[Archived] Rovers 0 Chelsea 2

[brfcjon]

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.

I agrre completely. Chelskis pem is there to be judged but come on the bit of tustling goes on every 5 minutes. On the other hand the pen that wasn't awarded us in the 2nd half is unquestionable.

Over all I am quite pleased with the performance. Reid disappointed me but Bentley did well. And Benni seems a class act. How unlucky was he not to score (good save from Petr C). I didnt really notice Emo wich means he had a good game I guess.

I usually don't complain about refs... An usually I am thinking everything will even itself out bla bla bla. But I am really getting sick with how some teams are getting all the favors. There is the Riley at old trafford story, we all know that and thats so f**ked up its untrue, but in general we are getting scr**wed over time and time again. And I bet we are not the only small/medium team that has it like that.

I dont know what to do about it. Its just really frustrating that you start every game with the feeling that a ref will s**w Rovers over - and the part is the line of thaught is almost right every time. Before anyone argues that we escaped it against everton with todd dodging the bullet... well it was a one off. Remember when we went about 60 games (or something like that) without a pen... ARGH I am just so worked up I better end this rant.

GO Rovers.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Worst debut I've ever seen from a so-called big signing, forget playing this guy at right-back ,he's not quick enough for centre half. Poor tackling technique cost us the second goal, he seems to think that just backing off is the answer.What I wanted to see today was somebody quick across the park ,can read the game,and tackle like he means it, after that performance he can only get better but I fear another Darren Peacock !

Speaking of look a likes I hope McCarthy is not the new Dwight Yorke, but his lack of mobility and habit of dwelling on the ball is worrying, to score goals you've got to get in the box and frequently, he did well with the one chance that came our way but he's got to get up front more often.

As for the rest, two of the guys I've knocked in the past ,Bentley and Emerton, were our best players today both did really well. Neill and Zurab were solid.Up front Roberts tried his best without looking threatening and will need much better service in future, having said that he won't be up against Carvalho and Terry every week.

The problem is in mid-field ,Pedersen or Gamst as he likes to style himself is a total light weight, it's like playing with 10 men ,he needs an extended run in the reserves, Gallagher playing totally out of position did more in the 15 minutes he was on for. The major problem is central midfield, Savage for all his work rate is neither one thing nor the other, he's not skillful enough to be a playmaker and he's not quick or dynamic enough to be the destroyer in front of the back four, Steven Reid is also neither of these two things and cannot find a role in the side.

Until we find an answer to this dilemma we are always going to struggle to create chances against sides at any level in this league, the points were there for the taking today but we hamstrung ourselves in team selection.

[trueblue]

If Spuds are still offering £3M+ for MGP.. for goodness sake Hughsey - TAKE IT !!!! the guy was conspicuous by his abscence today and offered nothing on the flank.

I thought the officials were very poor today, giving free kicks to Chelsea and not giving us free kicks for exactly the same infringement - no wonder Sparky was having a go at the fourth official !!

We need a creative midfielder URGENTLY, we offered nnothing going forward - balls lumped up to the front two just came pinging back !

[Drakefyre]

I'd just like to point out that Chelsea played with four center midfielders today, so it's understandable that Reid and Savage had a difficult time.

[greggyk]

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.

I thought we played better today than we did last year at home to a really really bad Chelsea side we're they had 3 clear pens and we scored one quite flukey goal and created not much at all.

Chelsea were not poor, they just did enough and played in 2nd gear. Apart from against Man United really, they can play like that against anyone in the Prem and get away with it.

I actually said this last season, we as a side didnt create too many chances in games, 2 or 3 at the most on average, but we usually took them. If we dont take our chances (including games last season) we are actually quite a boring side to watch

[Gav]

It's typical of Rovers fans to slate the new signing, he's just got off the plane and was thrown into the firing line and did a good job. Give the guy a chance for goodness sake.

[rover6]

Spurs are looking for a pacy left winger - so MGP isn't going there for sure.

