[Archived] Everton Preview

[Montfort]

I enjoyed yesterday's match even taking it into accout the result.

Everton were one of the best two teams I have seen at Ewood this season. I admire the way that they pass the ball around and keep possession. I agree with the comments on this thread that this is something we should do more of. However, I very much admire Blackburn's fighting spirit. We were in the game until the 90th minute despite giving away a penalty in the first few minutes. Everton are in great form at present and I suspect their recent form would make them top 4 contenders if they were not hampered by a poor start to the season. And Blackburn were very unlucky not to get anything out of this match.

One last thing, I for one really hope that Pederson signs. I think it will be very difficult to replace him and it will a great loss to the team if we have to

[joey_big_nose]

I didn't see yesterdays game, but caught the highlights. Bottom line from that and reading on here seems to be that Everton were very good, our midfield was over run and we missed Samba at the back?

I for one think Nelsen is 4th choice now. Samba-Jones has to be the preferred paring. Also i am a bit confused as to why Andrews played if Grella was available?

In terms of how we should play I would be tempted to give this a shot in the run in:-

---------------Kalinic-----Roberts

Olsson-----Pedersen------NZonzi-----Hoilett

Givet-------Jones---------Samba----Salgado

------------------Robinson

Hoilett needs some pitch time, and Roberts seems to be well on form at the moment. We need to be able to retian the ball better so Pedersen should drop deep and try and pass the ball a bit. He also, despite often being weak in the tackle, manages to cover a lot of ground which Dunn cannot do.

[RIML]

I for one think Nelsen is 4th choice now.

Why? A lot of people have said this, when I've proven Givet in the centre is clearly no better.

I'd like to see Samba and Jones in the next few games too, I'd give Nelsen more time to recover from the knee injury but people are being way too harsh on him, he's had a couple of bad games all season but I think everyone has, yet there's no talk of dropping them after they make a mistake.

[Exiled_Rover]

Givet's twice the defender Nelsen is. You've proven nothing.

[RIML]

Givet's twice the defender Nelsen is. You've proven nothing.

Neither have you. You can't prove he's twice the player other than the fact that he can play in different positions either in the centre of defence or full back but looking at the games he's played in the centre, he has not got a better defensive record.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Why do we care who's better? We're lucky to have a group of 4 very talented cemtral defenders who can fit into the team whenever they're needed and are usually very good. Lots of teams would love to be in our position when they have injury worries to their centre backs.

Thank god they are still at Rovers and not snapped up by other teams because I'm sure plenty of the teams in the Premier League would certainly snap them up if they became available.

[RIML]

Why do we care who's better? We're lucky to have a group of 4 very talented cemtral defenders who can fit into the team whenever they're needed and are usually very good. Lots of teams would love to be in our position when they have injury worries to their centre backs.

Thank god they are still at Rovers and not snapped up by other teams because I'm sure plenty of the teams in the Premier League would certainly snap them up if they became available.

Exactly, I just don't like how people think after one costly mistake, he's now our 4th choice centre half, madness.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I don't understand why people would rather see Givet in the centre ahead of Nelsen. If you look at Givet's record when he's played there it's no better, the games we've kept clean sheets in, whilst Givet played in the centre are the home games against West Ham, Hull and Bolton. Samba and Nelsen played in the away fixtures and surprisingly we kept clean sheets against the same three teams.

In the cup game, when Givet played in the centre we didn't manage to keep a clean sheet against lower league opposition, Gillingham and Peterborough, something Nelsen did manage against Nottingham Forest

Ok I'm boring myself now, I'm just trying to make a point.

I admire your loyalty but nothing is forever. Apart from Rovers of course.

[CrazyIvan]

Exactly, I just don't like how people think after one costly mistake, he's now our 4th choice centre half, madness.

