[Archived] Chelsea 3 Blackburn Rovers 0

[thenodrog]

I knew we'd lose as soon as I saw our team. I don't care what some people think of Mokoena, this was the one game where he had to play. Chelsea's strength is all down the middle and we needed to protect our centre-halves. A powder-puff midfield of Bentley, Gallagher, Pedersen and Tugay was never going to do it.

I'm all for attacking play but that line-up was just suicidal.

Agree with that in the main scotty. Tugay gets physically dominated by Lampard in every game that I have seen and today was the same. I have to say also that Poll played a homer which makes things difficult.

I would also have brought Samba on to play up front next to Carvallio for the last 15mins. I would then have stuck Benni and Jeffers at either side of him and instructed the entire team to 'bomb him' from the sky. No passes to his feet etc just mile high bombs that he would be expected to win and knock down for his team mates. Reasons ...1. Their defence without Terry is vulnerable to aireal attack and 2. Midfield is our weakest and prob their strongest areas. So its simple really .... Cut out their 'heartbeat' and 'play on' their weaknesses. In football parlance now that Samba is here we should have 'Wimbledon'd em big time!

[HairwayToSteven]

It's not that I was expecting anything other than a defeat, it's not that that irritates me, but the manner in which we lost. I don't think I watched the same game as the people here who claim we "outplayed" them. We made a few decent passes, looked to go forward, but rarely caused them much trouble at all. While every one of their attacks looked like a certain goal, they could have sleep-walked through that defense. I don't know who we need to play there to get things straight, but things obviously aren't working. We can't defend a 1-0 defeat because we can't defend at all. Just like the Arsenal game, you can search for the "positives" all you want, but the fact is again we showed no resistance and come away with no points against a truly determined side.

Their last three goals were scored in the last 5 minutes of the game. It clearly doesn't reflect the game as a whole. Remember MGP almost made it 3-3 late in the second half, I believe it was the '82 minute or close to that. Yes, they looked good going forward, but that's because they could sit back and counter attack - something arse are very good at. When we desperately tried to get that third goal we left ourselves vulnerable at the back. Towards the very end a lapse of focus and an efficient arse = 6-2. The score could easily have been 3-3 in the end, but that would've been somewhat fortuitous. The boys gave it a good go!

[RevidgeBlue]

Agree with that in the main scotty. Tugay gets physically dominated by Lampard in every game that I have seen and today was the same. I have to say also that Poll played a homer which makes things difficult.

I would also have brought Samba on to play up front next to Carvallio for the last 15mins. I would then have stuck Benni and Jeffers at either side of him and instructed the entire team to 'bomb him' from the sky. No passes to his feet etc just mile high bombs that he would be expected to win and knock down for his team mates. Reasons ...1. Their defence without Terry is vulnerable to aireal attack and 2. Midfield is our weakest and prob their strongest areas. So its simple really .... Cut out their 'heartbeat' and 'play on' their weaknesses. In football parlance now that Samba is here we should have 'Wimbledon'd em big time!

You didn't see the first half

[RevidgeBlue]

Brilliant Rev. Your post above is as funny as it gets.

Seriously though, we didn't outplay anyone. We were easily beaten in the end by a team who never, ever had to get out of first gear. Still, apparently we approached it the right way so that's ok then.

I was trying to avoid any personal references but you have just proved you can't post without being insulting and contravening m/b rules.

However, sticking to the facts, if Poll had abided to the letter of the law on 30 mins, Chelsea would have been down to 10, we'd have had a penalty, and it would probably have been 1-1.

Derbyshire should have scored soon after in a one on one which Carvallho cleared near the line.

Second half Derbyshire should have controlled a great through ball from Tugay which would have left him one one one with Cech

...........But soon after Lampard lashed a wonder goal in from 25 yards.

Nonda came on and should have scored.

............. But soon after they scored in injury time.

We've played much worse and won.

[USABlue]

The game hinged totally on 30 mins. 1-0 down and Warnock was brought down in the area otherwise clean through on goal. Defender came in diagonally, ball went straight out of play in the direction Warnock was heading. Stonewall penalty and red card.

I thought that at the time too Rev, funny thing is the commentators never even mentioned it only one replay was shown. Also a penalty shout right before their second, strangely enough they did not even show one replay of that. I thought the Chelsea fella clearly took out Warnocks leg.

Why is Carvallhio allowed to bear hug attacker ALL the time he NEVER gets whistled for it. Overall I thought Poll did ok the booking on Samba was nonsense though.

