BFTG - Blackburn

[RoyalBlue]

I thought Eja was poor, always running side ways and backwards, Kelly was equally poor but at least gets at people at wins tackles which I can't recall Eja doing.

He frequently did so, including near the death where he won the ball, surged forwards and set up a promising counter to relieve the pressure, He should've been in the centre from the outside replacing Kelly who, like Richards, looked out of their depth in the roles that they were being asked to play.

[Zip]

If we stay up, we have got to sign Oliviera and get Miazga on a season loan. Wouldn't mind getting Martinez as well.

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

We won’t get Martinez. I am far from convinced Miazga would get into a Premier League team. We have a decent chance of signing Oliveira because of Gomes.

[Snowflake Royal]

Kelly was generally very poor and I was one of the few calling for him to come in I think I counted 3 forward passes by him and everything else was sidewards if he wasn't losing the ball.

Harsh to pick on one poster in particular, but in the interest of avoiding fake news, I feel obliged to point out that according to the TLS football app, Kelly made 12 forward passes*, more than any other midfielder (Swift and Ejaria next on 9 each), as part of his 49 overall passes (Swift second highest midfielder on 47). He completed 43 of them, for a completion rate of 88% (Swift completed 40 - 85%).

He also won the ball in the defensive third 6 times (Yiadom won it there 7 times, but no other midfielder won it more than 3), and 3 more times in the middle third (Swift 4, and Ejaria 5). He therefore won the ball 9 times in total, level with Yiadom (9), and ahead of Ejaria (8), Blackett (7), Moore (6), Swift (5), Richards (3) and Aluko/Miazga (2 each).

He only lost possession 8 times (Swift 15, Ejaria 11, Richards 8, Aluko 7)

*-there is a valid counterpoint on sideways vs forward pass, and I don't have the definition. And you all are perfectly obliged to feel he played badly in spite of the above stats.

I like Kelly a lot, and I'm not at all surprised to see objective measures proving people's perception of what he did wrong. But at the same time he didn't have a great game. It was obvious he wouldn't though, because he was being asked to play the midfield hard man alongside Swift and Aluko. Hiding to nothing.

If you want Kelly to play well he has to be paired with Rino or Eza... maybe Baker. Not one of our airey fairy lot.

[NewCorkSeth]

Kelly was atrocious

Eja is all legs, but he won the ball quite a few times when moved into the middle. Something that not a single midfielder managed in the first half

Swift won 3 tackles and 1 interception in the first half.

[Old Man Andrews]

If we stay up, we have got to sign Oliviera and get Miazga on a season loan. Wouldn't mind getting Martinez as well.

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

We won’t get Martinez. I am far from convinced Miazga would get into a Premier League team. We have a decent chance of signing Oliveira because of Gomes.

Gomes won't make a blind bit of difference when he could get 50k a week somewhere else. Clubs can pick him up for free in the summer so he will command a huge wage that we just couldn't offer. Only hope we have is if he falls in love with the club between now and May and if he keeps scoring goals last night he will attract a lot of attention which is bad news for us.

Miazga I can see going to a newly promoted PL side.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

We won’t get Martinez. I am far from convinced Miazga would get into a Premier League team. We have a decent chance of signing Oliveira because of Gomes.

Gomes won't make a blind bit of difference when he could get 50k a week somewhere else. Clubs can pick him up for free in the summer so he will command a huge wage that we just couldn't offer. Only hope we have is if he falls in love with the club between now and May and if he keeps scoring goals last night he will attract a lot of attention which is bad news for us.

Miazga I can see going to a newly promoted PL side.

Yeh, us.

[Old Man Andrews]

We won’t get Martinez. I am far from convinced Miazga would get into a Premier League team. We have a decent chance of signing Oliveira because of Gomes.

Gomes won't make a blind bit of difference when he could get 50k a week somewhere else. Clubs can pick him up for free in the summer so he will command a huge wage that we just couldn't offer. Only hope we have is if he falls in love with the club between now and May and if he keeps scoring goals last night he will attract a lot of attention which is bad news for us.

Miazga I can see going to a newly promoted PL side.

Yeh, us.

hahahahaha Is it even possible to still get in the playoffs?