This board definitely has a 'blame' culture. A loss has to be someone's fault, a goal has to be someone making a hash of it and there always has to be a scapegoat. Now, I know people make mistakes and it costs us goals but this entire thing of picking apart a player because he makes a mistake in a game and then making them out to be worse than a bar of soap is just depressing and plainly wrong. Players making comebacks from injury have a tendency to make mistakes and Nelsen is no exception. We don't have the money to makes Everton, we haven't got the players to match them but by god we had a go yesterday. Get over the all pervasive negativity and look at the good things in this season and this match for once.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

This board definitely has a 'blame' culture. A loss has to be someone's fault, a goal has to be someone making a hash of it and there always has to be a scapegoat. Now, I know people make mistakes and it costs us goals but this entire thing of picking apart a player because he makes a mistake in a game and then making them out to be worse than a bar of soap is just depressing and plainly wrong. Players making comebacks from injury have a tendency to make mistakes and Nelsen is no exception. We don't have the money to makes Everton, we haven't got the players to match them but by god we had a go yesterday. Get over the all pervasive negativity and look at the good things in this season and this match for once.

Ask yourself why. Are they a bigger club than us ? Do they get the sort of gates the top 4 get ? Have they got a world wide fan base ? I think the answer is no, not really.

[roversmum]

Ah, but if you ask if they had more money to spend on players, I think you might find the answer is yes ...

[tony gale's mic]

Ask yourself why. Are they a bigger club than us ? Do they get the sort of gates the top 4 get ? Have they got a world wide fan base ? I think the answer is no, not really.

Everton ARE a bigger club than us FFS. And they've spent a combined £26 million on two centre midfielders alone these last two seasons.

[Amo]

Our first eleven on Saturday cost almost half of theirs.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Our first eleven on Saturday cost almost half of theirs.

That's a meaningless argument. A while back we had players who'd cost more than most -- Grabbi , Davies , Dahlin . Did that make us a better team ? No. It's not just about what they cost it's about value for money.

[Amo]

That's a meaningless argument. A while back we had players who'd cost more than most -- Grabbi , Davies , Dahlin . Did that make us a better team ? No. It's not just about what they cost it's about value for money.

They're higher in the league and have spent considerably more than us, and you don't think they're a bigger club?

Money doesn't equal success, but it bloomin' well helps!

[Paul]

3 centre forwards on yesterday plus Olsson, Hoillet and Dunny and we got beaten! I suggest the Expert has made quite a good point to all.

Only because we were chasing the game and trying to avoid a defeat.

[Montfort]

Possession:

Rovers 37% Everton 63%

Allardyce ignores this stat far too much.

I dont agree with the rest of this post so have deleted it. However this bit is valid. Whilst we continue to give the opposition this much possession we will always put ourselves under pressure. Give the opposition this much possession then they are bound to get something right sooner or later or just get plain lucky. This is a moajor problem IMO

[thenodrog]

3 centre forwards on yesterday plus Olsson, Hoillet and Dunny and we got beaten! I suggest the Expert has made quite a good point to all.

Only because we were chasing the game and trying to avoid a defeat.

Maybe but what was un usual was that Everton had 3 centre forwards on too! For a brief second or two there were 6 on the pitch!

[DP]

Why do we care who's better? We're lucky to have a group of 4 very talented cemtral defenders who can fit into the team whenever they're needed and are usually very good. Lots of teams would love to be in our position when they have injury worries to their centre backs.

Thank god they are still at Rovers and not snapped up by other teams because I'm sure plenty of the teams in the Premier League would certainly snap them up if they became available.

At last some sense. Clearly our problems don't lie in defence. From what I heard, and what I've seen, we invited pressure on to ourselves far more than recent games. Defending starts at the front remember, and that's why we'd done so well in recent games.

Failed to do that yesterday for some reason, and combined with that posession stat it's no surprise we lost.

[TimmyJimmy]

Robbo 5 Did he make a save ?

Salgado 7 Very impressed with this guy, never say die attitude and he'll run all day. Just a shame he's the wrong side of 30.

Jones 6 Steady and competent performance, he got done at the end by a guy who was fresher and quicker. He'll learn from that. At the risk of offending his fan club, distribution of the ball is not his strong point at the moment.

Nelsen 5 Dropped a clanger really early on and never really got going after that. He's behind Samba, Jones and Givet in the centre half pecking order for me.

Givet 7 Did really well for me ,strong sturdy defender, I don't think he missed an header all day. He's not got much of an attacking game but if he had he wouldn't be at Rovers.

Pedersen 4 Ineffectual,lacks aggression. When the likes of Arteta start poking you in the eye you know you've been tumbled. I can think of one or two old Rovers who would have snapped that finger off.

