[Archived] Rovers 0 Chelsea 2

[1864roverite]

The ref was a joke, the biggest ###### since George Courtney.

MGP was poor at best.

Those Rovers supporters clamouring for Tugay forget it, he is NOT the answer to our obvious problems.

I am distraught at losing to a vey poor individualistic team, Chelsea were awful and one dimensional.

United fans are consoling themselves with Chelseas demise cause on this evidence they will not win the league, they certainly wont win any euro cup nor will they win any friends.

I cant complain about effort cause Rovers played very well at times, Emerton deserved his MOTM award, Savage was hardworking, Bentley did okay and the defence coped well.

$30m for shevchenko ?? the biggest waste of money I have ever seen. His performacne today reminded me of only one thing - Corrado GRABBI.

now I am off to the pub, am getting drunk and am looking forward to Sheff Utd.

Come on England.

[FourLaneBlue]

Those Rovers supporters clamouring for Tugay forget it, he is NOT the answer to our obvious problems.

Haven't you been saying Tugay is past it for the last couple of years though?

[ihtd]

I ain't gonna blame the referree for anything today, yes he made mistakes but they can't be corrected now so forget them. We should have had a penalty but Makelele was in the way, maybe the ref could have been in a better position but he weren't. as for the penalty they got, they deserved it, Ooijer were trying to take his shirt off and its about time referees started clamping down on that sort of play.

Ooijer really disappointed me today, i were expecting a top class CB and instead he played like Amoruso. I know its only one game but he looked not up to scratch, hopefully he will turn out fine.

Bentely & Emerton really impressed me today, all of our best play came from those two, brillaint crosses and brillaint inter-play between the two. I think Emmo may have found his position.

Benni frustrated me today, he looks as though he wants to take on every player by himself and looked very reluctant to get in the box to get on the end of Bentley's superb crosses. he looks like a player who can get lazy when things aren't going his way, at one point i were missing the way Bellers & Dickov would chase down every last ball instead of just standing there like Benni & Jason do.

I'm not knocking the performance of the team in general today, as i think 9 of the 11 did us proud today in terms of effort and overall play. I'm probably gonna come in for some critisism of Benni but IMO he looked like a player who will be the dogs nuts when things are going well but a complete arse when things are not. I will admit that he ahd some very nice touches and his control for his shot what Cech saved were top draw but apart from that i am at a loss to think what he brought us today. He weren't exactly an outlet pass in the waiting for the midfield.

On a sidenote, why on earth do we keep getting the league table shoved down our throats at the moment, its 3 games old this season, the table to me means nothing till at least 11/12 games in, then again i might just be saying that because where bottom with a goal difference of negative 5.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Our midfield is where the problem lies,not enough creativity.Barring Tugay, we have no one who can give that killer pass to our front men,BIG question mark over Roberts for me,not convinced one bit that this fella is good enough.....by christ are we missing Bellamy.

19,398

[T4E]

We didn't play WELL! We played OK, but we didn't create any chances (ok so there was ONE). A worrying trend that is developing. Am I the only one to see this?

Oh and Roberts so far looks like a Kuqi v.2+ Faster and a better header of the ball, but pretty much equal in passing/shooting and controlling the ball.

No you arent, I couldn't agree more.

[West Sussex Rover]

Its sad that a player has to go down kicking and screaming to be noticed and get a panalty ala Ronaldo.

Fact is, if the ref didnt see what happened to Roberts then he should have consulted the linesman...

Oojer and Reid played poor and we lacked a good throughball or pass from midfield to Benni and Jason, next match maybe play Kuqi alongside Benni from kick off, that way we will have more bulk in the forward line...

We still need a new creative midfielder though IMO

[AxesFirstTouch]

Ooijer just needs time to adjust to the speed of the english game, there was times he took too long on the ball instead of just clearing his lines. If Todd had been playing it probably would have been 5-0 though.

Emerton was excellent again, good crosses, always looking to attack given the chance.

Bentley was good but hes still too lightweight anyone even brushes him and the boy goes to ground. He'll be crap the next lot of matches, hes too inconsistent.

Good to see Gray getting dropped. Neil shows hes a far better LB then Gray could ever be. Hopefully thats the last of Gray we'll see.

Roberts is crap wont score more then 10 goals if lucky.

[dillo_dillo]

Ooijer....... I've got BAD HEADACHE .

Nelly ! Getting well soon!!!!!!

Today's MOTM is Jay McEveley ,undoubtedly.

Edited August 27, 2006 by dillo_dillo

[tcj_jones]

Our attack was just isloated from our midfield, the gap between them was huge at times. I don't like playing Reid and Savage in the middle. There isn't enough attacking intent or creativity. We need to either buy a new central midfielder that will support the attack and for Tugay to be fit.

Ooijer was verydisapointing. He should never have let Drogba score the second. Hopefully he'll pick his game up. He looked distraught at the end of the game.

[tsnuf]

I think our biggest problem is in the center of midfield. We aren't being linked with any central midfielders, so I hope Tugay is ready for this season :|

Watching this game, I was again very impressed by our right side (Bentley, Emerton). We now seem to have an abundance of players who can play right back. I would prefer Neill and Ooijer on the right as opposed to in the center, but now I think Emerton has sealed that position as his. I thought Reid and Savage were let downs today, they offered nothing going forward. I don't know why our defence (Zurab, Ooijer) kept letting long balls bounce, that really frustrated me. Roberts was pretty awful today, and McCarthy not too much better (although his once chance was a beauty). Preseason, people were saying that they had a good partnership, but I've watched two and a half games and haven't seen a glimpse of one. MGP and Neill were average (which is quite good for them ), and Gallagher impressed. Feel bad for Friedel, who was good. There I think I've covered every player...

