[Archived] Arsenal V Blackburn Rovers 2 April 2011

[ada2020]

I am not saying yesterday was not a good result.

I am just pointing out were are not out of the woods yet.

Personally I think a draw against Blackpool was 2 points dropped.

Strange that on the LET you afford Rovers a lot more praise:

Bangkok Rover, Bangkok says...

6:22am Sun 3 Apr 11

I agree with Kean in that we weren't undone in midfield today, or the previous 2 matches. It was a performance of defensive excellence and Jones x2 + Nzonzi were all dynamic. Hopefully we can appeal the Nzonzi red as the replay showed it wasn't as bad as it might have looked initially.

Diappointment was Emerton's set piece deliveries and another quiet game for Santa.

Think we'll be OK if we continue to play like that. Team spirit is there in bucketfuls and the form of the last 3 games much improved.

Why come on here moaning about the form guide?

[John]

Really good result - credit to the manager and players.

[bob fleming]

Went for a few cheeky drinks in celebration of an unexpected but very welcome point. So proud to be a Rover tonight and really chuffed, mostly because my nonexistant belief is reignited with a vengeance.

That just about sums it up for me. Cracking performance yesterday. Real spirit and desire. Keep that up and we'll not be going down.

[thenodrog]

At half time v Blackpool the team reverted to the Allardyce way, continued with it yesterday and don't we look more comfortable and solid for it?

Just a few observations...

Where was MGP? Is he injured?

The performance of Emerton was dreadful.

A harsh red for N'Zonzi who appears to be returning to some sort of form. I hope this won't hurt us and I'd expect an appeal to be going in although I'd bet we don't after Steve Kean appeared to side with the decision on the BBC interview.

Why on earth did Kean take RSC off? At the time he'd been bossing the Arsenal centre halves and Roberts just brought nothing to the party.

[imy9]

At half time v Blackpool the team reverted to the Allardyce way, continued with it yesterday and don't we look more comfortable and solid for it?

Just a few observations...

Where was MGP? Is he injured?

The performance of Emerton was dreadful.

A harsh red for N'Zonzi who appears to be returning to some sort of form. I hope this won't hurt us and I'd expect an appeal to be going in although I'd bet we don't after Steve Kean appeared to side with the decision on the BBC interview.

Why on earth did Kean take RSC off? At the time he'd been bossing the Arsenal centre halves and Roberts just brought nothing to the party.

The Allardyce way? We played with a genuine winger with pace in Hoilett, a proper box to box midfield player in Jones and passed the ball on the deck for large portions of the game yesterday 44% possession against Arsenal at the Emirates is hugely impressive IMO. First point ever against the gunners at the Emirates, maybe RSC was taken off as a precaution, he had a hamstring injury two weeks ago.

[BangkokRover]

Strange that on the LET you afford Rovers a lot more praise:

Why come on here moaning about the form guide?

Sorry that is not me on the LET I do post there but my name has no spaces in it.

[Stuart]

Kean has made it his M.O. Not to badmouth referees. He probably thinks it help but I'd wager it just makes us an easy target. Refs can give the benefit of the doubt to the opposition without repercussion. And it's not taken into account in the final analysis of the league table. Hell it's not even considered as part of the fair play table. At least we won't ever get fined I suppose.

Disagree about Roberts. I thought he gave a decent account when he came on yesterday. Everyone did. We seemed a proper 'team' yesterday. As you say, just a shame our lack of set piece flexibility exposed Emerton.

Just think if we'd have brought Adam in!

[AndyC]

well well well. wasn't that the most unexpected but welcome performance of the season.

I was sat with a couple of guys who work for Arsenal and they begrudgingly had to admit the game could have gone either way.

Some things that stood out for me yesterday:

1. Our shape. 4,3,2,1 - Worked incredibly well to ensure we defended in numbers. Arsenal always start like a greyhound out of the traps against us, so its important to soak up the pressure. In the first half, I counted 2 shots that Robbo had to make. Hardly an onslaught. For all their possession, we had players backing each other up all over the pitch. A very welcome sight.

2. Ollsen. I relaise Junior is getting all the praise today, but martin played an absolute blinding game. His positioning, tracking back and forth and defending against a very pacey walcott was sensational. He consistently showed him the outside and kept him away from the danger area. He can run all day and is a fantastic attacking outlet - our best player and one we MUST keep hold of in trhe summer. I honestly think he could play for the big 4 in another season.

