[Archived] Chelsea V Rovers Preview

[Iceman]

If Sam is going to keep on with these tactics, then he can go f*** himself. Im greatful to him for keeping us up, but if he is happy with these showings then he is an idiot. When we pushed the ball around, for the last 10 mins, we did okay. If he doesnt want to play Benni, then sell the f***** and play big Jase. I would have been happy had we lost 7-4, but have gone down fighting. We just sat back, pumped the ball up and watched it come back to us. Our attitude, or Sams attitude stinks when it comes to the big teams. Hardly any attempts at a tackle, no desire and no commitment. Call me dramatic, but im frustrated and angry.

[ABBEY]

We are not crap. The Rovers are actually a very good side. The squad needs confidence and some deadweight needs replaced. We will be solidly mi-table by the end of December and will make some good signings come January. I am predicting 8th.

Must have strong moonshine in az...mushrooms or heroin.

I've just watched his BBC interview. Sam did call the second half "pathetic". He did not, however, appear to me to throw the players under the bus. His take on it was the own goal in the 1st was unfortunate, the second goal should have cleared, then the Rovers, contrary to instructions (his idea was to take acting opportunites as they came, not try to force them), tried to run up three goals which he found frustrating as that opened up the Rovers defense and Chelsea pounced. Assuming Sam is a reliable narrator, I'm thinking he had the right idea though it was poorly executed.

and if we scored 15 we would of won.

[JAL]

I'm so glad I got into this for free.

FFS someone kneecap Andrews QUICK!

I think we need to drag Allardyce down to specsavers the 'experts' eyesight seems to be failing him.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Apart from Nelsen being unable to compete with Drogba in the air (and accepted not many can) most of our malaise is caused by weak midfield players who simply are not good enough nor strong enough to stop players simply running through us with ease .... even Blake showed that weakness up. Emerton is out of position, N'Zonzi is very promising but very young and inexperienced in English football, the best I can say about Pederson is that he blows between tepid and cold, EHD though talented on the ball doesn't have a tackle in him,Dunny and Grella are very good players but continual sick notes, whilst Andrews is slow of pace, slow of thought, gets effortlessly swept aside by real Prem players and may as well not even be on the pitch, he should not even get to wear the shirt.

I rarely see a player running at us with intent get checked and it's even rarer to see a midfielder 'go with a runner' unless it's the token effort of tamely trailing in his wake. In a nutshell the sheer determination and bloody mindedness required to stand up to these teams is not there and that is precisely the quality that I expected SA to bring. imo the team spirit has been wanting since the Jan transfer window before Mark Hughes left I don't know why but maybe thats where we should all be looking for the answers.

I think you have pin-pointed exactly where our defensive problems lie - may sound daft after a 5-0 defeat - but I do think our defence compares favourably with most teams outside the top 6. Where we continually let ourselves down is covering from midfield - we just don't defend well as a team. For me Sam is responsible for this - yes we were missing players - but basic organisation is down to him. He can blame players for not following the game plan - so drop them for players that will.

Andrews proved what many said after the Burnley game - reasonable against lower teams - absolutely outclassed against the top teams. I keep wondering whether I am too harsh with him at times - as the rest of the midfield bare responsability also - but I got sick of him pointing to other players where they should be, as he watched the player he should have been marking casually run past him.

First half we looked increasingly secure - and Chelsea became increasingly frustrated. Second half they had a purple patch of around 20 minutes where we just capitulated.

Strange thing - we seem to beat teams like Wolves, Burnley etc - and yet when they go to places like Chelsea they put up a far better show than we do. I wonder whether Sam needs to address the playing staff - they are far too comfortable - almost accepting we will get beat before a ball is kicked. Sam actually contributes to the general feeling that these games are just write off in the season. He may be right - but they should at least show some fight.

Interesting foot-note - never mentioned by commentators, but they really should start highlighting more - nearly all the individual Chelsea players cost more than our entire first team.

[G Somerset Rover]

Don't get me wrong guys Andrews was bleddy useless yesterday, certainly one of the worst players on the park. I sat through 85 minutes before storming out so I had a good time to assess the game. I do feel however that a few of our players are getting away without being slaughtered here. Roberts, pedersen and nelsen were all on par with that imposter of a 'footballer' yesterday with Diouf, Emerton and Jacobsen not far behind.

I'm still simmering this morning. Poorer teams than us will go to places like Stamford Bridge and fight, we couldn't even do that.

