Blackburn Rovers 2-3 Watford Fc - 24/02/2021

Discussion in 'Match Day' started by Smudger, Feb 21, 2021.

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What will the scoreline be ?

Poll closed Feb 24, 2021.
  1. Watford by 3 goals or more

    4 vote(s)
    5.3%
  2. Watford by 2 goals or more

    14 vote(s)
    18.4%
  3. Watford by 1 goal

    31 vote(s)
    40.8%
  4. Score Draw

    17 vote(s)
    22.4%
  5. No Score Draw

    5 vote(s)
    6.6%
  6. Blackburn Rovers by 1 goal

    3 vote(s)
    3.9%
  7. Blackburn Rovers by 2 goals

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  8. Blackburn Rovers by 3 goals or more

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  1. Dorset-Orn

    Dorset-Orn First Year Pro

    Yes I see others saying he was good tonight so maybe it's a mix of me just noticing a few poor passes out of defence, and the horrible focus of the single camera/long range TV feed on the red button.!? (not mentioning dodgy eyesight.....)
     
  2. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Given the pitch, the opposition and it was an evening away day, I think tonight was an absolutely brilliant effort.

    Think Xisco got things largely right, from his line-up to his subs. No complaints from me tonight about him.

    Both their goals were sloppy to give away but happy to put that down to conditions and minor lapses in concentration. The positive far far outweighs the negative tonight.

    I still worry about Masina and Troost-Ekong. I think they are talented players but their form individually is sketchy, even if they are part of a decent defensive unit. They can be better and we need them to be. Sierralta has been a revelation and simply has to play when fit now. Wilmot and Zinckernagel were decent at times and also sloppy at times - but they are being asked to do things and play in positions they are not natural at and in those conditions tonight, they get a pass. Kiko was Kiko and played to this seasons regular high standards. Gosling was steady but I would bring Chalobah back at the weekend.

    Our attacking players had many more positive moments than negative. Sarr had the FB on toast when he wanted to, even if he sometime made the poor choice in possession. Sema was far better than he was against Derby and Joao Pedro continues to highlight just how mad it was to rotate him out in favour of Deeney/Gray and 442.

    Speaking of Gray - I give him credit. Did what he was brought on to do and did it well. Best I’ve seen him in ages and have no issue with him at all this evening.

    Cleverley was a clear MOTM for me. Was superb and is rivalling Kiko as POTS in my opinion. He’s been a revelation for a large part of this season.
     
  3. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Since when is winning four on the bounce and scoring three away from home in a tough fixture at a midtable side not a good day at the office?

    By your logic if you manage to win several big businesses while losing a couple of small-time clients at the end of a profitable week, that's not a good day at the office either.
     
    stevetalboys and Knight GT like this.
  4. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    I'd be much more worried if we were playing **** and fluking results, but we're playing quite well, we can't win every game, but we'll win more than we lose for sure if we keep playing like this. Maybe we could have been more clinical, but we did score 3 and for a change allowed our defence to have an off day without dropping points, so I can't complain!
     
  5. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    Have to be honest, I don't think this analogy stacks up at all. If you're essentially comparing goals, then the clients lost at the end of the week would also have to be big businesses - whatever it actually is, the game tonight was nowhere near as one-sidedly positive weighting-wise as that makes it out to be, despite the fact that, of course, it was a great win to get and there were positives.
     
  6. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Well, I'm just looking at the bigger picture. Just as losing a couple of clients at the end of a successful week would still keep you profitable, this game has consolidated our pursuit of automatic promotion and there were more than enough positives to suggest that, despite some shaky moments in defence, this could continue.
     
  7. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    I think it’s easier and more understandable to make allowances for the negative aspects of a performance on nights like tonight.

    Being away, 2/3rds of the way up the country on a midweek evening, with disgusting conditions and a pitch to match - all very good reasons to look beyond the negatives of missing some chances and perhaps being sloppy at times.

    I found it far harder to let them off the hook against Derby for example - carpet of a pitch, home environment and good conditions. The drop off in the second half was worthy of concern.

    But I don’t really think we have any reason to complain about tonight. Blackburn away is a horrible fixture in this league whenever it comes - the fact is there were factors tonight that made it even harder...and we came through them.
     
  8. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Definitely positives in attack and Hughes playing well.

    We look like scoring each time we go forward with pace.

    Work to do in defence as WTE wasn’t great but his partner is a really good defender - particularly when facing set plays.

    But the big thing was 3 points in nasty weather and on a big bog of a pitch.
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2021
    Kesgravehorn likes this.
  9. Arakel

    Arakel First Team

    The most pleasing aspect of our current form is that the players clearly want it. You can't fault the effort, and the fact we're getting results to go with that is even better.

    If we continue to play like we have in the last four, we'll almost certainly finish top 2, and if should somehow miss out on that I'd really fancy us in the playoffs if we can produce these kind of performances.
     