3. N'zonzi and the 2 jones's were first to every 50:50. They really wanted it out there. Sure - there were plenty of times when arsenal were stringing passes together, but they totally lack an end product sometimes and we defended high enough up the pitch to keep the counter attack on.

All in all - a very enjoyable afternoon.

well done mr kean. You've had my criticism over the past few weeks and now you have my praise for a well organised, well motivated team performance.

[47er]

Rather than pasting in an irrelevant table you could see the positives from yesterdays fine draw.

We are unbeaten in our last 2 games

We have increased the gap between us and the drop zone.

The team began to look like they can defend.

We can have a week without mass hysteria

We are all happy and grateful for a battling performance yesterday and a point we never expected.

But----"unbeaten in our last 2 games"?

How about "no win since January?" Or "3 points from last 21'?-------wider perspective needed I think!

Yesterday gave us hope that we can squeeze over the line and avoid relegation that should never have been a possibility. Only monumental incompetence of the highest order has us hanging on to our Premier League status by a thread.

[thenodrog]

The Allardyce way? We played with a genuine winger with pace in Hoilett, a proper box to box midfield player in Jones and passed the ball on the deck for large portions of the game yesterday 44% possession against Arsenal at the Emirates is hugely impressive IMO. First point ever against the gunners at the Emirates, maybe RSC was taken off as a precaution, he had a hamstring injury two weeks ago.

4-5-1 with 3 players around the 6'5" mark, 3 essentially defensive central midfielders and Robbo launching longe range free kicks into the Arsenal box. If we'd stupidly tried to out football them as we would have early in Keans reign we'd have been murdered. I will grant you the fact that we had no long throw expert to utilise.

btw... If Samba had not collided with N'Zonzi we might be celebrating 3 points today from a goal straight out of the Allardyce 'hoofball' coaching manual.

[thenodrog]

Meanwhile back in reality

The most worrying aspect of that apart from our plight are the positions of WHU, Wolves and WBA.

[broadsword]

Very welcome performance, I feared the worst after 10 minutes, but we settled down and I couldn't have hoped for better.

We still are in a heap of trouble though because that performance unfortunately was only worth one point. If we can consistently be at that level or a notch below we'll obviously be fine. Hopefully it will not be a flash in the pan.

[Hasta]

Why on earth did Kean take RSC off? At the time he'd been bossing the Arsenal centre halves and Roberts just brought nothing to the party.

Strange how people see things differently. I thought everyone played well except for Emerton and Santa Cruz. RSC no longer seems to be able to jump any more and I'm sure that he is slower than he was.

[John]

Thought we may do OK and that proved to be the case - spirit/commitment has been there to see in the last 3 games.

Hopefully we can redisover how to win a football match, when it really matters, next week versus Brum.

[jim mk2]

Meanwhile back in reality

Three points from 18 is an indictment of Kean and his methods but let's be positive and hope yesterday was a turning point in that he seems to have adopted a more pragmatic Sam-type approach and tightened up the defence.

Now he needs to adopt Sam's tactics for crucial must-win home games starting against Brmingham and hit the ball long and direct in a similar manner to the second half against Blackpool. If Kean can show he is fleixible in his approach and learning from his previous errors he is half way to becoming a decent manager.

In the end though it's not performances but results that will be the judge.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

4-5-1 with 3 players around the 6'5" mark, 3 essentially defensive central midfielders and Robbo launching longe range free kicks into the Arsenal box. If we'd stupidly tried to out football them as we would have early in Keans reign we'd have been murdered. I will grant you the fact that we had no long throw expert to utilise.

btw... If Samba had not collided with N'Zonzi we might be celebrating 3 points today from a goal straight out of the Allardyce 'hoofball' coaching manual.

You're right in that our best chance was created using 'Allardyce football'. But for large portions of the first half we passed our way around Arsenal. We kept possession far better then we ever have done at the Emirates. That was never 'Allardyce football'.

We looked like a proper team and our first option was never an aimless punt forward. Kean got J.Jones in and he was outstanding yesterday and he is also really getting the best out of Hoilett.

Its not fair to blame Kean when we lose but then attribute good performances to Allardyce.

