[Archived] Carling Cup Qtr Fnl. Home To Arsenal

[philipl]

Exactly what Rovers should be doing,we really need to put more effort into our academy.

But as pointed elsewhere, transfer fees paid for the Arsenal tem on show last night total to 50% more than the transfer fees paid for Rovers team last night.

Arsenal run an expensive finishing school, not an Academy per se.

[thenodrog]

Exactly what Rovers should be doing,we really need to put more effort into our academy.

I don't necessarily agree with that. The Arsenal 'model' suggests that any extra funding / effort should be in our overseas scouting networks.

Wenger is not disimilar to Hughes in that he has had to sell his best players to fund the signing and development of unknowns. It obviously helps to be a big and fashioable London club playing regularly in the Champions league but nevertheless he has bought and sold very very wisely. Compare Wenger with the likes of Benitez and Mourhino who have simply had the benefit of chequebooks belonging to over rich fools, and he truly stands head and shoulders above them as a manager.

Much comment today has been made about the cost of the Arsenal 'kids' but maybe we should actually be looking more at their current / collective worth in order to actually value Wengers contribution to the Arsenal success story.

I've often been dissed for suggesting that we should be selling our better players (.... only when the time suits and we have replacements coming through......) but that is exactly what Arsenal have done since Wenger arrived.

[Roost]

Positives:

A great game to watch - I even felt my feet again after the Santa equaliser!

Gamst - looking like he played with a little more passion and desire

Santa - surely one of the bargains of the season

Negatives :

Savage - Another contribution free performance. No longer fit to wear the shirt

Reid - out of sorts and out of position

defence - the whole thing

I just hope that we can build on the good stuff from last night - we all know that inside that club there is a superb football team - they just need to find their confidence and spirit once more.

One Love - BRFC

[modes98]

Is Samba suspended this Sunday?

Yes and Warnock is out vs Man City

[gazsimm]

Positives:

A great game to watch - I even felt my feet again after the Santa equaliser!

Gamst - looking like he played with a little more passion and desire

Santa - surely one of the bargains of the season

Negatives :

Savage - Another contribution free performance. No longer fit to wear the shirt

Reid - out of sorts and out of position

defence - the whole thing

I just hope that we can build on the good stuff from last night - we all know that inside that club there is a superb football team - they just need to find their confidence and spirit once more.

One Love - BRFC

and Hughes needs to pick the right starting 11

[Exiled in Toronto]

One feature of last night that impressed me was that this is the first Arsenal team we have faced for years who have not infuriated me with play-acting and diving. All credit to them.

[gazsimm]

One feature of last night that impressed me was that this is the first Arsenal team we have faced for years who have not infuriated me with play-acting and diving. All credit to them.

they are a class side and totally outclassed us with there ability.

[speeeeeeedie]

There are some really stupid posts on here now its ridiculous. Moaning about Hughes/Samba/Nelsen etc...the same people you were worshipping a few weeks ago. TYPICAL STUPID FICKLE ROVERS FANS!

Some fickle responses here!

I fully agree. It's a case of ready-fire-aim for some on here. We have threads extolling "Sparky the great", "Samba the world's best defender", and "Warnock for England" yet they get murdered because of a couple of mistakes. But it's nothing new with us Rovers fans, is it?

Hughes does need to get back on the training ground and work hard on defensive shape. It's an easy thing to work on but if the players ball$ up during a game all the preparation goes out of the window. We'll see what happens against Chelsea, they've no Drogba or Terry so we have a decent chance, plus Ooijer is injured so can't give them a penalty this year.

[roversmum]

Oh dear. I must have watched the wrong match

(in reply to EIT's post )

[gazsimm]

Oh dear. I must have watched the wrong match

(in reply to EIT's post )

the only player i saw cheating again last night was Bentley diving again. I admire Bentley has a player, but i wish he stop diving on the floor nearly every game, its getting quite embarrasing

[Fife Rover]

Positives:

A great game to watch - I even felt my feet again after the Santa equaliser!