Today, with Chelsea hardly on inspiring form, the onus was on Rovers to not only defend well - but to counter-attack with intensity.

To score goals on the counter, you either need pace on the flanks, or creativity in central midfield (preferably both) at the moment we have neither. We're a solid team but with MGP off-form and Tugay elsewhere, we have little guile to open up defences.

Emerton's right back performances are a plus though. Enjoy the bench Lucas (or Michael Gray...). And I wouldn't be too harsh on Ooijer for obvious reasons.

Edited August 27, 2006 by rover6

[philipl]

Some worrying signs:

Chelsea were there for the taking but we didn't have the nouse to do it.

Ooijer oh dear- Let's hope this is Emo v Wolves in reverse. He was ripped apart today.

MGP should have come back from his hols with all the positive sides to his game honed and having worked out how to deal with a heavy challenge. That's nought out of two- can we have Pedersen back and send Gamst back to the shirt printer in the sky?

Reid has gone back 12 months as well.

Roberts- we've got the Baggies' one rather than the Latics'

Benni- needs introducing to the opposition's penalty area but he can play.

A winning big ugly battle coming up at Bramall Lane if sanity is to be retained. Yet again we are going into a European campaign in terrble shape. For Rovers, if Cisse hadn't broken another leg is yet another great what might have been.

PS We are a soft touch for refs- bookings, penalties, sending offs- they can do what they like against us and do. Sparky should bring Todd on to nut the next one that gives a bad decision against us- solve two problems at once.

Edited August 27, 2006 by philipl

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Gav, I don't want to slate any Rovers player but I know what I saw out there to day and it wasn't what I was expecting, having said that the Dutch are not exactly famous for their centre halfs are they ? Jaap Stam and then name another good one.

PhillipL, That's the Pedersen of old, I actually saw him go past a player on the outside today for the first time since he came to Rovers but then again it was only Boularhouz, another Dutch centre half playing at right back.

[grizfoot]

The size of John Terry as well he went down like a sack of spuds, disgraceful.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Can't believe some of the negative comments - we did quite well against the current CHAMPIONS. But for more even refereeing we would have got a point - and this against a team with a foward who cost more than our enitre squad.

Debut boy was ok - but got a rude awakening to the Premiership. Amazing how Drogba could keep his feet - and yet Terry went down like a sack of spuds. All this rubbish about him being an honest player - he is as calculating as any foreign forward - its all how the press decide to portay him.

Overall we deserved a draw - against the most expensive team in Premiership history.

I am not too dis-heartened - though I agree that we lack a spark somewhere - be it in midfield or up front. However - I think that Roberts and McCarthy will prove to be good signings over the season - lets not forget that Chelsea are one of the most defensive teams in the Premiership.

Edited August 27, 2006 by DavidMailsTightPerm

[ihateburnley]

The size of John Terry as well he went down like a sack of spuds, disgraceful.

Ignoring the way he went down, there is no arguing the fact that it was a definite penalty.

We should have had one too though.

[Radagast]

Terry's actions/reaction were very frustrating, but it was a definite foul even if the 'honest boy' was playing for it. Its a shame because they hadn't looked like getting a shot off until then - neither had we, of course, but I somehow think we'd have made do with a 0-0. The second goal was extremely disappointing and I can only hope Oojier will enjoy a more settled performance against the slightly less intimidating Sheff Utd forward line.

[Gav]

Gav, I don't want to slate any Rovers player but I know what I saw out there to day and it wasn't what I was expecting, having said that the Dutch are not exactly famous for their centre halfs are they ? Jaap Stam and then name another good one.

So what exactly were you expecting? a faultless performance against the best team in the league? he needs time to adapt to the pace of the game and the physical side of premiership football is something he'll not be used to.

Give the guy a chance......

[chris]

So what exactly were you expecting? a faultless performance against the best team in the league? he needs time to adapt to the pace of the game and the physical side of premiership football is something he'll not be used to.

