Everton Preview

[modes98]

First half we looked like a top 4 team. Maybe because of everton lack of ability to play football but we should have wrapped up the game there and then.

To back off in the second half the way we did was criminal. We had them on the rocks and then to allow them to play themselves into the game cost us. We should have kept attacking.

Samba was a god and Dunny is most certainly back. All round a very good game, however Benni was definately off colour, he was only offside once!

[pksrover]

Was watching Benni and Santa carefully and I thought there were some good signs of an excellent front partnership. All credit to Benni for being last season's super-hero and for not playing Mr Big Boots at Santa's expense. It is a great shame there isn't the sophistication in the Rovers football crowd to appreciate that the ease with which Rovers attacked in the first half was hugely down to what Benni was doing off the ball. Moyes was not going to be stupid and leave a 24 goal striker unattended.

I have to agree with you philip. I though Benni played well in the first half with good movement off the ball as well as showing good hold up play and linking up well with the other Rovers' players. He was the one who started the move on the right side with a clever turn on an everton defender when Dunny forced an excellent save from Howard. He went missing in the 2nd half though.

Not playing Mr big boots??? What the hell was all the mouthing off in the close season? Yes you are right clearly not a football scholar as yourself then. I did not notice all this fantastic off the ball movement, still in my defence it is a bit hard to see all that on the telly. I thought Benni did not show most of he time, when Cruz got the ball he had more work to do because of Benni's off the ball positioning, I'm sorry but I did not even know he was in the match first half and I was looking for him. He'll pick it up though, then us unsophisticated types will be singing his praises again.

Benni Mac is playing with number 10 McCarthy (not Benni) on his back. If you have taped the game, take another look at it and see if you can find him!

on a serious note though.. can't belive that people saying that they didn't see Benni in the first half? as I said above, I though he played well in that half. A bit like with Dunny, had a very good first half but went missing at times in the 2nd half because of that Everton managed to take control of the midfield with replacing Carsley with Jagielka.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

It's incomprehensible to me that people can still write things like this. How can anyone who has watched Rovers play over the last two seasons fail to understand that the pressure Sav puts on opposition players in possession is absolutely pivotal to the way we play football?

Class midfielders will usually overcome the headless chicken approach, it's not too bad when Bentley and Pedersen are performing but when they aren't ( like large parts of yesterdays game ) we become very one dimensional, when Dunny started to tire in the second half we struggled to put two passes together. I suppose you're either a Robbie fan or you aren't, I like his attitude and enthusiasm but ability wise I'm afraid he's only championship level.

Eddie said but for Savage we wouldn't have got out of our own half, Eddie in the second half we didn't.

[Ozz]

It's a good sign when one is a little dissapointed with only a point away at Everton. At times yesterday we looked very very good. The next thing is to put that kind of performance in over the 90 minutes, and if yhat happens I can honestly see us giving anyone in England a good game.

Very emotional start to the game, seeing that poor poor family crying during the minutes applause in memory of the young lads tragic death. A truly humbling moment for me, and well done to all who participated.

I also thought Moyes was very honest in his after match opinions, and his praise only validates what most people have already said about how well Rovers played. He seemed please to get a point off us.

[Paul Mellelieu]

I notice a one time contributor to this board has made his debut in the Observer's fans' view slot.

I have to say he sums up the game well.

[joey_big_nose]

Class midfielders will usually overcome the headless chicken approach, it's not too bad when Bentley and Pedersen are performing but when they aren't ( like large parts of yesterdays game ) we become very one dimensional, when Dunny started to tire in the second half we struggled to put two passes together. I suppose you're either a Robbie fan or you aren't, I like his attitude and enthusiasm but ability wise I'm afraid he's only championship level.

Eddie said but for Savage we wouldn't have got out of our own half, Eddie in the second half we didn't.

