[Archived] Blackburn Vs Arsenal

[Mattyblue]

Err ....I hate to disagree with you there Andy, but if the press figure for the number on the march is accurate, then Kean was spot-on with his figure of 1%. Press say 250 on the march, attendance at Ewood today was 22,500; therefore 1% is approx 250. (225 if you want to split hairs).

Yes it was, but his insinuation was that only 1% of the fanbase were against his reign, which is obviously rollocks.

[AndyC]

Rochina has natural raw footballing talent, yes he is a tad selfish and times but thats due to his confidence.

last person at ewood like that, was Bentley when he first arrived. and the time before that - Jansen.

I too think he's an amazing prospect.

[joey_big_nose]

I thought we did well in the second half but it is a bit of a stretch to think we 'deserved' the win. Arsenal could have killed us in the first half and gifted us at least one in the second.

That said we have the birthing of a very good team. Rochina, Hoilett, Yakubu all looked very good when they had the ball, and Rchina did a lot of work off of it too. The key is going to be how to blance it right as curently we look far too attacking. We need better solidarity and that means, for me, doubling up Olsson and Givet on the left, and Rochina (as he tracked back exccllently) and Salgado/Lowe down the right . It is ludcrous that our very talented signings Vukcevic and Formica can only fit onto the bench but it is impossible to see how we can fit all these attackers in...... Hoilett needs to play in the hole as he just creates things all the time on the ball, which is really exceptional, but is pathertic and selfish without it.

If only the Vukcevic money had been spent on a a quality central midfielder we would have been laughing.... hard to see how he fits in at all despite his talent.

Team to eek out some more results:-

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

-----Lowe-----Samba----Dann-----GIvet

Rochina----Petrovic------Nzonzi----Olsson

------------------------Hoillett

------------------------Yakubu

I would feel a lot better if we had just at least one experienced player in the midfield...

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Grella should have been Formica's replacement, not Simon. Grella would have at least given us some hope of protecting the lead we had fallen into.

From what Reserve watchers have said Grella is far from ready.

[Nelsta]

Can somebody please explain to me why people are saying arsenal should've had a penalty at the end?

From what i saw it was Walcott 1-1 with Robbo, Walcott made an attempt on goal by lifting it over Robbo, Robbo then went into Walcott and his attempt was cleared by Dann.

I dont get how it's a penalty.

[rhodie]

Effort was outstanding. But as you go on to say, this game can't be used as a sign of future results. Kean loves to use stats to say when we should have got a result, well here are some stats today:

Shots: 10 (5) vs. 24 (16)

Possession: 43% vs. 57%

Corners: 2 vs. 13

If that game is played 5 times we probably lose 4. Today was our day and we should enjoy as much as possible, but there are still major problems in midfield and defence.

Thats football though,the same could have been said against Everton, we really should have won that match.The team is totally different,we are playing a different way with different players. Regardless of who is managing us at the moment it has been back to the start and I dont mean the new season.The green shoots are starting to sprout and (IMO) things are only going to get better.We definitly have a good Quality of player throghout the team.

[LeChuck]

If only the Vukcevic money had been spent on a a quality central midfielder

All £2 million of it?!

If there was someone out there for that money and on our radar, we would have signed him instead of Petrovic.

It's the £6 million Dann money that I'm thinking looks iffy at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I think Dann is brilliant. I think we'd be a stronger team with a £6 million midfielder and Givet at centre back though.

I don't want that sound like I'm complaining because Dann gives is a platform for many years, but at this point in time it's hard not to question the decision. If only we could have secured Jones on another loan.

[RoyRover]

I'm delighted with the result today. It's a crucial three points that could mean so much for us going forward. I thought that Robinson was a great in goal and made some vital saves. The likes of Samba, Danns and Yakubu had great games for me, while Olsson made a big difference when he came on and Hoillet and N'Zonzi did well in certain points in the game. Rochina, Formica and Petrovic still need more time to adjust to the pace of the Premiership, but they show flashes of skill and creativity, but they are also naive, take too much time on the ball and get caught out.

As much as I'm delighted with three crucial points, I still think we have major problems in the team. We are getting continually caught out on the left wing, as Hoillet doesn't track back, leaving Givet in two on ones constantly. Olsson needs to be in the team as he can do this and is good going forward. We could all see what energy he bought to the team when he came on.

The centre of midfield is also a problem, as we don't have an out and out ball winner there. If we are going to play a 4-2-3-1, it's crucial that we have a tough tackling defensive minded midfielder in there. N'Zonzi, Dunn and Petovic aren't that type of player and we are suffering here because of it. We all know that Jermaine Jones was the player we needed for this position.

We got lucky today. Arsenal had more than enough chances to win two games. I still think that Kean isn't up to the job, but fair play to him for getting us a win today and the players for putting in a gutsy performance. Well done.

.

