[Archived] Blackburn Vs. Everton (preview)

[LeChuck]

Our squad simply isn't that suited to playing in this style.

What are we suited to? We have no pace so we can't play counter-attacking football, and our midfielders are useless at retaining possession so we can't play a passing game. That doesn't leave much else.

In Sam's later stages at Bolton they weren't the long ball merchants you're trying to make out, they simply couldn't have used Anelka in that kind of team. Like someone else mentioned, it's almost like a return to Hughes' first season where we need to scrap our way to survival then address the quality issue in the summer.

Edit: I never considered that the drop in the value of the pound will ultimately make Grella an even more disastrous signing.

[only2garners]

By my reckoning they had seven out of their 1st eleven.

We had Emerton, Reid you can't count, hasn't played in eons; Dunn was available. Robbo, yes, Pedersen suspended, so that's 3, 4 at best.

If you don't get the point that they had many more not playing then, that's up to you, but it doesn't take away the fact that we could have, should have won.

What you're not taking into account is that, apart from Arteta, most of Everton's injuries are strikers. They may have a lot of strikers injured but they can't play them all in the same team anyway. Robinson, Pedersen, Emerton and Dunn if he had been fully fit would all be first team choices. I can't see that Robinson playing would have made any improvement because rown did everything asked of him but the other three would all have improved the starting eleven.

[Eddie]

I saw Bolton a lot towards the end (Anelka made them popular on French television) and they were still a very direct team. Anelka had pace and power, which allowed them to play in a somewhat similar style to the way that we are, but simply with more threat of balls over the top and the player holding the ball up had the ability to turn and run at defenses. I think that our lack of pace makes us even more unsuited to our current style than anything else. We can't give the necessary support to the front players as it takes too much time for our team to catch up with the ball, whilst our lack of pace up front means that teams don't need to worry about through balls or balls over the top. A team can now play a high line against us and know that with a decent bunch of defenders and one midfielder willing to sit relatively close that they will either win the initial ball or, failing this, probably win the second one. We looked much better in the second half playing 4-4-2 and I still think that is the best plan.

[1864roverite]

Well, again I waited until the morning after the game to make my views.

Overall, it was a pretty dire game, a game with few chances, a game laden with mistakes, a game with two teams frightened to make a mistake, a game with two teams not really going anywhere in particular and a game where tactics seemed to be missing from it.

Rovers set up a 4-3-3 formation which immediately snuffed out Evertons line up. The biggest problem for the watching Rovers fans was that we had absolutely NO WIDTH leaving our most potent striker way out on the right. The first half can only be remembered for the fine save from Brown.

The second half began much the same. NO WIDTH led to the midfield being inbalanced. When a midfielder broke there was no support from the strikers and vicci verci, a striker on his own had no support such was the gaps between the midfield and forwards.

When we changed it to 4-4-2 it didnt really get any better as Rovers faded away.

Summary

Tactics - wrong for me. Rovers should employ either 4-4-2 or stay 4-5-1. It is no good having a striker of RSC quality and leaving him down the right or indeed having a gap the width of a pitch between him and Roberts.

Chances - Jason Roberts should hang his head in shame. Great chance poor effort. Now you can add that to misses versus Boro, Bolton, Hull, Sunderland x 2 and City. If he had scored we would be pressing for Europe not The Championship. His misses alone have cost Rovers some 12 points and maybe more.

Defence - solid enough but had their hands full with Cahill. Coped well but in the first half they went walkabout for a few minutes which nearly cost us the game.

Midfield and Andrews - Consisted of Grella, Andrews and Warnock in the first half. Grella didnt do anything positive for me, neither did Andrews. In the second half Tugay huffed and puffed in the 4-3-3 mode but then pressed when we reverted to 4-4-2. Warnock did okay and on the one occasion he broke through he was all alone. Reverted back to left back following the injury to Givet.

Andrews - yes he runs a lot and did okay in the first half. In the second half he disappeared completely. His problem is that he cannot read the game. His passing game left him and although he can run, he often runs far to ahead of the game leaving big holes in our midfield. On one occasion last bight, Rovers broke down the right and he was 5 yards behind the play shouting and standing waiting for the ball to come whereas he should have been belting down the right wing.

