[Archived] Rovers 1 Everton 1

[ihtd]

I'd have thought i would have bottom of the prediction league so i started looking for IHTD from the bottom and then found myself in third for now.

How lucky did Everton get with that equaliser, i don't think Brad could flick it onto the post again if he had a hundred attempts. I thought Roberts showed he has some talent last night but i couldn't help but compare him to Bellers (yes i nkow he's gone, get over it, i know) but i were thinking he would have burried both of those chances that Roberts didn't finish. If Benni and Roberts keep putting in the hard work we could have a very good strike force for this season.

[AggyBlue]

i thought we played very well and never looked in trouble for 75 minutes. then, inexplicably, we defended too deep, the midfield and defence played as a back 8 and an everton equaliser was inevitable.

We obviously didn't defend deep enough.

We were caught out by a long punt over the top into acres of space.

[JAL]

To counteract the prophets of doom on here this is the report of the match from today's Independent.

http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/pr...icle1221364.ece

This fits in with my view of the match - that we were the better team for most of the match and that we had plenty of chances to have put the match beyond Everton, but that we missed them. Then we sat back to try and protect the lead, which we were doing OK until the last 20 minutes. I don't know whether that was our design or forced by Everton's pushing forward - probably more the latter. Before that Everton had not been in the game at all. I can only remember them creating 2 serious attempts on goal - Andy Johnson's break and shot saved by Friedel and the goal. Overall aa draw was the right result but only because we missed chances and paid the price. On another day we could have 3 or 4 easily. We're not as fluent as last season yet but we were comfortably better than Everton.

PS Did anyone else notice that Bet24 are our "principle" sponsors. Good to see an on-line betting company with principles...

Evertons game improved significantly once they had taken Beattie and Stubbs off, as for Rovers, our substitutes offered nothing at all, even though i was praying for Bentley to come off.

Gally looked very lightweight - if only Emmerton could have been the right sided midfielder then we'd might have had an outlet, but then if you'd witnessed the 'axes' performance at pompey you wouldnt want him to come on and be anywhere near our defence.

The last twenty minutes to me were a reflection of the pompey game, long ball from Brad upto Roberts, who then lost out EVERY time in the heading stakes and the opposition promptly attack our goal causing us all sorts of problems.

[Scotty]

Some of the comments on here are amazing.

Anyway, we lined up in a 4-4-2 formation but with a slight twist. Bentley, who was nominally playing wide-right in midfield, played very narrow for most of the game allowing Emerton (at right back) to almost play like a wing-back.

And we started off well. We did all the pressing in the first 20 minutes or so and could, and maybe should, have had two or three goals. First of all, an excellent through ball by Bentley put Roberts clear down the inside-right channel. Unfortunately his first touch took him too wide and his subsequent shot was straight at Everton's keeper. Secondly, a cross from the right found Pedersen coming in from the left wing. He headed the ball back across goal where McCarthy messed up a half-chance on the volley from a tight angle. Finally, another good ball put Bentley clear of Everton's defence. With the ball bouncing awkwardly and Howard rushing out Bentley tried to dink the ball to Roberts, sadly Yobo cut out the pass with a last-ditch lunge.

After that though the game settled into a bit of a scrap. Both teams were very physical, both worked hard to close each other down, and any fluency there might have been in the game was quickly snuffed out by the over-officious ref. 0-0 at half time. The good news was that Everton hadn't had a sniff.

The second half continued in the same manner as the first had ended. All endeavour but precious little quality - until McCarthy stepped up about fifteen minutes in. He controlled a bouncing ball, and curled a great shot from the edge of the area just as it looked like he was slipping. Great finish.

Unfortunately that was as good as it got for us. Everton stepped up a gear following our goal and our midfield got deeper and deeper, leaving our strikers totally isolated. As a result we just couldn't keep hold of the ball and we invited Everton on to us. First Johnson got through one-on-one with Friedel but the big man made yet another top save. Then Todd tangled with Johnson and was very lucky not to give away a penalty. Finally, a long, hopeful punt from defence caught both Todd and Zurab out at the back. McFadden broke clear and tried to lift the ball over Friedel, but Friedel somehow managed to get a hand to the ball and flick it onto a post (with a hint of a pull-back on McFadden as well maybe). The ball bounced back into the path of Cahill who slotted home well. A really crap goal to concede.

