[Archived] Chelsea (carling Cup)

[West Sussex Rover]

Dont know about anyone else but the Nonda injury looked pretty serious.

Would be suprised if we saw him again this side of xmas as it looked like his dodgy knee that went.

Gamst didnt play badly did he before he came off?

[only2garners]

Dont know about anyone else but the Nonda injury looked pretty serious.

Would be suprised if we saw him again this side of xmas as it looked like his dodgy knee that went.

Gamst didnt play badly did he before he came off?

Hughes on Radio Rovers suggested that it didn't look too bad, just a swelling but I don't suppose he really knows yet.

[herbergeehh]

I must say I don't agree much with Hughe's tactics on this game. I like to see us do well in every competition, but we have many others to think about and were handed a crap draw anyway. Even Cheslea's 2nd string, had they played it, would have been favourites. We should have rested a few players and given others a chance, and whatever happend - happend. Instead now we'll be more tired for the weeked game and have got new injuries to key players.

Ooijer, Tugay, Savage are three rested players for this match. I'm surprised that both Neill and Emerton played the full ninety minutes after their run of matches the last few weeks.. That being said, those three changes shuffled the whole defence and midfield around - if Sparky were to rest more players even, the team might suffer too much for McEveley, Henchoz and Mokoena to have a fair go.

At work during the match, so if someone would bother to rate the players from 1 - 10 or something - would appreciate it.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Not bothered about the result but we could have done without the injuries.

[OhmiBRFC]

what happend to pederson? didnt see coz i was still gettin served

[Ninjathunder]

good secound half performance for McEveley i have always liked him since the united game, hope he kkeps his place for sunday.

I'm hoping for a return to the usual back four. He looked out of his depth in the first half.

[sambo]

freidel 7

neill 6

mceveley 6

henchoz 6

zurab 6

emerton 6

MGP 6

Bentley 5

Mokoena 7

mcarthy 5

nonda 6

peter 7

jeffers - no time -

roberts 5

[The1mattjansen]

First off, fair play to Chelsea who brought a decent number considering the circumstances. Although there was no atmosphere all night, could almost hear a pin drop.

Mcevely looked completely inept first half and was constantly turned inside out by cole, robben and Geremi. Improved in the second but I don't think he's ever going to make the grade.

Henchoz looked comfortable and did a good job from what I could see, I would say he is definately on a par with Ooijer.

Not convinced by Sergio yet, but he looks lively and will no doubt get his chance with the injuy to Pedersen, who was absolutely awful all night and must surely be dropped even if he recovers for the weekend.

Finally, does anybody know why Gally wasn't included at all tonight? It seemed bizarre that Emerton was moved up to the right wing when it would have been the perfect oppurtunity to give the young man a start.

[Hasta]

good secound half performance for McEveley i have always liked him since the united game, hope he kkeps his place for sunday.

We discussed this in the pub afterwards. I thought McEveley was poor (albeit up against one of the quickest players in the world) in the first half and 'OK' in the second, although his crossing and distribution was poor.

I know he's young but lets be honest, he's not better than a sober Micky Gray.

[OhmiBRFC]

IMO not to botherd we lost, got enough fixtures now and dont have to contest with more, Atmosphere was bad I thought, chelsea brought more then I expected fair play to them

[92er]

We discussed this in the pub afterwards. I thought McEveley was poor (albeit up against one of the quickest players in the world) in the first half and 'OK' in the second, although his crossing and distribution was poor.

also seemed to be well out of position for the first goal.

[Jammy]

I know its all down to opinion, but thought Rovers handled themselves well tonight, changes at the back, don't think Henchoz did much wrong, McEveley poor first half better second. Neill seemed to lose the plot late on wandering everywhere. Was disappointed with the first goal question marks over hand ball, and the confrontation between Bentley and Cole beforehand, (why did Bentley get booked?), it appears Cole puts his hands on Bentleys face, the other way round with a bit of rolling around would have guaranteed a red card!

Freidel 7 Busier Keeper

Neill 6 Did OK early on

McEveley 6 Improved as the game went on

Henchoz 6 Steady

Zurab 6 Ok

Emerton 6 Think he has played better at right back

Gamst 4 Poor

Bentley 7 Never stopped trying, took a beating

Mokoena 6 A couple of bad passes did ok

McCarthy 5

Nonda 5

Peter 6 Started ok a couple of wasted crosses.

Roberts 7 Tried Everything, battled hard!

Jeffers 6 No time

And for all those that couldn’t be bothered going, I thought it was a reasonable game result could have been better/different, (big club biased refereeing), and Rovers played some good football at times, I also took 3 extra supporters with me.

All in all gutted we lost and wish we’d won, didn’t think there was too much between the sides!

