[Archived] Sam Allardyce

[Steve Moss]

there ya go again trying to tempt an alcoholic back to beer

As a drinker, I prefer the term beer aficionado over alcoholic. Alcoholic makes it sound like I (and you) have a problem, as opposed to merely embracing the greatness that is beer.

[Exiled in Toronto]

We have played some football in patches you won't get any argument there. I think we have played a few more longer passes than we should have but as opposed to looking at the front man I think we should look nearer the middle. So far in the main we have played Jones, N'zonzi and P, P, Pedersen. Now two of them really are holders, they sit deep and when either of them get possession the other is a sideways pass away. Gamst is the main man forward in the middle and is easily picked up. Now when this happens we have the main just won the ball back so our wingers are still deep and easily picked up by the full backs of the opposition. This means they are not an easy option. So really if I think about perhaps the personel in the middle have played a big role in us playing it back and then looking to hit the front man a lot.

Now on Saturday we had Emerton in there, he's mobile and likes to play further forward than N'zonzi meaning Gamnst wasn't the only option for the forward pass through the middle. This also makes life easier for the front man, with 2 midfielder further forward or looking to get there when we win the ball back, there's one more man for the opposition to mark. Because of this extra option we push there midfield deeper and create a bit more space to play in and some more time. Before With N'zonzi there as well (deep) and only P, P, Pedersen forward of the three I can push my midfield up and take your playing space away.

Another factor that needs to be considered is the introduction of the man who cannot side a ball from 1 yard, Diouf MKII. Now despite his awful finishing at the far post he has a vital attribute, pace. Before when we got the ball to Diouf on the left in the main we couldn't get our right winger up in time to support the front man. His introduction meant that this was possible. One other aspect from his introduction was that he played narrow at time, which he will do as he's a central player. But the bonus this created for us on the right was that when Salgado comes charging up with his girly locks in flow he had a lot more space to play with.

So for me the biggest and best change that occurred was Emerton in the middle he pushed further up the pitch but his mobility made all the difference and gave us more forward options to play in the middle. This meant we didn't have to look to hit the front as often as we have on occasions. Diouf MKII played a big role as well in supporting the front man and giving goldylocks some room to overlap.

Now for me the way to make it work more would be to line-up like this:

Robbo

Salgado Samba Nelsen Givet

Emerton Jones

Diouf MKII Dunn Diouf MKI

Banjoni

Dunn would be the better option coming in from midfield and his passing could really open things up on the flanks. I am very tempted to play Kalinic as I think the changes in the middle may mean we could play the ball to him in a more varied manner. But Banjoni did manage to hit the back end of the donkey and so has earnt his start. Perhaps the most telling decision of our season could be that Sam had finally found what some have thought for a while, Emerton is not a wide man.

But I said that about P, P, Pedersen.

Agree with that. But I for one still question the benefit of having 2 fullbacks who are unable to function as modern-day fullbacks. Givet never ventures upfield in open play meaning that Diouf, who is playing well, never has his marker distracted by the overlap nor does a centre-half get pulled out wide to cover. If Diouf had such a benefit then maybe his form could have translated into more goals - he hasn't scored this calendar year.

On the other flank, Salgado, for all his great attitude and crunching tackles, is just too slow. When he gets down the wing he is incapable of getting past a man and then incapable of getting back in time. Fullback seems to be the most athletic position on the pitch nowadays with both defensive and attacking duties.

[Majiball]

Agree with that. But I for one still question the benefit of having 2 fullbacks who are unable to function as modern-day fullbacks. Givet never ventures upfield in open play meaning that Diouf, who is playing well, never has his marker distracted by the overlap nor does a centre-half get pulled out wide to cover. If Diouf had such a benefit then maybe his form could have translated into more goals - he hasn't scored this calendar year.

On the other flank, Salgado, for all his great attitude and crunching tackles, is just too slow. When he gets down the wing he is incapable of getting past a man and then incapable of getting back in time. Fullback seems to be the most athletic position on the pitch nowadays with both defensive and attacking duties.

