[Archived] Rovers 0 Chelsea 2

[West Sussex Rover]

My brother is a chelsea supporter and has been for the whole of his life. E.g. 29 years, and he put what happened against Rovers perfectly...

Chelsea have felt that they have been hard done by, by refs for a while, so to even it out a bit he reckons the ref was instructed to go easy on Chelsea...

This is blatently obvious in the fact they got a 'soft' penalty. Yes it was a penalty, but John Terry did rather milk what happened to him.

We had a blatent penalty, that he didnt see, although he should have consulted the linesman.

Too top it all off, Chelsea only got one yellow card as aposed to our three of which Savage should NOT have been booked for... Ballack should have been booked for obstructing Savage from taking a free kick and there were also some other Chelsea tackles that required the refs attention...

Oojer had a terrible debut but you cant blame him for not being prepared for the match considering he'd only been in Blackburn and with the team for 2 days... I mean talk about being chucked in at the deepend.

First match against the current champions!!!

[RoyRover]

Tugay is the heartbeat of our midfield and you will notice that when he returns.

Against Sheff Utd id move Bentley to the left, Reid to the right & Tugs & Savage in midfield.

Emerton was good again.

Referee spoilt the game. Until then we looked ok.

I'd like to see our midfield like that in the next match. Pedersen needs to be benched and hopefully this will encourage him to actually do something when he's on the pitch. I hope Tugay can improve the team when he returns, but lets not expect him to change everything by himself. As someone has already said, signing Tugay to another year and not bringing in another creative player, is just papering over the cracks. Tugay won't be able to play every match, so we need to have another quality player for that position as well. In truth I'd rather have a creative midfielder who can play regularly and have Tugay on the bench, providing competition for places and adding another option to the team.

[yellowsubmarine]

Not sure if it has been posted before, but did anyone noticed that something different about Reid's freekick style against Chelsea. I was expecting him to blast one of his typical cannons into Row Z but he actually lifted and curled the ball past the defence and forcing Cech into a save which led to a corner eventually.

[Eddie]

Ok, I haven't read any of this topic but I haven't been able to get online before now and just wanted to post my thoughts.

Hats off to the players who usually get stick: Emerton, Savage and Bentley were great. McCarthy seemed to drop too deep too often and Reid wasn't too involved. Roberts did quite well, but then didn't really get on the end of any chances. Zurab and Neill did very well in parts but then seemed unsure of themselves for brief moments, perhaps a result of the defensive changes. Ooijer, what a shocker. Started badly and only got worse. Made mistake after mistake at the back and missed a couple chances from corners.

Overall I thought we were the better side, but at the same time we only really looked like scoring when McCarthy went close. The penalty? Well, it was a foul. However, those sort of things go unpunished all the time. If this is the start of a clamping down on holding then fine, I have no problem with it, but based on the fact that Roberts was held back when he actually had the ball and a penalty was given I think it is unlikely. Still very stupid by Ooijer, bring back Todd (God we need Nelsen back) and let Ooijer get up to speed.

We played well, we will certainly play worse than that and win, but we still need more creativity and better options to come off of the bench than Gallagher.

[daren]

Yeah, that was a nice free kick.

Positives from the game, for me, was generally the right side of our team. Emo and Bentley together looks a good option there. Why move Bentley? Paul did ok when he came on there, and Bentley was putting in fantastic crosses whenever he got the chance. Also does anyone know when Peter is back from injury? I'd love to see him on the left side, it could give us the width we need. Neill did well on the left. I think he's suddenly realised that he's not indispensible. Either that or Sparky clocked him one after the Pompey disgrace

Poor Andre, he looked nervous at the start, made a mistake. Recovered from that only to give a stupid penalty, played ok for a bit, then made a mess out of a situation he should have been in control of for the last goal. Andre, keep your hands to yourself, and work on your fitness. He looked gassed by the end of the game. He will get better. Zurab played well, except for the bouncing ball madness! He looks more and more like a quality aquisition every time I see him play. And Nelsen is yet to come back.

McCarthy needs to get in the box, and Roberts needs to relax. They need time playing together and playing for the team. Even though they didn't play particularly well, there were hints that when it starts happening, it'll be good. For the meantime, it might be worth trying Jeffers or Gallagher in a poaching role, as Benni and Jason seem determined to stay outside the box

Reid was awful, simply awful. Made two tackles that I can remember and was completely anonymous for the rest of the match. Why isn't he attacking the edge of the box. He's got a rocket of a shot, and he's more accurate than Savage (whose shot accuracy is appalling. Something to work on!) even if he's no Gerrard. Savage had to stand off after his completely unjust booking. I hope the ref looked at it again and didn't include it in his report. If anything, Essien could easily have been in trouble for dangerous play... he made no attempt whatsoever to play the ball.