[mjwood00]

Rochina certainly has the look of Jansen in his early years at Ewood. I remember Souness physically lifting him off his feet once when he didn't pass to Dunn.

Experience and training can turn him into a real threat, just like we did with Jansen.

[Blue blood]

Rochina certainly has the look of Jansen in his early years at Ewood. I remember Souness physically lifting him off his feet once when he didn't pass to Dunn.

Experience and training can turn him into a real threat, just like we did with Jansen.

Will he get that with Kean? Probably he'll just get "you've done great."

[daveoftherovers]

Nice to be able to say, "Today we leapfrogged Arsenal in the table".

LOL, Good point Texas, also, when we can we say we were above Arse in the league on goal difference, on -5!!! LOL

Anyway, great game today, loved it. Good atmosphere in the BBE, still think we missed a trick at 4-2 when a few of us were singing "You're getting sacked in the morning" to Mr Magoo...

Glad Givet got his act together, no coincidence that further improved when young Martin came on, as he gives him protection, unlike Hoilett, who just doesn't. Bottom line though, Givet stuck at it, which couldn't have been easy after the first half.

Liked the look of us going forward, obviously made up The Yak showed up, and I'm glad their defence was so fragile, as was their confidence at times.

I think Petrovich is looking better every game, as is N Zonzi, very pleased with Dann and Samba, that's looking good, liked the look of Lowe and Simon also, Lowe for me has to start more! Salgado is just getting creamed. Hoilett looks great in the hole, and Formica and Ruben have bags of talent, which you can see falling into place the more they play.

As for Kean, still think the least he needs is more managerial help, but, I'd be more than happy to eat yards of humble pie if he turns us round.

Lastly. Robbo, BRILLIANT!

Well done to the fans today as well.

[des]

First of all has a said before very glad and happy that rovers won.

Hpwever our midfield looked weak and the firt half we were all over the shop a good ball wining/holding midfield prayer is needed. Also our wide midfield players need to track back and help out our full back. Givet is not a good full centehalf yes, hwoever it does not help when he had no cover dowm his side.

In jan we need one or two full backs, one holding midfeild player who can boss the whole team, them we might start to fly.

havibng said all that This is the first time that kean can say that this is hid team, and its on his team that he should be judged. Well todate doing ok could be better.

[imy9]

I think it is time to drop Formica and Rochina and play Olsson on the left and Simon on the right.

Olsson will support Givet on that side and Simon has the ball retention skills to help the team in comparison to Rochina who lost the ball on numerous ocassions today.

On Kean he has had a very good week with this result and the BRFCs interview and a couple of things have gone in his favour. Long way to go and this result needs to be the beginning of a decent run for him.

[Amo]

Nice to see some Arsenal fans are gracious in defeat:

"Blackburn are supposed to be a team in crisis..their fans were turning against them before they got the first goal back it would not have taken much more for them to collapse. How f**king bad are we to have lost to such a sh1t team??"

"Can't f**king stand Blackburn either, dive of a ground, John Jensen smirking like a c**t on the bench alongside that pisshead Kean, hope that club burns."

"Blackburn did **** all aswell, gifted them the game."

"Blackburn scored 4 yet did nothing, and we even gave Samba 2 free headers which he missed. Pathetic."

[deryck guyler's spoon]

Nice to see some Arsenal fans are gracious in defeat:

"Blackburn are supposed to be a team in crisis..their fans were turning against them before they got the first goal back it would not have taken much more for them to collapse. How f**king bad are we to have lost to such a sh1t team??"

"Can't f**king stand Blackburn either, dive of a ground, John Jensen smirking like a c**t on the bench alongside that pisshead Kean, hope that club burns."

"Blackburn did **** all aswell, gifted them the game."

"Blackburn scored 4 yet did nothing, and we even gave Samba 2 free headers which he missed. Pathetic."

I have usually found Arsenal fans to be ok. Certainly preferable to Tottenham.

By Arsenal standards they are in the soft stuff at the moment but that dosnt excuse some childish, pathetic and cringe worthy comments there.

[chris]

Rochina certainly has the look of Jansen in his early years at Ewood. I remember Souness physically lifting him off his feet once when he didn't pass to Dunn.

Experience and training can turn him into a real threat, just like we did with Jansen.

Its so un-Barcelona like to hog the ball and make bad decisions, surely this didn't start at Blackburn, at one point he was on the edge of the box and tried to take on THREE players, lost the ball at the first player and Arsenal countered.

This type of suicide play will get punished, he's been punished before.

It almost a mental problem.

100% right decision to take him off at 55 mins.

[Mattyblue]

Thing is with clubs like Arsenal, they have so many Sky 4 era fans, so much media coverage, their fans just cannot cope with being out of contention.

I suppose when every defeat is accompanied by days of 'where now for Arsenal?' guff in the press, it's not surprising.

[Lathund]

I don't have much to offer besides what others have said already, like Samba, Robbo, Olsson and the Yak being our better players, and how Lowe was impressive for his first PL start and playing out of position.