  10. LeedsOrn

    LeedsOrn Reservist

    Anyone else think that Wilmot was clearly fouled for Blackburn’s second? I thought it was clear as day - he was rugby tackled to the ground. Maybe he should have dealt with it anyway, and as a CB you do need to be stronger, but I’m surprised to see so many go after him for that. VAR disallows that in my view.

    Two sloppy moments defensively, but I thought we stifled them fairly effectively otherwise. Was surprised and impressed at our creativity, considering that the pitch was noticeably awful - the ball hardly bounced and would often stop in the turf.
     
  11. foxywfc

    foxywfc Reservist

    That was right in front of the ref too.
    For me var rules that out.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  12. zztop

    zztop Eurovision Winner 2015

    Yes, it was a clear foul, the goal should have been disallowed.
     
  13. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    I thought it was possibly a foul at the time but having just slowed it down and watched it back it's not and if anything it should have been a penalty if the guy missed.

    The reason why he falls over is because he's holding Brereton's shirt and gets his own legs tangled as Brereton gets away from him.

    We can have no complaints, good goal.
     
    lowerrous likes this.
  14. Bore

    Bore Reservist

    It was a foul but Wilmot needed to be stronger. Attackers will try that all the time in the Championship and will get away with some.
     
  15. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    Haven't seen it since but felt at the time there was an argument they were fouling each other.
     
    Forzainglese likes this.
  16. Jumbolina

    Jumbolina First Team

    There were a few incidents where the ref let go seemingly clear shoves in the back on our players.
     
  17. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    Maybe it was the conditions but I think the ref let a lot go last night, typical old school championship game where it had to be what would be a yellow card offence in the prem for him to even blow the whistle.

    While it was a nervy and at times frustrating watch last night, I think a lot of that was due to the conditions. The way Blackburn played both last night and in our game earlier on in the season (very open and a high line) I think on a better pitch we carve them open a lot easier and we could’ve put quite a few goals past them. As it was we struggled to control the ball and when we let them come on to us a bit we struggled in defence for similar reasons. We’re never anywhere near that panicky in defence, so the conditions must have played some part in that.
     
  18. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    I just observed over and over again, he charges to close people down and arrives after the ball has been released, thus putting himself out of position. He also passed terribly, but then, so did everyone apart from Hughes.

    Having said that, I've maintained in the past that I'd sooner have a team of Cleverleys in 10th than a team of Capoues in 5th.
     
  19. Absolutely, called it a foul as soon as I saw it.
     
  20. RS2

    RS2 Squad Player

    We were great from the midfield forward. Blackburn were lucky the scoreline was respectable. They were terrible and it was only our sloppiness that gave them a couple of goals, Troost-Ekong and Masina will cost us more goals with the way they're playing at the moment.
     
  21. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    I remember a famous quote from Stoker, when asked if he had changed the concept of the Gothic novel for good, he said 'You ain't seen nuthin' yet'
     
    Chumlax likes this.
  22. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    I thought it was a great performance. The pitch was an utter disgrace and you'd have happily taken 1-0 and no injuries getting through a game like that. For us to score 3 goals, 2 of which were excellent on that pitch is a very good sign.

    Blackburn have scored more goals than us this season so it's no surprise that they had chances although El Gaucho had Armstrong pocketed for most of the game. He was excellent again and we've stumbled across this year's Angella for sure.

    JP is getting there, becoming the striker we all want him to be. It'll be a struggle to hold on to him in the summer whether we go up or not, let's hope that we do go up and we get at least another season of him. He's really headed to the top.

    I've banged on this season about Brooks being one of the best players in the league but we have have one too in Will Hughes. Absolutely a class above in every game he's played in the middle. I think a lot of our promotion hopes hang on his fitness.

    Cleverley was good too, although a bit wasteful and Gozzers did his job well although he's still getting up to speed a bit.

    Wilmot was fouled for their goal, clearly, strength isn't going to do much if you're spun run and pushed to the ground. Teams seem to have Bachmann's number on set pieces which is worrying when we play other teams managed by dinosaurs like Mowbray.

    A take the points and get out night made a little more nervous than it should have been. On a decent pitch against a team we should laughably 'respect' as a fellow 'small team' (although they have a billionaire owner) despite their constant cheating against us over the years on Saturday we should have a bit more flow to our game.

    As for Munoz, subs weren't wrong in terms of what he tried to do, they just aren't clicking for whatever reason. He's trying to do the right thing at least. Can't argue with the run he's on, but I do take the same view as the Pozzo's did over Joka. Anyone could have got us promoted and we should have won the league by 10 points. I just hope when the next crisis happens, he knows what to do.
     
    Burnsy, Markoa$, EB Hornet and 6 others like this.
  23. Hornpete

    Hornpete Squad Player

    Was a good old open battle of a game with both sides pressing and being caught out defensively when the other beat the press. Always felt that if we kept pushing we would have more quality and chances than them.

    That the game was played out this way resulted in us making more errors than usual, the number of passes that went wrong in front of our defence was ridiculous, but instead of calling out the individuals making those passes I'm happy to accept it was just how we setup to take a chance with the right attitude of risk < reward. At certain points we could manage the game better, we should have slowed it down at 2-0 5 minutes before half time but went kamikaze and made the game more difficult.