[den]

Two main differences tonight:

1 Chelseas two goals were of real quality. We didn't have that.

2 The substitutions - we were weakened by ours. They were strengthened by theirs. That says everything about the current Chelsea squad.

[Paul Mellelieu]

I think Chelsea had two shots on target all game.

A boring, boring team.

[The Harwood Yankee]

Pleased to see Bentley acknowledged as MOTM. He's got to be our most improved player this season. Not sure he's the answer to the 'how do we replace Tugay?' question, but he acquitted himself well in central midfield. Still prefer to see him on the right wing.

McEverley was out of his league first half, better second half. Still dont see him as a regular first choice left back tho. If Neill leaves in Jan we are relying on Gray returning to form.

McCarthy & Nonda were defended out of the game for the second home match in a row. If Nonda is crocked it could be a blessing in disguise if it allows Roberts a few starts alongside McCarthy.

Still think Jeffers is Matt Jansen with big ears - everyone willing him to deliver, shows occasional flourishes, but the stark truth is that his past promise will probably never be realised. He'll never be a great striker, just a support player at best.

Desperately needed the fight of Savage & the creativity of Tugay in the middle of the pitch.

Also missing Nelsen & Reid. Lets not forget we're missing 2 of our best players from last season - a crushing blow for a team who doesnt have 50 million quid of imported talent on the bench.

[Tris]

Had a couple of hours on the motorway to mull the game over - not over bothered about going out of this cup this season, but that's on the assumption that we return to winning ways against Basel and Feyenoord, so that next time we play on a Wednesday (in 7 weeks time) the result really doesn't matter - because we'll be in the hat for a more important knock out competition.

I'm guessing 90% of the crowd felt the same way, because that atmosphere was bizarre!!

Shame about the two injuries and I hope they're not serious. Shame Henchoz is soooo slow.

Good (if unexpected) to watch a left hand side of McEveley and Peter - some signs of promise against top class opposition. Maybe Jay listened to his "Rythm of the Blues" on Radio Rovers pre-match from a few years ago, some touches and tackles were certainly reminiscent of when he first burst on to the scene.

Mokoena makes me nervous when he's on the ball but it was encouraging to see a midfield without Tugay and Savage function ok - again against world class opponents.

Onwards and upwards - with a welcome break for the players between the Villa (A) and Man Utd (H) games - especially as the draw would have lumped us with playing Villa twice in 4 days.

Edited October 26, 2006 by Tris

[yellowsubmarine]

Im not too worried about the result, after they are STILL CHELSEA. Not many would have expected us to beat them. I just hope the injuries wont be too serious.

Now bring on the Hammers, hopefully we can keep their scoreless losing run going on.

[Cocker]

Still think Jeffers is Matt Jansen with big ears

HOW DARE YOU!!!

Dont want to start the Matty debate again (because it would go on forever) but there is no way fanny jeffers comes close to a mentaly stable Matt Jansen

[The Blunderer]

HOW DARE YOU!!!

Dont want to start the Matty debate again (because it would go on forever) but there is no way fanny jeffers comes close to a mentaly stable Matt Jansen

To be fair, maybe the comparison is with the post tragic accident Matty.

[Hughesy]

The subs used said it all:

Rovers: Roberts (£2 million), Peter (Youth), Jeffers (Free)

Chelsea: Drogba (?), Wright Phillips (£21 million), Lampard (Offers around £30 million + deco being mentioned)

We were without Savage, Tugay, Ooijer, Reid, Nelsen and also lost Nonda and Pedersen to injury. Following on from that Bentley and Emerton weren’t playing in their normal position.

On the Injuries – Pedersen expected to be fine for Sunday, Nondas injury not as bad as first thought, x-ray showed no injury and he now has a sore shin.

I expected us to Lose and i think that we would be best concentrating on Europe instead

[Moppy]

Any news on how bad the injuries are?

[Hughesy]

See post above Moppy

[SAS]

i totally agree and said the same thing when we got drawn against them

that i hope we get knocked out if we are still in the uefa

and alas we are, so lets put out some youngsters and lose:) but id take a win but carry on playing youngsters

im happy with that, just a shame two minor injuries

[rover6]

McEverley was out of his league first half, better second half. Still dont see him as a regular first choice left back tho. If Neill leaves in Jan we are relying on Gray returning to form.

Still think that Andy Taylor should've been making his debut for Rovers yesterday. McEveley has had his chance and has proven that whilst attacking-wise he has potential, defensively he is pretty rubbish.

[Cocker]

Still think that Andy Taylor should've been making his debut for Rovers yesterday. McEveley has had his chance and has proven that whilst attacking-wise he has potential, defensively he is pretty rubbish.

He just needs to keep his mind on the game. I remember he switched off against Liverpool and cost us the points by taking a throwing and throwing it to them