[Archived] Blackburn Rovers V Tottenham Hotspur

[JAL]

A very disappointing result, against a Spurs side that did not inspire me.

Everyone knows it but it hs to be said there is ZERO creativity in our team. The strikers are so unsupported and poorly served, it's no wonder why we've only scored once in the last 5 league games.

Time after time I was left frustrated that when the ball was played up to our strikers no one rushed up to support them, leaving the striker to either try taking on the entire Spurs defence, or play it back and break off the attack. The bloke in front of me said there wasn't an attacking bone in the bodies of any of our midfield (Holiet excepted) and he's right. Our midfielder's aren't box to box they're box to half way line.

There was a 15 minute period in the second half when we played with urgency - why on earth didn't we play like that before then is beyond me - and produced our best chance through Benni, I'm still bewildered how that didn't go in. Had it done so I've a feeling it'd have been a different game, as we were playing decently and with our tails up might've gone on to grab a winner. As it was 5 minutes later the urgency had gone.

Sam managed one achievement this afternoon - which was to find someone who could do a worse job than Peds or Diouf on the wing. Step forward Salgado. We might've well have played with 10 men. Subbing him for Peds was a smart move imo, at least Peds was involved enough to mess up, Salgado was as much use as Tugay sat behind me. I'd have told Peds & Chimbonda to run at their right back a bit more, as he'd already recieved a yellow card, and ran the risk of getting sent off or backing off a lot giving us space, but we didn't exploit what to me was a good avenue of attack.

The referee was shocking - some of his decisions were baffling. Some of the balls that the Spurs players "shepherded" out in particular were a fair way away from them, if they had the ball under control I'd have been amazed as they would've had to have had extendable legs or something. As for their first goal, offside, Crouch all over Nelsen, shocking officiating from the officials. Having said that Chimbonda should've blocked the cross and Robbo should've caught it. Poor play all round on that one.

There were positives:

N'Zonzi to me me was class. I've bracketed him in the tidy and promising category, but today I thought he was excellent getting stuck in and with good distribution. He also got forward a bit more, although this is clearly not his forte. Very promising would be more apt terminology on this type of performance.

The defence overall played well, I can't remember Robbo having to save a shot - Nelsen and Givet coped well, goals aside, and one of those was a tad unfortunate. I didn't think Chimbonda had his best game but was very encouraged by Jacobsen at right back, who I thought looked as consistent as ever.

Thirdly Spurs did not look light years away from us. We contained them pretty well for the most part, against an expensively assembled squad. And according to others we played 200% better than we did against Brum, which is an encouraging response.

However, the thing that'll stick most in the mind from this game is our utter lack of offensive prowess. No creativity and no support for the strikers. This needs to be addressed soon as without goals you can't win games, and without chances you can't score goals. Sam NEEDS to rectify this with 1/2 offensive midfielders in January or it'll be a long season.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the back four and NZonzi but the rest...well!

Mrs. Bobbins son, Paul, three shots on target, all end up in the back of the net, then he has the audacity to applaud the Spurs fans at the end of the game. Sorry Robbo your spent in my eyes, cheerie oo, he was more or less on the floor before Crouch hit the ball into the back of the net for Spurs second.

[grizfoot]

The starting line-up announced another host of changes. Was pleased with the back four choice and switching Chimbonda to the left to deal with Lennon's pace was a good move. Jacobson came in and did a steady job at right-back, he's been very good in all the home games and it's puzzling that he goes from starting line-up one week to not even on the bench the next.

The first half was the typical non-event we've come to expect in recent home games. Di Santo chasing and chasing but never really getting anywhere, McCarthy showing some nice touches but not threatening the goal. The big plus point of the first half was Hoilett who seemingly had the beating of Corluka, his end product obviously needs work on but the raw pace and dribbling ability is there which is more than Pedersen or Diouf offer.

The goal came after a mis-hit shot that somehow managed to keep in play and then Crouch rose above Nelsen, legal or illegal to head in. Hard to judge but the general opinion seems to be that it could have been a foul on Nelsen. Wouldn't suprise me to be honest the referee was one of the worst we've seen down here at Ewood.

Second half we started brightly and put Spurs under pressure. The key moment in the game was the McCarthy chance that somehow managed to bounce of the keeper, hit the post and roll away from goal. Spurs for a top four contender weren't exactly brilliant which makes it all the more annoying we couldn't find an equalizer to set the game up for frantic finish. Salgado offered no more than a Pedersen or a Diouf, he just doesn't have the pace to keep up with the tempo of the Premiership. Apart from that one McCarthy chance we created very little else in terms good chances, the odd long-range shot here and there but nothing you could say we should have converted.