Gamst - looking like he played with a little more passion and desire

Santa - surely one of the bargains of the season

Negatives :

Savage - Another contribution free performance. No longer fit to wear the shirt

Reid - out of sorts and out of position

defence - the whole thing

I just hope that we can build on the good stuff from last night - we all know that inside that club there is a superb football team - they just need to find their confidence and spirit once more.

One Love - BRFC

You are absolutely right in all you say PP, but just one little remark applies to your last sentence and the whole of the thread.......... I only hope that none of the players are reading this thread. Do you think it would improve your confidence?

[gazsimm]

You are absolutely right in all you say PP, but just one little remark applies to your last sentence;.......... I only hope that none of the players are reading this thread. Do you think it would improve your confidence?

i hope they are reading it and then they might realise how angry we are with the performances we have witnessed in the last few weeks, sorry its not good enough

[roversmum]

the only player i saw cheating again last night was Bentley diving again. I admire Bentley has a player, but i wish he stop diving on the floor nearly every game, its getting quite embarrasing

Well I know we all see things differently but it was a topic of conversation during the match where I was sitting. I appreciate they didn't roll around as much as they usually do but there were definitely a few rather crafted falls in front of we were sitting. Still, don't suppose they've been attending the Arsenal School of Drama that long as yet! Interesting as well that the ref was quite keen to card Rovers players until he was forced to hand Arse a red card!

Not wanting to distract from the fact that those youngsters are very talented and will no doubt give us many a torrid time in years to come!

Anyone else think the kit was one of the most awful around this season? You'd think with all Arsenal's money they would be able to come up with a half decent kit!

Heigh Ho. Bring on Chelsea. Let's get it over with

[gazsimm]

Well I know we all see things differently but it was a topic of conversation during the match where I was sitting. I appreciate they didn't roll around as much as they usually do but there were definitely a few rather crafted falls in front of we were sitting. Still, don't suppose they've been attending the Arsenal School of Drama that long as yet! Interesting as well that the ref was quite keen to card Rovers players until he was forced to hand Arse a red card!

Not wanting to distract from the fact that those youngsters are very talented and will no doubt give us many a torrid time in years to come!

Anyone else think the kit was one of the most awful around this season? You'd think with all Arsenal's money they would be able to come up with a half decent kit!

Heigh Ho. Bring on Chelsea. Let's get it over with

They must of taught Bentley to dive when he was at Arsenal lol

[roversmum]

Of course! It certainly seems something that is hard to shake out of your system, they must have taught him well!

[waggy]

bygod am i glad i watched this decible in the pub,instead off freezing my ginggangs off at ewood,we were outplayed by the arse reserves,no disgrace as they did it to spurs/liverpoo last season,but when we defend like schoolboys you only get beat,

SORT IT OUT SPARKY

[rebelmswar]

bygod am i glad i watched this decible in the pub,instead off freezing my ginggangs off at ewood,we were outplayed by the arse reserves,no disgrace as they did it to spurs/liverpoo last season,but when we defend like schoolboys you only get beat,

SORT IT OUT SPARKY

I am sure he will sort all of this out, we have to remember we are also in a bit of a flux situation with injuries and suspensions. We should concentrate on a Euro spot and give the team some faith.

[Roar of the Rover]

Yes - Reid should have known Samba was going to miss the ball for the 2nd goal

If you look again, the defence held a good line therefore we would've got the benefit of the doubt when the ball was played through but Reid was about 5 yards deeper and that cost us.

[LeftWinger]

If you look again, the defence held a good line therefore we would've got the benefit of the doubt when the ball was played through but Reid was about 5 yards deeper and that cost us.

It didn't matter where Reid was - I'm sure Samba was goal-side of Eduardo when the ball was played anyway. It was Samba's mistake - simple as.

