v Blackburn (A) Match Thread

[Ram-Alf]

Negatives from last night...imo

PW wants "blistering" pace, Jackson has that but nowt else, Elder and Wilson are best suited as wing backs, Cashin before kick off was talking to himself as if to expel some demons 😁 well that didn't work, Ozoh struggled in the 1st half, Barkhiuzen huffs n puffs, NML running down blind alleys, Osbourne...pfttt.

Positives 

Vickers not to blame for any of the 4 goals, NML takes a good corner as 2 goals and nearly 3, Ozoh much better 2nd half, Goudmijn will only get better, Good support from our away following.

The Game

Eustace is a magician, 3 subs and all score 🙄, At 1-1 I thought we'd go on and win, But no Cashin does what Cashin does well fux up, Goalscorers do what they do well...and that's finding space...Weimann was given the freedom of Blackburn, Szmodics...dito...that's why Ipswich want him, The 4th was down to us chasing the game and a breakaway goal, I see our "blistering" was missing when chasing back 👎

Blackburn won because they got players in the box who were able to score 3, We in the 2nd half put the ball in the box a good few times...but were missing a natural forward that can find that space.

After 50mins and until their 2nd we bossed the game, Once the 2nd went in we went chasing the game, PW said...in the Champ players will score 3-4 goals per 5 chances...spot on.

We'll have a good idea where we are when the transfer window closes...no issue yet for me as the Championship is one big leap for man and a huge leap for PW and co

 

 

[IlsonDerby]

7 minutes ago, derbydaz22 said:

My biggest concern is how loose and easy to play against we looked a halve arsed press at times and far to much space in midfield and the edge of our box we need to sort this before Saturday against a better side in Boro.

This was my biggest gripe last season in that we never looked like we’d been coached how to press. What triggers to wait for and how to strategically do it without leaving acres of space free with an opposition player in it. Pressing needs to be well coached, it isn’t a case of just running at the player who’s got the ball quickly. 
 

[jono]

9 hours ago, Jayram said:

Recruitment isn’t lacking? Really? Are you happy with what you saw tonight? I wasn’t expecting us to tear Blackburn a new one but bloody hell we’ve just been hammered by a bang average Championship side. We’ve had all summer to sort it and we haven’t. I’ll tell what I want; some suggestion that we are serious about keeping our place in this league which won’t happen if we don’t bring in some real quality up front and at the back. 
And don’t patronise me; I’ve followed this club for 44 years and I’m a ST holder so I’ll say what I want  when I want whether you agree or not you tool.

You can say what you want, no one is stopping you or saying you shouldn’t . By the same standard, I can disagree with you, which as you gathered, I do. Patience.
 

[MACKWORTHRAM]

6 hours ago, rammieib said:

I think you should watch the highlights before commenting.

1) goal one - why has Wilson gone to the goal line and left their player at the back. Ozoh was weak in build up.

2) Wilson came across because the whole defence was positionally wrong. Cashin had gone walkabouts (again) and whole defence was pulled over including Wilson this time.

3) Not a single chance can Vickers save that. Not a single chance any Gk in the world saves it so let’s not hammer Vickers tonight.

Bit harsh to pick on NML. 2 assists. Played in wrong winger position. Took their players on (So did Elder as well).

Where we struggled:

- defence was positionally wrong all night. See above.

- No forward focal point. 

- Kenso only creative player on show with the ball and passing.

Ultimately we were at game one and Berkhuisen was in our 11. If that doesn’t show an abject failure in the strategy of the club, I don’t know what does.

 

I said Ozoh was asleep for the first goal and he was. Their lad reacted quicker. 

NML was poor. Just because he crossed the ball twice from a corner that someone got on the end of doesn't mean he played well. He gave the ball away so many times. How's he playing in the wrong position? He plays on either wing. It changes throughout the game.

Completely agree about the defence. All over the place and erratic of which Cashin was the main culprit. Lucky not to concede another 2 from his mistakes (1 when he slid in and missed it and one where he gave the ball away on the edge of the box but their lad slipped)

Also agree about the attack. Can why we want a number 9. No focal point at all. Whilst their big lad up front couldn't finish his dinner. He was a handful.

Kenzo was good and easily out best player on the night. Admittedly faded second half.

And I agree about Barkhuizen. Can only hope once we've got a few more in and Yates, CBT, Ward etc are back that he won't be starting.

[ariotofmyown]

Enjoyed watching us control a reasonable amount of the game last night. Looked like we might win until they scored out the blue, then we looked a bit ragged.

Quite different to last season, where we often had little control, but very tight defensively. And whilst we didn't create a lot, we were also controlling the game high up the pitch, not just passing it round the back. Midfield looked like a good step up.

Excellent setpieces too. Key part of the game, as City and Arsenal showed last season too.

Promising performance, need some more attackers, possibly better for the long run than a scrappy point/win and hoofing it.

Edited August 10 by ariotofmyown

[Magicman]

Vickers 4 

Wilson 5 Nelson 5 Cashin 4 Elder 5 

Ohzo 4 Kenzo 5 Osborn 5 

NML 5 Jackson 4 Barks 4 

[Ghost of Clough]

The first 3 goals could have been avoided by players sticking with their men - Wilson for the 1st, Wilson/Jackson for the 2nd, Ozoh for the 3rd. The 4th was us getting outnumbered on the counter after over-comitting. 