Give the guy a chance......

obviously he will have a chance, but surely he can NEVER perform like that again, 4-5 major error, resulting in two goals, touch wood its a one off

[G Somerset Rover]

Phil-Alan Macinally was on sky yesterday saying that he believes certain players such as Todd's reputations go before them, and it is probably is true to a certain extent...but obviously Clattenburg would know anything of Ooijer's so we have no excuses there I suppose.

As for the game-it's all been said really. For me the worrying points:

*Jason Roberts-I honestly do not think that this guy is a first 11 player for a team with ambitions of a top six finish. For all his hard work he's got a pretty p*** Poor touch for a guy who trains every day and his finishing has always been questioned. You can tell hes lacking in confidence and as I said in another thread he had a terrible last third of the season for Wigan.

*Creativity-We dictated the whole of the first half yet didnt create ONE GOOD CHANCE. Somebody mentioned it on the previous page last season we didnt really create many chances in matches and were doing the same this season-but obviously thus far we've not really hit the net. You cannot play Savage and Reid in centre midfield together....they constantly pass either sideways or backwards and on the whole are poor passers. Either Tugay plays every home game or we sign a new central midfield player. It's that black or white for me.

*Steven Reid-Are Spuds and Man yoo still interested? I though this was the player to this season stake his claim as one of the top midfielders in the league. He's poor at passing and when he's not too interested the rest of his game is pretty lacklustre, ie tackling, getting forward etc. I'd probably drop him for the next match for Tugs.

There were pluses-Emerton was again back to his Feyernord self, Neil was impressive in our problamatic left back role, Bentley showed that he can play right midfield-but providing we can get another creative midfielder because alone it's not enough-as we saw today.

I'll reserve judgement on Ooijer until I've seen him more, but his strength does look a little concerning. In Holland he doesnt come up against the likes of Drogba, Beattie, Dunc Ferguson etc every week.

Edited August 27, 2006 by Somerset Rover!

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I said what I was expecting, Speed over the ground, The ability to read the game, decisive tackling skills- I didn't see a lot of any of the above. We are talking about a 32 yr old International here ,not some novice out of the lower reaches of the championship.

[stuwilky]

Ive been a big Emerton slater over the years, by by god the last two games he has been superb.

Well played Bert.

[Nate]

I'm not actually saying the ref had an overly good game, more that I'm not blaming him for us losing.

I agree about Roberts, but with the referee unsighted, going down might have actually got him something( or a booking!)

Then shouldn't the linesman...whoops, 'assistant', draw the refs attention to the foul?

Speaking of Refs, Steve Bennett officiated the Sheff Wed v Leeds game last night. Deary me, terrible. And he was specially brought in for the game as it was seen as potentially volatile.

[Fife Rover]

I think a lot of you are being downright unfair in your condemnation of Ooijer after just one game. OK he did have a bit of a 'mare. But as others have said he was thrown in against the mighty Chelsea without having had more than one day to train with his new team mates; maybe not even that. He did not look too bad to me.

As for the penalty; yes technically it was a foul inside the box and the ref having seen it clearly had no alternative. But when you look at the replays a couple of times as Andy Gray did and think about it you can see clearly that Terry makes no attempt whatever to pull away and just collapses to ground like he's been thrown down, when the replay shows that Ooijer is not applying any force at all. You can actually see the daylight between his arms and Terry's body. Terry is a cheating scumbag like so many of his team mates. It is obvious that this conning of ref's is a standard Chelsea tactic.

I think that once Ooijer has settled in to our way of playing and the pace of the Prem he will be a lot better. At least give him a chance before you write him off.

[gumboots]

Terry was also waving his arms all over the place to make sure the ref looked in his direction. It probably was on reflection a pen but what usually happens is the ref sees something like that starting to happen and doesn't allow the free kick to be taken until he's warned the players. Overall I didn't feel the ref was bad but just couldn't see past the reputations of players so that most 50/50s went Chelsea's way. We didn't deserve to win today but I didn't really think we deserved to lose.

