v Sunderland (h) - 26/12/2024

[ossyian]

1 hour ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

Nice to see a bumper crowd given a good game of football. Was a good atmosphere in the blackburn end too.

Thought we were good value for the half time lead. Dolan and hedges both wasted good chances either side of the goal and again those wide areas seem to me to be the area in greatest need of improvement. 

I need to see their two goals again but they looked somewhat similar with Roberts running 1 v 1 vs Beck with little support around him. I thought Beck made a poor decision in the build up to the 1st but thought he was left exposed by others for the 2nd.

Once they got in front their quality showed and they really should've extended their lead but we fought back well to get a point applying pressure at the end.

Pleased for Leonard who I think there is a player in there. 

I've previously formally apologised to Pears for previous comments but I feel I should do it again.

Dolan was club motm, must say i didn't quite see that, a very mixed bag as always from him.

Cantwell has been a little off it since his suspension

I don't particularly rate baker. It may just be a lack of match fitness but he's a nothing player to me. Reasonable technically but can't impact games with it as he looks slow to the ball and poor physically. We missed Travis I thought, I would play Buckley in his absence as I suggested pre game.

I don’t get what Baker brings to this team. I think he’s just a championship plodder who should be nowhere near a top six starting eleven. I just don’t get what the point of him is.

[47er]

44 minutes ago, Exiled_Rover said:

I've watched him for 4 years. I'd fancy my chances in a foot race against Dolan.

You absolutely cannot fault his work rate, it's phenomenal, but he's a slow player and his decision making is poor. Like Hedges he'd be an excellent squad player for most Championship teams. 

Yeah I'm not talking about flying down the wing, I'm thinking of driving through the middle (with the ball) and Dolan does that very well. 

I predict we will lose him for pennies and spend a lot more money trying to replace him.

For all his failings he is one of our players who makes things happen.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

17 minutes ago, den said:

I grew up with right footed wingers playing on the right wing and vice versa. It’s really easy to see why the modern coach plays them the opposite way around. The tactics of get to the bye line and cross it died decades ago. Rightly so as well.

We should be proud of rovers performance today. I thought they worked so hard and played terrific football for the most part. Neither side deserved to lose that one. After the Milwall defeat coupled with the injuries to Pickering and Travis I feared the worst.  Maybe we shouldn’t underestimate what Eustace is doing here - but he is going to need some meaningful support from the owners in the new year.

 3 of the 4 goals today came from players getting up the side of teams and crossing the ball. Just saying.

[Blackpool_Rover]

2 hours ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

Nice to see a bumper crowd given a good game of football. Was a good atmosphere in the blackburn end too.

Thought we were good value for the half time lead. Dolan and hedges both wasted good chances either side of the goal and again those wide areas seem to me to be the area in greatest need of improvement. 

I need to see their two goals again but they looked somewhat similar with Roberts running 1 v 1 vs Beck with little support around him. I thought Beck made a poor decision in the build up to the 1st but thought he was left exposed by others for the 2nd.

Once they got in front their quality showed and they really should've extended their lead but we fought back well to get a point applying pressure at the end.

Pleased for Leonard who I think there is a player in there. 

I've previously formally apologised to Pears for previous comments but I feel I should do it again.

Dolan was club motm, must say i didn't quite see that, a very mixed bag as always from him.

Cantwell has been a little off it since his suspension

I don't particularly rate baker. It may just be a lack of match fitness but he's a nothing player to me. Reasonable technically but can't impact games with it as he looks slow to the ball and poor physically. We missed Travis I thought, I would play Buckley in his absence as I suggested pre game.

Maybe it’s because I haven’t been there as much as I’d like over the last 19 years but I thought the atmosphere in the BBE was really poor until after our second goal. Then everyone woke up. Don’t know why we can’t support the team like that for big parts of the game and not just the 5 mins injury time.

[had.e.nuff]

another hard fought for point 12 more point for safety then lets see where we can finish.

[davulsukur]

39 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Such a limited squad, so little quality. Without reinforcements (highly unlikely) you have to think we’ll finish up somewhere in mid table 

I think it's inevitable that we will fall away at some point. That's no disrespect to the manager or the squad, Eustace is getting a lot out of what he has available, it's just what he has available isn't all that great. When the injuries and suspensions start to bite, the squad depth will be tested. Full credit to the job he's doing i just can't see how he'll get us over the line without a few additions in January but we all know it'll be a loan or 2 at best.