Then just as we chuck on a third striker we get pounced on the counter-attackand Crouch gets his second. Undoubtley the 0-2 scoreline flattered Spurs who were very average in my opinion. We contained Lennon and Defoe very well. The problem lied in the midfield and the lack of creavitity, no Dunn, no Tugay, no creativity. Nzonzi does a brilliant job in the holding defensive midfield role but he's not one to get his foot on the ball and be picking out long-range passes.

As for the sponsors giving Grella the Man Of The Match, looks like someone opened the christmas bubbly early. Yes, Grella is an improvement on Andrews but he's too slow and seems to play the same aimless lofted pass time and time again. From my point of view Givet was the MotM by a distance, he was superb throughout and put in some crucial headers and tackles. Always slightly worrying sign when you rate one of your centrebacks MotM, and that's been the case for the last couple of home games now.

[G Somerset Rover]

Agree with pretty much everything there Blue Blood, but its 1 goal in 6 games, not 5.

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

Ha enough of this now. The negative tactics and lack of quality is killing the club. All Allardyce did in his interview before the game was talk about nullifying the Tottenham threat. It doesn't work. The best form of defence is attack.

Man for man the Rovers weren't awful today but the lack of cretivity and composure is embarassing. Did Spurs deserve to win? probably not. Did we ever look like scoring? Definitley not. People keep having a pop at Di Santo/Kalinic but they get no service whatsoever.

Are we missing Roque? possibly, Warnock? not really, Bentley? without a shadow of doubt. To replace Bentley with Diouf was the single worst bit of business the club have ever done.

We are no better off than last year and IMO just as likely to get relegated. I doubt Hughes would come back but right now J Williams should be on the phone begging.

[booth]

No one played particularly bad but the tactics were terrible. Try your best to keep it at 0-0 and perhaps we'll sneak a goal in.

4-4-2 Jim Royle's arse! McCarthy was so deep sometimes he was almost on Robinson's shoulders.

It seems Big Sam doesn't like to attack teams. To be honest I preferred the team with McDonald in charge

[Blue blood]

Agree with pretty much everything there Blue Blood, but its 1 goal in 6 games, not 5.

Cheers, although that's even more depressing.

One other thing - Grella - good first half but faded quickly in the second half. I don't want to jump to conclusions but possibly he wasn't fully fit. How he got motm ahead of N'Zonzi is beyond me.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

Everyone has said whats needed to be said.

I will add that only David Dunn has close to the required level of creativity at this level and only Hoilett has close to the required pace at this level in our whole squad.

I sincerely hope Dunn is back asap and back to his form too.

If I were JW, Id really consider convincing the board for a technically sound creative midfielder.

Emerton, Chimbonda, Samba - all have enough pace. Nzonzi is no slouch (for a midfield player).

Personally - I think if you take todays side - replace Salgado with Emerton - and possible McCarthy with Dunn - and we are on the way to a have half-decent side.

The big worry is injuries - I think anyone of Grella, Dunn and Nzonzi make a decent midfield pairing - but beyond that we are down to Andrews - Emerton is the only player that offers decent cover. On the wings - only Emerton and Hoilett excite in anyway - though I agreed with bringing MGP on today - he again did very little.

The back four are pretty decent with cover in most positions - but we ideally need a regular left back.

January will make or break our season - we desperately need to steer clear of injuries. If we qualify for the final - it will give the players a similar lift to the last time we won in it - and hopefully avoid us getting dragged further into the relegation battle.

[JAL]

bin all these youngsters off in jan, a bit of composure once in a while would be priceless right now got to be some world star striker in his late thirties we could get in for 6 months cheap.............i actually wish we'd signed vieri over di santo and kalinic he could'nt possibly have flopped more than that pair

Benni MaCarthy is one of those men, he had a chance and missed, Brfc 1995 your full of shyte.

Nothing else we could do today. Attacked Spurs all game, got caught on a counter which was bound to happen, but the game was really decided by the imaginary-time played by the referee in the first half. Early Christmas to Spurs from the referee and a waste of our efforts today.

RUBBISH !

The ball was in the air that long, anyone of us could have come out of the stands to claim the ball that Paul Robinson failed to do.