Whoever was hoping for Kuqi, I agree. He should've replaced Roberts at 60 or 70 minutes.

[jim mk2]

Three comments from Metropolitan type Ian Brown on Radio 5 Live:

"Only 19,000 at Ewood park today, a comment on the interest of the local public here"

"£3 million for Jason Roberts a good piece of business for Wigan"

"Blatant penalty for Chelsea but justice for the one they were denied in the first half"

[ihtd]

jim mk2 those comments from Ian Brown do not suprise me one bit.

[Rovermatt]

It wasn't a game we were going to win. Then again it wasn't a game we should have needed to win. After our first two disastrous matches of the season, a fixture against Chelsea was the last thing we wanted.

We settled well but a penalty decision (which, in my opinion, was technically correct) put paid to any chance we had of coming away with points.

I thought Ooijer did ok, though he'll have to get used to the pace of the English game if he is to be a success.

I was impressed with Bentley today. McCarthy also looked quality but once again Pedersen was a passenger.

P!ssed off.

Edited August 27, 2006 by Rovermatt

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

The third comment is not true.

[Drakefyre]

How many did Chelsea bring?

[ihtd]

Not too many Drakefyre, on t.v. it looked as though they were few Chelski fans and a Rovers fan just been on Talksport saying that there were very few Chelsea fans there.

[greggyk]

Just a point on Lucas Neill at left back. If Gray is fit, Gray should play there for certain. Lucas had it easy today because Chelsea played with no wingers. Most teams do play with wingers and he'd stuggle there I'd say as he did not look good on the ball at all IMO. He's all right foot.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

1,500-2,000 Max from chelsea.

[RoyRover]

From what I've read, it seems like Rovers did well to frustrate Chelsea, not giving them very much and as such they failed to create much going forward themselves. Emerton sounds like he has done well at right back and with Neill at left back we look a lot more solid. Ooijer sounds like he had a poor debut, but he'll get better and could form a strong partnership with Nelsen. Bentley seems to have played well, but where is his best position? In the centre or on the wing and as such does this affect Reid, who was arguably our best player in the second half of the season, and his place in the team? Pedersen offered little again, but there's nothing new there. He scores goals and can deliver a good set piece, but apart from that he adds little else to the team. Up front sounds like a concern. I was happy when we signed Roberts because I thought that he was excellent last season for Wigan and hoped that he could bring that form to Rovers. He hasn't yet, but there's still time, but he needs to improve.

I'm disappointed that we lost today, because I thought that we could have won this game. Chelsea are an extremely limityed team, for all their players and money.

[Exiled_Rover]

Four days to get a creative midfielder that's willing to get into the box and support the front two. I hear Steed is available

As for a match summary, not much to say really. We had absolutely no chance of breaking down Chelski with Pedersen, Savage and Reid starting in a midfield four. The two central players cannot pick a pass, as the ever so critical gentlemen sat behind me stated, and were under each other's feet all game. Neither one had the intelligence to break forward and support the front two either - which is why McCarthy had to drop off so deep to receive the ball. The less said about Pedersen, or Gamst as he likes to be called now, the better - waste of space. Gallagher was little better, £1m for him right now is sounding very tempting.

On the positive side, Ooijer is clearly a quality centre half, which makes three (along with Zura and Nelsen - Todd is too irrational to be classed as quality however talented he may be) and Emerton appears to have found his home at right back, though I'll withold my judgement until he is tested by an actual left winger. Bentley has come on leaps and bounds under Hughes, which is very encouraging. The front two are a few weeks away from clicking, but when they do (assuming we have a goal threat/support from midfield) then they'll be a huge asset to the side.

[chris]

Ooijer looked more like a future Peacock then a future Hendry, but sure he will improve

Robert did play a little like Kuqi today, little worried there

overal should be ok, Benni need to think about hitting the box more

[Laurence]

Thought there was a nasty big space in the middle of our midfield with chelsea players wandering about in it. Reid and Savage very poor today. Obviously they were playing against a top midfield, but they gave the ball away so often when they did have it, we're in deep doo doo if they can't get it together.

However, overall we did well and I was very disapointed by chelsea, not for the first time, all that cash, all those players, but where's the football? Fancy spending £1000 for a season ticket to watch that every week, jesus.

[USABlue]

Just read a few comments, nice to see people are finally cottoning on to MGP. I thought Gally was far superior, some great passes. I liked Bentley today. I liked Brett today. The penalty ###### me off big time, especially since Chelsea hold just about EVERY opportunity they get and the infraction was nowhere near where the ball was going. I am not saying it was not a penalty but if you give that you MUST give the one at the other end about the 70th minute when they hold AND pull the shirt. I thought it was McCarthy being held and the ball was there to be played.

New guy Ooyah had a rough game, think he may be alright once he adapts.

We simply are not incisive enough yet going forward. Not too disappointed with our play, in fact quite pleased actually. Same old same old big team favouritism IMHO. I guess it's here to stay.

PLeasing points for me, Bentley, Gally, Emerton, Neill and Brad still coming off his line better.

MGP needs sitting.

[broadsword]

Really unconvincing all-round against a at-times poor Chelsea.

Is this the same side that finished 6th last year? Jeez, we don't look like it.

At no point did I ever think we could score.

[krislu]

Reid and Savage very poor today.

What game did you see?!

Savage was one of the best players out there today, Reid on the other hand was poor indeed.