled inside to replace Toogs so bringing the Axe on and reverting to that deep destroying 4-5-1 that served us so well last season was excellent tactical management too.

Edited February 26, 2006 by thenodrog

[Kennys Magic Hat]

Just want to say a massive thankyou to Mark Hughes and his boys for making football at Ewood Park awesome to watch once again! You know that the players are going to put everything into winning games unlike under that whinging ego-driven Scotsman. The energy levels and commitment shown by the players right now is superb!

I thought Peter did OK yesterday, its difficult to come on that early into a game against a team with Arsenal's pedigree and the only mistakes he made were due to inexperience, such as dwelling on the ball too long at times. Apart from that he's a player with massive potential, a classy winger who loves to get crosses into the danger area and we haven't had that kind of a player since the Chelsea rent boy.

One thing that's puzzling me though is why Pongolle is being preferred to David Bentley. He signs a permanent deal then scores a hat-trick against United and then he's forced out of the team for a loan signing.

I think SFP would be a good replacement for Bellamy if he's not fit but we need something different if he is. From what i've seen against Sunderland and Arsenal, Bentley has a better first touch and more desire to score goals than SFP. Often Bellamy had the ball out wide yesterday in good positions to cross but SFP would be jogging casually into the box. We need players who want to play for this club with more desire, beating defenders to the ball to score goals which Bentley did for his first two against United.

Apart from that all is well and if we can avoid defeat against Spurs next week, we can make a real push for 4th place considering the games we have coming up after that. Wigan scored two there t'other week so I don't see why we can't do the same with Bellamy in the form he is.

COME ON YOU BLUES!!

[thenodrog]

"One thing that's puzzling me though is why Pongolle is being preferred to David Bentley. "

It's a strange one. Pongole looks a far better option. A good touch and he has better control and miles more pace and strength than Bentley. I like the look of him a lot BUT he needs to weigh in with more end product and I cannot understand why he isn't doing. Maybe a few more weeks coaching will see him 'bed in' with the team..... after all it took Bentley until Christmas to produce anything like a show of form.

Edited February 26, 2006 by thenodrog

[Eddie]

I mean by if we get into the Champions League we have real chance to do what I would call a ''Villareal,'' and turn into a major force domestically and a decent european outfit.

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Agreed. I might stick Emerton in the left if MGP is out as he gives that defensive side that I don't think Peter has but that we will need against Spurs.

[herbergeehh]

I think Pongolle started yesterday because of his pace alone tbh.. he didn't create much, but his pace made him a constant threat to Toure and Senderos, and took some focus off Bellamy.

Hoping to see Bentley / Bellamy the next matches..

[greggyk]

Hoping for Dickov myself

[thenodrog]

Just compare the tone of this to the reports after Cardiff last year. The press are finally conquering their myopia and waking up to the reality of what the likes of Arsenal's foreign legion are really like.

The current success of ourselves Wigan, Bolton, City and West Ham are a good really good do for Prem football.

http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/tm_...-name_page.html

btw the People pull-out sport supplement carries pictures of Lehman soaking Sav after the game! What a p1sspoor loser that Lehman is eh?

I missed the incident but did anybody notice it at the time?

Edited February 26, 2006 by thenodrog

[Rover4ever]

Bolton are currently winning 2-1 aganst Fulham

Apart from the WBA and Everton defeats i'm afraid we may regret our inability to beat 10 man Notlob at home, that would have given us some breathing space.As it stands now they are 1 point behind with 2 games in hand.

[Eddie]

Liverpool beating City today improves our chances of making Europe even further. We need Bolton to slip up somewhere, though they do have a few tough games to come. Hopefully we can hold our nerve and they won't.

Edited February 26, 2006 by Eddie

[bellamy11]

I missed the incident but did anybody notice it at the time?

386735[/snapback]

Yeah. Savage was jumping and pirouetting in front of him, and Lehmann flicked the bottle out at him a couple of times. Savage just laughed in his face.

Quite how much water was in the bottle at all was debatable. When Rennie was ticking Lehmann off Bellamy had nicked it and was drinking it all!