I'd just like to emphasize just how good Yak's finish for his first goal was. People say Roberts would never have thought about it and that's true, but really any striker would've been proud of that finish. Looked very Zlatan-esque to me. I'm a tad worried about his fitness, work rate and how he starts well at clubs and then fades away. However I'll judge him on what he does as a Rover, and if he can keep playing half as well as he did today, he's definitely got my support.

A defensive midfielder and a full back or two and we'll be challenging for Europe. But those are pretty vital things to be missing tbh. I'm still not a fan of Kean, but we did beat Arsenal today. It'll give a confidence boost to the team, and it's another step towards our young players and new signings getting accustomed to the PL and their teammates. I've got plenty of other concerns in my life, so I'll just take the positives from today and not think too much about the negatives.

[imy9]

Rochina is 20 years old! He is still learning the game and I expect him to get better as the season progresses, I expect the same from Formica, Lowe, Junior etc.

Exciting times.

[Henwah]

Its so un-Barcelona like to hog the ball and make bad decisions, surely this didn't start at Blackburn, at one point he was on the edge of the box and tried to take on THREE players, lost the ball at the first player and Arsenal countered.

This type of suicide play will get punished, he's been punished before.

It almost a mental problem.

100% right decision to take him off at 55 mins.

If you are talking about the incident I think you are to defend him slightly he wasn't so much trying to take them on as much as being given the ball with 3 arsenal players bearing down on him. But I agree with the general point, he did get caught out a lot and make a lot of poor decisions today

[bazza]

Totally unexpected three points today and I'm grinning like the cheshire cat.

I was still preparing myself mentally to be grateful for a point for a 4-4 draw with two minutes of added time left to play.

Briefly, there seems to be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Things are beginning to take on a rosy hue.

We seem to have a good young squad who are gradually getting to know each other. I know it's only one game but there are signs of better things to come.

Robinson.............brilliant saves; some peoples MOM; his kicks are too strong.

Lowe..................what a revelation at full back. He was my MOM purely for his 2nd half performance. He has earned is right to automatic selection.

Samba..........great as ever. no faults.

Dann...........for some reason I never noticed him. It must be because he looks like the person in the crowd who never stands out. He obviously had a solid game.

Givet must never ever be played at left back again. He is a central defender. If needs be, put Olsson there.

Nzonzi and Petrovic played well, both getting stronger in mentality as the game went on. They can and will improve.

Hoilett, Rochina and Formica have plenty of skill and all three played well.

Yakubu.............two great goals. He showed us he can score but also he has a footballing brain. A very good addition to the squad.

Olsson again played as well as we expect him to. A great run for that goal.

Our beloved Keano is starting to show us what good times are ahead for us Rovers supporters.

But we need two good full backs; one if Lowe is to stay there.

[chris]

Probably not, but I don't think we would have been under as much pressure because Givet was constantly losing the ball and generally being given the runaround.

Olsson was excellent when he came on, so it does pose a tricky question. Personally I think Hoilett and Vukcevic should be out wide, so I'd go with Olsson at left back. But I can understand why Olsson would be in midfield after today.

Olseen would have still been two against one with Holliet as cover, Olssen not the greatest defender ever.

In midfield not only was he an attacking treat, but he covered Givet and he defended from the front.

He was chasing down CB's, right backs, so much energy, even for the goal he was out on the right like lighting.

If he works that hard he'll be crocked by 25.

If you are talking about the incident I think you are to defend him slightly he wasn't so much trying to take them on as much as being given the ball with 3 arsenal players bearing down on him. But I agree with the general point, he did get caught out a lot and make a lot of poor decisions today

yeah I think so, I thought he ran into them, why attempt it, it was mission impossible, he should have kept possession, he could have done that.

[AndyC]

Olseen would have still been two against one with Holliet as cover, Olssen not the greatest defender ever.

In midfield not only was he an attacking treat, but he covered Givet and he defended from the front.

He was chasing down CB's, right backs, so much energy, even for the goal he was out on the right like lighting.

If he works that hard he'll be crocked by 25.

yeah I think so, I thought he ran into them, why attempt it, it was mission impossible, he should have kept pocession, he could have done that.

he did this numerous times last season.

if we play him at left mid this year, he'll be our player of the year!

[AggyBlue]

Grella should have been Formica's replacement, not Simon. Grella would have at least given us some hope of protecting the lead we had fallen into.

Disagree with this. Grella would have given too many free kicks away around the area.

[Exiled_Rover]

he did this numerous times last season.

if we play him at left mid this year, he'll be our player of the year!

Exactly, he's a dynamic winger. He's fearless on the ball - he runs at defenders with pace and guile. He makes some very intelligent runs too - he causes teams all sorts of problems. Opposing managers must breathe a sign of relief when they see the team sheet and he's stuck at left back (or worse, on the bench).