Not only that - but Reid wasn't 5 yards deeper - I suggest you watch it again

[John]

Freidel: We've got best centre-backs in world

[Paul]

He was not wanting the damb the ball so how can you say he had a good game. he just wanted to get rid of the ball every time it came to him.

We sit in the JW roughly level with the edge of the BBE penalty box so we have a very good view of the left wing position. I have to say I think Pedersen was starting to return to form last night. Yes he made a mess of some crosses but he put some good ones in as well. To say he wanted rid of the ball is completely the opposite of what I watched from the stands.

I don't understand why we didn't play Zurab at right back. Reid did OK but was badly exposed on occassions. I can't understand why Roberts was left on the bench. Our second half game of playing 20 yards further up the pitch and pressurising Arsenal with lots of pacy balls into the box was clearly working. Roberts would have doubled the pressure on their defence.

I realise McCarthy is one of the current whipping boys, and I've had a good moan already this week, but did anyone else think the winning goal directly resulted from his failure to even attempt to pick up a loose midfield ball?

Our pressure in the second half more than deserved a win, with shooting boots and a bit of luck we could have had another 2 or 3. We need to take this form into the Chelsea game and forget last night. It was a fantastic match that we didn't win, we should recognise the quality of the Arsenal team and push on against Chelsea.

One point nobody has mentioned about the Arsenal players is how comfortable they are with the ball. Other than where they stood on the pitch it was difficult to tell a players position; the passing, control, movement, ability to ride a tackle was excellent. great to watch - occassionally!

[adopted scouser]

bygod am i glad i watched this decible

Debacle ? It's never that loud at Ewood

Christ that first half was bad, endured about half an hour then went to Asda, and we, er, scored.

Should I go to Tesco on Sunday ?

[RevidgeBlue]

Should I go to Tesco on Sunday ?

You could always try Ewood Park?

[RevidgeBlue]

I find it funny that there are excuses aplenty for Samba (mentally tired, Nelsen's fault etc.) when it's plain to see he's been sh**e for weeks now. There was no excuse for missing the through ball for the second goal yesterday and how many times did Brian Marwood pick up on his truly awful defensive positioning?

I'm not saying he's a dud and should be sold but he needs to be left out for a decent period until he gets back somewhere near where he was before. One thing's for sure, the excuses for him on here would not be afforded to the likes of Mokoena, Savage and Emerton if they were the ones making the errors.

Samba doesn't exactly seem to be your favourite player Jason and it's true he is having a poor run of form but we've seen how he can play and given his age and experience there's every reason to suggest he can come out of it on the other side. The second half last night being an encouraging start.

Nelsen is far more worrying imo, he just hasn't looked quite the same player ever since he came back from his serious injury and in recent weeks his form has dipped even further.

At his age, unlike Samba I 'm not sure where the improvement or the extra bit of pace he seems to have lost, is going to come from. That said, I don't rate Ooijer and Zurab is too lightweight and prone to lapses in concentration imo.

[rebelmswar]

Samba doesn't exactly seem to be your favourite player Jason and it's true he is having a poor run of form but we've seen how he can play and given his age and experience there's every reason to suggest he can come out of it on the other side. The second half last night being an encouraging start.

Nelsen is far more worrying imo, he just hasn't looked quite the same player ever since he came back from his serious injury and in recent weeks his form has dipped even further.

At his age, unlike Samba I 'm not sure where the improvement or the extra bit of pace he seems to have lost, is going to come from. That said, I don't rate Ooijer and Zurab is too lightweight and prone to lapses in concentration imo.

Samba's lack of form is probably because he is youngish and is suffering from not enough self belief due to the slump we are in. Ooijer in my opinion has played very well recently and I feel he is good back up and could even take Nelsens place when fit again if all this keeps up. Zurab is not given enough run outs to look at him this year lets hope that he gets one for the Chelsea game, and prove to us all he can do it.