[Archived] Rovers V Chelsea Match Preview

[novella]

give it a rest with the relegation bullcrap ey lads. chelsea are world class. we have battled well this half.

no complaints from me.

[Rover4ever]

this is the same side that slaughtered Boro and Sunderland, we have been their match for the 2nd half, and they have beaten us 5 times in their last 6 visits to Ewood so no surprises there.................

[Rovermatt]

No it isn't. Playing well is important.

Playing well is almost as important as scoring. And indeed picking up points.

[eddiewac]

Be interesting to see if MOTD shows terry and lampard getting away with a warning when they "could quite easily have been yellow cards", which is what they normally say when they cherry pick fouls we "get away with"

[bubblerrovers]

give it a rest with the relegation bullcrap ey lads. chelsea are world class. we have battled well this half.

no complaints from me.

Are you Serious??? do you really think we're good enough to stay clear the relegation group?? are we watching the same Blackburn, If you can't score goals you will struggle and the Goals For columns says it all

[novella]

Are you Serious??? do you really think we're good enough to stay clear the relegation group?? are we watching the same Blackburn, If you can't score goals you will struggle and the Goals For columns says it all

blah blah blah.

yeah i do think we are better than the relegation group. chelsea have absolutely smashed teams to bits this season. they must all have relegation form too. we will get goals with a fit front line which we should hopefully have for the sunderland game.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

C'mon Robbie Fowler!

[LeChuck]

Are you Serious??? do you really think we're good enough to stay clear the relegation group?? are we watching the same Blackburn, If you can't score goals you will struggle and the Goals For columns says it all

The 'goals for' column tells half the story. The other half is told by the 'goals against' column, which will return to be the worst in the league at the end of this match.

So, we struggle to score and have the worst defensive record in the league, but we're too good to go down? In a few weeks, when Newcastle and Spurs have pulled away from the bottom, things are going to begin to look pretty desperate unless we improve quickly.

[AussieinUk]

predictable really... what else is there to say.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Well it's predictable because he's a goalscorer and no one else is on the bench.

At least he didn't throw on a defender!

[AussieinUk]

Well it's predictable because he's a goalscorer and no one else is on the bench.

At least he didn't throw on a defender!

I was referring to the impending result..

[emglch]

it's the failure to get more points from a string of games that make this probable defeat really disappointing. we remain 2 points off 18th after 12 games and the joint worst defensive record and that must have been a huge concern.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

MGP MOTM?!?!

Robbo for sure!

[Eddie]

The boys have played well but just have no attacking threat whatsoever, Next 2 league games are must win now or a see a serious relegation battle

We created two very good chances against an on-form Chelsea side and that was with our two first choice strikers out and a string of midfielders. Not many sides would be able to say that.

We played pretty well, I'm certainly not depressed by what I saw.

[novella]

We created two very good chances against an on-form Chelsea side and that was with our two first choice strikers out and a string of midfielders. Not many sides would be able to say that.

We played pretty well, I'm certainly not depressed by what I saw.

thats the way i saw it. look how tight the table is. its like 4 points between 9th and 20th. some winnable games coming up.

[BuckyRover]

Nor am I. Very disappointed we conceded just before half time but it was a freak goal.

With our injury list we are always going to struggle against a wounded Chelsea team.

Need to start picking up points soon though, but I am sure we will

[tony gale's mic]

We played pretty well, I'm certainly not depressed by what I saw.

This is what people are saying after each game though Eddie. With the worst defensive record in the league, a perilous position close to the relegation zone and a third of the season gone how long more are we going to tolerate just 'playing okay?' (I refuse to call that playing well, but it wasnt as bad as United and Arsenal).

We played some nice stuff in midfield, but yet again we were let down by our ineptitude at the back. Granted the first goal was bad luck but there were too many defensive lapses and the second goal was evidence of this. If we don't beat Sunderland next weekend we're in trouble.

[novella]

This is what people are saying after each game though Eddie. With the worst defensive record in the league, a perilous position close to the relegation zone and a third of the season gone how long more are we going to tolerate just 'playing okay?' (I refuse to call that playing well, but it wasnt as bad as United and Arsenal).