[dulwich]

Most of the problem yesterday was that Chelsea worked out how to nullify our (only?) threat, the free kicks lumped into the box that caused such chaos against Burnley. Chelsea kept a high line which allowed Cech to come out and sweep up. After this however, there was no Plan B, no alternative offered. This is where Allardyce fails, why I think he is tactically inept. Now, I know most of you will ask what could and should have been done differently. Well pressurising the ball in the middle of the park would have been a start. Has anyone noticed how many teams are allowed to have free long range shots on our goal? Vermaelen, Bendtner, Essien? Even Blake at home? It has to stop, it must be addressed...

[47er]

What got me most about yesterday was that our players had absolutely no self-belief. They were beaten before they started.

Pederson had a great chance early on and was too timid to take it.

[Kennys Magic Hat]

Not seen the game properly, just the highlights so can't comment about the performance but basically people need to get real. Our 4 best players against the Dingles last week were all out and that would affect any team in the league - even Chelsea with all their riches would struggle to adjust if Ashley Cole, Terry, Lampard and Drogba were out of the team.

Whilst there seems to be a worrying capitulation by us against big teams once the game is out of sight, the reality is when we're missing first choice players which we have against Arsenal and Chelsea, we just don't have the quality in our squad to compete. If we can get Dunny, Di Santo, Chimbonda and Samba back next week against United then we can make more of a game of it.

After this match we have a run of about 8 games where we'd expect to pick up points, even against Liverpool at home the way they are playing at the minute. These are the games we need to concentrate on and by the end of the year I expect us to be comfortable in mid table which is probably the best we can hope for this season. If we win our game in hand that is where we'll be anyway.

Come on you Blues!

[RIML]

Not seen the game properly, just the highlights so can't comment about the performance but basically people need to get real. Our 4 best players against the Dingles last week were all out and that would affect any team in the league - even Chelsea with all their riches would struggle to adjust if Ashley Cole, Terry, Lampard and Drogba were out of the team.

Whilst there seems to be a worrying capitulation by us against big teams once the game is out of sight, the reality is when we're missing first choice players which we have against Arsenal and Chelsea, we just don't have the quality in our squad to compete. If we can get Dunny, Di Santo, Chimbonda and Samba back next week against United then we can make more of a game of it.

After this match we have a run of about 8 games where we'd expect to pick up points, even against Liverpool at home the way they are playing at the minute. These are the games we need to concentrate on and by the end of the year I expect us to be comfortable in mid table which is probably the best we can hope for this season. If we win our game in hand that is where we'll be anyway.

Come on you Blues!

I said pretty much the same great minds think alike, these people do need to get real. Funny how we both didn't see much of the game but to be honest I'm not really bothered, I didn't expect us to win, especially away from home, I really don't see what the problem is, is it because Burnley only lost 3-0 away to Chelsea, don't forget they lost 5-0 away to Tottenham. Not many teams will beat Chelsea this season, they beat Liverpool 2-0 at home and like I said beat a team good enough to qualify for the Champions League 4-0.

I'm surprised at the criticism of Sam Allardyce.

I've seen very little of the game so can't comment on the performance but at the start of the season when the fixtures came out, we all looked at October and thought 3 points from that month, anything else a bonus, we've got the 3 points what are people moaning about? How can these people not take into consideration the job he did keeping us in this league. Not to mention our outstanding home record of just 2 losses in 10 months, not many teams will be going to the likes of Chelsea and getting something from the game, they've conceded one goal at home all season, they beat Athletico Madrid 4-0 in midweek, not to mention us having a lot of key players out. I wish they'd get behind the team and the manager.

[Nayef]

Under Mark Hughes, we were hungry tigers led by a master tactician.

Under Ince, we were clueless.

And now Sam Allardyce is going to destroy the Rovers. Did he appear to suggest our players shouldn't have been attacking in the 2nd half and that a 1-0 defeat was what we were aiming for?? WTF?

Rovers are finished now. Mark my words.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

we're not finished. We got beaten at Stamford Bridge, hardly a season defining moment. If the players cannot react from this then something has gone badly wrong. If the players do not go all out against Peterborough or Man Utd then there serious problems.

I'll be in tears if I ever see Roberts in a Rovers shirt again. Abysmal performance by a second rate player.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I'll be in tears if I ever see Roberts in a Rovers shirt again. Abysmal performance by a second rate player.