Andrews 4 Ineffectual, just ambles around looking like he still can't believe his luck.

Dunn 5 It took me 30 minutes to realise he was playing, why does he get 5 and the previous two get 4- He's a local lad.

Nzonzi 7 Battled to keep the sinking ship that was our midfield afloat, scored a contender for our goal of the season but was running on his tongue at the end.

Ollsen 6 Ran hard all day but never got any sort of service or support. I like Givet but when he's at left back anyone further forward is strictly on their own.

Kalinic 5 Up against Jagielka and Distin with no service , that equals no output unless you're Rooney or Torres or Drogba - and he isn't. He's a good player but he's wrong player for our system, we need some one like Doyle at Wolves. Strangely when Roberts came on to give him a lift he made a goal with a neat pass.

Subs

Roberts 6 Made a difference when he came on , scored a Sheareresque goal. Proves to me he's an impact player not a starter.

Hoilett 5 Ineffectual , barely touched the ball.

Di Santo - Came on for the last two minutes , didn't get a touch.

My thoughts exactly, although I'd add that I think this is a team in transition so whilst Kalinic my not be the right type of player in this team I think he'll become very important for us going forward into next year. The experience will also not do him any harm.

Don't understand why Grella stayed on the bench, don't understand why Andrews played, it's a defendable decision to play Keith when you have a squad full of injuries but it's not to start him when others are available. An OK squad player but not a starter.

We had four goal mouth scrambles in the first half at their end, with any kind of luck one would have ended in a goal, so I don't think it's accurate of people to say the first half was a nothing half from our point of view. Could have been better I agree but on another day we could have been ahead at half time.

Last observation was why the hell did we water the pitch before the start of the game? We were never going to play a passing game and the ball was always going to spending more time in the air than on the ground. It only helped Everton IMO. There were several times when it hurt us such as when we played a long out ball out of defence to the left wing with dangerous attacking threats but the ball just skidded off the surface and went out for a throw in. Numerous players slipped giving Everton chances that they didn't create. Stupid decision by someone.

Oh no I lied, my final observation is that the ref was a complete and utter w*nker backed up by two gormless tw*ts running the lines.

No I lied again, Sam had a bad game, I'm sorry but the tactics and player selection were wrong this time.

[Rover Down Under]

That's a meaningless argument. A while back we had players who'd cost more than most -- Grabbi , Davies , Dahlin . Did that make us a better team ? No. It's not just about what they cost it's about value for money.

Yes, but as a team we were not 3, 4, 5, up to 10 times more expensive than other teams as is the case nowadays. The differences between teams were a few million not tens and even hundreds of millions difference. It IS a HUGELY relevant argument these days.

[Hughesy]

ARTITA on Gamst - What a wimp!

"I probably shouldn't have reacted like I did but there have been a few times - not just this time - when he has made bad tackles," explained Arteta.

"I don't mind it when they're fair or tough, I accept it with no problem. But with him it's different and he knows that. I told him.

"But I made a mistake. I shouldn't have reacted and I apologise for it. I probably got more upset because I was out for so long and don't want a stupid challenge injuring me again.

"I wasn't even touching the ball. He just trod on my ankle. It was stupid. If he did it because he wanted me to react then he got what he wanted, which I shouldn't have done and I'm sorry."

[modes98]

How pathetic. The guy can't even manage to apologise to MGP. There was no malice in the tackle, he just simple stood on his ankle. No need for the reaction he got and he should have been sent off for it. Strangest thing is that MGP got booked for being poked in the eye.

[JAL]

Everton ARE a bigger club than us FFS. And they've spent a combined £26 million on two centre midfielders alone these last two seasons.

Have Rovers not lost ground by about 2-3 seasons on Everton, what with the end of the Hughes era, then muppet Ince era followed and big Sams survival year.

Evertons squad is far better than ours, but with the improvements made by big Sam in the past twelve months, would like to think that those 2-3 seasons could be clawed back considerably over the next twelve months or so as Arteta and Cahill have intimated they would like to play for bigger clubs in the near future.

[Amo]

When you squiny about being bullied by Morten Gamst Pedersen, you know you're not the bravest soul.