Ben Brereton Diaz

[philipl]

I'd rather have Ben playing at Rovers than have sold Watkins to Villa.

Of the BMW at Brentford, Watkins was clearly the Premier League quality player with the other two fantastic at Championship level but a big? over whether they can make it in a higher league.

[Ossydave]

12 minutes ago, Hoochie Bloochie Mama said:

You don't need to spend £30m to get a ready-made Championship striker do you?

Possibly not but Brereton came from Nottingham Forest and had been around the England youth setup where he shone. Watkins came from Exeter with experience playing for Weston-super-Mare, its a bit different but fair play to them on that one. I suspect the general concensus at Brockhall is that they're trying to develop him rather than 'carry' him. I concede thats taken longer than anyone would have liked, be that through poor coaching, lack of ability or purely lack of confidence i don't really know. If he plays like he did yesterday for 20+ games this season he becomes a 20m+ player and the 'carrying' pays dividends - it would be far too premature to say that's going to happen yet obviously but fingers crossed!

 

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

I don’t think anyone expected to see BB play this well 12 months ago. Let’s enjoy this run of form for what it is. The transfer fee will always hang around his neck but right now he’s one of our best players and that is not a sentence I expected to be writing after the first 18 months of his time here. Fair play to him.

[47er]

44 minutes ago, Ossydave said:

Yes, at which stage he wasn't the finished article 

And Brereton was so we paid £7M for him. Have I got that right?

[Adam C]

6 minutes ago, 47er said:

And Brereton was so we paid £7M for him. Have I got that right?

I don’t think anyone is saying Brereton was the finished article when we signed him, and until he gets some more goals he’ll not be the finished article in my eyes. As Ossydave said above, he’ll be worth much much more than £7m if he ends the season as well as he started. Watkins was a complete steal for Brentford but you can’t always expect to get those bargains. We lucked out with Dack and Arma, and to my mind paid a premium for BB. Thankfully it’s beginning to look like £7m invested rather than £7m squandered. 

[Gone to seed]

What Brereton did for the side yesterday (and consistently in previous games this season) was brilliant. Even before their player was dismissed, they had no answer to his drive, ability to hold on to the ball, his awareness of team mates' positioning or his energy. The fact he kept it up for the full 90 minutes was part of the reason we were still looking hungry for goals until the final whistle - how many games have we seen in the past where Rovers sides have coasted  once they've got one or two goals up, only to be pegged back or even overwhelmed by hungrier opposition? I like this new Ben Brereton - he was unlucky not to score yesterday, and surely he will start potting goals at some point if this new improved version of the player we bought continues to shine.

[Ossydave]

15 minutes ago, 47er said:

And Brereton was so we paid £7M for him. Have I got that right?

No or he would have cost around the same as Watkins when he was deemed the finished article, that's the point I'm making.

[Mattyblue]

I think what we are seeing with both manager and players is that time can be the greatest asset.

Most clubs in the Championship don’t have the patience (or finances) to wait around for two years + for the required improvement. They need promotion.

We have a set up in which the manager is seemingly under little pressure from his Chief Exec or owners. Maybe this very odd set up is actually working out to our benefit.

Though the crux of it all will be FFP...
 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, WIR Second Coming said:

What Brereton did for the side yesterday (and consistently in previous games this season) was brilliant. Even before their player was dismissed, they had no answer to his drive, ability to hold on to the ball, his awareness of team mates' positioning or his energy. The fact he kept it up for the full 90 minutes was part of the reason we were still looking hungry for goals until the final whistle - how many games have we seen in the past where Rovers sides have coasted  once they've got one or two goals up, only to be pegged back or even overwhelmed by hungrier opposition? I like this new Ben Brereton - he was unlucky not to score yesterday, and surely he will start potting goals at some point if this new improved version of the player we bought continues to shine.

 Let's see if he can reproduce that performance when it matters on Tuesday night. The key to unlocking ultra defensive  teams who park the bus is players running at them with the ball, not lumping it into the box from distance. Committing defenders and making them go to places they don't want to go. Either breaking through or drawing free kicks in dangerous areas. If he can do that against a very well organised team who will no doubt have been made aware of his way of playing then and already have a plan to deal with him, then I'll start to believe.

Edited October 25, 2020 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[islander200]

The two games we have failed to create chances were against Cardiff and Forest.

Against Cardiff the conditions were atrocious and against Forest missing half a squad,and at least 5 of those we would have to consider starting players.

It's still too early to judge how we will fare this season but I don't see many teams being able to cope with our attacking players

[Gone to seed]

6 minutes ago, islander200 said:

The two games we have failed to create chances were against Cardiff and Forest.

Against Cardiff the conditions were atrocious and against Forest missing half a squad,and at least 5 of those we would have to consider starting players.

It's still too early to judge how we will fare this season but I don't see many teams being able to cope with our attacking players

As long as they aren't able to cope with our defending ones too, then we should prevail

[islander200]

23 minutes ago, WIR Second Coming said:

As long as they aren't able to cope with our defending ones too, then we should prevail

I think the defence will be much improved with the arrivals of Kaminski, Ayala and Douglas and hopefully Trybull can give a better shield in front of them.