You worried that Everton may go on to win it then, but they seemed content with a point and started to sit back. We tried to rally late on but it wasn't to be. A draw was probably a fair result.

I thought Hughes got his substitutions wrong last night. First he replaced Bentley with Gally just as I thought bentley was having his best spell in the game. Then he brought off a fading Roberts but put Jeffers on. At that point we desperately needed someone to hold the ball up front, so why didn't Hughes put Kuqi on instead? Kuqi may be limited but he's capable of hold things up and allowing our defence a bit of respite - Jeffers jsut isn't that sort of player.

Friedel made one top class save, did just about all he could for the Everton goal, and generally looked as good as ever. Our defence looked like the makeshift unit they were at times. Gray can't defend - it's as simple as that. Todd did well until the last 15 minutes when he should have conceded a penalty and was at fault for their goal. Zurab also did well from a footballing point of view, he's great at turning defence into attack, but I still think he's too lightweight at times. Emerton was a revelation at right-back and was probably my man of the match.

We lacked real width and penetration in midfield. Pedersen and Reid were both anonymous for most of the game. Bentley did provide some creativity and I thought he did ok, certainly better than he has done in the past playing in midfield. Those slagging off Savage miss the point. He's not meant to be a creative player. He's a workhorse who's job is to close down the opposition and break up their attacks, something he did well all game. Although it was a tad embarrassing to see him, with two minutes to go, on the half way line in acres of space and not have a clue what to do with the ball.

Up front Roberts and McCarthy looked lively, linked well, and it looks like there's plenty of goals in them as long as we can supply them with enough quality.

All in all we played well in patches but didn't really do enough to win the game. I didn't go to Portsmouth but it sounds like we were much improved from that display, and I'm sure we'll be even better once we get a couple of our missing players back. Still not sure we're as good as last season though.

[JAL]

Jeffers and Macarthy didnt make a run for Savage to find them in those final seconds very disappointing.

[tcj_jones]

Didn't see the game or hear the game, same as Saturday. Reading what I read here I suppose I will do the gardening Sunday instead of watch the game. Are we looking THAT poor???

MGP, missing again? well knock me down with a feather. I'd have cashed in on him had we had a chance.

First half Everton weren't even in the game. We were absolutely superb. Lovely flowing football that created at least four clear cut chances. Roberts missed two very simple chances and McCarthy another, while an out of this world last ditch tackle from an Everton defender prevented a certain goal.

Our first chance came after just a few minutes when Bentley split open the defence with a sublime through ball to Roberts who hit the keeper when one on one. For the second Roberts chance, I think, McCarthy put him through with another quality ball. He cut back and had the goal at his mercy but mis-kicked his curling left footed shot. For the third chance, McCarthy arrived at the back post and only needed to volley it in, but mis-judged it and hit it over.

McCarthy was top drawer, absolutely top drawer and showed some real glimpses of skill. His first touch is superb and he linked well with Roberts. Roberts played ok, but missed some very simple chances and didn't win enough in the air.

As for Everton, people that call us a dirty team obviously haven't seen them play. Little niggly challanges, constant shirt pulling, pushing, tugging, holding back, late challanges, but Rennie, who was absolutely awful, seemed to award them decisions every time.

Anyway, completely undeservedly, we went in to the break at 0 - 0. We were to rue our missed chances.

Second half started much like the first with us on top and it wasn't long before a nice move saw McCarthy curl the ball into the bottom right corner from just outside the box.

However, after this the balance of play changed. It was a mixture of our inability to string two passes together, a lack of bite in midfield, our inability to seemingly defend a lead and Everton's excellent ability to keep hold of the ball for long streches. A reversal of the first half, we didn't get a sniff for most of the half and it was only a matter of time before they started carving us open. Johnson was put through one on one with Freidel who produced a good save to stop a certain goal. Every cross into our box looked dangerous and we couldn't deal with them. That is where I though their goal would come from. But no, it came from nothing.

We cleared our lines and the defence pushed up. The ball hit back in with very little pace and lots of height, over the centre backs and into the path of McFadden (I think). Todd and Zurab seemed to just stop and watch the ball go over them and McFadden easily outpaced Todd to tgo one on one. The goal was very fortunate as his effort hit the post anbd rebounded perfectly into the stride of Cahill. 1-1, a goal totally deserved from Everton.

To think, if we had have taken just one of those first half chances, we'd have been laughing.