We played some nice stuff in midfield, but yet again we were let down by our ineptitude at the back. Granted the first goal was bad luck but there were too many defensive lapses and the second goal was evidence of this. If we don't beat Sunderland next weekend we're in trouble.

but look at the table. its too tight and early to be talking about a perilous position. you win two games and you are somewhere around 8th - 10th.

[roverfanuk]

Im sorry, but people are loosing their marbles in here...

1) We aren't too good to go down

2) Unless Ince purchases the right players in January, we will go down, simple as that

3) We need some new defenders

4) We need a right midfielder

5) How many more defeats are we going to give Ince before considering the future?!

Just to add, the Villa side we played and lost to the other week is currently loosing to Boro!

Edit: Phew!! 1-1

[BuckyRover]

This is what people are saying after each game though Eddie. With the worst defensive record in the league, a perilous position close to the relegation zone and a third of the season gone how long more are we going to tolerate just 'playing okay?' (I refuse to call that playing well, but it wasnt as bad as United and Arsenal).

We played some nice stuff in midfield, but yet again we were let down by our ineptitude at the back. Granted the first goal was bad luck but there were too many defensive lapses and the second goal was evidence of this. If we don't beat Sunderland next weekend we're in trouble.

We do have a bad goal difference, but that came from the mad defeats against West Ham and Arsenal, we are conceding less at present and positive signs are there. With a couple of quality additions in January everything will be rosy.

[speeeeeeedie]

It was as the majority predicted; a Chelsea win. Yet when it rings true the relegation comments turn up from the usual suspects.

Rovers problem looks to be the lack of a cutting edge. In the past few games we've been all pretty pretty but the final pass or finish has not been there. This is a concern, but hopefulloy the return of Santa Cruz, Emerton, Grella and Dunn we'll be OK.

We need to beat Sunderland twice or elese the twittering will get louder.

TGM: I wouldn't say that today's goals were a result of defensive errors. The first came of a knee, the 2nd rebounded to them after a tackle, bad luck.

[RibbleValleyRover]

On the whole not feeling dejected because realistically it was unlikely we were going to get anything from this game.

A few of points on the game though:

- We gave the ball away far too much when going forward, in particular shifting from defence to midfield. Warnock in particular gave the ball away far too much, something you cannot do against a Chelsea side.

- Pedersen is finished as a Rovers player IMO. No threat whatsoever, gave the ball away far too much and his set piece delivery and crosses were dire.

- Robinson was superb! our best player today. Made numerous great saves and kept the Chelsea scoreline down. Though i susppose there was a bit of luck he remained on the pitch in regards to the Chelsea penalty incident. Andrews was at fault with the rubbish backpass.

Some long term worries about our season in regards to formation. It seems we can't play a 4-4-2 without looking really shaky at the back, but when we play a 4-5-1 we aren't supporting the loan striker enough and aren't creating/finishing off enough chances. We just can't find the right balance between attack and defence.

[Mr. E]

We'll get beat 2-0, pass a ball or two and some people will praise how great we're playing and how hopeful everything is.

Next week, we'll get a last-gasp equalizer vs Sunderland, and again the great optimists here will say how much that will inspire us.

Everything will be just perfect, as long as we don't look at the league table.

[LeChuck]

we are conceding less at present

We're not. We're really, really not.

We've conceded 8 goals in the last 4 games (1,3,2,2). That's an average of two per game, which is actually slightely worse than our average taken over the whole season.

If the stats are anything to go by, the defence is getting worse.

[tony gale's mic]

but look at the table. its too tight and early to be talking about a perilous position. you win two games and you are somewhere around 8th - 10th.

But we haven't won in six games.

As a whole the performance wasn't awful by any means. But it's the same defensive lapses I keep seeing in every game that worries me. Not picking strikers up, sending dodgy backpasses etc...this is the reason why we've got the worst defensive record in the league and the reason why any teams can and will score past us at this rate. I was hoping for some encouragement from this game, but instead I got an average display going forward (though better than Arsenal and Man Utd) and another worrying day at the back. Not a huge discouragement but nothing to stop that sinking feeling either.

I'm not saying we will go down, but if we dont beat Sunderland next Saturday we're right in the thick of it. Spurs are starting to do the business under Redknapp and there's no real sure fire relegation candidates this season.