v WBA (a) - 15/02/23

[RoversTilliDie]

3 hours ago, arbitro said:

Thomas put some really good corners in last night. He got some real pace on them and put them into good areas. For many corners this season they have been tossed in and have been invariably flat.

Thomas puts some excellent balls into the box, we need our strikers getting on the end of 1 or 2 of them.

[RoverCanada]

2 hours ago, 47er said:

Fisher was in Swanseas's side last weekend. Don't know about this..

Ah, I only took a glance at his low appearances this year, but may have been injury-related!

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

Dolan was ineffective as a number 9, he is not a striker in a million years. Most number 9's don't have to put the word "pressing" in front of it to justify their place.

There's literally a position called 'Pressing Forward'.

He puts in a shift and doesn't immediately lose the ball when it comes near him - WBA had him in their pocket last night, but he deserves to keep his starting place based on the other options.

[Mattyblue]

… on a computer game.

[roversfan99]

He offers no goal threat and does his best work in wide areas.

We have a big, strong and quick attacking player who can run in behind, who can pick up goalscoring positions, who can bring others into play and does offer a presence in the box. He has spent the last couple of months spending most of his time defending, miles away from goal.

He hasn't played there very often but in the absence of other options, it surely is worth a go.

[Exiled in Toronto Mk2]

1 hour ago, S8 & Blue said:

This. He was having no effect at all, getting frustrated and firing Hollywood balls across our defence on more than one occasion that we'd have murdered Morton for.

An off day happens, taking him off to try something different was the right call.

Stunned that there was booing, I know he's a cult hero but were they watching the game?

Thomas however I can only assume isn't deemed physically up to it for the whole 90 at the moment, because I thought he was playing well.

I thought there were three reasons to hook him: ineffective on the night generally, coming back to receive it off one of the CBs only to give it straight back to them, then that ludicrous sliced “pass” that put WBA through - even if it had gone where intended it was still an awful idea. I thought he’d started playing for himself second half. And all the head-shaking when he went off not exactly Team First. I was wondering how permanent was his new found attitude shift that got him back into the team - leopards and spots etc.

Hopefully he reverts to being the responsible team leader on Saturday, if picked…

[roversfan99]

He has shaken his head pretty much everytime he has been subbed, always followed by a hand shake with the manager. So hardly a full case of throwing his toys out of the pram, he is clearly happy to be back playing and wants to play longer.

I don't think its a poor reflection of him as a person or as a leader. He quite visibly is a leader on the pitch and has been the one functioning member of an otherwise dysfunctioning attack since the World Cup, not only with his goals but with him having the ability to play one touch passes and flicks in dangerous areas that Szmodics is simply not capable of doing.

We started the second half pretty well but once him and Thomas went off, we were shite.

[superniko]

43 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

He offers no goal threat and does his best work in wide areas.

We have a big, strong and quick attacking player who can run in behind, who can pick up goalscoring positions, who can bring others into play and does offer a presence in the box. He has spent the last couple of months spending most of his time defending, miles away from goal.

He hasn't played there very often but in the absence of other options, it surely is worth a go.

re: Dolan. 3 Goals and 4 Assists this season, only Brereton has more 'goal involvements' than him in the whole squad, and that's playing half the minutes that Hedges has, and less than Gallagher and Dack too.

Agree with your later point about Dack, no issue at all with him shaking his head. Could be at his own performance, at the team performance, at not scoring etc. Just shows he wants to be on the pitch.

[roversfan99]

5 minutes ago, superniko said:

re: Dolan. 3 Goals and 4 Assists this season, only Brereton has more 'goal involvements' than him in the whole squad, and that's playing half the minutes that Hedges has, and less than Gallagher and Dack too.

Agree with your later point about Dack, no issue at all with him shaking his head. Could be at his own performance, at the team performance, at not scoring etc. Just shows he wants to be on the pitch.

I think Dolan wide and Brereton would make more sense, we have no presence up front and Dolan is at his best running at players out wide.