[BRFC1995]

Benni MaCarthy is one of those men, he had a chance and missed, Brfc 1995 your full of shyte.

RUBBISH !

The ball was in the air that long, anyone of us could have come out of the stands to claim the ball that Paul Robinson failed to do.

benni is proven failure! and it would take some sort of marco boogers(play a game get sent off go mental in a caravan and never play again) bad signing to do worse than kalinic and di santo....i'm not prepared to make excuses for them if they can't score as strikers they are failures and vieri would have cost nowt and we'd still have 6m to spend in jan when he could'nt have failed to have less impact than kalinic

pretty sure boro fans ain't reaping the rewards of young strikers right now thankfull they waited for emnes and alliadiere to blossom...and still waiting

[bazza]

I've not read any of this thread.

In the words of Bruce Forsythe " Good game! Good Game!"

Rovers played really well and so did Spurs. It could have been anyone's game. We matched them in the first half and were unlucky to go in at half time one down.

In the second half we battered them for a period and they did extremely well to come out of it not conceding.

The second goal was the sucker punch where we got caught on the break.

Analysis? Robbo was one of those at fault for the first goal; should have come out to collect or punch.

We did well considering that Samba and Dunn were unavailable. Spurs are becoming a top class side. Grella played well but Givet deserved MOM.

Our main problem is WE CANNOT SCORE GOALS.

I'm not as downhearted after today because we played some good stuff. Why can't we play the good stuff against weaker opposition?

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

benni is proven failure! and it would take some sort of marco boogers(play a game get sent off go mental in a caravan and never play again) bad signing to do worse than kalinic and di santo....i'm not prepared to make excuses for them if they can't score as strikers they are failures and vieri would have cost nowt and we'd still have 6m to spend in jan when he could'nt have failed to have less impact than kalinic

pretty sure boro fans ain't reaping the rewards of young strikers right now thankfull they waited for emnes and alliadiere to blossom...and still waiting

Yes that is right - that lumbering Vieri (retired now isn't he) - would have sprinted through the Tottingham defence today wouldn't he. I can just seem him now heading in non-existant crosses.

Kalanic has been unlucky so far - simple as. But he hasn't been missing chance after chance - because we aren't creating that much. So where would Vieri have scored all these goals from ?

The forwards aren't the problem at the moment - it is a mixture of defensive tactics and lack of imagination from midfield. Sort that out - start creating more regular chances - then we will find out how good our strike force is (or isn't)

[JAL]

benni is proven failure! and it would take some sort of marco boogers(play a game get sent off go mental in a caravan and never play again) bad signing to do worse than kalinic and di santo....i'm not prepared to make excuses for them if they can't score as strikers they are failures and vieri would have cost nowt and we'd still have 6m to spend in jan when he could'nt have failed to have less impact than kalinic

pretty sure boro fans ain't reaping the rewards of young strikers right now thankfull they waited for emnes and alliadiere to blossom...and still waiting

HOW many chances did Di Santo and Kalinic have to score today, for me I can only remember a chest down back to goal volley from Di Santo first half.

Christaian Vieri IS finished, why you want to class him in, defies present or current logic.

[tonygreenbank]

Rovers were not rubbish today.Goals change games and their first goal changed the nature of the game.Considering Dunn, Emerton and Samba were missing we did ok. Took the game to them.Nzonzi was immense but tends to tire towards the end, grella was good and showed some awareness in his passing. Di santo was so hardworking and was upset to be taken off. Would love to see him with Niko at some stage.Robbo had 2 things to do which was pick the ball out of the net.

Spurs were not great by any means and we can compete with likes of them.

Our injuries and illmess list is hurting us.

[booth]

benni is proven failure! and it would take some sort of marco boogers(play a game get sent off go mental in a caravan and never play again) bad signing to do worse than kalinic and di santo....i'm not prepared to make excuses for them if they can't score as strikers they are failures and vieri would have cost nowt and we'd still have 6m to spend in jan when he could'nt have failed to have less impact than kalinic

pretty sure boro fans ain't reaping the rewards of young strikers right now thankfull they waited for emnes and alliadiere to blossom...and still waiting

How you can write Kalanic off when he's not yet been given a run in the side is beyond me. Did you actually see the game in the cup against Chelsea? It's the service to the strikers that's the problem, it's pretty much non-existent. And in my opinion it isn't just the personnel, it's the cagey tactics. In the cup they are much more positive, which shows the players we have can play that way and that the management aren't allowing them to.