Same as we've been saying for a couple of weeks, though. Need a creative midfielder, either someone who will get the ball and drive it towards the box, or someone who can pass with vision and accuracy. Feel free to blow the entire transfer kitty, and next years TV cash on it!

[Paul Mellelieu]

Rev - we created a host of chances against Everton but took only one.

I thought we were very poor yesterday, but....

Two new strikers bedding in - and an unsettled defence, with the half fit Reid sat in front. And for once Prof 'Drog is right, about the Savage booking limiting his capacity to close down. We've Nelsen and Tugay to come back too, so no reason to panic.

[thenodrog]

I just think that by renewing Tugay's contract, Hughes has papered over a massive gap in midfield that needed dealing with. Souness tried with Barry Ferguson. Hughes is looking at Haestad, apparently, so he is aware of the need to bring in a holding midfielder (although Haestad is a very different type of holding midfielder to Tugay) but the urgency in bringing in such a player doesn't seem to be there.

Not many about rover6 Sven failed to find one of those for years whilst apparently expecting one of his headless chickens (messrs Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham) to metamorphose into a Zidane or a Requelme.

Not sure if it has been posted before, but did anyone noticed that something different about Reid's freekick style against Chelsea. I was expecting him to blast one of his typical cannons into Row Z but he actually lifted and curled the ball past the defence and forcing Cech into a save which led to a corner eventually.

me I commented on that to my mate. I suggested that Reid must have been practising free kicks over the summer months.

And for once Prof 'Drog is right, about the Savage booking limiting his capacity to close down.

For once Macca? I assume you meant to type 'yet again' but it came out wrong?

[Paul Mellelieu]

I'm reminded of the man who has a watch that doesn't work, but gets the time right twice a day.

[Scotty]

RevidgeBlue in negative opinion shock!!

[Texan Rover]

I think Rovers will be fine. Yesterday's performance certainly didn't make me feel worse about the upcoming season, and I'd venture to say that there's reason for optimism.

First of all I should say that those who bemoan a lack of creativity in the center are correct. As far as I could tell, Sav and Reid have been instructed to fire the ball out wide to Bentley at every available opportunity. MGP didn't show much going forward with the ball (but really, when has he ever); his utility seems limited to late arrival in the box and dead balls.

Bentley, on the other hand, was outstanding. Once Roberts and Benni adjust to his style of play and are more able to attack the crosses he sends in, chances should come by the boatload. Emerton looked excellent on the overlap, as well. Perhaps there's something to be said for the defensive awareness enforced by lining up at right back; Emo knows he has to be running at a defender or getting back into defensive position, not simply dinking around with the ball near the touch line.

We shouldn't overlook the fact that width and early crosses were demanded by Chelsea's shape, and Hughes had certainly instructed our midfield players to spread the ball wide and fire in crosses. Boro apparently took advantage of just such an approach last week. So while it would've been nice to see Reidy tearing in on goal from the center circle and firing in a piledriver, I'm not shocked that it didn't play out that way. When you have Lampard/Ballack, Essien, and Makelele occupying the same 30 yards square in the middle of the pitch, the game is always going to spread wide. I thought Reid was fine in the middle (though not terribly impressive) and Sav was excellent (even after being booked for getting karate-kicked).

At the end of the day, we've just lost to the champions on a dodgy penalty and a goal off the break, when they spent a good half hour in the second half with ten men behind the ball, playing like a League One side in the cup. Nelsen will be back, Ooijer can't play worse, Emo has clearly revealed himself as a solid option in the backline (though let's see him play a game where the opposition is fielding a winger), and Neill has proved capable (for once) on the left. If Roberts finds his way to an inviting cross or two and either of two threatening free kicks goes in (or Clattenburg awards a penalty for Carvalho's shirt-tug), we're talking about the one-off poor performance at Pompey and top four dreams.

So let's everybody take a moment and relax.

[Flopsy]

We only made one substitution didnt we?

At least Souness for his failings would try and change things by making subs (and sometimes they worked)

Kuqi should have been on before their 2nd but definately should have come on after - who for? Ooooooooooiger for one and go to a 3 man defence.