[Lathund]

I thought Essien got the ball first, so IMO that shouldn't have been a penalty.

But I'm really surprised there wasn't a replay of the handball a few minutes before their goal. Or maybe I'm not surprised... seeing as how if it was at the other end they'd run the replay 5-10 times throughout the game and the extremely biased commentator (Who couldn't believe how Emerton didn't get sent off for "kicking" Makelele. And at the same time saying Makelele did absolutely nothing wrong in the challenge that preceeed it. Lots of things like that) would have, again and again, claimed what an injustice it is.

But I'm sure a lot of TV producers are Chelsea fans, and they're not gonna show anything that makes their team look bad, unless they have to, are they?

[tsnuf]

Only got to watch the last 15 minutes, but I was pleased with Pedersen in that time span. Can't say much for anyone else, but I would agree that they were just waltzing through the middle - our central mids were far too soft.

[Bobby G]

Essien took the ball as clean as you can. The ball just moved away from Warnock and Essien slid through. The thought of a pen never even crossed my mind and we didnt even see proper appeals from our players, especially not Warnock, just a half-hearted look towards Poll.

The hand off Benni's shot in the second half though, that couldve been one, but they never even showed a replay!

[Biddy]

The game hinged totally on 30 mins. 1-0 down and Warnock was brought down in the area otherwise clean through on goal. Defender came in diagonally, ball went straight out of play in the direction Warnock was heading. Stonewall penalty and red card.

It took me a while there to figure out which bit of play you meant. Finally figured it out and I'm afraid that it was by no means a stone wall penalty. It was a perfectly timed and executed tackle and there were no objections from any Rovers players.

In the second half however when Ballack came flying through a liding tackle in the box with his hands up and it hit them, that should have been a penalty. Can't be 100% sure though as the TV coverage decided it would be more fun re-playing a bit of hand bags with Pedersen and some Chelsea gimp near the half way line.

Seriously though, we didn't outplay anyone. We were easily beaten in the end by a team who never, ever had to get out of first gear. Still, apparently we approached it the right way so that's ok then.

We didn't out play anyone that is true, but 3-0 seriously flattered Chelsea. At 1-0 we looked like we come come back into it. One swerving well hit long range goal later and we were pretty much out of it. At least we didn't stop and could have scored a couple even late on.

[Cocker]

Have to disagree with that totally.

In the first half, by and large, we played some great football and gave at least as good as we got.

We started brilliantly but were undone by poor defending for the first goal.

The game hinged totally on 30 mins. 1-0 down and Warnock was brought down in the area otherwise clean through on goal. Defender came in diagonally, ball went straight out of play in the direction Warnock was heading. Stonewall penalty and red card.

Not surprisingly Poll didn't even give it a second look. (It wouldn't go down with Sky and the Premier League too well if Utd went 9 points clear at this point in the season would it?)

Second half we didn't play as well.

Several players had bad games, Henchoz was reputedly semi fit, Tugay didn't look fit, and Emerton had a mare. The first goal might have been prevented had he not been stuck up near the half way line in no man's land. Gallagher also didn't really figure.

McCarthy was poor, you need your best players to come up with a big performance against the "big 4" and he hardly showed. Bellamy scored 2 goals there last season. Derbyshire was the only player "good enough" to get on the end of our only two serious situations but unfortunately missed.

Eventually we were beaten by the better side and the 2-0 win became 3-0 in injury time. However if Poll had acted correctly and/or we had taken a couple of chances - who knows?

I think we approached it completely correctly.

I was just about to write the same thing so you have saved me a job

[Gav]

I guess you've got to applaud the manager for having a go, no point shutting up shop against Chelsea because they'll unlock the door at some stage.

We had a couple of bright moments but lets face it we could have conceded 6 or 7 on another day with better finishing, Henchoz was extremely poor to say the least. How many times did the opposition get free in and around the box? Simple marking up looked hard work.....

Anyway onwards and upwards, big game Saturday.

[Paul Mellelieu]

It was too easy for Chelsea and they could have won by a landslide. We were too open and invited them on to us. With Scotty on this one.

[Radagast]

From what I saw in the highlights we were soundly beaten after a fairly bright start. Henchoz looked all at sea and was very poor for the first goal, although it was Drogba doing what he does best. His pace and strength are incredible.

It looked at times like we were set to hit the self destruct button, with Tugay hitting a few wayward crossfield passes, and Brad really kept us in the game. the one save in particular where he had to throw himself to his left at point blank range was brilliant - if it had happened at the other end it would have been a wonder save from Cech keeping Blackburn at bay, but as it happened it was only a smart save from Friedel.