In the first half I think the whole team, minus Emerton played pretty well. However, in the second half, I thought Emerton coped quite well down the right while we were on the back foot and that the rest of the team just couldn't string a few passes together or get the ball back. MOTM for us was MvcCarthy. He will be a real hit I think.

Putting this into perspective, 1-1 against Everton isn't a bad result and with Oiijer coming in, we should be able to better sope with defensive injuries.

I still think we desperately need a right midfielder, some central midfield cover and a new striker though.

[Drakefyre]

I think that the team will look very different after the Chelsea game when Tugay returns. I can foresee us handing out a drubbing or two.

[CAPT KAYOS]

I think that the team will look very different after the Chelsea game when Tugay returns. I can foresee us handing out a drubbing or two.

So is Tugay definitely back for Sunday -no doubt will be picked or better had be if available.

[Drakefyre]

He's back after Sunday - three match ban.

[Fife Rover]

cant exactly start having a go at Rennie, was unbelievable how he didnt give Everton a pen

or two....

[USRoverME]

No the price and Saturday's performance did - and last nights will probably affect Sundays even more

And you know this because you've polled every blackburn fan in the Lancashire area and asked them why they didn't attend, right?

[Fife Rover]

I cannot believe radio Lancashire, they were creaming themselves over Evertons equaliser. They Said and I quote "justice done, Everton should have had a penalty etc etc"

Ok, unbiased but when do we want to hear such arse kissing. If Ricahrd Dinnis and the 'cheapy' commentator that does the Bumley and Blackpool matches usually aren't Dingles I'm the pope.

I couldn't get to the game due to work and not being able to drive, but I'll never listen to Radio Lancashire EVER again.

Well send it up here then and I'll listen to it instead. All I can get is Radio Scotland which broadcasts on exactly the same frequency on FM as Radio Lancs.

Bit harsh on the cashew there

Todd was crap tonight, So was Gray as usual.

Emerton was good again, did not look out of place at left back, he much more pace then Neil, never looked like getting skinned.

Gamst starred in AWOL yet again.

Roberts is a bit crap at finishing.

Errmm! Ithink you will find it was Gray playing Left Back

[Fife Rover]

A lot of people seem to have turned on Andy Todd. He was our best defender a couple of seasons back and he did well last season. Has taken a sudden downward turn?

Judging soley on his performances this season so far; yes that is exactly what he has done. There is no way he should be risked against Chelski. Get Ooijer in with Zura.

OOyer and Zura!

Edited August 24, 2006 by Fife Rover

[CAPT KAYOS]

And you know this because you've polled every blackburn fan in the Lancashire area and asked them why they didn't attend, right?

No because I was there Saturday (wish I wasn't) and last night, and know people who where not there last night after Saturday and know people who where who won't be because of last night.

Also knowing people who weren't at either before the start of the Season and won't be going anyway because its in the middle of the bank on holiday and on TV at a crappy time and not worth the money.

All reflective and arguably a good reflection on a larger scale knowing the general feeling of Rovers fans, however I suspect there might be more home fans Sunday but not many more

[92er]

We're carrying on where we left off last season. We are not playing together as a team. I've seen more movement in a fitted carpet.

Everton are the usual Moyes team; all running and playing together and wanting the ball.

Rovers are slow at getting forward, they do not support each other. Often when we have possession we are forced back into our own half. Then the ball goes back to Friedal who has to hoof it upfield, because there is no-one competant to throw it to, and we lose possession again.

The second ball is usually won by the opposition.

Re individuals; Todd and Zurab played well. Emerton had a very good game at right back. Gray was awful, losing possession regularly. Reid was holding midfielder and therefore didn't get forward enough.

Savage is the problem. The man is totally useless as a footballer. He cannot tackle, control the ball,create anything. He would be the first for me to drop, putting Reid in his place and bringing Mokoena in.

Bentley on the right and Pedersen on the left were ineffective.

Roberts was fouled and beaten in the air most of the time by Yobo but Rennie the ref ignored it all.

We'll lose to Chelsea 3-0 and then away at Sheff Utd we'll get kicked off the park and lose 2-1

Played four.......1 point and bottom 3 :-(

I have to say I agree with many of the points you made. It's either an age thing, or the advantage of seeing the match live.

[1864roverite]

Andy "I cant stand up for falling down" is a cheat, every challenge he is on his ar#e.

Everton fans epitomise the ethic of whingeing scousers, as can normally be found on holidays.