[superniko]

5 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I think Dolan wide and Brereton would make more sense, we have no presence up front and Dolan is at his best running at players out wide.

Yeah, they could easily rotate during the match too. I'd be starting the two of them with Thomas going forwards anyway.

[roversfan99]

2 minutes ago, superniko said:

Yeah, they could easily rotate during the match too. I'd be starting the two of them with Thomas going forwards anyway.

I don't think there is much in Dolan and Hedges but I would be happy to see the same 4 attackers start with a change of positions between Dolan and Brereton. It won't happen but I would like to try it.

Thomas started taking Townsend on last night and having Brereton in the box would be a much better target for his crosses.

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, Mattyblue said:

… on a computer game.

No you're right, in real life the coaches just say "Tyrhys I just want you to run around a bit upfront and close people down, yeah? Awesome".

[Exiled_Rover]

1 hour ago, roversfan99 said:

He offers no goal threat and does his best work in wide areas.

We have a big, strong and quick attacking player who can run in behind, who can pick up goalscoring positions, who can bring others into play and does offer a presence in the box. He has spent the last couple of months spending most of his time defending, miles away from goal.

He hasn't played there very often but in the absence of other options, it surely is worth a go.

I can't picture who this player is - is he in the Academy at the moment?

[jim mk2]

3 hours ago, S8 & Blue said:

This. He was having no effect at all, getting frustrated and firing Hollywood balls across our defence on more than one occasion that we'd have murdered Morton for.

An off day happens, taking him off to try something different was the right call.

Stunned that there was booing, I know he's a cult hero but were they watching the game?

Thomas however I can only assume isn't deemed physically up to it for the whole 90 at the moment, because I thought he was playing well.

 

The booing for Dack going off was pretty widespread but didn't last long

As usual this season, the Rovers fans were pretty quiet until the goal - and then they had something to celebrate. But you can't blame them going to sleep watching Tomasson's football. It's awful - worse than under Mowbray

The Albion fans were silent most of the time too - the Hawthorns as a whole was even quieter than Ewood

[Mattyblue]

15 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

No you're right, in real life the coaches just say "Tyrhys I just want you to run around a bit upfront and close people down, yeah? Awesome".

Sounds exactly like what a lot of coaches would say…

[ben_the_beast]

6 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

I wonder if having Carter and Wharton at the back has helped a lot. Both of them can move the ball forward better than Hyam and way way way better than Ayala. Makes it easier to transition forward. Also I wouldn't really say we missed Ayala that much defensively which is a bit of a surprise. Carter particularly is very cultured with ball for a centreback.

I think it's Whartons biggest weakness. He can hit a decent diagonal but if that's not on he's very likely to play a dangerous pass into the middle of the pitch and not find his man. He's also pretty slow decision maker and I always feel he's liable to have the ball stolen from him. Hyam isn't going to pull up any trees with the ball at his feet but he's significantly better than Wharton in my opinion.

[wilsdenrover]

I know the games changed but I did prefer it when centre backs were judged on their defensive capabilities 

 

[Andy]

4 hours ago, RoversTilliDie said:

I stated that fact the day before the game, 6 straight home wins without conceding a goal before Tuesday night. It makes it look a decent point.

It was a decent point, a very decent point.

As was Watford just before it.

You’d have thought we’d lost 6 in a row, reading some of the comments in here last night.

[wilsdenrover]

29 minutes ago, Andy said:

It was a decent point, a very decent point.

As was Watford just before it.

You’d have thought we’d lost 6 in a row, reading some of the comments in here last night.

It was the Wigan result that was disappointing, the two subsequent draws (as you say) we’re both decent.

[Hasta]

2 hours ago, Andy said:

It was a decent point, a very decent point.

As was Watford just before it.

You’d have thought we’d lost 6 in a row, reading some of the comments in here last night.

It’s a decent point only if you accept Wigan was a shocking result.

(sorry, didn’t scroll down 1 more message to read the next post)

Edited February 16, 2023 by Hasta

[Andy]

The Wigan result and performance was terrible.