Gally didnt look to bad when he came on

I fear a return to 4-5-1 beckons

[Blue blood]

Having seen both the home games so far this season, it really is a glass half full/empty scenario which means we're likely to have an exciting and eventful season, although at which end of the table is yet to be determined. Against both Chelsea and Everton there were signs of how awesome we can be; on paper both teams are stronger than us but we were playing it about excellently and neither team at times had a sniff. That shows how good we can be. The negative of this is that we haven't capitalised on this.

The positives are - aside from periods of very good play - that were it not for a soft penalty (I doubt the ref would have given it the other way) and not getting a deserved penalty we looked a good shout for at least a point.

Equally the team seems to be stronger - Neill at left back instead of the error prone Gray and a rejuvinated Emerton at right back seems just the ticket for me - especially when the Admiral comes back into the centre we'll have a mean defence. Incidently at right back Emo's cautious streak is not a liability, and whilst not the quickest thinker on the pitch, Emerton shows that when he doesn't have a full back breathing down his neck, his vision isn't half bad at all. Benni and Roberts both seem promising up front - the latter seems a class act and Roberts seems to terrorise defences into mistakes.

The midfield however seems despite looking good on paper to not be functioning quite right. Firstly I don't believe that we've enough cover for centre mid - regardless of Tugay's availability. Secondly this becomes more problematic when Sav gets booked. It was like having a different player on the pitch. Reid did alright in my book breaking up the play, but seems to be struggling with a knock and hence not have as much energy to get up the field.

I belive the big problem when playing with two work horses in the centre of midfield is that the onus for creativity falls largely on the wide midfielders, who as yet have yet to perform. Bentley in particular seems to be too easily shrugged off the ball, and neither seems to get to the byline often enough. The final ball often is a long punt from the edge of the box which is not good enough. The second criticism of the midfield is that this needs the centre mids, and the full backs to really get forward and support the attack quickly. Again against Chelsea this support and surging forward was slow. Reid often is good at this, but I suspect the injury is hampering this. Savage however should have got forward a lot quicker too and has no injury to fall back on as an excuse. In fact, the whole team needs lessons in quick counter attacking. This of course would give more options for the final ball. With this in mind surely a bid for Steed Malbranque might be appropriate, imo he could fill the creativity gap quite well.

Overall though not too disappointed. Rovers only have themselves (especially in the everton game) and the ref (especially in the Chelsea game) to blame for not getting more points on the board. Refs will always favour the bigger clubs but the good news is that the former is within our own power to change and improve. Hopefully we can do this in time for the Sheffield Utd game.

[LDRover]

The main worry for me at the moment is the posturing and lack of movement from Benni McCarthy.

Far too many times he dropped deep and then started waving his arms about like a traffic warden when there was no-one to pass to. His movement in and around the last third is poor, especially compared to Roberts who is always available and never shirks a 50-50.

I know it's early days but in Roberts I feel we have a player we can identify with and will work his socks off regardless, I'm yet to be convinced in the workrate and attitude of McCarthy.

[AggyBlue]

It will take Benni at least a dozen games to pick up the pace of the premier league.

On Chelski, no one will beat them going down the middle, they are far too strong. Our problem was we couldn't get around the back of them. It needs crosses from the goal line and we just didn't have the players out there to achieve that.

[Eddie]

Bentley put in enough crosses for us to win the match, no one got on the end of them (two exceptions being when pedersen headed over and when McCarthy nearly scored).

[AggyBlue]

Bentley put in enough crosses for us to win the match, no one got on the end of them (two exceptions being when pedersen headed over and when McCarthy nearly scored).

Not from the bye line. Both Pederson and Bentley cross the ball from twenty plus yards out. That's OK when we're breaking fast ( ) but not when we are pinning teams back and they have their defence set.

[thenodrog]

The second criticism of the midfield is that this needs the centre mids, and the full backs to really get forward and support the attack quickly. Again against Chelsea this support and surging forward was slow. Reid often is good at this, but I suspect the injury is hampering this. Savage however should have got forward a lot quicker too and has no injury to fall back on as an excuse. In fact, the whole team needs lessons in quick counter attacking.

Have you forgotten that our 2 central players were up against something in the region of £80-100m worth of talent in the form of Ballack, Lampard, Essien and Makelele? I would be very suprised if those two were not under orders not to move forward but to stay 'right side' of those 4 and to leave all the attacking to the 2 wide men.

[RevidgeBlue]

RevidgeBlue in negative opinion shock!!

Scotty talking bollux shock!

Well , actually not that much of a shock at all really.

[tcj_jones]

People seem to be disputing the Chelsea penalty. I can't understand this for a second. It was the most blatant penalty you will see all season. What you should feel aggrieved over is the fact that teams seem to be able to get away with it over and over again. I reckon that if Clattenberg were to ref again this season and Terry or Carvalho manhandle a player like Ooijer did, then they'd get away with it every time.