Substitutions - Where was McCarthy ? Where was Dunny ? Both were benched last night and the only glimpse we saw was when they were warming up. Instead we saw Tugay come on then to be supplemented by TREACY ! I was amazed we saw TREACY becasue for me he is a waste of space, a waste of a place on the bench and not worthy of a spot in the squad.

Referee - well, the less said the better. Yet another inept performance from a supposed top referee. Did not give Rovers forwards any protection whatsoever.

The future - Fulham takes on massive importance. We now need 3 points to even itself out. No sooner do we get out than we are back in the bottom 3. Its getting dire but for me, we just have to win the extra game in hand and ensure that Newcastle and Boro do not better our results.

[den]

Desperately disappointed after last night. A glimmer of hope for me, after the Hull game, disappeared after that display.

Someone earlier said we have the players. Not so sure about that. The defenders are playing out of their skin at the moment, so every credit there. A 5 man midfield could muster very little between them, - then when we 4-4-2, Everton took over. The lack of quality in front of those defenders is frightening. Not a winger to be seen and playing Roberts up front, on his own, is suicide. Poor display, poor tactics, poor substitutions and very little vocal backing from the crowd.

The great thing about football though, is that none of that matters now. The next game is just as winnable.

[Eddie]

Substitutions - Where was McCarthy ? Where was Dunny ? Both were benched last night and the only glimpse we saw was when they were warming up. Instead we saw Tugay come on then to be supplemented by TREACY ! I was amazed we saw TREACY becasue for me he is a waste of space, a waste of a place on the bench and not worthy of a spot in the squad.

This was what got me most depressed. When Givet was injured Allardyce was faced with the chance to slot Warnock back into left-back (which he was going to have to do) and change the side round (by bringing on either Dunn or McCarthy) and instead he chose to give up any chance of a win and bring on Mokoena. A manager can prepare his team during the week, but his only chance to really influence a game during the running is through his substitutions, so far I can only think of Allardyce's substitutions as having lost us points.

[LeChuck]

His hand was forced with the Mokoena substitution because Tugay was already in the midfield, it would have been suicidal to put Dunn alongside him against Everton's midfield. There are plenty of posts (and I think even a devoted topic) about how useless Tugay and Dunn are together at the best of times, nevermind against a team that packs the centre of the park with players.

[alexanders]

I was very dissapointed with Tugay last night, but it just enlightens how hard the midfield battle was. Not even Toogs had the creative impact we where screaming after.

[Fife Rover]

??

that was a woeful display last night , from a Rovers team who have no passion and woul;d struggle in the Championship.

As for Roberts he should be shot at dawn. Earlier posters said he had lost us 4 or 6 points this season...no it is far worse: Boro away; Sunderland away; Pompey away; 2 aginst Man City at home and of course that criminal act last night.

I may take up knitting for more entertainment. :rolleyes:

If the above is how you saw the match, then there is absolutely no doubt about it: you should indeed take up knitting, and from what I have read from the majority on here so should they. The nearest post to the actual situation came from Paul (a few posts up from yours) but there have been a few(very few) reasonably sensible posts from others as well.

[broadsword]

Huh?

That game was dire. Watching dry paint would've been more entertaining.

[den]

It was awful Fife.

[OscarRaven]

Decent game plenty of comittment.

Grella poor, Roberts guilty again, Andrews tried hard enough but useless on the right, Diouf - not yet fully fit but quality all the same, Nelson & Samba of old are back. Warnock ok, Givet solid - no coincidence him going off made the game a little more open.

Only point is 27 played, 27 points = 38 played, 38 points (not enough). Going to have to gamble for 1 or 2 wins instead of settling for a draw soon.

[Majiball]

The next game is just as winnable.

Its must win now.

Wednesday, 11 March 2009

Fulham v Blackburn, 20:00

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Saturday, 14 March 2009

Arsenal v Blackburn, 15:00

Bolton v Fulham, 15:00

Everton v Stoke, 15:00

Hull v Newcastle, 15:00

Man Utd v Liverpool, 12:45

Middlesbrough v Portsmouth, 15:00

Sunderland v Wigan, 15:00

West Ham OFF West Brom, 15:00

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Stoke are picking up points abliet at home but are more than capable of picking up a point at Everton. Pompey and Newcastle have games against teams around us. We need to be above them on the saturday to add some pressure to those teams. The extra boost would also be well timed our track record against Arsenal is not the best, but Sam's is not bad at all. If we can go there with 2 in 3 who knows.