Vieri? Are you even on this planet?

[sambo]

We need a Kranjkar (spelling error I am sure)..

Someone who can pick it up in midfield and create.

If West Ham go down, I'd also love Scott Parker if we can afford him, a great player.

Too much pressure on N'Zonzi to perform at his age... he's easily our most consistent midfielder (minus Dunn) and he wasn't meant to be playing every game.

[LeChuck]

Kalanic has been unlucky so far - simple as. But he hasn't been missing chan

The thing with Kalinic too is that he seems to fashion a lot of his own chances in places where our other strikers can't, it's not like others are teeing him and he's missing.

My biggest gripe with Sam at the moment is that he won't play Kalinic and Di Santo together, to me they have games that would compliment each other well. I can kind of understand why he doesn't want a pair of 20 and 21 year olds up top, but I still think they're the best option right now.

[JAL]

Just seeing the result again on BBC news, its an utterly embarrassing defeat.

Rovers need to get their act together pretty quickly to avoid further embarrasment.

One goal in how many games and that was from a defender. Plenty of coaching points to be made from todays game. CAN Sam and the coaching staff improve the teams effectiveness, a big ask if you ask me.

[RovertheHill]

I thought we played well in spells today. Ref was a shocker to my mind. Apparently repeatedly handling the ball and climbing all over our players is acceptable.

At least today the mystery of what happened to David Bentley was solved. Tom Huddlestone clearly ate him.

[Muddboy]

We're definitely in the crap after today's performance and I'm now expecting us to be involved in a relegation scrap come the end of the season.

Absolutely no creative spark (apart from Benni on occasions), too many players that simply aren't up to the job that's required, and a team that lacks any kind of cohesion whatsoever.

I thought we did well to nullify Defoe, Jenas and Crouch for almost the entire match but we were incapable of completing the other half of the job and seriously threatening at the other end.

The shining lights were:

Nzonzi (gets everywhere and is clearly up for making the best of the opportunity he's been given)

Grella (actually looked competitive for a change and broke up the play very well)

Givet (clearly more comfortable in the centre and it showed)

Nelsen (Barely put a foot wrong the whole game)

Hoilett (his final ball was sadly lacking but he's learning his trade and Corluka shat his pants everytime he got the ball and ran at him)

Benni (tried hard at times to spark us in to life when it was needed)

As for the others:

Robinson (definitely at fault for the first goal – why on earth didn't he come to claim the cross?)

Jakobsen (had a steady first half but faded in the second)

Salgado (absolutely useless. I know he was playing out of position but he was absolutely miles off the pace and looked ridiculous at times – GET RID ASAP)

Chimbonda (woeful in the first half, didn't seem to know who he was playing for. Clearly very nervous about facing up to his mates)

Di Santa (the lad tries hard but he was guilty of getting his head down and just running into defenders too often. I don't think he's the answer and wouldn't mind if he now went).

Altogether, we're a team that is showing very little back bone at the minute and we're rapidly becoming a pushover.

Something's got to change quickly otherwise I think we're in for quite a rough ride.

[JAL]

WHY do people always bring in the referee when their team has performed poorly ?

Losers always seem to blame the referee.

[G Somerset Rover]

Your right Jal..I think the next two games will make or break us. I'm watching sunderland now on the beeb and they can't buy a win at the moment either. If we fail to beat wigan we HAVE to win the home match against this lot. 4 points from the next two would go a long way to improving our situation and to ease everybody's worries.

[JAL]

Your right Jal..I think the next two games will make or break us. I'm watching sunderland now on the beeb and they can't buy a win at the moment either. If we fail to beat wigan we HAVE to win the home match against this lot. 4 points from the next two would go a long way to improving our situation and to ease everybody's worries.

Fingers crossed two massive games now and not easy ones either.

[1864roverite]

At least sam didnt bring on Andrews, thats a positive I have found since 1700hrs tonight and in the solace of a few Coors lagers, a pizza and tall one.

If your listening Santa, a new midfielder please.

[JAL]

At least sam didnt bring on Andrews, thats a positive I have found since 1700hrs tonight and in the solace of a few Coors lagers, a pizza and tall one.

If your listening Santa, a new midfielder please.

and if Santa isnt listening a new manager.

[RovertheHill]

WHY do people always bring in the referee when their team has performed poorly ?

Losers always seem to blame the referee.

Only when the referee is ######