Blackburn Rovers vs Brentford, Friday, March 12.

[K-Hod]

It’s not expansive though. We win the possession battle, but don’t tend to win the match....

[Guest]

People misunderstand what 'expansive' means and it's not their fault.

Definition: "Expansive football is a type of positional attack that takes the movement of players into account more than the system adopted."

I'm not really debating if Rovers do or don't do this, but the debate surrounding expansive football is baffling, and seemingly has been started by pundits on things like Monday Night Football just spurting out jargon words to sound good.

In Rovers case, I'd say in the second half of games we're much more expansive, we lose our shape and focus more on movement up front, there's clearly no rigid organisation. Against Millwall we went the complete opposite way. A very robust and clearly set 4-1-4-1. We won that game. Expansive doesn't equal more possession, it doesn't equal better than the opposition, and in the grand scheme of things, means nothing at all!

Edited March 12, 2021 by JoeH

[Ewood Ace]

10 minutes ago, JoeH said:

People misunderstand what 'expansive' means and it's not their fault.

Could you just be a little more patronising. 

[matt83]

44 minutes ago, CrouchingNunhiddenCucumber said:

 

2-2, Mowbray to talk about Brentford like their fucking Barcelona afterwards and how we're trying to replicate their journey but it'll take another decade 

We play a Mowbray weekend drinking game from his post match quotes. A double measure for each one of the following. Journey, frustrated, highlighting pointless stats like possession, we go again, the better side (in defeat), some reference about what might happen in the future, excuses-injury’s, officials, covid and working class.

Initially started including midweek games into the weekend tally but just couldn’t sup that much rum.

 

[arbitro]

20 minutes ago, JoeH said:

People misunderstand what 'expansive' means and it's not their fault.

Definition: "Expansive football is a type of positional attack that takes the movement of players into account more than the system adopted."

I'm not really debating if Rovers do or don't do this, but the debate surrounding expansive football is baffling, and seemingly has been started by pundits on things like Monday Night Football just spurting out jargon words to sound good.

In Rovers case, I'd say in the second half of games we're much more expansive, we lose our shape and focus more on movement up front, there's clearly no rigid organisation. Against Millwall we went the complete opposite way. A very robust and clearly set 4-1-4-1. We won that game. Expansive doesn't equal more possession, it doesn't equal better than the opposition, and in the grand scheme of things, means nothing at all!

Where has that description come from?

It's that stupid, insulting and patronising it could have been written by Mowbray himself. 

[Riversider28]

I just love the atmosphere of a night match. 
Does anyone know where this photo may have been taken from?

[Proudtobeblue&white]

4 minutes ago, Riversider28 said:

I just love the atmosphere of a night match. 
Does anyone know where this photo may have been taken from?

Preston New Road?

[SuperBrfc]

10 minutes ago, Riversider28 said:

I just love the atmosphere of a night match. 
Does anyone know where this photo may have been taken from?

I saw this on twitter a couple of days ago. I think the photographer said it was taken from the top of Earl Street.

[AllRoverAsia]

26 minutes ago, matt83 said:

We play a Mowbray weekend drinking game from his post match quotes. A double measure for each one of the following. Journey, frustrated, highlighting pointless stats like possession, we go again, the better side (in defeat), some reference about what might happen in the future, excuses-injury’s, officials, covid and working class.

Initially started including midweek games into the weekend tally but just couldn’t sup that much rum.

 

That's a dangerous drinking game!, on two counts, the amount you have to drink and even more so having to analyse what Mowbray says.

[4000Holes]

30 minutes ago, matt83 said:

We play a Mowbray weekend drinking game from his post match quotes. A double measure for each one of the following. Journey, frustrated, highlighting pointless stats like possession, we go again, the better side (in defeat), some reference about what might happen in the future, excuses-injury’s, officials, covid and working class.

Initially started including midweek games into the weekend tally but just couldn’t sup that much rum.

 

Bloody hell Matt.  How are your kidneys?

[matt83]

2 minutes ago, AllRoverAsia said:

That's a dangerous drinking game!, on two counts, the amount you have to drink and even more so having to analyse what Mowbray says.

There was a midweek game on sky so glad that wasn’t included. Think he’d ticked off 6 or 7 things then out of the blue the interviewer pushed him on being working class. 

[matt83]

9 minutes ago, 4000Holes said:

Bloody hell Matt.  How are your kidneys?

Surprisingly in the immediate aftermath he repeats enough shit to feel like had a drink but the volume of crap tends to come out in the following days presumably when read his notes. If did it across everything he says would probably be dead

[roverandout]

1 hour ago, matt83 said:

We play a Mowbray weekend drinking game from his post match quotes. A double measure for each one of the following. Journey, frustrated, highlighting pointless stats like possession, we go again, the better side (in defeat), some reference about what might happen in the future, excuses-injury’s, officials, covid and working class.

Initially started including midweek games into the weekend tally but just couldn’t sup that much rum.

 

I'm doing pretty well sooooo farrrr(frfgyyhhhgttfdryhvcfft)

[K-Hod]

1 hour ago, matt83 said:

We play a Mowbray weekend drinking game from his post match quotes. A double measure for each one of the following. Journey, frustrated, highlighting pointless stats like possession, we go again, the better side (in defeat), some reference about what might happen in the future, excuses-injury’s, officials, covid and working class.

Initially started including midweek games into the weekend tally but just couldn’t sup that much rum.

 

Christ, you’ll end up with alcohol poisoning lad!

