Ben Brereton Diaz

[Ianrally]

7 hours ago, bluebruce said:

I dunno I think you might wanna fish out some Neymar highlight reels. I used to not see what the fuss was about either from what I had seen, until I watched some. I ended up thinking it was unfair what he did to some of those professionals, embarrassing them like that.

It’s not his skill I’m questioning which is equal to his predecessors in the yellow shirts. It’s his diving and rolling around that I can’t abide, which is where he shows no class. 

[sparky12]

24 minutes ago, Ianrally said:

It’s not his skill I’m questioning which is equal to his predecessors in the yellow shirts. It’s his diving and rolling around that I can’t abide, which is where he shows no class. 

Also equal to his predecessors, you remember the ball that was 'launched' into Rivaldo's face at WC2002?

[Ianrally]

40 minutes ago, sparky12 said:

Also equal to his predecessors, you remember the ball that was 'launched' into Rivaldo's face at WC2002?

I was talking about Brazil in the 60’s and 70’s as per my original post. 

[roverandout]

8 hours ago, WIR Second Coming said:

He looks a big lumbering gallumper compared to the other players, but then again that is what Harry Kane looks like for Engerland 😇.

Good to see Ben involved in such a big game. Always looking to receive the ball, full of running, but somewhat at odds with Chile's style of play. 

How refreshing to see a Rovers player achieving on such a prominent stage. 

To call kane a lumbering gallumper is ridiculous.  Hes a top class striker

[windymiller7]

1 hour ago, sparky12 said:

Also equal to his predecessors, you remember the ball that was 'launched' into Rivaldo's face at WC2002?

Oh yes,  that well known phenomena where your face hurts when a ball hits your shins!

Wasn't it Hakan Unsall who committed the terrible crime? Fairly sure he was still a Rover at the time too but I could be wrong.

[Miller11]

2 hours ago, Ianrally said:

It’s not his skill I’m questioning which is equal to his predecessors in the yellow shirts. It’s his diving and rolling around that I can’t abide, which is where he shows no class. 

I watched the second half last night as I couldn’t sleep. For all the complaining a few hours previously about the Italian antics, they have nothing on Neymar. Kick and run and jump on the floor. I don’t think he’s anywhere near the levels of the great Brazil sides. I think look ordinary in the 1994 side.

Poor game from what I saw of it. Brereton again dropping deep and drifting wide a lot but not seeing enough of the ball. Cracking header, and I hoped that would convince Chile to try using him centrally and hitting him with crosses.

[Bigdoggsteel]

I wonder how it will work with him missing games for us when Chile are playing 

[Herbie6590]

3 hours ago, AllRoverAsia said:

Thanks for posting.

After watching the Euros I thought a couple of hours sleep would do before the 7am local ko time but tiredness and old age caught up and I slept through the alarm so missed the game live.

Now scouring YouTube for highlights etc

 

[inflikted]

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

To call kane a lumbering gallumper is ridiculous.  Hes a top class striker

Slow as all hell though

[roverandout]

15 minutes ago, inflikted said:

Slow as all hell though

Hes the best all round forward in the world 

[rigger]

7 minutes ago, roverandout said:

Hes the best all round forward in the world 

Let's hope he proves it.

[1864roverite]

All credit to BB he has done himself proud and shut up a few naysayers 😅

[K-Hod]

49 minutes ago, 1864roverite said:

All credit to BB he has done himself proud and shut up a few naysayers 😅

Only took him two years….

[Wing Wizard Windy Miller]

1 hour ago, roverandout said:

Hes the best all round forward in the world 

😂😂

[Bigdoggsteel]

1 hour ago, 1864roverite said:

All credit to BB he has done himself proud and shut up a few naysayers 😅

Not til he does it consistently for Rovers for me 

[roversfan99]

Probably a good thing that Chile have been knocked out. Assuming that Brereton will be an important player, and I must say that anything about naysayers is nonsensical, hes still got so much to prove. Then we could do with him back in training as soon as possible, and with pre season underway and Brereton presumably about to get a few weeks off, it leaves little room ahead of the new season.

[chaddyrovers]

I haven't seen of Brereton playing for Chile, so I can asked people who have watched games where has he been playing and how good as his performances been? Now looking at him in Blackburn Rovers shirt where would you play him and how can we get the best out of him?

[1864roverite]

He is a kid playing in the Cope America for Chile and has done very well. The experience will certainly help him and hopefully BRFC. 

[rigger]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

I haven't seen of Brereton playing for Chile, so I can asked people who have watched games where has he been playing and how good as his performances been? Now looking at him in Blackburn Rovers shirt where would you play him and how can we get the best out of him?