[Penwortham Blue]

23 minutes ago, ossyian said:

I don’t get what Baker brings to this team. I think he’s just a championship plodder who should be nowhere near a top six starting eleven. I just don’t get what the point of him is.

I thought he had a good game and caught Dunny’s summary on Radio Lancs on the way home and he said that he thought Baker was terrific in the middle. One of our very best midfielders of years gone past and so I think his thoughts should carry some credibility.

[Penwortham Blue]

10 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

 3 of the 4 goals today came from players getting up the side of teams and crossing the ball. Just saying.

Couldn’t agree more. Games can be won by different tactics and inverted wingers are favoured in the modern game but Patrick Roberts showed today how effective getting to the byline and crossing can be, managed it twice and both times it ended up in our net.

[den]

9 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

 3 of the 4 goals today came from players getting up the side of teams and crossing the ball. Just saying.

Not doubting that Tyrone, but you know full backs are always coached to push the winger wide, no matter which is their stronger foot. The bigger danger is when the winger cuts inside onto their strongest foot.

[superniko]

5 hours ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Apart from Salah, how many genuine wide players find the net consistently? Not very many.

Robben and Saka spring to mind for wingers who cut inside, playing on their opposite wing. 

Gakpo and Salah goals tonight both fit that mould - it’s certainly the percentage play at elite level, though I must admit at our level it feels more beneficial to play left on left and right on right due the sheer lack of quality. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

23 minutes ago, den said:

Not doubting that Tyrone, but you know full backs are always coached to push the winger wide, no matter which is their stronger foot. The bigger danger is when the winger cuts inside onto their strongest foot.

What I’m really saying is we need to mix it up a bit. Constantly coming inside doesn’t ask enough questions of the opposition in my opinion. Our last goal came from a real old fashioned ale house cross but Sunderland coudn’t deal with it. Same as us at  Millwall last week.

Edited December 26, 2024 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[OsloRover]

When was the last time we saw a cross from the byline on our left? Brittain provides them from the right but we’re too predictable when constantly cutting infield on the left

[rigger]

50 minutes ago, ossyian said:

I don’t get what Baker brings to this team. I think he’s just a championship plodder who should be nowhere near a top six starting eleven. I just don’t get what the point of him is.

To cover for missing players.

[Andy]

7 minutes ago, OsloRover said:

When was the last time we saw a cross from the byline on our left? Brittain provides them from the right but we’re too predictable when constantly cutting infield on the left

If you go back to the Gestede (playing) days, we set up with Conway and Marshall as true wingers, getting those crosses onto the big lad's head.

I don't think we should revert back to that style of play, but suspect Gueye would probably score more with such an approach.

[den]

I don’t think anyone is saying that wide men getting to the bye line is old hat because it certainly isn’t.  It’s just a discussion about playing wingers on the “wrong” side. It’s just obvious that a wide man coming inside onto their strongest foot presents the bigger danger. Especially given that the prime objective of crossing from wide onto the head of a tall centre forward isn’t effective enough in modern football.

[M_B]

Didn't realise it was Dolan who set Ohashi up, and Gueye set up Leonard. Good day for the attacking players.

[rigger]

3 minutes ago, den said:

I don’t think anyone is saying that wide men getting to the bye line is old hat because it certainly isn’t.  It’s just a discussion about playing wingers on the “wrong” side. It’s just obvious that a wide man coming inside onto their strongest foot presents the bigger danger. Especially given that the prime objective of crossing from wide onto the head of a tall centre forward isn’t effective enough in modern football.

Perhaps the defenders are at fault for letting them come inside ? I was always , a show them to the touchline, then knock them into the stand , kind of full-back.

[den]

2 minutes ago, rigger said:

Perhaps the defenders are at fault for letting them come inside ? I was always , a show them to the touchline, then knock them into the stand , kind of full-back.

🙂 they should all be like that Rigger.

[BankEnd Rover]

That Roberts for them is some player...Quick direct and caused us havoc all game...We can only dream of a winger similar.

[Ghost7]

11 minutes ago, superniko said:

Robben and Saka spring to mind for wingers who cut inside, playing on their opposite wing. 

Gakpo and Salah goals tonight both fit that mould - it’s certainly the percentage play at elite level, though I must admit at our level it feels more beneficial to play left on left and right on right due the sheer lack of quality. 