We have conceded 7 goals so far 3 each coming away at Bournemouth and Watford who are both blessed with much better attacking talent than most the division, and conceded a deflected shot v Forest.

Still the style Mowbray is implementing will leave us open at the back,IF we can start being a little more clinical in front of goal then we will have too much for most teams.

[chaddyrovers]

 

 

[Vilesinner]

6 hours ago, 47er said:

And Brereton was so we paid £7M for him. Have I got that right?

No. It was always stayed Brereton was s long term investment.

[Vilesinner]

6 hours ago, WIR Second Coming said:

What Brereton did for the side yesterday (and consistently in previous games this season) was brilliant. Even before their player was dismissed, they had no answer to his drive, ability to hold on to the ball, his awareness of team mates' positioning or his energy. The fact he kept it up for the full 90 minutes was part of the reason we were still looking hungry for goals until the final whistle - how many games have we seen in the past where Rovers sides have coasted  once they've got one or two goals up, only to be pegged back or even overwhelmed by hungrier opposition? I like this new Ben Brereton - he was unlucky not to score yesterday, and surely he will start potting goals at some point if this new improved version of the player we bought continues to shine.

His tracking back was incredible. BB was everywhere. He is the epitome of a team player.

[Gone to seed]

1 hour ago, Vilesinner said:

His tracking back was incredible. BB was everywhere. He is the epitome of a team player.

And that is what will set us apart over a season, when we can field a team full of battlers who play for each other and the team - I think it is coming together, and was very pleased to see the team spirit in full view during yesterday's game. Sure, we will lose some, but at least when players are putting in that much effort, we can at least feel that we've done our best for the Blue and White brand

[47er]

11 hours ago, Ossydave said:

No or he would have cost around the same as Watkins when he was deemed the finished article, that's the point I'm making.

Hardly a true comparison then?

[47er]

5 hours ago, Vilesinner said:

No. It was always stayed Brereton was s long term investment.

At that time, and since, we needed a striker not an investment.

This is about money, My angle is football.

[Blue blood]

A good player can look rubbish in the wrong system, whereas any player can perform/do a job and thrive if they have the right formation and role. I suspect that is what is happening with Bereton now. 

I'll be honest I think there's a large element of the formation suiting Ben- which neither of the previous formations did - in his upturn in form alongside individual improvement. But that's a good thing given the formation seems to favour the squad we currently have, and many other players benefit from it as well as Ben so long may it continue. 

I worry that the new formation might not suit Dack which leaves an almighty conundrum and a difficult choice. But at least the current set up means we are getting something  from our 12 million presently which given we won't be getting a return from Gally on the wing is even more positive. 

 

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

I think (and this isn't BBs fault,) £7m was far too much for a Championship side to pay for potential. Even most Premiership sides would have hesitated at that price. 

If he continues to improve, and possibly plays a key role in promotion we may look back and congratulate TM for his eye for a player - but will still think it was a huge gamble for a mid table Championship club.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

11 hours ago, Blue blood said:

A good player can look rubbish in the wrong system, whereas any player can perform/do a job and thrive if they have the right formation and role. I suspect that is what is happening with Bereton now. 

I'll be honest I think there's a large element of the formation suiting Ben- which neither of the previous formations did - in his upturn in form alongside individual improvement. But that's a good thing given the formation seems to favour the squad we currently have, and many other players benefit from it as well as Ben so long may it continue. 

I worry that the new formation might not suit Dack which leaves an almighty conundrum and a difficult choice. But at least the current set up means we are getting something  from our 12 million presently which given we won't be getting a return from Gally on the wing is even more positive. 

 

He's obviously playing in a role that suits his ability now. Playing on the wing or up front didn't.  I reckon Dack could play a similar role if he's back to his best. He's got everything that Brererton has and more.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

5 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

He's obviously playing in a role that suits his ability now. Playing on the wing or up front didn't.  I reckon Dack could play a similar role if he's back to his best. He's got everything that Brererton has and more.

Going to a tough call for TM - a lot of players lose an edge in pace following this type of injury and Dack was never really quick anyway. The one thing Dack will give us is the ability to unlock a defence with a bit of skill and goal scoring threat - how we fit him into the current team is a quandary for TM. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, DavidMailsTightPerm said:

Going to a tough call for TM - a lot of players lose an edge in pace following this type of injury and Dack was never really quick anyway. The one thing Dack will give us is the ability to unlock a defence with a bit of skill and goal scoring threat - how we fit him into the current team is a quandary for TM. 

I think we're quite a way off having to make that decision. I'd be surprised if Dack is ready to start a first team game before Xmas.

[DavidMailsTightPerm]

8 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

I think we're quite a way off having to make that decision. I'd be surprised if Dack is ready to start a first team game before Xmas.

I agree about starting matches- but would imagine we will see him coming off the bench (hopefully) before then. Great player to come on to help us unlock a tiring defence ?

[philipl]

Much more confident about Brereton than I have ever been about Gallagher.

I rewatched highlights of the Watford game and must admit I thought Foster had dropped a clanger letting that one in on Wednesday night's viewing.

But in fact it is an amazing strike by Ben with bend bouncing just in front of the keeper and going through a ball's width gap between diving keeper and post.

I urge everyone to look at the camera angle behind the goal and not go wow!