What I like is that Dunn has now started apeing Savage's style and pressurising the opponents midfield but also has the talent on the ball. I think what Hughes is doing very cleverly is grooming David to take over from our Lily in the longer term and it could pay serious dividends. A midfield of Dunn and Reid both on form (presuming that Reid makes a full recovery) is one that promises to be of top four quality. Both those players can (and it shocks me to say this about Dunn, but the turnaround has been incredible) do the dirty work extremely well and then offer lots and lots going forward. Also both of them have at least three or four seasons left in them.

Hughes will look at the team as its taking shape now and think we have a very very strong spine in Freidal-Nelsen/Samba-Reid/Dunn-Cruz; all of whom I will hope will play for us for the next two seasons.

----------------Freidal

Emerton--Nelsen---Samba---Warnock

-Bentley--Reid---Dunn----Pedersen

--------Derbyshire----Cruz

(McCarthy is left out not because of his disappointing performance yesterday, but due to the clause in his contract and his long term ambitions make it unlikely he will be at rovers next August)

Every single one of those players satisfies me as having the quality and dedication to take Rovers to the next level. Yesterday we dominated Everton while both wingers, usually so crucial to our attacking game, had off days. Thats because Dunn pulled the strings in the centre of the park, making the game from there. The variety available to us is near complete: we can play it through the middle, out wide, in the air, on the deck. Perhaps the one option we lack is the ball into the channels, but Derbs is resonably decent at this. If we could have signed Bellamy defenders would have an all round nightmare. And Cruz looks a near impossible player to take out of the game as he is good in the air, good with the ball at his feet, has pace and great movement. And he puts the work in up front. Its early days but he could eclipse Benni as Hughes' all time best value signing.

Theres always room for more first rate players, especially if Benni does leave, including the elusive "Tugay replacement", but Hughes has fashioned an extraordinary side here with minimum funds, turning raw potential in the likes of Warnock, Samba, Bentley, Reid, Dunn, Pedersen and Derbyshire into top of the range performers.

Very optimistic about the future. I massively rate what Kenny did for Rovers but I just think Hughes is the best manager I have ever seen at the club.

[cn174]

Just a few piccies from the game yesterday

http://www.brfcs.co.uk/mb/index.php?automo...um&album=46

[Fife Rover]

What I like is that Dunn has now started apeing Savage's style and pressurising the opponents midfield but also has the talent on the ball. I think what Hughes is doing very cleverly is grooming David to take over from our Lily in the longer term and it could pay serious dividends. A midfield of Dunn and Reid both on form (presuming that Reid makes a full recovery) is one that promises to be of top four quality. Both those players can (and it shocks me to say this about Dunn, but the turnaround has been incredible) do the dirty work extremely well and then offer lots and lots going forward. Also both of them have at least three or four seasons left in them.

Hughes will look at the team as its taking shape now and think we have a very very strong spine in Freidal-Nelsen/Samba-Reid/Dunn-Cruz; all of whom I will hope will play for us for the next two seasons.

----------------Freidal

Emerton--Nelsen---Samba---Warnock

-Bentley--Reid---Dunn----Pedersen

--------Derbyshire----Cruz

(McCarthy is left out not because of his disappointing performance yesterday, but due to the clause in his contract and his long term ambitions make it unlikely he will be at rovers next August)

Every single one of those players satisfies me as having the quality and dedication to take Rovers to the next level. Yesterday we dominated Everton while both wingers, usually so crucial to our attacking game, had off days. Thats because Dunn pulled the strings in the centre of the park, making the game from there. The variety available to us is near complete: we can play it through the middle, out wide, in the air, on the deck. Perhaps the one option we lack is the ball into the channels, but Derbs is resonably decent at this. If we could have signed Bellamy defenders would have an all round nightmare. And Cruz looks a near impossible player to take out of the game as he is good in the air, good with the ball at his feet, has pace and great movement. And he puts the work in up front. Its early days but he could eclipse Benni as Hughes' all time best value signing.