Without doubt the fullback position is now the most demanding on the pitch in the modern game. The trouble is that for us to have them would require a serious change across the board, tactically. Olsson and Emerton could play the roles, but we probably don't have the right players further up the park to ensure that we will retain the ball like a Arsenal, United or Chelsea. In all effect we would have 3 defensive players on the pitch in Jones, Nelsen and Samba. This would leave us very vunerable to the counter especially since we are lacking in the middle. Would Emerton for example know when to hold his position or move forward to the same degree as someone who has played that role all his life, its doubtful. Clean sheets are key for us as we do lack finishing ability in our players and so cannot garuntee that we will score 2, something we have struggled to do, so safety first is probably best with the players we have.

however should Venky's decide that funds are available, left back would be one of the later roles we should look at so we can start to involve more players in our attacking moves. But even at Bolton Sam really didn't use full-backs in the Cole mould.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Clean sheets are key for us as we do lack finishing ability in our players and so cannot garuntee that we will score 2, something we have struggled to do, so safety first is probably best with the players we have.

But even with non-adventurous fullbacks and 2 sitting midfielders, plus a tendency to sit 30 yards further back after we occasionally score, we leak like a sieve at the back, which to me says it isn't working. Look at how many times we have lost the lead.

Chicken and egg. How many times will we score more than we let in when we only have 4 players who get into their half in open play? We never get penalties or even free kicks within shooting range because we hardly ever have the ball under control supported by numbers in the last third of the pitch.

[Miker]

EiT, I don't agree with you often, but I agree on what you say about our full-backs. Givet and Salgado can do the job, but to take the team to a higher level, we need more adventurous full-backs. Emerton and Olsson can do the job, but as has been pointed out previously, Olsson isn't ideal defensively. I don't see Emerton being moved to full-back either.

[Majiball]

But even with non-adventurous fullbacks and 2 sitting midfielders, plus a tendency to sit 30 yards further back after we occasionally score, we leak like a sieve at the back, which to me says it isn't working. Look at how many times we have lost the lead.

Chicken and egg. How many times will we score more than we let in when we only have 4 players who get into their half in open play? We never get penalties or even free kicks within shooting range because we hardly ever have the ball under control supported by numbers in the last third of the pitch.

Very true. I think we have one or two players in our team that get drawn to the ball as opposed to worrying about the real danger their man and maintaining our shape. Our defence has ended up in some shocking positions at times especially torres's goal which could have been anyone of three players scoring.

The changes for the chelsea game if continued should help with this because we will be able to retain the ball better and also penetrate. The games where we have scored, we have tended to sit deep in our own half and let them do most of the work. When you concede you want the ball, you want to get your confidence back and posession is one way of helping with that. The Chelsea game saw us press further up the pitch and so we stopped this from happening so much, our basic stats where much better than chelsea's even shots.

If you look at the Anleka goal there's confusion over who should be where and marking whom basic errors really. Nelsen's back pedalling to try and get his head on a ball he shouldn't really be going for, if he holds his position in the middle he wins the knock-down. Does he even know Olssons there? but even before that, Chelsea split our back 4 and completely ripped our defensive shape apart. In all seriousness it shouldn't have even come to him getting the ball, if Olsson and Nelsen step up as opposed to following him he's off-side and we have the ball back or chelsea attack down our left.

If you look at the second our defence are actually in good positions and a good shape all of the people they are required to be looking after are there. Ivanovic the right back has come so far forward they are not even thinking about him, he's cleverly drifted up into position out of there line of sight. You could say they are all too square to the ball and should have a more open body position, but you could also argue that Nelsen and Olsson have basically swapped places. Olsson is in between Nelsen and Samba so his position could be questioned, would Givet have done the same? Again though who would I want marking their full back since he must have come the best part of the full pitch, my left winger. Ours is nowhere to be seen so Ivanovic as stated can just drift in as our defence is occupied with their men and protecting the space in the middle.