Curiously does anyone know who they will have back by then?

At the end of the day 4 from 6 would have been taken by most on here. But with the teams around us picking up points its not enough. We just have to put it right on Wednesday, but don't Fulham have the second best home record in the Prem? (At least they did before last nights game).

[broadsword]

Decent game plenty of comittment.

What?

Is that an euphemism for "lots of scuffling, running around like headless chickens, and dozens of misplaced passes"?

[BRFC1995]

Decent game plenty of comittment.

Grella poor, Roberts guilty again, Andrews tried hard enough but useless on the right, Diouf - not yet fully fit but quality all the same, Nelson & Samba of old are back. Warnock ok, Givet solid - no coincidence him going off made the game a little more open.

Only point is 27 played, 27 points = 38 played, 38 points (not enough). Going to have to gamble for 1 or 2 wins instead of settling for a draw soon.

forgetting ince ever happened in a 21 game season we,d get 29pts from 63 available on current form or 53 from 114 if the season started when sam took over. regardless of the calibre of players i think with sams set up its inconcievable we could ever go on the run of defeats we had under sharp tool ince. and if anything with all the draws can only see us getting better than worse.

[Ozz]

Sometimes football matches make the head swim with emotions-delight, ecstasy, despair, surprise and relief . They can make you question the whole meaning of your life, such is the force created by a rollicking roller-coaster tidal wave of excitement that The Beautiful Game can sometimes bring.

However, last night was not such an occasion. My head did swim briefly, but that was with the pain caused by sitting in a plastic seat 100 foot up in the sub zero East Lancs winter air, surrounded by a teenage girl on one side who appeared to be trying to set a world record for the amount of text messages sent during a football match and a bloke on he other with a strong London accent confusing the hell out of me by talking about Rovers long and glorious past.

So the game came and went, I was reminded by Keith Andrews of how Robbie Savage used to play for us, briefly; I never even took my hands out of my pocket in anticipation of celebration when Roberts approached the Everton goal with only the keeper to beat, and I shrugged unsurprisingly when I saw the full time scores from all our rivals matches showed that they had all won.

PIE WATCH

So cold was I last night, I bit the bullet (almost literally) and bought a "pie" at half time.

Now I know what a Chicken Balti is, and I know what a pie is, but I'm not sure how those words ended up together on the wrapper of a pie I bought last night, as there was a large incongruity being exhibited there. Note to manufacturer-putting ten sugars and an OXO in a Chicken pie does not a Balti make.

Final Score Rovers 0 Stewards 0.

[RevidgeBlue]

Decent game plenty of comittment.

Really?

I thought it was a shocker with both sides equally as bad as one another. I agree with DB that with Everton not fielding a strike force worthy of the name it was two points dropped.

In those circumstances and as the home side it was up to us to force the issue and try and get the three points.

Instead we set up timidly in an attempt not to lose it. We managed that just, but only just, as we seemed to run out of steam again in the latter stages.

Four points from the last two games is a very good return but the performance last night holds no encouragement at all for the run in.

Can anyone honestly see us winning any of our other home games playing like that? Where was the passion to be expected from a side scrapping for their lives against relegation?

[Mozzer]

wasnt the most entertaining game but we got a good point against a decent side..i think many people would of taken 4 points from the last two games..

defensivly i thought we was very solid(if sam allardyce was here at the start of the season and we was defensivly performing like this we would never be in trouble)..ooijer and givet altho both wont get forward alot atleast there not leaving spaces in the back four..there leaving if for the midfielders and strikers to create the chances and its making us look really solid at the back..

im also liking the look of diouf-altho he has done nothing spectacular yet i believe he will prove to be a good signing for us..when he gets the ball you just see the quality he has-he doesnt panic with the ball and is willing to run at players-also he is working very hard all around the pitch even doing his defensive duties...

on to fulham were for me a point wouldnt be a bad result-we do need to win, but fulham are brilliant at home..playing 4-5-1 wouldnt be a bad idea aswell..