Theres always room for more first rate players, especially if Benni does leave, including the elusive "Tugay replacement", but Hughes has fashioned an extraordinary side here with minimum funds, turning raw potential in the likes of Warnock, Samba, Bentley, Reid, Dunn, Pedersen and Derbyshire into top of the range performers.

Very optimistic about the future. I massively rate what Kenny did for Rovers but I just think Hughes is the best manager I have ever seen at the club.

Yes I agree with you in general there Joey. Also I believe that the highlighted part is the reason why Benni is having another of his little sulks. He is afraid he will not be the sole "big cheese" in Rovers striking set-up.

[ewoodblue]

.

[brfc fan]

Only one contender for MOM yesterday:- Samba. He was outstanding at the back and attacked when he could as well. Whenever there was a chance for Everton to score he was there. The only time he wasn't was when they scored.

I also think Brad did well and Benni was full of tricks so I was hoping he could score but to be honest he didn't really get a chance.

What I was annoyed about was that Mark left Santa on for almost 90 mins when we need him for Thurs. When he brought Derbs I was hoping he would take Santa off and not Benni but I suppose Sparky did what he believed was best for Rovers.

[b12_simon]

Excellent game (watched down my local). 2 closely matched teams really going for it: momentum swinging back and forth.

Everton really went for us in the first 15 minutes and we conceded a lot of free kicks on the edge of the area. Defending was a bit ragged in that period and I was relieved that we didn't concede. The goal took the wind out of their sails and it we could've got another one or two with the momentum we had (credit to their defence though, who we've mostly struggled against lately).

Credit to Moyes who got them back on track 2nd half and they deserved a goal, even one that resulted from a defensive cock-up.

I voted Dunn for MOM, but would've liked 3 votes: one for Dunn (best game since his return), Samba (magnificent) and Warnock (who has a habit of showing up where he's most needed at the right time).

I think we edged the game, but not too disappointed with a point.This game was against one of our closest rivals and one of the most unerrated teams in the Premier League. We've gone to their place and grabbed a point and I'm very happy with that.

[daren]

Savage was great today. I don't think we would have got the ball out of our own half had it not been for him.

I though Savage was excellent in the first half, but in the second we might have been better served with Moko's positional discipline. In the first half we got ALL the second ball - every knockdown, pass, save or clearance ended up at a Rover. In the second half, we didn't chase the ball down as well. Dunn faded a bit, and so did Savage. He would have got the ball from Santa's header (that led to the goal) in the first half.

I voted for Dunn as MoM because he was brilliant. He ran the midfield in the first half, and got stuck in in the second half. Samba was the other candidate, he was excellent. Warnock and Brett were also very good, Brett in particular looked very assured both in the air and challenging for the ball, which I find pleasing. Ooijer wasn't brilliant, but managed to do well enough when pressure was on him.

On Benni, I thought he worked harder than usual, making at least one fantastic tackle at the edge of the box. The way play developed, and the way runs happened, though, he didn't get on the ball much. I think himself and Roque need to work together better, and a lot of our play was lumping the ball up to Roque which marginalised Benni a bit.

Derbs will be kicking himself. I thought he'd use his right foot and slam it in, but he didn't and fluffed it. Fair play to Roberts, it was his header that had to be cleared off the line. All in all, I thought we played very well but was disappointed that the team seemed to sit back in the second half. Carsley going off had a major impact, Jagielka was much better than him. Howard, except for the goal, was excellent in goals making a few good saves, and there were two clearances off the line. We should have won, but as others have mentioned, being disappointed with a point at Goodison is a good position to be in.

[Roost]

We have got the making of a very very good team this season - I am very excited about our potential. Perhaps we can go one step further in our quest for a cup?

Special mention for Dunn - he has come through a tough patch with flying colours - yesterday he was fantastic.

Thanks as well to Samba - SCARY!