Rovers again lacked creativity.

Todd and Gray are no longer useful to BRFC except for cleaning the stands.

I couldnt believe the Everton celebration when they got a corner and the way they clebrated their goal was like they had won the European Cup !

as for he game and blame, does anyone else think that Brad should have gone for the ball instead of running back as at the first punt he was on the edge of his area ?

I take the point, as I predicted a loss, but for a wounded Chelsea on Sunday ???????? cant wait

[92er]

Those slagging off Savage miss the point. He's not meant to be a creative player. He's a workhorse who's job is to close down the opposition and break up their attacks, something he did well all game. Although it was a tad embarrassing to see him, with two minutes to go, on the half way line in acres of space and not have a clue what to do with the ball.

OK Scotty so I can accept that Savage does that- we tend to see it as Savage playing tag: endlessly running round to no purpose. But we also think his ball control is poor, he can't pass,he can't head,he can't tackle, his dribbling skills are limited, and yet he seems to be given carte blanche to go anywhere on the pitch, often to the detriment of the team. I have a friend who is a Leicester fan who used to really rate Savage when he was there-and he did seem to do particularly well for them. I wonder if 3-5-2 is the best system for him, which gives him more flexilbilty to work to his strengths.Last night Reid played in the defensive midfield role. Very little came to the strikers in the 2nd half from central midfield, especially as the strikers tired and nobody arrived from centre midfield to help them.

I just think that having Savage in the midfield is part of the problem, but not everybody agrees!

Those slagging off Savage miss the point. He's not meant to be a creative player. He's a workhorse who's job is to close down the opposition and break up their attacks, something he did well all game. Although it was a tad embarrassing to see him, with two minutes to go, on the half way line in acres of space and not have a clue what to do with the ball.

OK Scotty so I can accept that Savage does that- we tend to see it as Savage playing tag: endlessly running round to no purpose. But we also think his ball control is poor, he can't pass,he can't head,he can't tackle, his dribbling skills are limited, and yet he seems to be given carte blanche to go anywhere on the pitch, often to the detriment of the team. I have a friend who is a Leicester fan who used to really rate Savage when he was there-and he did seem to do particularly well for them. I wonder if 3-5-2 is the best system for him, which gives him more flexilbilty to work to his strengths.Last night Reid played in the defensive midfield role. Very little came to the strikers in the 2nd half from central midfield, especially as the strikers tired and nobody arrived from centre midfield to help them.

I just think that having Savage in the midfield is part of the problem, but not everybody agrees!

May I jus point out that the quote above is from Scotty's excellent contribution.

[adopted scouser]

Andy "I cant stand up for falling down" is a cheat, every challenge he is on his ar#e.

Even the one where he stayed on his feet, surrendering a certain penalty from Forrest Todd ?

C'mon Warren

[1864roverite]

deliberately missed that one AS, I was on about the other 159 challenges !

Edited August 24, 2006 by 1864roverite

[tsnuf]

My main concern is that we do not appear to "play for each other" as most other teams do.

E.g. watch Man Utd when they get a free kick towards the opponents' pen area. Players are running all over the place. Rovers players seem to just stand there wondering where the ball will go to.

Look at how many Everton players were pouring forward when they scored their equaliser; all hungry to get a crack. When Rovers have the ball they seem to stand admiring their colleague instead of helping him and moving.

Interesting that you say this, in the Ewood E-males feature of the official site, this is what Jason Roberts had to say:

How have you been fitting into the current line up and have there been any pranks played on you yet?

Brendan, Blackburn

No pranks played on me yet and I'm not expecting any either! The boys have been fantastic, there's been absolutely no problems with me fitting in. They are a good bunch of guys and from what I saw last year, they live and die for each other on the pitch. I'm ready just to fit in to that.

I like Reid and Savage, but I really wish we had a more attacking central midfielder.

Was quite impressed with our right side (Bentley, Emerton) and quite unimpressed with our left (Gray, Gamst). I like Todd but I'm starting to agree that he's not good enough to start, let alone captain this club.