    Overall you have be delighted for 2 reasons, its not ivicball and we won again.
     
  24. lowerrous

    lowerrous First Team

    Watch Diagne's goal for West Brom vs Utd last week where he gets passed Lindelof - it was similar though even more hands on from the attacker; VAR looked at it but still allowed the goal.

    So no chance, people really are clutching at straws in trying to defend him here.
     
  25. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    It's not a good day at the office, when you screw up what should have been a comfortable victory. That could and probably should have been a 5-0 win, but mistakes and errors saw us only just creep over the line. Sure, we won, but there is a lot to sort out if we are to maintain the type of form required for a top two place. We've won 4 on the bounce yet still lie third and that will probably be 4th once Swansea have played their two games in hand. So it's vitally important we start getting things right. Time is running out.

    The overall performance had some worrying trends which will trip us up going forward. It wasn't a good performance for the last half hour (coinciding with the strange substitutions). Bachmann's inability to deal with crosses has been found out and is going to cost us as teams will target this weakness. That second goal just doesn't happen if Foster (or Gomes before him) were in goal. Anything in the 6 yard box they deal with, but Bachmann is always rooted to his line and when he does come for it, it's usually a flap, poor punch or dropped catch.

    Yesterday was a mixed bag. Some very good performances, but also some poor ones. Pedro and Hughes were terrific. Sarr, Kiko and Sema were effective. Cleverley industrious and Gosling was ok, but did tire. Masina had a poor game though and I think it's getting to a stage where it might be worth seeing what Lazaar can do. I thought the centre backs were off it last night, and WTE very shaky on the ball. Bachmann got beaten too easily for the first goal, and was rooted to the spot from a routine corner which led to the second, although he made a brilliant clearance, absolutely perfect timing, when Hughes was just about the be done for pace in a 1 v 1 race. That intervention probably saved a certain goal.

    So as I say, a mixed bag of good and bad. The bad were the substitutions. Bang on 60 minutes again. Ok, I do understand you want to keep some players from getting burnt out. So Gosling off wasn't a bad shout as he was labouring, however I think 60 minutes was too early and Zinckernagel was probably not the best bet to replace him with. From last night's bench I'd have gone with Wilmot but making the change after 70 minutes. Sema does seem to struggle with the fixture congestion and seems to tire, so him off on 77 minutes was probably ok too, but not for Wilmot. It made the balance odd. Then Gray for Pedro was just stupid. It's like just taking Pedro off for no one. Perica was the far more logical choice for me and we could have gone long, to give them something different to think about.

    So we played a good game for 60 minutes but a poor one for the last 30 and only just won a game we were in total control of and should have improved our GD with.
     
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  26. WatfordTalk

    WatfordTalk First Team

    Harsh, I think. He made more tackles than anyone else on the pitch, so I think the timing of his pressing can't have been that bad.
     
  27. Steve Leo Beleck

    Steve Leo Beleck Squad Player

    I think this was true when he was in a midfield two but it's a real asset in a three. It's not only that he runs around to try to put people under pressure (often succeeding, made the most tackles on the pitch last night) it's that he is the trigger for the rest of the team to engage. I think he's pretty good at anticipating loose balls too.

    And I don't think we should underestimate the effect of the 31 year old captain haring around after people with 88 minutes on the clock. He's leading by example. Sure makes a difference from Deeney's style of captaincy.
     
  28. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    On the subject of the ref I thought he was one of the better ones we've had this season
     
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  29. wfcmoog

    wfcmoog Tinpot

    Fair enough. Was just my perception.
     
  30. lowerrous

    lowerrous First Team

    Yeah I thought Cleverley was excellent again yesterday. As things are going currently I'd say PotS is between Clevs, Kiko and Sarr, plus Sierralta if he can be considered.
     
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  31. BusheyOrn

    BusheyOrn Reservist

    United got an apology afterwards from the referees/var management and accepted there had been an error.
     
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  32. Malteser2

    Malteser2 Reservist

    Consecutive away wins in the league last night for the first time since September 2017 under Marco Silva, when we beat Muff, Southampton and Swansea away in a row.
     
  33. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Has it been that long?
     
  34. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    To add to the stats. Last week was the first time in our history we got the double over Derby and the first time we got a double over Blackburn since 1982. This ensured we recorded three doubles on the spin after wins against Preston, Derby and Blackburn. Obviously that comes to and end on Saturday whatever the result.
     
    EB Hornet likes this.
  35. PowerJugs

    PowerJugs Doyley Fanatic

    Since our switch to this 4-3-3, arguably Derby aside we've deserved our wins. Most goals conceded have been individual mistake than a system's failings now. I do think we've found our form at the near perfect time where we'll be riding this to near the end of the Season. If at all possible I wouldn't rotate our strongest XI now given how much we did earlier in the Season, so now is the time to just keep churning out results. Our team is good enough to do it and finally demonstrating it.
     
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