[LDRover]

What is it with Vince bloody Grella?

Another failure to complete 90 minutes with a 'slight' groin strain? Is the problem really physical or is it mental because I'm starting to think he's got no bottle for the fight. He's also playing in a role where he should be dictating play and snuffing out the opposition yet he rarely is available to receive the ball and scarcely intercepts or tackles the opposition players. Seen enough of the bloke now - not good enough.

Also, I've been a critic of Andrews in the past and it's plain to see he's out of his depth at this level, hoewever, I couldn't fault him in the first half. Mind you he more than made up for it in the second half BUT he was no worse than the rest of his midfeld buddies.

One final thing, I thought we lined up with more of a 4-5-1 than 4-3-3, that being the case how was it that we were totally outnumbered in the centre of the park. I can't recall us winning any 2nd balls from the aimless punts that we directed t their centre halves - it was like the midfield had disappeared.

All in all a very dull game with a fair scoreline and another point to the total.

Move on.

[only2garners]

forgetting ince ever happened in a 21 game season we,d get 29pts from 63 available on current form or 53 from 114 if the season started when sam took over. regardless of the calibre of players i think with sams set up its inconcievable we could ever go on the run of defeats we had under sharp tool ince. and if anything with all the draws can only see us getting better than worse.

Under Ince we got 14 points from 17 games - 0.83 a game. So far under Allardyce we have 13 from 10 - 1.3 per game. A similar return from tha last 11 games would give us another 14 points - 41 in total. Probably just enough but no room for error.

[broadsword]

Can anyone honestly see us winning any of our other home games playing like that? Where was the passion to be expected from a side scrapping for their lives against relegation?

Yet we were very unlucky not to get more than a point against Man Utd.

I don't really understand it.

[speeeeeeedie]

It was a null game. Everton came to compact the game as did Rovers. They had a strong back line with 2 very defensive minded players (Rodwell and Neville) patrolling the middle to keep it even tighter. They are a different side without Arteta, I reckon that is how Everton will be for the rest of the season, they peaked about a month ago.

As for Rovers;

Brown was good.

The back four defended very well. Nelsen won everything, Givet must play every week, Ooijer was solid defensively, and Samba was consistent.

Midfield huffed and puffed as usual. Andrews did well keeping the ball moving, but then had to go out wide late on and got lost. I lost the number of times Grella booted the ball against a player when trying to pass it. Diouf is a good player, wins free kicks and is comfortable on the ball. Warnock ran around a lot and gave us some bite and energy.

Roberts missed another and has a touch like a horse. He is a handful though as he's also as strong as a horse.

Santa Cruz is a class above the rest but was wasted out wide. Pedersen's back next game so hopefully RSC will be back up front.

Tugay is getting older by the day unfortunately.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Does nobody take into account the quality of the opposition. In all honesty Everton are a dire side to watch - who play high pressure football and defend as though their lives depend on it. But they are sixth in the table - only a few points outside the top 4 - and have a better away record than home. They have already beaten a number of our relegation rivals away from home.

Given current positions - a deserved point - was a good one. IMO our performance was forced by the oppositions game - and to be honest we don't have the quality to play any different against such a hard working team. If we had tried to play a more attacking game they would have without doubt caught us on the counter and probably won 1-0.

[Flopsy]

I only watched teh second half (damn you Sky Plus and not letting me watch whilst two other things are recording) but I except for the final ball (which we've been saying since 2001 I thought we dominated Everton, almost completely.

Andrews - got lost once Warnock moved to cover Givet, but, although limited he gave drive and was at least attempting to get the ball forward and create something.

Roberts either needs to learn to take one on ones or should be beaten with sticks next time he misses a sitter like that, at least try and fall over the goalkeeper.

Is McCarthy Injured? Suspeneded or out of Favour because we were crying out for him for the last 20 minutes.

Diouf, haircut apart I thought he was rather good.

Felini - Do you think when he signed for Everton, he googled liverpool and got the image of Harry Enfield's scousers, and decided he'd grow a barnet just so he'd fit in?

So a point gained, but two lost and we're back in the relegation zone thanks to noblot getting stuffed. Still a hell of a lot more positives than negatives from last night.

[waggy]

We are far too negative. This is Allardyce football.

get used to it