But it doesn't take away from the fact that the subsequent 2 matches were away to teams we were widely expected to lose to (heavily, if you pay attention to the doom mongers).

Came out undefeated; two very decent results.

We need to follow it up with a couple of wins in our next 2 now, to really build on it.

[chaddyrovers]

9 hours ago, Miller11 said:

The lack of players getting in the box is really infuriating. At one point last night Dack picked up a loose ball on the left hand side and your natural instinct is to want him to sling it back into the box. Brereton sprinted over going short for him, Dolan was in the box (just) but is no target and JRC was arriving late… from fullback. Telling that our goal came from a free kick outside the box. Based not just on last night, we create very little.

This is where we lack a proper number 9 striker but we have deal with the current situation we are in. 

9 hours ago, Miller11 said:

Dack has been back nearly a year. The injuries are no longer a factor.

I think keeping him fit and injury free is a massive factor and his game time still need managing properly

[47er]

53 minutes ago, Andy said:

The Wigan result and performance was terrible.

But it doesn't take away from the fact that the subsequent 2 matches were away to teams we were widely expected to lose to (heavily, if you pay attention to the doom mongers).

Came out undefeated; two very decent results.

We need to follow it up with a couple of wins in our next 2 now, to really build on it.

Yes but be fair. It does rather take the edge off a good result when you feel we'll fuck it up against a poor team at Ewood.

Can't blame supporters for not being delirious in the circumstances.

[K-Hod]

59 minutes ago, Andy said:

The Wigan result and performance was terrible.

But it doesn't take away from the fact that the subsequent 2 matches were away to teams we were widely expected to lose to (heavily, if you pay attention to the doom mongers).

Came out undefeated; two very decent results.

We need to follow it up with a couple of wins in our next 2 now, to really build on it.

I think we can do better than calling people doom mongers (and happy clappers on the other end of the spectrum).

Incidentally, we’ve had two creditable draws, but given our recent form and who our opponents had in their squad, I don’t think it was completely unreasonable to think we’d lose those matches. 
Particularly after our disastrous conclusion to the transfer window.

[chaddyrovers]

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Dolan was ineffective as a number 9, he is not a striker in a million years. Most number 9's don't have to put the word "pressing" in front of it to justify their place.

He is better out wide, he doesn't hold the ball up, he doesn't really run in behind and he doesn't offer a goal threat or a presence when we get the ball wide. He is at his best fronting up full backs and getting past them.

I like Dolan playing the role he does as number 9. Pressing the ball high is one of the aspect of his game that suits us and he can and does win the ball back high for us. Against some teams that suits the team. 

 

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

Broughton fucked up both in the summer and in January regarding a striker so I don't doubt that our options are not as they should be, but Dolan and Vale cannot be the main 2 options. Brereton and Gallagher should be.

We have the squad we have. We have to just get on with it and deal it for the rest of the season. moaning or complaining about will do zilch to solved it. That will happen in the summer. 

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

You can't be entertained by Tomasson's Rovers, surely? 

Football isn't about entertainment but winning games. I enjoyed certain aspects of our performances last night like Pears, JRC and Carter performances or BBD having more influence and impact the game, but annoyed at Morton's performance for example. 

7 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

The double sub on the hour seemed pre-planned to me and with no flexibility to how the game was going. I suppose we have to try and justify the outlay on Szmodics but he is such a downgrade on Dack who also came off with 15 to go at the weekend. Thomas was just starting to really test the full back and like Dack seemed unhappy to have to go off. The double change massively weakened us after we had started to look threatening, poor changes by the manager.

Those 2 changes didn't improve us at all

5 hours ago, roversfan99 said:

I think Dolan wide and Brereton would make more sense, we have no presence up front and Dolan is at his best running at players out wide.

not for me cos BBD best form and his impact comes from playing from the left. Where he can cut in from the left and shoot

3 hours ago, Andy said:

You’d have thought we’d lost 6 in a row, reading some of the comments in here last night.

exactly.