If we look at the way we played overall though and consider the quality of the opposition we faced last Saturday we won't concede like we did often. If we can retain the ball as we did and hurry teams when we don't then we will beat the smaller teams in this league. But we do need to eradicate the silly defensive errors that we have been making and I thought we had last season.

[Exiled in Toronto]

Givet and Salgado can do the job, but to take the team to a higher level, we need more adventurous full-backs.

But they can't do the job - they can only do half of it. I'm not asking for Cole, just another Lucas Neill or two - a proper full back who is a good athlete.

Personally, I thought we were better off with that Dane who's name escapes me and Chimp, despite their limitations.

[thenodrog]

But even at Bolton Sam really didn't use full-backs in the Cole mould.

Gardner?

[thenodrog]

I think it is a bit short sighted to say that we didn't change style of play against CHelsea. The key thing was we were keeping the ball on the floor. The main culprits in the past have been the defenders launching it. For some reason we didn't do that so much.

You can say that maybe that was the defenders collective decision or a result of them having a goof game. Personally I think Sam's instructions would have been key, as well as a lack of pressure from the Chelsea forwards when we had the ball. Nonetheless there is no way to be sure. What was particularly surprising about it is we were playing Jones and Emerton in the centre - neither of who are particularly famous for their passing ability.

All I want to see is that this approach continues against Wigan, ideally without Pedersen on the pitch as he has been terrible recently.

Chelsea dont string 5 across midfield. If they did I'm sure we would have played more long ball football. Chelsea leave room in midfield and have two aerially dominant centre halves so going through their midfield is likely to be a better tactic than going over it. As soon as we play a team that sets out to clog up midfield I expect we will try to by pass it.

[John]

But they can't do the job - they can only do half of it. I'm not asking for Cole, just another Lucas Neill or two - a proper full back who is a good athlete.

Personally, I thought we were better off with that Dane who's name escapes me and Chimp, despite their limitations.

Short memories - a big part of the reason for our success last season was we kept a few clean sheets.

Whilst it is not pretty, Givet/Salgado do a job for most of the time. Of course someone will tell me, that was last season what about now but that does not stack up - best not to have knee jerk reactions just because you hate the manager.

Olsson is an athlete, but we know cannot defend as well as Givet, and can be a liability at left back. Chimbonda gets caught out too often even though on rare occasions looked class last season (in some matches).

We all seem to forget too often the limitations we currently have as a club by having one of the smallest transfer budgets in the league - the manager would obviously like to add quality to the team/squad in a number of areas however it is fairly difficult when you have zero money to spend.

[Majiball]

Gardner?

True, lousy defender though.

[thenodrog]

True, lousy defender though.

A charge that one could level at Cole too.

[Majiball]

A charge that one could level at Cole too.

Come on now Theno, Coles actually a pretty good defender.

[Miker]

Short memories - a big part of the reason for our success last season was we kept a few clean sheets.

Whilst it is not pretty, Givet/Salgado do a job for most of the time. Of course someone will tell me, that was last season what about now but that does not stack up - best not to have knee jerk reactions just because you hate the manager.

Olsson is an athlete, but we know cannot defend as well as Givet, and can be a liability at left back. Chimbonda gets caught out too often even though on rare occasions looked class last season (in some matches).

We all seem to forget too often the limitations we currently have as a club by having one of the smallest transfer budgets in the league - the manager would obviously like to add quality to the team/squad in a number of areas however it is fairly difficult when you have zero money to spend.

Exactly, Givet and Salgado have come in and proven to be able full-backs. You can't just disregard that. I agree that if we want to become a BETTER team then we need full-backs that can defend as well as Givet and Salgado, but also be more adventurous in attack. It's one of the areas where we can improve on, but it's not nearly as important as strengthening our central midfield or bringing in a quality target man. Although at the moment it looks like Benjani can do the job.