[sam_rovers]

4-5-1 with 3 players around the 6'5" mark, 3 essentially defensive central midfielders and Robbo launching longe range free kicks into the Arsenal box. If we'd stupidly tried to out football them as we would have early in Keans reign we'd have been murdered. I will grant you the fact that we had no long throw expert to utilise.

btw... If Samba had not collided with N'Zonzi we might be celebrating 3 points today from a goal straight out of the Allardyce 'hoofball' coaching manual.

This is very true.. but only difference was that under Allardyce our set pieces were much better.. too many poor deliveries today.

[Tom]

The most worrying aspect of that apart from our plight are the positions of WHU, Wolves and WBA.

It's pretty meaningless though, Wolves top striker is now injured and they got a 4-1 hammering yesterday, strengthening our position over them by one point and three goals. In the last 135 minutes of football weve played better than we have in a long time, keep that up and we won't have to worry about other teams.

[Amo]

At half time v Blackpool the team reverted to the Allardyce way, continued with it yesterday and don't we look more comfortable and solid for it?

Except we didn't concede six goals this time?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

The most worrying aspect of that apart from our plight are the positions of WHU, Wolves and WBA.

That's concerning me also, I think both West Ham and West Brom will finish above us, Wolves may do. Who are the three who won't finish above us ? Big Club, we could give them a push down next weekend. Wigan, had a golden chance to get three points yesterday against a disinterested Spurs side, tough run in now. Blackpool, if they win today at Fulham ( and their away form says they could ) then we've got real problems, if they lose I'll feel a lot more confident. All the others will get out of trouble, Villa etc. Having said that we've our fate in our own hands , you can't ask for more than that.

[Kelbo]

We were much more resolute yesterday and defended well AS A UNIT, that was the key and Kean for once got his tactics almost spot on.

I say almost because, not trying to be clever here, I identified Arsenals weak link at Keeper and centre back and when we delivered the ball well into the box, maybe twice thats all, Nzonzi won the ball in the air and almost scored with the keeper looking for the fairies!! Samba as well came close and then the keepers spill off Olssons shot almost gifted a goal.

We really should have pressurised the keeper and centre backs more but that maybe was more because we didnt make many good deliveries into the box!!

[Sysagent]

Scabby draw time I forecast for this one... Not going to be pretty but I reckon we might just luck a point.

Cringers Fossed!

;-)

Not so sure about the scabby comment, as it was a really well fought point down there at the Emirates yesterday.

I too thought Jermaine Jones was immense yesterday and really did give it his all, as others have mentioned I think everyone bar Emerton and Cruz had an excellent game, it is me or does Cruz just look disinterested?

As for playing a la Allardyce style, yes there were some leanings in the playing style from his era, but I think we do tend to play it a whole lot more on the floor these days, purely because of the likes of Holiett and Olsson in the team it is in their nature to play this way (not to mention Jermaine Jones).

I am still keeping my feet firmly on the floor still here, it was an excellent point gained, but we still have a way to go yet before we are safe for this season.

And yes I am man enough to congratulate Steve Kean for yesterday's show, this could be the turning point in his fledgling managerial career here, I hope for Rover's sake that it is...

[Parsonblue]

Travelling down yesterday, we said that a 2-0 defeat would be a decent result. Instead, the team played with a passion that hasn't been seen for the past few months and got their just reward. I'm no lover of Kean, but yesterday he had the good sense to revert to a Sam style formation and flooded the midfield to frustrate Arsenal. With the players at our disposal, we look so much better when we adopt a 4-5-1 formation. I thought Robinson and the back four were outstanding yesterday and were helped by the midfield, who got through a tremendous amount of work defensively.

However, this wasn't just a defensive display and I thought we created some decent chances, particularly in the first half, on the break. Hoilett and Olsson linked up well down the left wing while Jermaine Jones made some good breaks from the centre of midfield.

The game against Birmingham is now massive. The team have to build on this result by taking all three points next Saturday. The trick for Kean will be to get the team to create (and take) their chances whilst not undermining the defensive stability that we had yesterday.

[Rovers Gals]

well earned point and tactics worked ! feel more relieved and seems that players are battling and pulling together !

[Sysagent]

seems that players are battling and pulling together !

No offence here but they should be doing this game in game out and even more so now if they want to remain Premier League football players...

(not that it matters to what they earn nowadays)