 

This argument is wild. Nearly every winger plays on the reverse side at Championship playoff level and above. Patrick Roberts IS an inverted winger, he is left footed playing on the right and is..... as I said earlier today crossing with his right foot because every pro winger is expected to be able to cross well on their weak foot. It did not handicap Roberts and is the preferred choice of Cole Palmer, Mo Salah, Mbuemo, Pedro Neto, Sancho, Doku, Savio, Gordon, Bowen, Saka, Musiala, Hudson-Odoi, Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Olise... and their respective managers. The majority of footballers you're watching go to the byline and cross are doing it with their weaker foot. Nearly all Rovers' wide men prefer it too. I can't write about this any more. There is a winger issue at Rovers and it's a lack of pace to be able to go on the outside NOT them playing on the "wrong sides".

[Forever Blue]

1 hour ago, den said:

The bigger danger is when the winger cuts inside onto their strongest foot.

Not always true. The position on the pitch where most goals are created from is the channel that runs down the width of the box. Players cutting inside tend to move away from that position. 
 

The reason managers play wingers on their wrong side is to open up that channel by dragging the full back inside. It’s then the CMs job or the attacking full backs job to move into that channel to cross the ball into the middle. 
 

Very few wingers are capable of cutting in on their stronger foot and scoring with any regularity.

Edited December 27, 2024 by Forever Blue

[Neal]

5 hours ago, Rogerb said:

Makhtar creates chaos whether that chaos is beneficial to us is unproven to me at present.

Really? Stats show he's 3rd in assists in the league, another good knockdown to rescue us a point and came on against Wednesday to win us 3 points... 

 

Not having a go at you here but seeing the stick he gets and the hearing the stick he got today is starting to wear a bit thin. 

 

We paid 1.5 million for him which in the grand scheme of things is absolutely peanuts in today's market. 3 goals and 6 assists in all competitions isn't a bad return at all. The guy wins headers, feeds off scraps and somehow manages to win us a points here and there without starting regularly. 

 

Granted it took him too long to get off the mark but because of that, a few misses and his awkward style, seems to be an easy target to be made a scapegoat. 

 

We would be far worse off in the table without the big man. He's not even played half a season folks, don't be so keen to write him off and give him time... The big man is a problem for teams in this league! 

[Tom]

Thought he looked better with the ball at his feet as well today, ungainly but moved through the gears well a couple of times before drawing a foul. 

[Aqualung]

12 minutes ago, Neal said:

Really? Stats show he's 3rd in assists in the league, another good knockdown to rescue us a point and came on against Wednesday to win us 3 points... 

 

Not having a go at you here but seeing the stick he gets and the hearing the stick he got today is starting to wear a bit thin. 

 

We paid 1.5 million for him which in the grand scheme of things is absolutely peanuts in today's market. 3 goals and 6 assists in all competitions isn't a bad return at all. The guy wins headers, feeds off scraps and somehow manages to win us a points here and there without starting regularly. 

 

Granted it took him too long to get off the mark but because of that, a few misses and his awkward style, seems to be an easy target to be made a scapegoat. 

 

We would be far worse off in the table without the big man. He's not even played half a season folks, don't be so keen to write him off and give him time... The big man is a problem for teams in this league! 

Well said. 

That and we aren't playing to his strengths. He is unorthodox for sure but personally, I like the guy. 

[superniko]

54 minutes ago, Ghost7 said:

 

This argument is wild. Nearly every winger plays on the reverse side at Championship playoff level and above. Patrick Roberts IS an inverted winger, he is left footed playing on the right and is..... as I said earlier today crossing with his right foot because every pro winger is expected to be able to cross well on their weak foot. It did not handicap Roberts and is the preferred choice of Cole Palmer, Mo Salah, Mbuemo, Pedro Neto, Sancho, Doku, Savio, Gordon, Bowen, Saka, Musiala, Hudson-Odoi, Gakpo, Diogo Jota, Olise... and their respective managers. The majority of footballers you're watching go to the byline and cross are doing it with their weaker foot. Nearly all Rovers' wide men prefer it too. I can't write about this any more. There is a winger issue at Rovers and it's a lack of pace to be able to go on the outside NOT them playing on the "wrong sides".

You just literally highlighted my point that it’s the correct set-up for ELITE players.

Your bog standard championship winger can’t cross very well with their weaker foot, that’s fact, and they’re not good enough to come inside and ping it in the bottom corner on their strong foot like those elite players you listed. Roberts is one of, if not the, best winger in the league 

Stick Ryan Hedges on the right wing, do you think he performs better? He can just about use his right foot for standing on 

Edited December 27, 2024 by superniko