[Winston Biscuit]

awful game. 86 minutes onwards made it worth it though. haven't leapt around mentalcase style like that at a goal for ages

[NewCorkSeth]

Martinez - 7 - played well. Calm and confident. Good distribution and seems very in control of his defense.
Yiadom - 7 - good work for the assist and mostly solid in defense. He showed a lot of grit I thought.
Miazga - 7 - He wins aerial duels and tracks the ball well. What more could we ask for in a relegation battle?
Moore - 7 - He was grand. Still not back to his best.
Blackett - 5 - Too much fannying about on the ball and blaming others. Still our best LB..
Kelly - 6 - Was bad in the first half but not bad in the second.
Swift - 8 - MOTM. Goal and assist. Beyond that he contributed well to the defense winning 4 tackles and 1 interception and he was positive in possession.
Ejaria - 5 - Is this guy top heavy or what? Anytime he trips or gets tripped he wobbles back and forth like a bobble head! He reminds me of a teenager who has just grown 8 inches and can't control their body anymore. Still he is capable of good moment.
Aluko - 5 - Poor guy couldn't get anything right in that 1st half.
Richards - 5 - I thought he was weak sadly. It worked well the other game when we needed to fortify the left flank but he broke down quite a few good spells of possession and his positioning was woeful.
Oliveira - 10 - (He vets extra points for being a total babe) He is really quite the complete forward. That goal was so well taken and he clearly just wants to score all the time. Good work in the first half holding up the ball too. This is everything we have prayed for in a striker. Praise God.

Meite - 7 - missed 2 good chances but worked hard and played well other than that. (Could have done more for their Goal?)

[sandman]

Glad we got the win considering how hard we made it for ourselves in the first half. Much improved in the second half thanks to the manager's changes. Hopefully he's now realised that Swift and Kelly can't play in the same midfield, we need to play with proper width and square pegs (Richards) do not fit into round holes (left wing).

Martinez - distribution was a bit erratic, especially his pass straight to Blackburn in the second half. A couple of good saves. 6

Yiadom - One of the better performers first half and nice assist for Swift's goal. 7
Miazga - Very good. Best player in the first half. Solid and lead the team better than his captain. 8
Moore - Dire first half, better second. Wish he was as good at football as he is at pointing. 6
Blackett - Oh Tyler. Terrible in the first half. Got it together a bit in the second but not by much. Almost shanked the ball into the back of his own net. 4

Kelly - Didn't seem to get on the ball much but he was at least trying to close them down in the first half and (unpopular opinion time) was probably the best out of the midfielders in the first half, not that that is saying much. Can NOT play in the same midfield as Swift. 6
Swift - Goal masks how bad he was in the first half. Gave the ball away cheaply, getting knocked off it easily. Although did win the ball back a couple of times. Better in the second half and got an assist. 7
Aluko - Oh dear. Apparently Gomes has got him playing better but there was very little evidence of that last night. Rightly dragged off at HT. 5
Ejaria - much better in the second half when he moved into the centre of the pitch. 6
Richards - Enthusiastic but poor out wide. 5

Oliveira - Class above anything we've had since Roberts. Great movement, hold up play and a brilliantly taken goal. 9 MotM

Subs: Meite - Forget the misses for a second, he was absolutely brilliant in the second half. Provided energy and width we didn't have in the first half and helped pin Blackburn back. Happy Oliveira spared his blushes. Would be an 8 or 9 but for the misses. 7

Bod - Held the ball up well at the end. Excellent tackle in their box. 6

Baker - Nothing of note apart from trying to play risky forward passes when it would have been wiser to hold the ball up at 2-1 up. 5

[Winston Biscuit]

[zaskar]

If we stay up, we have got to sign Oliviera and get Miazga on a season loan. Wouldn't mind getting Martinez as well.

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

Oliveira's contract with Norwich is not up until June 2020 according to google so if he feels loved here our chances of signing him may be better than you think.

[Old Man Andrews]

If we stay up, we have got to sign Oliviera and get Miazga on a season loan. Wouldn't mind getting Martinez as well.

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

Oliveira's contract with Norwich is not up until June 2020 according to google so if he feels loved here our chances of signing him may be better than you think.

Yeah you're right, thats good news for us.

[NewCorkSeth]

Glad we got the win considering how hard we made it for ourselves in the first half. Much improved in the second half thanks to the manager's changes. Hopefully he's now realised that Swift and Kelly can't play in the same midfield, we need to play with proper width and square pegs (Richards) do not fit into round holes (left wing).

Martinez - distribution was a bit erratic, especially his pass straight to Blackburn in the second half. A couple of good saves. 6

Yiadom - One of the better performers first half and nice assist for Swift's goal. 7
Miazga - Very good. Best player in the first half. Solid and lead the team better than his captain. 8
Moore - Dire first half, better second. Wish he was as good at football as he is at pointing. 6
Blackett - Oh Tyler. Terrible in the first half. Got it together a bit in the second but not by much. Almost shanked the ball into the back of his own net. 4

Kelly - Didn't seem to get on the ball much but he was at least trying to close them down in the first half and (unpopular opinion time) was probably the best out of the midfielders in the first half, not that that is saying much. Can NOT play in the same midfield as Swift. 6
Swift - Goal masks how bad he was in the first half. Gave the ball away cheaply, getting knocked off it easily. Although did win the ball back a couple of times. Better in the second half and got an assist. 7
Aluko - Oh dear. Apparently Gomes has got him playing better but there was very little evidence of that last night. Rightly dragged off at HT. 5
Ejaria - much better in the second half when he moved into the centre of the pitch. 6
Richards - Enthusiastic but poor out wide. 5

Oliveira - Class above anything we've had since Roberts. Great movement, hold up play and a brilliantly taken goal. 9 MotM

Subs: Meite - Forget the misses for a second, he was absolutely brilliant in the second half. Provided energy and width we didn't have in the first half and helped pin Blackburn back. Happy Oliveira spared his blushes. Would be an 8 or 9 but for the misses. 7

Bod - Held the ball up well at the end. Excellent tackle in their box. 6

Baker - Nothing of note apart from trying to play risky forward passes when it would have been wiser to hold the ball up at 2-1 up. 5

I'm pretty sure Baker used his body to block their final corner twice from going in then threw the ball into the stands to delay the next corner.

