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Blackburn
Rovers v West Bromwich Albion
Ewood Park, Blackburn.
14th August 2004, 3.00pm. |
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Match
Preview |
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| Result |
Blackburn Rovers |
1 - 1 |
West Bromwich Albion |
| Scorers |
Craig Short (70) |
Neil Clement (33) |
| Attendance |
23,475 |
| Teams |
4-4-2
1 - Brad Friedel (GK)
4 - Lorenzo Amoruso
33 - Michael Gray
23 - Vratislav Gresko
22 - Dominic Matteo
6 - Craig Short
11 - Javier De Pedro
7 - Brett Emerton
16 - Barry Ferguson
9 - Jonathan Stead
15 - Dwight Yorke
|
4-4-2
(GK) Russell Hoult - 1
Neil Clement - 19
Bernt Haas - 22
Darren Purse - 6
Paul Robinson - 3
Riccardo Scimeca - 2
Thomas Gaardsoe - 4
Jonathan Greening - 8
Andy Johnson - 10
Geoff Horsfield - 9
Nwankwo Kanu - 25 |
| Substitutes |
13 - Peter Enckelman (GK)
14 - Nils-Eric Johansson
8 - Kerimoglu Tugay
10 - Paul Dickov
19 - Paul Gallagher |
(GK) Tomasz Kuszczak
- 29
Darren Moore - 5
James O'Connor - 23
Scott Dobie - 12
Zoltan Gera - 11
|
| Substitutions |
K Tugay for J De Pedro (45)
P Dickov for V Gresko (45)
P Gallagher for B Emerton (84) |
D Moore for N Clement
(75)
S Dobie for G Horsfield (76)
Z Gera for A Johnson (87) |
| Yellow Cards |
Dominic Matteo (65) |
None |
| Red Cards |
None |
None |
| Referee |
C Foy (Lancashire) |
Although I couldn't
make it to Blackburn for the season opener, I was able to watch
extended highlights of the game at Ewood Park thanks to Sky's new
Football First programme - an excellent innovation that can only
be criticised for clashing with MOTD, but I'm sure that's no mistake.
I saw signs that suggest that things may be different for the Baggies
in the Premiership this time around. On the whole, I thought that
the team looked confident of being able to live with the level of
football, and we also had the occasional rub of the green that deserted
us during the last top flight campaign. But maybe the one thing
that stood out more than anything else is that we didn't have to
look to the opposition for the most skillful player on the field.
Without really dominating the game, Kanu lit up the game with some
marvellous footwork and intelligent play. The occasion in the second
half when he beat about five Blackburn players in the centre circle,
before setting up a move that eventually led to a shot on goal from
Robinson, was pure genius. I had to blink to make sure that this
guy was indeed wearing an Albion shirt.
What was most impressive about Albion's display was the ball retention.
Yes, there were mistakes and some were better than others, but on
the whole I thought that the Baggies kept the ball much better than
they have done previously. There were times when they had the home
side chasing shadows, which can only be encouraging.
I was surprised to see Clement in the starting line-up, let alone
be picked as captain, and from what I saw he was the weak link in
midfield. The guy has never really looked comfortable in the middle
of the park, and I'm not sure he'll ever be a good enough defender
at this level. It is really his decision making that let's him down,
however, which is something that should improve with experience,
but in my eyes he seems to have been going backwards in the last
couple of seasons. Even his goal was a misplaced free-kick that
somehow found its way through a badly-formed wall.
The goal was no more than Albion deserved, however, as they had
comfortably repelled everything that Rovers had thrown at them in
the first half, and were looking to be the better side. The back
four were excellent. Scimeca looked solid and his distribution was
excellent and Robbo looked very comfortable and got forward well
although he showed the quality of his right foot with a weak shot
at the end of that Kanu-inspired move. In the centre, it appears
that the Great Dane now has a partner that is every bit as good
in the air and as comfortable on the ball in Darren Purse - indeed,
it was often difficult to tell them apart. I thought that the former
Blues man dominated the back line breaking up move after move and
repelling anything Blackburn could create.
The goal came at a time when Albion had dropped a little too deep
trying to protect the lead, and Souness had got his side to throw
everything forward. Indeed, the fact that it was a defender who
got on the end of the cross in open play showed how hard Blackburn
were having to work. It was an excellent cross but had one of the
central defenders been the man underneath it, rather than Robinson,
it would've been cleared.
In the middle of the park, Greening looked tidy and kept possession
well without doing anything spectacular, but he had little support
from his fellow midfielders. Johnson seemed to be in "headless chicken"
mode whereas Haas at least couldn't do too much damage from a defensive
point of view with Scimeca behind him. You can see why Megson still
feels he needs more midfielders, although I would question whether
Carrick is the type of player we need. Obviously, we have Koumas
to come in and we saw a glimpse of Gera, but we're still a player
or two short of the midfield we need.
Up front, Kanu was inspirational and Horsfield worked hard. But
if we can get someone with a little intelligence and a lot of pace
to play with Kanu, we should have a forward line to take note of.
In truth, it was probably a fair result as Blackburn had a number
of chances and a good deal of the possession in the second half.
Nonetheless, I can't remember Russell Hoult having to make too many
saves. I said that I'd have taken a point before the game and I
am happy with that result. Let's not get too carried away, though
- remember that Blackburn needed a run of four straight wins at
the back end of last season to pull themselves away from the relegation
zone. We'll face many tougher tests this season.
All in all, it was a good result and Megson's opening day hoodoo
is finally broken!!
Marks
Russell Hoult - 7 - Good solid game.
Neil Clement - 5 - Never looked comfortable; gave the ball away
time and again.
Bernt Haas - 6 - Did next to nothing.
Darren Purse - 8 - MOM. Excellent game, good in the air, good tacking,
good distribution.
Paul Robinson - 7 - Promising game from Robbo, got forward well.
Riccardo Scimeca - 7 - Solid game with good passing.
Thomas Gaardsoe - 7 - Usual stuff from Tommy. Very good.
Jonathan Greening - 7 - Promising debut, used the ball well.
Andy Johnson - 6 - Ran a lot as usual, but often looked lost.
Geoff Horsfield - 6 - Worked hard but didn't really shine.
Nwankwo Kanu - 8 - Unbelievable at times, worked his socks off.
What a great signing.
Dobie - Didn't see enough to comment.
Moore - Didn't see enough to comment.
Gera - Didn't see enough to comment.
Megson - 6 - Strange choices in midfield with O'Connor having had
a promising pre-season and Sakiri and Gregan both available.
Jon Want, 15th August 2004.
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