I don't really blame Ooijer for the penalty though. He is probably used to getting away with what he did week in, week out for PSV and, judging by the refereeing at the world cup, for Holland as well.

The second goal, however, he should never have let Drogba just waltz alongside him. It looked more like Ooijer was trying to get Drogba to do the tango that make a tackle!

On top of that, a few times when a passback or a header back to Friedel was on, he got caught in two minds. I think this is because he needs to settle in the team. I don't knowe how good his English is, but he nneeds to develop an understanding with Fridel and Zurab / Todd / Nelsen. I think Ooijer needs a commanding presence next to him, like Nelsen or Todd. Zurab is a good defender, but he isn't the commanding type.

Tugay will be a creative enigma, but even more vital I feel is to have an attacking midfielder to link the attack and midfield and drive into the box. Maybe If Bentley or Gallagher were played in the centre?

The main worry for me at the moment is the posturing and lack of movement from Benni McCarthy.

Far too many times he dropped deep and then started waving his arms about like a traffic warden when there was no-one to pass to. His movement in and around the last third is poor, especially compared to Roberts who is always available and never shirks a 50-50.

I know it's early days but in Roberts I feel we have a player we can identify with and will work his socks off regardless, I'm yet to be convinced in the workrate and attitude of McCarthy.

I think this is a good point. I agree entirely over Roberts, and McCarthy's work ethic is to be questioned, but the difference between the two for me is that McCarthy possesses genuine class. For all Roberts presence, physical attribute, heading ability, McCarthy can undo a team with a single touch. I think for that reason, and for his good goal scoring record at the highest level, that he will be a superb signing for us.

Edited August 28, 2006 by tcj_jones

[Scotty]

Scotty talking bollux shock!

Well , actually not that much of a shock at all really.

Seem to have struck a nerve there.

[AggyBlue]

McCarthy can undo a team with a single touch.

Trouble is, he very often takes too many. Against Chelski he got caught too many times holding on to the ball too long.

He likes turning full circle with the ball too, I thought I was watching a reborn Stuart Metcalfe

I'm sure once he picks up the pace he'll be fine

Edited August 28, 2006 by AggyBlue

[RevidgeBlue]

The main worry for me at the moment is the posturing and lack of movement from Benni McCarthy.

Far too many times he dropped deep and then started waving his arms about like a traffic warden when there was no-one to pass to. His movement in and around the last third is poor, especially compared to Roberts who is always available and never shirks a 50-50.

I know it's early days but in Roberts I feel we have a player we can identify with and will work his socks off regardless, I'm yet to be convinced in the workrate and attitude of McCarthy.

Bit harsh on McCarthy that imo.

Quite a few times during the two home games he's received the ball in promising positions and looked to give it but has had no options.

Symptomatic of how we're playing. There's little or no movement off the ball and we're not playing for each other like a "team".

Almost as if we're in the "Just give it to Bellamy and he'll score" mode we seemed to be in at times last season.

Edited August 28, 2006 by RevidgeBlue

[FourLaneBlue]

I don't really blame Ooijer for the penalty though. He is probably used to getting away with what he did week in, week out for PSV and, judging by the refereeing at the world cup, for Holland as well.

It does come down to Ooijer...not for holding Terry as such, but for milking it!

Those kind of things happen all the time but he just held on for so long that he made it easy for the ref. It's a difficult situation for any defender; whether to let someone go past them or not that is, but you can't hold onto someone indefinitely. Show them that you are there but let go after a while.

Carvalho was much more...clever? sly? Quick pull of the shirt then let go. Advantage gained and play moves on.

Still, Ooijer I'm certain will show just why he is so highly rated by Hughes. It was always going to be difficult for him, being shoved into a team like that immediately after signing.

EDIT - I also think Scotty and Rev should GET A ROOM! It's getting embarrassing!

Edited August 29, 2006 by FourLaneBlue

[broadsword]

Have to agree with Aggy about teh early crossing - what did they hope to achieve with it when the Chelsea defence was already in place? I seem to remember some comment somewhere (maybe I am imagining it) about the coaching staff encouraging ealr crossing. But here it just seemed like needless sacrifice of the ball, sticking it into the 6 yard box for its own sake.

The whole performance seemed under-powered to me. They need to change their tablets.

[stuwilky]

Scotty talking bollux shock!

Is he? where?

I thought you were both fairly accurate just with different slants on the match.

Edited August 29, 2006 by stuwilky