With regards to the Essien challenge on Warnock, it looked to me like he timed it perfectly - of course Motson, on usual form all evening, didn't even think to question it.

[1864roverite]

well despite our views

The Special One thinks Rovers played a great game and he even went as far to say he liked the way Rovers played !

[AggyBlue]

Henchoz looked all at sea and was very poor for the first goal, although it was Drogba doing what he does best. His pace and strength are incredible.

What nobody seems to be mentioning is the first goal came from Gally losing possession on the half way line,

he got caught taking too much time on the ball.

[Presty On Tour]

i've got a fiver on ryan nelsen to score first at 33/1.

the fact he has never scored for rovers can be viewed in different ways

the admiral is going to lead bu example

if only that nelsen header cleared off the line in the first few mins went in

[Rovermatt]

The loss to Watford was a disgrace. That result left us needing a win against the sort of side we will never beat on their own turf. It was the same at the beginning of the year. A couple of totally winnable games slipped by leaving us needing a result against Chelsea at Ewood.

It sounds obvious but we need to be cleaning up against the sort of vastly inferior opposition that Watford represent. Results against the likes of Chelsea therefore are a bonus rather than a necessity.

[thenodrog]

well despite our views

The Special One thinks Rovers played a great game and he even went as far to say he liked the way Rovers played !

The stupid knobstick then went on to refer to Joe Cole, Terry and ashley Cole saying that Chelsea players only get BIG injuries! Stupid bguger's (and the interviewer too) obviously forgot that we've had 3 bigger injuries inside a bloody week!

The loss to Watford was a disgrace. That result left us needing a win against the sort of side we will never beat on their own turf. It was the same at the beginning of the year. A couple of totally winnable games slipped by leaving us needing a result against Chelsea at Ewood.

It sounds obvious but we need to be cleaning up against the sort of vastly inferior opposition that Watford represent. Results against the likes of Chelsea therefore are a bonus rather than a necessity.

Agreed. Sparky's cleaned up our act too much and we have become a soft touch for the more physical teams again!

And on that subject wtf did Poll see when he booked Samba? An arm across Drogba at worst!

[CAPT KAYOS]

I also work on a philosphy that appears to happen quite alot of the time -that is teams that have been on runs scoring goals ie us, tend to come a cropper big style to a team who have been struggling, moreso in the scoring dept something you could probably could have said of the rent boys recently.

So much for confidence ... heh ho!

Anyway looks like my philosophy works

I knew people would come on saying it was only Chelski and we had ago but his is what bothers me and this is not a philosphy I do work on- other teams have had a go and do alright ie Reading - we have a go and get nearly slaughtered.

Yet again though it appears we are powder puff when Nonda nonce is playing - so with Mokoena (who didn't play) and Noncy what is there appeal to Hughes?

We have got Bert MKI BACK

We should get a protest going to install MANCHESTER as the new capital as they now have ANOTHER Casino that they really needed to help them regenerate the city so we don't have to play there anymore.

Hope those that went thought it was money well spent

CAPT KAYOS Jan 22 2007, 11:34 Post #2

Champions League

Group: Members

Posts: 2,537

Joined: 5-March 01

From: ALWAYS THERE BUT NEVER ANYWHERE

Member No.: 103

Possibly Abbey but could and probably will work against us as he will probably want to work his way into their good books.

What did I tell you Abbey

[Duff's Minder]

At least if you compare it to the 4-0 drubbing a couple of seasons ago (the only game I have ever left early) last night we matched them for half the game.

The biggest difference between us and them (and the rest of the big four) is athleticism. As soon as Drogba got isolated against Henchoz it was obvious what was going to happen. Imagine the same situation with Derbyshire? He's not going to power past any premiership defenders (luton ones maybe).

The same goes for midfield. We had some technically brilliant players out there last night but how would Tugay, Bentley, MGP & Gally do in a tug of war with the Chelsea midfield?

IMO that's the biggest difference between us and its the one thing Bellamy offered us last year which we no longer have, a genuine athlete in the team going forward. The athletes that we do have in the squad (Savage, Mokeona, Samba) aren't terribly good technically.

All of which means we will continue to put in excellent displays against teams that are equally limited but we'll struggle against the big-boys.

[3rdpillar]

From what I saw in the highlights we were soundly beaten after a fairly bright start. Henchoz looked all at sea and was very poor for the first goal, although it was Drogba doing what he does best. His pace and strength are incredible.