[joey_big_nose]

21 hours ago, Fraserkirky said:

Kammy

Nyambe THB Lenihan Douglas

Travis Trybull Rothwell

Elliott Dolan Brereton

Predicting a few changes

No way are we playing 433. Would be crazy to go back to to that after playing 4231 and looking decent. 

I think it will be same team barring injury, maybe Elliott gets back in ahead of Gallagher who was poor last game.  

So :

                  Kammy

JRC    Lenihan    THB       Douglas

           Buckley Trybull 

    Elliott    Dack     Brereton

                 Dolan

[WacoRover]

1 hour ago, joey_big_nose said:

No way are we playing 433. Would be crazy to go back to to that after playing 4231 and looking decent. 

I think it will be same team barring injury, maybe Elliott gets back in ahead of Gallagher who was poor last game.  

So :

                  Kammy

JRC    Lenihan    THB       Douglas

           Buckley Trybull 

    Elliott    Dack     Brereton

                 Dolan

I have to admit, the patchwork defense, with two loaners, hasn’t been that bad... vs poorer clubs.

The trouble has been our goal-scoring, particularly, vs better teams. Against teams in the top-6 right now, we have scored 12, and allowed 21- with two games to play (Brentford today; @Norwich). Our record in those 10 games is 1-2-7. 

Are we a midtable club? Definitely. but we’ve played the majority of tougher teams. These last 9 games, hopefully, we will see a few wins, and get ready for next season. 

[chaddyrovers]

            Kaminski 

JRC Lenihan THB Douglas 

        Trybull  Buckley

Brereton Elliott Rothwell

               Dolan

[WacoRover]

One more thing, & I will shut up...

10-man Rovers got a point at Brentford, in 2-2 tie on December 5. The man sent off- Lenihan, who gets his 200th appearance in a Rovers shirt today. The goals? Rothwell (19’) & Davenport (87’).

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

In the last 20 games we've scored more than 1 goal a grand total of 5 times.

In the past 20 games we've scored 20 goals.

Attacking platform.

Brentford have lost their last 3 away from home.

1-1

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Ewood Ace said:

Could you just be a little more patronising. 

Wasn’t intended that way. People do misunderstand it and it’s the fault of football media like Sky, as explained in the OP. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by JoeH

[tomphil]

Terms that die off often reappear these days with a different or slightly different meaning. 

'Expansive football' used to mean being open, using the width of the pitch and letting the ball do the work. Working it forwards in sideways passing and looking to slip the strikers in.

Seems it's being used to describe what was once over 'pass and move' football which is different than the more rigid version. Expansive teams often held high lines and were often wide open at the back as a result. Needed very good very quick defenders. We had what i thought was a version of it under Souness in his later stages here once he'd declared the winger dead. It didn't work then either.

Not actually sure what Mowbray version is but to me it's neither expansive nor pass and move, probably something in between.  Just basic possession football most of the time with a slow build up and little end product mainly due to lack of movement up front.

Dolan and Brereton help in that regard though at times when they get chance otherwise it's just keep getting it to selfish Arma or hope Dack does something.

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

3 hours ago, JoeH said:

People misunderstand what 'expansive' means and it's not their fault.

Definition: "Expansive football is a type of positional attack that takes the movement of players into account more than the system adopted."

I'm not really debating if Rovers do or don't do this, but the debate surrounding expansive football is baffling, and seemingly has been started by pundits on things like Monday Night Football just spurting out jargon words to sound good.

In Rovers case, I'd say in the second half of games we're much more expansive, we lose our shape and focus more on movement up front, there's clearly no rigid organisation. Against Millwall we went the complete opposite way. A very robust and clearly set 4-1-4-1. We won that game. Expansive doesn't equal more possession, it doesn't equal better than the opposition, and in the grand scheme of things, means nothing at all!

TBF you didn't know what it meant when we had that convo a few months ago. 

[broadsword]

Can I just put my hand up here and say that that description of expansive football, I can't understand a bloody word of it. Sounds like a deepity. 

It's not a modern innovation, it's not a system, if you're playing expansive football, it's long precision pass and move, that's what I've always understood by it. But in all honesty, I couldn't care less. If that's how Mowbray talks to the players, no wonder we're playing like a gash pit. 

 

That's only one thing that matters about football and that's winning. no one remembers the losers

[Hoochie Bloochie Mama]

2 minutes ago, broadsword said:

Can I just put my hand up here and say that that description of expansive football, I can't understand a bloody word of it. Sounds like a deepity. 

It's not a modern innovation, it's not a system, if you're playing expansive football, it's long precision pass and move, that's what I've always understood by it. But in all honesty, I couldn't care less. If that's how Mowbray talks to the players, no wonder we're playing like a gash pit. 

 

That's only one thing that matters about football and that's winning. no one remembers the losers

The football lexicon has been rewritten by hipsters who have probably never played the game, and have most certainly never kissed a girl. They all have posters of Pep on their walls and will talk for hours about 'data'.

So instead if dropping into space we now 'play between the lines'. Simon Barker would today be called a 'pivot' and massive bellends talk about 'wide forwards' like it means something. 

And 'expansive' football is just attacking football. Don Mackay invented it in 1988. 

[Leonard Venkhater]

1 hour ago, WacoRover said:

I have to admit, the patchwork defense, with two loaners, hasn’t been that bad... vs poorer clubs.

The trouble has been our goal-scoring, particularly, vs better teams. Against teams in the top-6 right now, we have scored 12, and allowed 21- with two games to play (Brentford today; @Norwich). Our record in those 10 games is 1-2-7. 

Are we a midtable club? Definitely. but we’ve played the majority of tougher teams. These last 9 games, hopefully, we will see a few wins, and get ready for next season. 

....again!