[Scotty]

Interesting team selection today. The dropping of Todd for Ooijer wasn't a surprise after the last 15 minutes against Everton, but the dropping of Gray for Neill was a bit of a bolt from the blue. Not before time though imo.

Chelsea started quickly and got a shot in early on, but the game soon settled into a hard-fought midfield battle. Chelsea lined up with four central midfielders meaning they lacked width but were incredibly solid, and we ran our socks off to close them down and force them into errors. Both McCarthy and Roberts dropped back at times to help out and, while this obviously restricted our attacking options, it served to stop Chelsea's. I can't remember Friedel really being troubled at all in the first half, although it was a similar story for Cech at the other end. Only a deflected free-kick and a mis-directed header (both by Pedersen) came remotely close to breaking the deadlock in our favour.

So, 0-0 at half-time. It may sound dull but it was an absorbing half of football that saw Rovers giving at least as good as they got against the Champions.

The second half had hardly started before we saw the turning point of the match. A free-kick around 30 yards out was swung in from the left by Lampard and both Terry and Ooijer fell in a heap at the near post. The ref gave a penalty straight away. I'd no idea why at the time but, after seeing it on tv, Ooijer did have his arms around Terry in an attempt to stop him running, but Terry did throw himself. Still, can't complain really, it was a pen. The most annoying thing about the whole incident though was that Lampard's ball was going to the far post - well away from both Terry and Ooijer. It was just so unnecessary.

Lampard made no mistake from the spot and Rovers had a mountain to climb. But climb it we nearly did. For the next 20-25 minutes we took the game to Chelsea, showing tremendous character, and were unlucky not to equalise.

Our best chance came shortly after Chelsea's goal. A cross from the right was controlled expertly on the chest by McCarthy on the edge of the six yard box, but his finish was too close to Cech. It was a fantastic chance, the sort you really have to score against the top teams. We should also have had a penalty during this period when Roberts' shirt was almost pulled off by Carvalho but, guess what, we didn't get it. In addition to the above we had a few long-range efforts, a number of corners, and generally bossed the game.

Chelsea always looked dangerous on the break though as we committed more men forward and, sure enough, it was from one such break that killed the game off. A long ball (we've seen this before) found Chelsea's sub Drogba alongside Ooijer. The time to make the tackle was straight away, as soon as Drogba received the ball. Ooijer hesitated though, Drogba out-paced and out-muscled him, and scored a cracker from the edge of the area. Great goal by Drogba but poor, poor defending.

That was that really. Gallagher made a late impressive cameo on the left (on earlier for Pedersen) but it wasn't enough.

Friedel had little to do, had no chance with the goals (although he nearly got to the penalty), and was safe enough.

In defence I thought both full-backs were superb. Neill's performance at left-back highlights what a loss he'll be if he does leave - his versatility is priceless. He was excellent, defending well when necessary but still giving us width and penetration further forward. He can play all across the back line it would seem and he may just find himself having an extended run at left-back after today's performance. Of course, it should be said that he didn't have a right winger up against him today, but you can only play against whoever your opponents choose and he played very well.

But he wasn't as good as Emerton. It's like signing a new player! He's confident, he beats people, he crosses well, and he can defend. He's certainly not afraid to put his foot in either. This week I may have just seen two of the best right-back performances at Ewood for many a year.

If only we could get our centre-halves sorted. I'm loathe to criticise Ooijer too much as it's his first game in a new league - he's bound to need time to adjust. But he's got some adjusting to do because he looked lightweight and slow today. Decent in the air though. Zurab was solid enough alongside him.

We scrapped and fought for everything in midfield, but also used the ball well at times. Savage led from the front, running his socks off to close down Chelsea. His booking was a joke. Alongside him Reid wasn't as noticeable, but he did work hard and certainly played better than he did last Wednesday. Doesn't look like the player that finished last season yet though.