I can't understand the Roberts bashing. No he isn't the best striker we have ever had - but he isn't the worst. The problems I see with Roberts are two fold :-

1. He needs to play with a partner - as his best attribute is that his power and pace can unsettle teams leaving the second striker to pick up the pieces.

2. His finishing needs drastically improving. However - many of the chances he misses, are chances that no other striker we currently have would have created for themselves.

He was poor yesterday - but the service was useless - and he was playing against one of the meanest defences in the premier league - so give the guy a little slack.

[greco]

what an awful game..

we were out-played, out-runned and out-gunned.

im well aware, that we cant expect to win away against chelsea, but i sure as hell expect a comitted performance AND a team which the manager think can compete.

it seems as if BFS is content to lose these games, while targetting other games with much more determination, a determintion which should be present at all times and all games.

[broadsword]

His finishing drastically needs improving but you can't understand why he's getting slated?????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He's a bloody striker mate, that's why he's getting slated. he couldn't hit a rhino's arse with a banjo.

His first touch is absolutely appalling, he tried to take a touch with the outside of the boot last night, it ended up being a pass.

He's now in his thirties, so when will he improve? Of course he's not going to improve.

[philipl]

81 min Ballack shoots well wide from 25 yards. I can't remember the last time I saw a side shoot so often from distance. That's mainly because Blackburn haven't pressed the ball at all.

That's from the Guardian- second most viewed piece on their web site at the moment.

And that screams managerial failing. Either he cannot get players to do what he tells them to or he gets his tactics wrong.

[Bobby G]

The more I think about it, the more I am sure Ryan Nelsen is well past his best. He is a shadow of the player from 2-3 years ago, and his cracks are very visible against the bigger, and faster teams.

I remember the game against Pompey a couple of years back early on in the season, when he was skinned time and again, and I thought his legs have gone. Well the legs may not be totally gone but when you an inch of anything at this level, you are easily shown up.

[dulwich]

philipl

Posted Today, 11:32 AM

81 min Ballack shoots well wide from 25 yards. I can't remember the last time I saw a side shoot so often from distance. That's mainly because Blackburn haven't pressed the ball at all.

That's from the Guardian- second most viewed piece on their web site at the moment.

And that screams managerial failing. Either he cannot get players to do what he tells them to or he gets his tactics wrong.

dulwich

Posted Today, 09:42 AM

Most of the problem yesterday was that Chelsea worked out how to nullify our (only?) threat, the free kicks lumped into the box that caused such chaos against Burnley. Chelsea kept a high line which allowed Cech to come out and sweep up. After this however, there was no Plan B, no alternative offered. This is where Allardyce fails, why I think he is tactically inept. Now, I know most of you will ask what could and should have been done differently. Well pressurising the ball in the middle of the park would have been a start. Has anyone noticed how many teams are allowed to have free long range shots on our goal? Vermaelen, Bendtner, Essien? Even Blake at home? It has to stop, it must be addressed...

[Fife Rover]

Due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't see or even hear any of the Rovers match with Chelsea until when very late last night I logged on to this site; so that became my very first intimation of the match result or Rovers performance.

Now having read every post up to this point, I am in some kind of shock!

I simply cannot believe the impression I am getting from not just one or two of the usual people who complain bitterly about every Rovers loss, or the regular Andrews/Pederson/Roberts etc haters, but this time it is coming from virtually ALL posters. I therefore conclude that it must be true, and there has been a totally shambolic performance and collapse of team moral.

I certainly did not expect Rovers to come away from this match with anything and would have been both astounded and delighted to hear that they had got even a point; but THIS????????

The picture I am getting from a distillation of all the above posts is one of not just poor play on behalf of a number of players, but rather complete capitulation, and not even trying to compete from every single Rovers outfield player (Robinson excepted)

Now as I have mentioned at various times before I have been a Rovers fan since 1946, so I have seen the whole picture of Blackburn Rovers since WW2 ended, and I can honestly say that in all that time I have seen many many poor performances, and at various points, poor Rovers teams and/or poor management. But the one thing I have NEVER seen is any Rovers team that did not at least try to win regardless of how great the odds against them, and the fact that they had no chance in reallity.

However, the impression I now get from the distillation of the above posts is that yesterday the players deliberately did not try to win at all, and that this was alleged to be some kind of decision made pre-match by Sam Allardyce!!!!