Cashin was also partially to blame for 3 of them by trying to win the battle early on rather than sticking to his position and keeping a solid pairing with Nelson. Twice he tried to win the ball high up the pitch, and the other (the 3rd goal), he went across to where Elder was trying to recover from, but left Nelson exposed 3v1 in the middle.

Cashin sticking to his position would have made it easier to defend, but ultimately it's the other defensive mistakes which cost us.

[Carnero]

47 minutes ago, Srg said:

Weirdly, I was more positive from that than I thought I would be. Admittedly, I did expect to lose though.

We didn’t learn anything Warne hasn’t said… we need a striker, we need a keeper, we need a centre back, we need a left back. Yes it was concerning we seemed to just fall apart at the seems after their second, that was unlike us since Warne came in.

For positives, it was good to see us get ourselves in the game and control a large portion of it having gone 1 down. We were poor up until their 1st, but then we settled and started keeping hold of it. That was good. Actually think we looked the better side for around 50-60 minutes of the game, even if it was clearly a little toothless  

Kenzo looked really good. Stellar addition there. Will only get better too. Wilson played quite well too, which hints he can step up. NML and Barkhuizen were poor, Cashin having his early season struggles again and hopefully he will figure that out. 

Don’t think it’s worth some of the hand-wringing. Let’s not forget our usual away record at this level after all. Few additions, iron out of some of the sillyness and we should be ok. 

Yeah that's pretty much how I saw it, I was actually encouraged by large parts of our play, particularly between minutes 20-70.

The big caveat is that we cannot leave ourselves as open as that otherwise we'll be conceding 4+ every game. After we equalised there were multiple occasions where the midfield just left a gaping hole in front of the defence, and that coupled with the defenders losing all shape, particularly Cashin & Elder, is what cost us the game. This can be pretty easily sorted going forward.

[derbydaz22]

30 minutes ago, IlsonDerby said:

This was my biggest gripe last season in that we never looked like we’d been coached how to press. What triggers to wait for and how to strategically do it without leaving acres of space free with an opposition player in it. Pressing needs to be well coached, it isn’t a case of just running at the player who’s got the ball quickly. 
 

And better sides this season will pick us off especially the space we give on the edge of our own box.

[R@M]

9 hours ago, Boycie said:

Sadly no.

 But I don’t want members to get too down and say something that might prevent them accessing this fine forum.

What would one say, fine sir…just as an example? I feel at this point my visits are more of an addiction to routine. Long gone are the years of cultured debate and camaraderie which helped me get my fix of my beloved Rams after moving 200 miles away 12 years ago. 

[valakari]

Managers, like players, have their levels...hope i'm wrong

[Kernow]

6 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

The first 3 goals could have been avoided by players sticking with their men - Wilson for the 1st, Wilson/Jackson for the 2nd, Ozoh for the 3rd. The 4th was us getting outnumbered on the counter after over-comitting. 

Cashin was also partially to blame for 3 of them by trying to win the battle early on rather than sticking to his position and keeping a solid pairing with Nelson. Twice he tried to win the ball high up the pitch, and the other (the 3rd goal), he went across to where Elder was trying to recover from, but left Nelson exposed 3v1 in the middle.

Cashin sticking to his position would have made it easier to defend, but ultimately it's the other defensive mistakes which cost us.

I’d rather lose like that than be completely outplayed - which we weren’t.

Last season we conceded from mistakes a lot at the start of the season. Once those mistakes were ironed out we looked solid, and even though it’s a step-up in quality we aren’t going to go from a solid, well-organised defence to players not knowing what they’re doing in a few months.

[valakari]

Wilson and Elder in a back 4..how many times did that happen last season?!

[valakari]

Nyambe and Forsyth much more solid

[Sufferingfool]

Disappointing to lose but not surprising. Enjoyed the game despite the result. Noticeable how little the ball was out of play compared to last season and how little time wasting was in evidence. That was helped by both teams looking to win the game. 
 

We were caught short at the back when our full backs were pushing high up and both Cashin and Nelson made poor decisions when looking to cover but were left exposed by the counter. Ebou looked all at sea when he came on and we lost the midfield which had started to click. 

Still good to see an attacking game of football and better is to come, no player had a stinker, in my opinion, and we will lose many more this season….that’s football. Looking forward to Saturday.

Great support last night as well.

COY🐏
 

[Nuwtfly]

Have said it so many times: if we play like we did last season, we will go straight back down.

Yes, the quality of players needs improving, but Warne has got to start showing he has more in his locker than punting a ball over the top and hoping quick players will get onto it.

The 4-3-3, with 3 midfielders that were so so wide, leaving massive spaces down the middle, was a poor tactical choice. How many times did Blackburn just run through us?

First game, long way to go - but not a good sign of things to come. 

[Mucker1884]

Not long now, to the season's end.  👀

It'll never be replicated, so make the most of it, folks.  🐏

[1967Ram]

Positive: We scored two goals away from home which should be enough to get at least a point.

Negative: At times our defending was awful. We need to make sure we are a lot more difficult to score against - our defending (by the whole team) needs to be the priority to get right ASAP.

[MACKWORTHRAM]

Also if Bradley played last night and played like Cashin did.

I dread to think the abuse he would have got.

[Crewton]

31 minutes ago, Magicman said:

Vickers 4 

Wilson 5 Nelson 5 Cashin 4 Elder 5 

Ohzo 4 Kenzo 5 Osborn 5 

NML 5 Jackson 4 Barks 4 

Wrong thread