He was played as an inside left ( No 10 ). He showed willing, but got very little service from his team-mates. He took his goal well, but all in all, he wasn't a standout player. 

[riverholmes]

1 hour ago, chaddyrovers said:

I haven't seen of Brereton playing for Chile, so I can asked people who have watched games where has he been playing and how good as his performances been? Now looking at him in Blackburn Rovers shirt where would you play him and how can we get the best out of him?

I mentioned it before, but I can only see him succeeding as a striker at Championship level, where he can make a nuisance of himself in the final third, without the responsibility of getting up and down the pitch. Armstrong and Brereton would be really good Championship partnership but, sadly, Mowbray favours 4-3-2-1, or some version of it.

Brereton reminds me of Jon Stead in some of his play and attributes. Brereton is probably an inferior finisher (which is saying something, as Stead was not prolific) and runs more with the ball but I think, given the chance as a striker, he could have a similar sort of career.

[chaddyrovers]

Thanks @rigger and @riverholmes for the replies. I hope that Brereton comes back and perform even better than last season

[LordBaltimore]

Good UK article on BB and his Copa América adventure:

No Fairytale Ending For Ben Brereton But The Blackburn Rovers Ace Returns As Chile's Noble Hero

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/football-news/blackburn-rovers-brereton-chile-brazil-2096173

[LordBaltimore]

I think if BB had scored that goal aginst Brazil that went off of the crossbar he would probably have been issued his own postage stamp (for anyone who still uses them).

Brereton should have been in the starting line up.  Alexis Sánchez had been sidelined with [another] injury and tried hard to recover in time for the 2nd round.  For as much as Alexis doesn't want to stay away from the pitch, Chile's coach Lasarte should have had the balls to keep him on the bench or even off the squad entirely.  He was not in any condition to play and Brereton would have made more of an impact early on.

Chile did well the 1st half (goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, widely viewed as a "flop" in England ,has been superb).  They frustrated Brazil with possession but Chile didn't have enough up front.  And all that went to waste just 1min into the 2nd half, after BB had come in for Malexis after halftime.  Brazil played a man down the last 42mins but you wouldn't have known it. 

BB's team mates again came in for some heavy criticism post game for not passing him the ball enough.  Chile's inablity to center a ball or successfully threaten towards the end of the game was beyond infuriating and speaks to the lack of attack on this Chile team (and part of reason BB parachuting onto this team out of nowhere has caused such a stir).

As always in South America and especially when Brazil/Argentina are involved (even more so if VARzil hosts), there was some shady shit afoot, from a Chilean perspective.  The ref was Argentine and logic dictates he has no reason to favor Brazil but the number of times he seemed to hand free kicks after a Brazilian flop were too many to count.  Legit fouls for Chile were ignored. 

Brazil was in an unusually theatrical mood, even for Brazil, and was often rewarded for it.  Neymar handed out a slap to the face away from the ball to a Chilean player, which could have been a red, but it was ignored (the Brazilian origin of the TV feed ensured no replays were shown).  There seemed to be a possible penalty against Charles Aranguiz for Chile around minute 69:43 and both the ref and VAR ignored it and Brazilian feed once again did not even show a replay.  

It felt like Brazil was there for the taking and once again it did not happen for Chile, who played better than expected. 

The important thing is for Argentina to not win the Copa América and that Messi never lifts a trophy with his adopted country (many Argies say he's really Catalan after all this time).

Edited July 4, 2021 by LordBaltimore

[LordBaltimore]

Even in defeat, BB's stock continues to rise among Chileans.  Chilean fandom liked that BB always wants to go forward while others only want to play side to side.  They liked that BB never tired of waving his arms and asking for the ball and conversely they disliked the perceived selfishess of some of his team mates for seeming to "boycott" BB and not give him enough passes.  Still, Chile only scored three goals and Brereton was involved in 66.7% of them.  And hit the crossbar against Brazil. Not too shabby for a newbie. 

They also loved the "death stare" BB gave Brazil's Gabriel de Jesus after he planted his cleats firmly in the face of Chile's Eugenio Mena and was deserveldy ejected and hopefully jailed. 

The Twittersphere (I do not...Tweet) declared him to be the best thing about this Copa América for Chile (that doesn't mean he was the best player).  An article in Spanish with some good pictures titled:

"We don't deserve you":  Ben Brereton Given Title As The Best Thing For Chile In This Copa América

https://www.adnradio.cl/la-roja/2021/07/02/no-te-merecemos-ben-brereton-recibio-el-titulo-de-lo-mejor-de-la-roja-en-la-copa-america.html

 

Edited July 4, 2021 by LordBaltimore

[47er]

We don't deserve him either!!   

NB the above can be taken 2 ways, therefore no-one can disagree!