It looked at times like we were set to hit the self destruct button, with Tugay hitting a few wayward crossfield passes, and Brad really kept us in the game. the one save in particular where he had to throw himself to his left at point blank range was brilliant - if it had happened at the other end it would have been a wonder save from Cech keeping Blackburn at bay, but as it happened it was only a smart save from Friedel.

With regards to the Essien challenge on Warnock, it looked to me like he timed it perfectly - of course Motson, on usual form all evening, didn't even think to question it.

Highllights, 80% + Chelsea. Possession stats 53% blackburn. Am I paraniod OR do we get poor coverage?

[BrianPotter]

Well, that was my third trip up in that direction from here on the south coast in eight days, and I didn't travel home anywhere near as dissapointed as I did from Watford.

In the end, Chelsea's class came through - we've got to be realistic when you look at the value invested in each side, with that in mind they really should be beating us more convincingly than they did.

(Anyone who saw the highlights on the MOTD, they didn't show the same game that I watched, no surprises there I suppose).

I must say I was a little surprised when the team was announced, Gallagher, Tugay, Bentley and Pedersen is a very light weight midfield but I could sort of see where Hughes was coming from in terms of an attacking formation.

Rovers started very brightly, and then shot ourselves in the foot. Conceding that first goal was the pivotal point as we had started the better side and (although only 5 minutes in) the goal was against the run of play. The poor defending was the real problem all night. With the ball we were pretty good, without the ball we really struggled to contain chelsea and I think that stemmed from the midfield line up. It offered very little bite and no protection to the back four. Should Mokeana have started? For me no, not after Watford last week. Would it have been a different result if he did - again probably not - we might not have been as open but we would have created much less.

We also lacked composure in front of goal, but also we were maybe a little unlucky. Certainly the Warnock foul looked like a penalty from where I was sitting.

Second half, Chelsea upped the tempo and to be honest, a combination of this and Rovers not playing as well we were always chasing the game. We still had a lot of the ball, but really had to work to create any openings.

The one thing that stood out being at the game was the number of corners we had - it must have been 10 or 11 compared to a handful for Chelsea. However, we rareley threatened from them and far from wanting to become a team that relies on set pieces, in games like this they can be a make weight for the gap in class.

All in all, I thought it was a decent Rovers performance, and 3-0 flattered Chelsea a little bit.

Nothing to worry about for me, based on last night we will win far more than we lose between now and the end of the season.

Highllights, 80% + Chelsea. Possession stats 53% blackburn. Am I paraniod OR do we get poor coverage?

No you are not, I was at the game last night and as per my previous post BBC didn't show the same game that I attended. I have just checked the match stats which confirms my view. It really is about time that MOTD started giving a true and fair representation of the game, if they can't then revoke their rights

[allrovertheworld]

Its all about 'The Chelsea' folks, watched the game on football first, thought we made the champions look very ordinary in places and had at least one maybe two good shouts for penalties. The coverage on sky sports this morning however didn't even mention the penalty appeal (s). Just showed the chance Derbyshire had cleared off the line. We were still in the game with 20 mins left and maybe until the third goal went, always thought we looked positive, however headlines read chelsea had an 'easy march'. Its never gonna change is it. Papers are obsessed with the top four, does any one else think the recent grand slam weekend on sky was ever so pretentious.

Nevermind, if we play the same football on saturday Sheff utd should be an 'easy march'.

All those empty seats were a disgrace, that section facing the cameras there were about 20-30 then on any close ups you could see pockets of seats empty. This is ment to be the home of the champions and a london club aswell.

[Radagast]

What nobody seems to be mentioning is the first goal came from Gally losing possession on the half way line,

he got caught taking too much time on the ball.

Definitely, it was a bit of a calamity of errors all round. Gally made an error, but losing possesion on the halfway line really shouldn't be costing you a goal a few seconds later.

[krislu]

Brilliant Rev. Your post above is as funny as it gets.

Seriously though, we didn't outplay anyone. We were easily beaten in the end by a team who never, ever had to get out of first gear. Still, apparently we approached it the right way so that's ok then.

Man, you have some issues. There is nothing funny about Rev's post. I also saw the game and I have to agree with most of what he's saying. Our defending was poor indeed, but we did create more than enough to score at least a goal or two.

IMO when we play teams like chelsea we need players who can hold on to the ball and not give it away as soon as they get it. Playing mokoena would not have done any good at all, perhaps he can win a few challanges, but he will surely give the ball away 2 seconds later, so whats the point?