[stuwilky]

Quite how much water was in the bottle at all was debatable. When Rennie was ticking Lehmann off Bellamy had nicked it and was drinking it all!

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Now THAT was funny.

[thenodrog]

4 players in Sky's team of the week........despite no place for the MoM! How often has that happened?

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=36...+of+the+weekend

[McClarky]

Did anyone see the coverage of the game on Sky last night. Wenger was the only interview it showed after the game and the interviewer was just prompting him to have a go at our "rough tactics". It was a disgrace. To be fair to Wenger although he said he thought they were unlucky he wasn't too critical of us but it was the way in which the questions were directed that annoyed me. There were no questions about how his so called unlucky team only created 1 or 2 decent chances in the whole game against our 3 or 4.

I can't remember there being any particularly nasty tackles in the game so obviously even tackling these prima donas fairly is not allowed now. How remis of the Rovers not to know that our place is only to provide foder for the likes of Arsenal and Man U to show how glorious they are.

Come on the Rovers.

[RevidgeBlue]

If Pedersen isn't fit for Spurs I don't wanna see Peter start.

Yesterday he showed that despite him having potential, his age means he can be a complete liability, and that's a risk we can't take in a game that could have major implications on not only our season, but immediate future as a top flight club.

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Absolute garbage.

[roversmum]

1-0 IN THE BLACKBURNABEU

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Other headlines from the NOTW:

"Ped and Buried"

and

"Gam and Blast"

They also pointed out that our team cost £15.05m and Real Madrid cost £149.14m and they couldn't beat Arsenal but we could!

Some great memories from this season and hopefully a few still to come!

[S15]

Absolute garbage.

386755[/snapback]

Thanks for the insight, but which bit did you think was ''absolute garbage?''

[ihtd]

How likely is i that MGP could be missing for the Spuds game? We are a better side when MGP plays and he is a threat to other teams.

We played well yesterday and hopefully we can keep it up for the last 10+ games of the season.

[RevidgeBlue]

Thanks for the insight, but which bit did you think was ''absolute garbage?''

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All of it. That's why I didn't select part of your post to quote.

[Alan75]

How likely is i that MGP could be missing for the Spuds game? We are a better side when MGP plays and he is a threat to other teams.

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MGP Wthdraws from Norway friendly

[OnePost]

Did anyone see the coverage of the game on Sky last night. Wenger was the only interview it showed after the game and the interviewer was just prompting him to have a go at our "rough tactics". It was a disgrace. To be fair to Wenger although he said he thought they were unlucky he wasn't too critical of us but it was the way in which the questions were directed that annoyed me.

386747[/snapback]

I saw that footage but wasn't at all surprised. I also heard Gary Lineker use the phrase "from Galacticos to bloody nose" to highlight Arsenal's contrasting fortunes this week.

How disappointing it must be for the sycophantic media when their pet sides contrive to get themselves beaten.

How fortunate we must consider ourselves to have the audacity to breathe in their rarified atmosphere.

I'm just off to feed mi pigeons, walk the whippet, fix mi clogs and clock in at mill.

Meanwhile, back in London, the Arsenal team-mates are consoling themselves with a bit of up-the-bum fun.............

[krislu]

Over the last 10 premier league matches we have gained an average of 2.2 points a game. If we can keep it up until the end of the season we should finish with a total of 67-68 points. Will that be enough to get that so important 4th place?

Total points of teams finishing 4th in recent years:

2005: Everton 61p

2004: Liverpool 60p

2003: Chelsea 67p

2002: Newcastle United 71p

2001: Leeds United 68p

2000: Liverpool 67p

Given that the Premier League seems more even now days (Chelsea and Sunderland excluded) I think 65p would ensure 4th place..

Edited February 26, 2006 by krislu

[Bobby G]

I agree.

65 should be enough.

60 may not be.

[greggyk]

Meanwhile, back in London, the Arsenal team-mates are consoling themselves with a bit of up-the-bum fun.............

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[Paul]

I think 65p would ensure 4th place..

386788[/snapback]

If that's all it takes I'll take it for £5 and donate it to the club.