Great result Rovers - Bring on Mypa (my father? )

One Love - BRFC

[RoverInWigan]

This is a video of us lot singing at everton away. There werent that many rovers fans but we never stopped singing and i never heard everton sing once

[Rovermatt]

I notice a one time contributor to this board has made his debut in the Observer's fans' view slot.

I have to say he sums up the game well.

And you managed to oust the previous incumbent (Bill Boaden?) who was consulted almost every week last season.

[Roar of the Rover]

Looks like Dunn's back at his best, another good performance and the way Mclarens going , you never know, he might get picked for the England Squad.

[bazza]

I haven't voted in this poll.

I've racked my brains to pick a MOM and I cannot. Which means they all played equally well. So Rovers played as a team which I'm pleased about.

I think the result was fair but I am nagging inside that we had the chance to win it and should have made sure long before their equaliser; which I could see coming during the previous ten minutes.

Still, a very good start to the season. I hope the form continues and the points keep totting up.

[pksrover]

Looks like Dunn's back at his best, another good performance and the way Mclarens going , you never know, he might get picked for the England Squad.

don't be daft, he's a Rovers player! That means that players like Jenas and Dyer, even if they're injured, will be picked before Dunny and Bentley

[philipl]

Very positive coverage from the Independent

By way of contrast, the Daily Telegraph report concentrated on the murder and I don't think mentioned Rovers once!

[Paul Mellelieu]

I think I'm Bill's stand-in, when he can't make.

A fair report in the Guardian. http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Repor...2156795,00.html

[Plastic Head]

Two things...

How did Neville not get booked in that game. By my count he should have had 4 yellows and a straight red.

Also, we don't seem to be making many good chances. Plenty of drive and hard work but all we seem to be creating are half chances and the odd good set piece.

To me quality of final teh final ball so far this season has been poor, apart from the odd good Bentley cross. Defo something we need to work on, coz Dullerton should have been put away on Saturday.

[MCMC1875]

AAAhhhh... Arkle was not a flat horse...

He won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1964,65 and 66.

Arkle is also a hill in Scotland and the Gaelic name for an Elm Tree. So what the pub is named for I don't know.

Just finish chewing my encyclopaedia...then i'll take my anorak off.

A quick look on Saturday revealed it is called 'The Arkles' (pl) so I guess it's the trees and not the Racehorse then.

[speeeeeeedie]

Not a bad game, we should have scored more than 1 in the first half which would have done it. We slacked off in the second but Everton kept on going. If Santa Cruz would have done a Samba and booted the ball into the stands we'd be looking at our 2nd away win. Nevermind, still unbeaten and looking good.

It's already been asked, but how did Phil Neville not get booked? Also, how in the world does he have plenty of England caps? A mate of mine is a Toffee and he can't stand him, all claps and no guile. Dunn ran him ragged.

[joey_big_nose]

Not a bad game, we should have scored more than 1 in the first half which would have done it. We slacked off in the second but Everton kept on going. If Santa Cruz would have done a Samba and booted the ball into the stands we'd be looking at our 2nd away win. Nevermind, still unbeaten and looking good.

It's already been asked, but how did Phil Neville not get booked? Also, how in the world does he have plenty of England caps? A mate of mine is a Toffee and he can't stand him, all claps and no guile. Dunn ran him ragged.

To be honest I think P Neville is a good player. Puts the yards in and frees others to do their job, a bit like Mokoena. Had an off game yesterday but he was excellent last season for them. Not very talented but absolutely committed.

[John]

Really enjoyed the game but can't help feel a bit annoyed, as we should have won.

I have stated my doubts on Dunn before but he is proving me wrong. Physically he seems better than ever and there is more maturity to his game. A few more peformances like this and I will be fully convinced.

Other picks from Saturday would be Warnock and Samba. Overally, some of our passing was slick and of really high quality.

We have set ourselves high standards early on in the season, a good start has been a rarity under Hughes management and potentially, if we can maintain our form, we could be in for a very successful season.