I find that so very hard to believe, even though I do remember some allegations from earlier in the year (last season) that Allardyce does indeed believe in assessing the chances of beating the top 4 teams and decides which matches are simply un-winnable. However be that as it may; if Allardyce is indeed telling his players before a match that it is un-winnable and telling them to go out and just limit the damage as much as they can but without risking injury, then I personally find that absolutely disgraceful and if it can be proved then he (Allardyce) should be reported to the FA for what is virtually deliberately throwing a match. Yes it is that serious if true!!

I hope it is NOT true because if it is then it brings the good name our beloved club into complete disrepute and action should be taken immediately. If anyone has indeed got evidence that this has actually happened,then if they really do care about the Rovers and respect their hard won reputation as an honest and well run club then they should report what they know to John Williams and the FA immediately.

I still can't believe it, but with so many posters saying what they have said, and analysing the total impression created is that there has possibly been some instruction to the players as to the winnability of certain matches, and therefore that there is no point in risking injury by trying too hard in a lost cause. Even the possibility that certain key players that were absent through illness may not actually be ill at all.

I hope most sincerely that I am wrong in my reading of the situation and that alot of the things that have been alleged are completely untrue or mistaken. I have always liked Sam Allardyce and have had no problem with his appointment as manager, but if he is indeed doing things like this as part of his assessing the odds approach then the quicker we are rid of him the better. I expect every Rovers manager and player to do their absolute utmost to attempt to WIN every match they ever take part in....BAR NONE!!!

[Silencio]

81 min Ballack shoots well wide from 25 yards. I can't remember the last time I saw a side shoot so often from distance. That's mainly because Blackburn haven't pressed the ball at all.

That's from the Guardian- second most viewed piece on their web site at the moment.

And that screams managerial failing. Either he cannot get players to do what he tells them to or he gets his tactics wrong.

Worrying isn't it? And it's a scenario that keeps repeating. It goes against the kind of football Allardyce is known for playing. It makes me wonder if the players are not following instructions but then I look at the players and think it's more a case of them just not being good enough.

Andrews does not press, he only runs. The midfield has been weak since January 2007 and it's sad that we still have not addressed it. If we had Savage playing with N'zonzi rather than Andrews we would not be getting ripped apart like this.

[Miker]

Due to circumstances beyond my control I didn't see or even hear any of the Rovers match with Chelsea until when very late last night I logged on to this site; so that became my very first intimation of the match result or Rovers performance.

Now having read every post up to this point, I am in some kind of shock!

I simply cannot believe the impression I am getting from not just one or two of the usual people who complain bitterly about every Rovers loss, or the regular Andrews/Pederson/Roberts etc haters, but this time it is coming from virtually ALL posters. I therefore conclude that it must be true, and there has been a totally shambolic performance and collapse of team moral.

I certainly did not expect Rovers to come away from this match with anything and would have been both astounded and delighted to hear that they had got even a point; but THIS????????

The picture I am getting from a distillation of all the above posts is one of not just poor play on behalf of a number of players, but rather complete capitulation, and not even trying to compete from every single Rovers outfield player (Robinson excepted)

Now as I have mentioned at various times before I have been a Rovers fan since 1946, so I have seen the whole picture of Blackburn Rovers since WW2 ended, and I can honestly say that in all that time I have seen many many poor performances, and at various points, poor Rovers teams and/or poor management. But the one thing I have NEVER seen is any Rovers team that did not at least try to win regardless of how great the odds against them, and the fact that they had no chance in reallity.

However, the impression I now get from the distillation of the above posts is that yesterday the players deliberately did not try to win at all, and that this was alleged to be some kind of decision made pre-match by Sam Allardyce!!!!

I find that so very hard to believe, even though I do remember some allegations from earlier in the year (last season) that Allardyce does indeed believe in assessing the chances of beating the top 4 teams and decides which matches are simply un-winnable. However be that as it may; if Allardyce is indeed telling his players before a match that it is un-winnable and telling them to go out and just limit the damage as much as they can but without risking injury, then I personally find that absolutely disgraceful and if it can be proved then he (Allardyce) should be reported to the FA for what is virtually deliberately throwing a match. Yes it is that serious if true!!

I hope it is NOT true because if it is then it brings the good name our beloved club into complete disrepute and action should be taken immediately. If anyone has indeed got evidence that this has actually happened,then if they really do care about the Rovers and respect their hard won reputation as an honest and well run club then they should report what they know to John Williams and the FA immediately.