Out wide I thought Bentley played well, worked hard, and looked classy at times on the ball. If he can repeat this sort of performance consistently then we could have a real player. He linked well with Emerton too and we looked a threat down the right. Unfortunately we didn't have quite the same threat down the left. Pedersen also played better than he did on Wednesday, it wouldn't have been hard, but he still wasted possession too often. His set-pieces seem to have got worse over the summer as well. He worked hard and defended well but is that enough? I don't think so. Gallagher's late cameo appearance may have been good enough to see him replacing MGP at Sheffield United.

Hmmm...I'm finding it hard to judge the forwards today. It's got to be remembered that Chelsea have an excellent defence. That said, I'm not sure Roberts and McCarthy did enough today. Terry basically had Roberts in his pocket. On Wednesday Roberts was able to turn Everton's defence almost at will - not today. He lost almost everything in the air and didn't hold the ball up well enough for me. McCarthy showed impressive touch and technique again, but he was also guilty of over-doing things at times and he often ignored a simple pass, trying a flick or a difficult "killer" ball instead. On another day this may come off and we'll score some great goals, today though it was just frustrating to watch. He really should have scored his chance as well (although his control was top class to make it a chance in the first place).

2-0 to Chelsea will sound like a routine win for the Champions to anyone who didn't see the game, but it was far from routine. We matched them up to the penalty, and then were the better team until they scored the second. Ultimately the difference was that they got the key decisions in the game and they had a £20M striker to bring on in the second half. It's a cliche but if we play as well as that throughout the season we'll win a lot more than we lose.

[Karembeu]

Hey Guy, I am quite sure you guy saw the match, I watch it from the TV and nearly used my head to bang on the Tv. I felt we played well. Dominated by possesion. The lousy penalty decision cost us a lot. And we should had a penalty but was not given. I think the refree hate us quite a lot eh?

This is the first match I saw so far this season. My feeling is that we really need to improve quite a loh. The striker is like headless chicken. They really had no impact at all. If I didn't remember wrongly, we only had one shot on target from the both striker. I thought MH will make changes (at the striker department) after we are down 1-0. Jeffers or even kuqi may make some impact. McCarthy playing too selfishly. 3 play around him and still did not want to pass, try to sqeeze his way through the player, either he is a genius or idoit. At yesterday match, I think he is the latter.

Don't know whether you guy agree with me a not, there is totally no flair in midfield. Perderson can't cross accruate, no threat, bentley either run and lost a ball, cross the ball to the fan, if not pass wrongly. At least Reid and savage do a good job. snatch ball and cover defender quite well. But still we need some flair in attack. I miss tugay now.

The plus point is our defend, Look solid for the whole match, Emerton is very impressive, wonder why we had him for 3 year and only realised that he is a very good defender, overlapping confidently, shield and cover the ball well. The central defend look solid too. Only serious mistake we make which lead to a goal from Drogba. I hope when Ooijer settle down and nelson come back, we will be much better side in defend.

That is about this match. We seriously don't play as well as last season but there is still 35 more match for us to improved. Another thing I wanted to sound out is Gallagher is getting better, he make quite a big impact when he is out there, hope to see him play more when time to come....

Go Blackburn Go, make us dream again this season!

[Fife Rover]

Spot on Scotty. Can't disagree with any of that. Only thing I would add is that if Peter is fit again for the Sheff. U. match I would start him on the left MF and put Gamst on the bench. Also let's hope that Nelsen is back and gives Sparky a selection problem.

[Baz]

Good Review Scotty

Thought it was a pen on terry, but also on Roberts too. Foul leading to 1st goal was a joke though. Emo did well today at RB but will reserve judgement until he plays a winger.

Ooijer had one of the most disapointing debuts for a long time but must give him time to bed in.

Cannot afford to have 2 wingers with so little pace as we had today - Bentley had decent game but offers less goals then MGP....one needs to go from 1st team imo.

Hope we can bring in someone to cover Tugay, Savage and the obviously carrying injury Reid before end of month.......