[Claytons Left Boot]

I've heard on the grapevine that Sam is looking to get a passing game going once the new owners are in place.

It will be unique to the Rovers.

The Khyber Pass.......

Where's me coat?

[RibbleValleyRover]

Allardyce: We're in survival fight

"We are already dragged in to a relegation scrap because it is very difficult to make up the points that you have dropped, it's hugely difficult to start catching up."

"Our home record is the reason - in terms of results rather than performance - that we are where we are."

"It's the most disappointing [home] run since I have been here. Five games, only one win, two draws and two defeats - we only had three defeats at home in the entire last season."

"On the level of performance we are in a false position in the table but one we have to accept is our own fault."

"Home form and a clean-sheet mentality is deserting us. If we put that right starting tomorrow then we will start moving up the league again."

[cn174]

http://newsarse.com/2010/10/27/blackburn-fans-offered-replacement-watching-grass-grow-season-tickets/

[waggy]

heard lard@rse on the radio last night and he reckons we have been playing well this season,ok we gave chelski a game but the rest has been ###### poor

[Ricky]

Birmingham away was a very good performance for 0 points. Apart from that and Chelsea it's been pretty average.

[Gav]

Its been absolutely terrible in the main so far, Saturday reminded me very much of his early tenure at Ewood.

[ABBEY]

waggy if i could plus 100 i would.

Ive missed two games in a row now for broncos and family reasons for the other .I was in london both times and i didnt miss it one bit,glad we won the wigan game but thats it. I paid twice as much on saturday night for good tickets at the lion king and i will hand on heart say i was impressed and got true value for money. the lions enteratind and didnt lauch timon into the boxes they kept it good and attacked scar with passion and guts and won and there wasnt one walrus insight .

[LeChuck]

He's taken a lot of abuse over recent weeks regarding our style of play, so I hope tonight at least shows Sam doesn't want us to play awful football. We'll always be direct, but tonight was much better in terms of mixing it up and making sure the front man had good support.

[Amo]

He's taken a lot of abuse over recent weeks regarding our style of play, so I hope tonight at least shows Sam doesn't want us to play awful football. We'll always be direct, but tonight was much better in terms of mixing it up and making sure the front man had good support.

Tonight was a much needed improvement after the dross against Wigan. It's this kind of performance that should be the yardstick for our side. Whether we can maintain this precedent, on the other hand, remains to be seen.

[joey_big_nose]

He's taken a lot of abuse over recent weeks regarding our style of play, so I hope tonight at least shows Sam doesn't want us to play awful football. We'll always be direct, but tonight was much better in terms of mixing it up and making sure the front man had good support.

I agree. I have been slowly edging to the Sam out camp but today was a tactical masterstroke. Hopefully he can use this new formation to get more out of the players we have. Roberts seems rejuvinated, Junior seems, well, juvinated. Olsson and EH Diouf coming back. We could get some decent performances over the next few weeks.

[RibbleValleyRover]

I agree. I have been slowly edging to the Sam out camp but today was a tactical masterstroke. Hopefully he can use this new formation to get more out of the players we have. Roberts seems rejuvinated, Junior seems, well, juvinated. Olsson and EH Diouf coming back. We could get some decent performances over the next few weeks.

It was definitely a better performance than the one we showed against Wigan and his tactics were spot on today especially nullifying Nolan and to an extent Carroll.

Roberts has shown in recent games he has something to offer especially from the bench. Going off history Roberts will likely start a game look awful then be dropped back to the bench, then come on in another game with say 30 mins to go score a winner and so the cycle begins again. Got to worry about his reaction after scoring the goal and at the end, hopefully it doesn’t affect team harmony. Was he trying to make a point to Sam and certain players? Maybe but it looked like he was acting like a complete prat at the final whistle.

Hoilett looked very good tonight, must start the next game imo.