Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[Yeltzer]

We played pretty well in periods of that game. The lack of height came back to haunt as I thought it might however.

The seven dwarves would have had an average height greater than ours yesterday!

[barrysleftfoot]

  I think you are being a bit harsh on Hogg, i thought he played OK, yday.Granted i don't think he will play when everyone is fit, but he certainly was'nt the worst.

  Positives..Dunne had a good game, played football, and defended well, got Ireland off the hook with a superb covering tackle.
                  Clark.....does lack pace, but seem to get caught out by it.Had a tough opponent in Roberts, but won most of the aeriel battles, and tackles as well.Got caught out once when he got booked.Jones played for them, and apparently is the next England C/H, but he did'nt outshine Clark for me, and Clark is, what ,19?
                  Bannan....always wanted the ball, always looking for a pass.The best thing about Bannan yday was , even when Pires came on, he still wanted to dictate the game, and not pass the buck.Almost put 2 great balls through.
                  Downing......probably our most effective attacking player.
                  Delf.......showed more movement in 10 mins than Gabby did in 80 mins.Gabbys syarting to worry me.


  Negatives......Ireland......I really hope he is not fully fit, because his lack of awareness, sharpness, was embaressing tbh.Has a nice little pass, a la Downing, but was far too sluggish.Shape up, or ship out.

              Warnock.....grow up, and stop being such a petty little prat.Much better , 2nd half, should show a lot more responsibility.

               Gabby....starting to worry me, never had an attempt yday, never looked dangerous, never in a position to follow up shots.Again hope he's not match fit, as i expect a lot more.
               AYoung........not sure he's performing to his high standards tbh.The 4 of Gabby, Ireland, Downing and Ash should be more than enough to rip teams like Bburn to shreds, but we did'nt do it enough.

  We missed Heskey/Carew, and NRC yday, more than any other game this year.6 away games, 5 defeats.

[London Villan]

For all the negative comments about playing Cuellar at right back, we don't half miss his presence during away games like yesterday.

[cdward]

I thought Blackburn played their game perfectly. Diof wound up Warnock just enough times, and Warnock duly played into his hands and gave away the free kick.  Diouf must have been laughing to himself when that free kick went in. They also roughed up Friedel just enough times, so that when it mattered he was waiting for the shoulder charge, and wasn't concentrating on the flight of the ball.
We need to wise up when it comes to playing against the likes of Blackburn, Stoke, etc, and realise these teams will play these tactics, whether they are successful depends if you let it effect your concentration levels and get sucked in by it all.
The Blouse cup game is going to be more of the same in a more intense atmosphere, we need to learn from this experience.

[usav]

For all the negative comments about playing Cuellar at right back, we don't half miss his presence during away games like yesterday.

I'm not sure Cuellar would have improved on anything Young did at RB.   Maybe he might have been a bigger presence in the middle alongside Dunne.

[Risso]

i really feel for blackburn fans.. having to pay to watch that week in week out... "hoof it upfield, back in, fall over and try an win as many free kicks, corners and throw ins as possible, while standing on the keepers foot.."

I don't feel sorry for them, we had our fair share of dull football under O'Neill to contend with.

[martyn ellis]

Diof wound up Warnock just enough times, and Warnock duly played into his hands and gave away the free kick.  Diouf must have been laughing to himself when that free kick went in. They also roughed up Friedel just enough times, so that when it mattered he was waiting for the shoulder charge, and wasn't concentrating on the flight of the ball.

Agree with this, but it says a lot about Allardyce's anti-football tactics where the main aim seems to be 'never mind the ball, let's get onwith the game'. Diouf charges into the keeper every game and almost always seems to get away with it.

[Clampy]

I've finally thawed out from yesterday. Firstly, Ireland. I'm going to give him the slight benefit of the doubt here because he did'nt seem to have a clue where he was supposed to be playing. I can only presume him and Gabby were meant to be joining in with the attack and other than Ashley hitting the bar, it did'nt really happen. What should have happennd is Ashley playing out wide and Ireland behind Gabby.

The other problem we had was having two forward thinking midfielders in Ireland and Bannan which only left Hogg to do the untidy work and at the moment, he's too lightweight a player for that, especially against the likes of Blackburn. Besides, it seems to take him a good 45 minutes to get into the game. Yesterday i think Herd (who looked baulkier) or even Osbourne may have been a better choice in the middle.

A game to forget but as poor as we were, it would'nt surprise me if we payed a blinder against Arsenal this weekend.

[TheSandman]

For all the negative comments about playing Cuellar at right back, we don't half miss his presence during away games like yesterday.

I'd sooner see him at right back than Warnock at left back. Sadly, more a comment on Warnock than Carlos as fullbacks.

[PaulWinch again]

As I said earlier in the thread, I think we'll actually do much better against Arsenal than Blackburn. It's a shame that our more experienced players let us down.

[deero83]

What were the claret shorts all about? Isn't that why we have an away kit?!