[Scotty]

OK Scotty so I can accept that Savage does that- we tend to see it as Savage playing tag: endlessly running round to no purpose. But we also think his ball control is poor, he can't pass,he can't head,he can't tackle, his dribbling skills are limited, and yet he seems to be given carte blanche to go anywhere on the pitch, often to the detriment of the team. I have a friend who is a Leicester fan who used to really rate Savage when he was there-and he did seem to do particularly well for them. I wonder if 3-5-2 is the best system for him, which gives him more flexilbilty to work to his strengths.Last night Reid played in the defensive midfield role. Very little came to the strikers in the 2nd half from central midfield, especially as the strikers tired and nobody arrived from centre midfield to help them.

I just think that having Savage in the midfield is part of the problem, but not everybody agrees!

May I jus point out that the quote above is from Scotty's excellent contribution.

It's very strange this. Reid was far poorer than Savage last night yet doesn't receive a hint of criticism on here. However, as soon as Savage misplaces a pass it's open season on him.

Last season we played the majority of games with Tugay and Savage as our midfield pairing. This worked well as Tugay supplied the creativity while Savage did all the "ugly" things to stop the opposition. When Reid and Savage play together we lack creativity, especially when Reid is as anonymous as he was last night. What little creativity we did have was supplied by Bentley, but he's a little too inconsistent to replace Tugay at the moment.

In an ideal world we'd sign a creative midfielder to challenge Tugay's place and then we'd have Tugay / AN Other competing for one spot in centre midfield and Reid / Savage competing for the other.

[blue phil]

Neville got well and truly out of jail. Rennie still spoke to him though but then ended up patting him on the shoulder. Another day and another ref and Neville could have been sent off.

It evens itself out . If Cahill hadn't have scored there's a very good chance Friedel would have walked for his blatent shirt pulling . Maybe a goal scored was the best result - we may need Brad on good form for Sunday's game .

I thought Hughes got his substitutions wrong last night. First he replaced Bentley with Gally just as I thought bentley was having his best spell in the game. Then he brought off a fading Roberts but put Jeffers on. At that point we desperately needed someone to hold the ball up front, so why didn't Hughes put Kuqi on instead? Kuqi may be limited but he's capable of hold things up and allowing our defence a bit of respite - Jeffers jsut isn't that sort of player.

A very fair assessment I think . Jeffers , in particular was a bewildering move .

On a different note I was a little peeved by the number of times toward the end when we brought every single player back into the defence . Always better I think to tie up a couple of opposing defenders by leaving at least one player up the park . Creates more space and doesn't give off the air of panic .

[RevidgeBlue]

It's very strange this. Reid was far poorer than Savage last night yet doesn't receive a hint of criticism on here. However, as soon as Savage misplaces a pass it's open season on him.

Last season we played the majority of games with Tugay and Savage as our midfield pairing.

Probably because everyone else can probably spot a country mile off that Reid was being asked to do a job in midfield whilst clearly not fully fit. Still good to see you're showing your usual "objectivity" as well regarding Reid.

It just highlights of lack of strength in central midfield. One suspension and Reid has to soldier on nursing an injury.

[RevidgeBlue]

The criticism regarding Gray and Todd has also reached hysterical proportions. I thought for the most part we defended very well last night, Friedel never had a thing to do until the last quarter of an hour, although admittedly during that period Todd made two bad errors for the goal and penalty that should have been.

The problem was that in the first half we played some neat stuff but failed to take our chances ( a trait often displayed by teams that end up getting relegated).

And in the second half, even more worryingly, once we went a goal up, we stopped playing our normal game and retreated into our shell. Rather than individual defenders being at fault the problem was more that the

entire defence and midfield retreated far too deep and failed to press the ball. It's all very well saying that we were eight minutes away from hanging on to the points. But if the game had gone on for another ten or fifteen minutes we'd probably have lost.

Worrying because we should be going out and stamping our authority on matches at Ewood.

[hawaii501]

Andy "I cant stand up for falling down" is a cheat, every challenge he is on his ar#e.

Everton fans epitomise the ethic of whingeing scousers, as can normally be found on holidays.

Rovers again lacked creativity.

Todd and Gray are no longer useful to BRFC except for cleaning the stands.

I couldnt believe the Everton celebration when they got a corner and the way they clebrated their goal was like they had won the European Cup !

as for he game and blame, does anyone else think that Brad should have gone for the ball instead of running back as at the first punt he was on the edge of his area ?

I take the point, as I predicted a loss, but for a wounded Chelsea on Sunday ???????? cant wait

What a load of rubbish. Gray was one of our most influential players last season. He aint played bad at all, I totally disagree with you, but everyone’s entitled to their own opinion no matter how much crap they are talking