For a multitude of reasons this was the first Blackburn game of the season that I have managed to get to this year. It was far and away the best Rovers away support I have ever seen in London. In the past when I have been in the away fans at Arsenal or Chelsea there has never been a sell out of our allocation or that vocal a support. This time the fans never stopped getting behind the team and singing – what a great effort. It was a shame the players could not repay the fans with a win or even a draw.
A lot has been made of the controversial penalty decision at the end of the game. I am not going to dwell on this too much but instead focus on the performance of the team. Rovers played a classic 4-4-2 formation. Steve Kean’s aim seemed to be to shut down their midfield, especially Danny Murphy, in the centre of the park with Nzonzi and Jermaine Jones and then attack on the flanks with the pace of Hoilett and Olsson. In a way the plan worked as Murphy was quiet all game and was substituted after 70 minutes. How then did we still lose?
- Martin Olsson – He originally came to the club as a young left back but has since been developed into a left winger as his performances in defence were terrible. Anybody remember the Tottenham away game when he was sent off after a very stupid tackle. Against Fulham he performed well going forward and he does offer something different to Pedersen as he has pace and can beat his man. However his defensive shortcomings were evident as he was clearly at fault for the first goal as he let Duff cut in on his left foot far too easily. You could even claim he had a part to play in his second goal as he did not track Duff’s run. We still suffer from not having a proper left back at the club. Givet always tries his best there but always looks uncomfortable especially up against a fast or tricky winger.
- Christopher Samba – This may be an unpopular opinion but I would have let him go in January, let me justify this. Against Fulham he was poor (Like he has been too often this season), every time the ball was played down the channel to Johnson, Samba was always two steps behind him. Also he was at blame for the second goal for now closing down Duff. I have said this many times before Samba looks good because he recovers well from situations, but often these are caused by his mistakes. He is meant to be the leader on the pitch as club Captain and I saw little of this. He was either arguing with Jones or Nzonzi or showing little interest in the game. In fact it was Grant Hanley who seemed to lead and organise the defence despite being only 19. You have to question Samba’s motivation at the moment. He clearly rates himself too highly or has an agent who is telling him that he belongs at a top four club. I think he believes that if Rovers go down some big club will come in for him. Why he was given back the club captaincy after his unprofessionalism in January I do not know. Bold action needs to be taken, he needs to be dropped and stripped of the captaincy.
- Jason Roberts – A great guy but not a great or even good footballer. To his credit he did well in setting up the second goal for Hoilett (who took it so well). But he clearly should never start for Blackburn Rovers again. All game we saw Kalinic, Rochina and Santa Cruz warming up to come on. One of these, if not two, should be are starting strike force. For me what summed up Roberts performance, and his career, was his chance in the second half a 2-2. It was a chance he created himself through the pressure he put on their centre back but when it came to finishing it off he attempted an overly ambitious outside of the foot finish which he woefully failed to pull off. This sort of thing happens almost every single game he plays in and for me his career for the club should be over.
- Steve Kean – Firstly respect for his post match BBC interview for not being like many other managers and blaming the referee for the loss. But when will he realise that Salgado is off the pace and should not be starting at right back. Brett Emerton is the obvious replacement. Why were Santa Cruz and Kalinic on the bench even if they were not fit they could have done a better job than Roberts or Diouf. (Diouf falls into the same category as Matt Derbyshire – great when he comes off the bench for the last half an hour not so great when he starts). Also did he not instruct the players to not let Duff cut in onto his left foot espically after the first goal? Every time Duff was forced to cross with the right nothing came of it, every time he used his left he was a threat or scored a goal. Those fans calling for Big Sam to come back are idiots. Despite his failings so far Kean is finding his feet in management and learning from his mistakes. We are clearly trying to play a more positive brand of football and what the Manager needs are the supporters backing, not the fans turning on him straight away. Kean’s tactic of shutting down their midfield worked but the team failed to get the ball wide to our dangerous players. It could be argued that Kean failed to gamble like Hughes did (when he brought on a third striker with 20 minutes to go) but for Kean to do that away from home would have been too much of a gamble.
Lets end on some positives
- Phil Jones will be back soon
- Junior Hoilett is one of the most talented players we have had at the club for a long time
- Our fate in our own hands. We still have Blackpool, Birmingham & Bolton to play at home and West Ham and Wolves to play away.
- Nzonzi is starting to look like the player he was last season
- We are not Burnley
Advertisement