I still can't believe it, but with so many posters saying what they have said, and analysing the total impression created is that there has possibly been some instruction to the players as to the winnability of certain matches, and therefore that there is no point in risking injury by trying too hard in a lost cause. Even the possibility that certain key players that were absent through illness may not actually be ill at all.

I hope most sincerely that I am wrong in my reading of the situation and that alot of the things that have been alleged are completely untrue or mistaken. I have always liked Sam Allardyce and have had no problem with his appointment as manager, but if he is indeed doing things like this as part of his assessing the odds approach then the quicker we are rid of him the better. I expect every Rovers manager and player to do their absolute utmost to attempt to WIN every match they ever take part in....BAR NONE!!!

WHOA! Calm down! I'll be fair and say I am very critical of that result and am extremely disappointed that we lost 5-0, but did anyone seriously expect any less? I admit I was a bit optimistic that we could do well if our entire team was fit and we could have our best team on the pitch. Although I didn't expect to win or draw this game whatsoever becuase it just wasn't happening, no way. When we found out our key players were out though, it was the end. Not only does that rob us of any sort of quality on the field, but it was likely completely demoralising for the staff and the players (as much as it was for the fans) to know that these players were missing. Even Ancelotti said that we "did what we could".

It's ridiculous to think Sam is throwing games. We went out and competed against Arsenal and got demolished for it, but still put in a good performance. Regardless of that we would've been absolutely pessimistic against Chelsea due to the aforementioned absence of key players, but it sounds like we tried to keep it reasonable in the first half. I would question what Sam tells the players at half time though, since we perform considerably worse in the second half on most occasions.

[DP]

Philipl and a few others have hit the nail on the head. It's not about individual players and whether they're good enough or not. As the late and great Ray Harford used to preach - defending starts from the front. That means pressing and closing down the opposition from the front man right to the back. You don't have to be any level of quality to do that now do you? We didn't do that at all! Not one crunching tackle! And for me, this has to have come from the coaching staff, and therefore the manager.

[CrazyIvan]

Having heard Sam's interview some of the comments are utterly comical and some obviously have an agenda. Tactics were decided to stifle Chelsea and the players changed their tactics, not Sam. I think when Sam says 'we' he means 'we' and is actually taking responsibility as much as the players. He didn't say 'they', them but 'we' and 'us'. Anyone making it sound like Sam is separating himself from the teams needs to listen.

Disappointed, sickened by the performance but hopeful that Sam can actually get the players to do what they should. It might take a couple of matches but next Saturday may end up with a different result. We'll probably still lose but I can see the fight being there... Something lacking at Chelsea.

[dulwich]

Someone (can't remember who, sorry) mentioned the highlight being N'zonzi's dummy which sent Terry and Lampard crashing into each other. The fact is that there was two players who were flinging their bodies at the ball to stop an attempt on goal. This was in the 87th(?) minute when they were 5-0 up! We didn't see that from our boys from the first minute to the last yesterday, that's what's worrying.

Also, the cynic in me wonders how serious these illnesses and injuries were? If memory serves me correct, we were also without half our defence at the Emirates too, our last "unwinnable" game. Co-incidence, or just bad luck?

[broadsword]

There's no real basis for saying it will be better next week against Man Utd. I'd say the following are foregone conclusions, unless something drastic happens:

- 4-5-1, with Roberts up front, Andrews in midfield and Pedersen down the left.

- If Dunn plays we might score, if he doesn't we won't but in any event we'll get hammered.

- Standing off the opposition and letting them play, especially in midfield

- Baffling substitutions and tactics

- allardyce slags players for not following directions.

all a bit bleak really.

[den]

I think a lot of people are missing what's going on here.

Forget the debate about big Sam or the tactics, because neither of those are the fundamental reasons behind the current Arsenal/Chelsea results. Some of the fans on here have expressed views that the way forward for us, as a club, is to sell at the top and buy cheap.That's what we have done and this is where we are. People seemed happy to take the cash believing that we could replace with better and move forwards. Taking on the likes of Arsenal - or any of the big four - is difficult, even with the likes of the Bellamy's, Bentley's, Santa Cruz's or Warnocks. Without them it's impossible. Now maybe the player sales were inevitable - maybe they weren't, but those of us watching rovers, or football in general, know there's only one direction selling your best players takes you.

Quite simply, the current squad isn't anywhere near good enough to withstand any kind of creative play.