[NewCorkSeth]

Oh by the way when Dack went down in the box and lay on the ball did it not go out of play? How did he play on after that?

[sandman]

Glad we got the win considering how hard we made it for ourselves in the first half. Much improved in the second half thanks to the manager's changes. Hopefully he's now realised that Swift and Kelly can't play in the same midfield, we need to play with proper width and square pegs (Richards) do not fit into round holes (left wing).

Martinez - distribution was a bit erratic, especially his pass straight to Blackburn in the second half. A couple of good saves. 6

Yiadom - One of the better performers first half and nice assist for Swift's goal. 7
Miazga - Very good. Best player in the first half. Solid and lead the team better than his captain. 8
Moore - Dire first half, better second. Wish he was as good at football as he is at pointing. 6
Blackett - Oh Tyler. Terrible in the first half. Got it together a bit in the second but not by much. Almost shanked the ball into the back of his own net. 4

Kelly - Didn't seem to get on the ball much but he was at least trying to close them down in the first half and (unpopular opinion time) was probably the best out of the midfielders in the first half, not that that is saying much. Can NOT play in the same midfield as Swift. 6
Swift - Goal masks how bad he was in the first half. Gave the ball away cheaply, getting knocked off it easily. Although did win the ball back a couple of times. Better in the second half and got an assist. 7
Aluko - Oh dear. Apparently Gomes has got him playing better but there was very little evidence of that last night. Rightly dragged off at HT. 5
Ejaria - much better in the second half when he moved into the centre of the pitch. 6
Richards - Enthusiastic but poor out wide. 5

Oliveira - Class above anything we've had since Roberts. Great movement, hold up play and a brilliantly taken goal. 9 MotM

Subs: Meite - Forget the misses for a second, he was absolutely brilliant in the second half. Provided energy and width we didn't have in the first half and helped pin Blackburn back. Happy Oliveira spared his blushes. Would be an 8 or 9 but for the misses. 7

Bod - Held the ball up well at the end. Excellent tackle in their box. 6

Baker - Nothing of note apart from trying to play risky forward passes when it would have been wiser to hold the ball up at 2-1 up. 5

I'm pretty sure Baker used his body to block their final corner twice from going in then threw the ball into the stands to delay the next corner.

I was too nervous at that point. Fair play to him for that, still shouldn't be playing chipped through balls that have little chance of finding one of his team mates when we are 2-1 up with a few minutes left.

[Hound]

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

We won’t get Martinez. I am far from convinced Miazga would get into a Premier League team. We have a decent chance of signing Oliveira because of Gomes.

Gomes won't make a blind bit of difference when he could get 50k a week somewhere else. Clubs can pick him up for free in the summer so he will command a huge wage that we just couldn't offer. Only hope we have is if he falls in love with the club between now and May and if he keeps scoring goals last night he will attract a lot of attention which is bad news for us.

Miazga I can see going to a newly promoted PL side.

Depends on a number of things. If we decide to invest on players for example and look like challenging next year

Doubt any of the players will stay in the prem. Depends what offers they get from abroad, but all seem to like the club so far.

[Pepe the Horseman]

Oh by the way when Dack went down in the box and lay on the ball did it not go out of play? How did he play on after that?

Didn't go out of play, but pretty sure he handballed it.

[From Despair To Where?]

Miazga is 24 this year and out of contract at the end of next season. The more I think about it, the more I can see Chelsea accepting a bid in the summer because at that age, if he's not close to the first team, hecnever will be and I don't think he'll wind down his contract on loan.

[Stranded]

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

Oliveira's contract with Norwich is not up until June 2020 according to google so if he feels loved here our chances of signing him may be better than you think.

Yeah you're right, thats good news for us.

Pretty sure Gomes has already said we have a deal in place to make it a permanent move in the summer - or at least first option - Oliveria is a player that needs to feel loved to perform - he feels that here at the mo. If we stay up, I will be surprised if he doesn't sign for us.

Believe we also have an option for Baker. Martinez - no chance, he'll either stay at Arsenal as 2nd choice or someone higher up the tree than us will take him as first choice.

No chance on the other 2 I would say - possible we can get Miazga on a season long loan at a push.