|
I came away from todays game more encouraged than I've been for a year or so. During the last year I've got into many an argument on this board, and with my friends, about my negativity, but the reason I've been so negative is that I just couldn't see where the creativity and class we'd need to be a decent team would come from. Today I saw.
We lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Tugay sitting in front of the defence and Djorkaeff in midfield supporting the lone striker Dickov. Both Flitcroft and Stead were dropped to the bench. I worried about this before the game as I wasn't sure Dickov had the talent required to play up front on his own. I was wrong to worry.
After saying that Villa were the better team in the first half, but we did look better going forward than we have for many a game. In what was an open game throughout, Villa had the better chances during that first period though and should really have gone in at half time in front.
They'd been threatening for a while when they finally scored after about 20 minutes. Their right-back was given the freedom to Ewood to run from deep and supply Angel. Amoruso, holding his position in a ridiculous attempt at winning an offside, allowed Angel to run off him into a gaping 20 yard gap between our two centre-halves. Angel scored easily. Dreadful, dreadful defending.
Villa looked comfortable, in control, and seemed a threat whenever they went forward. So it was a bit of a surprise when we equalised. A good ball down the right channel saw Dickov turn his defender well, get to the by-line, and put in a peach of a low cross to the front post. Ferguson, making a fantastic, determined run from deep, met the ball with a deft touch to guide it past Sorensen. Great goal.
There were other chances at both ends. Friedel made a sharp save from Cole at one point and Emerton spurned a chance to shoot when he seemed clean through, but mainly that was that for the half.
We started the second half on fire. With Ferguson controlling midfield we attacked with menace and put Villa under real pressure. Sadly though we were awful defensively and on the few occasions Villa broke they looked like they would score every time. This must have made it an exciting game for the neutral but it didn't do my heart much good.
After about an hour the ineffective Jansen was replaced by Flitcroft, with Flitcroft playing wide right and Emerton moving over to the left. I think the thinking behind it was to get Emerton to occupy Villa's right-back (De la Cruz) who was driving forward at every opportunity - it paid off almost straight away.
A great move saw Djorkaeff link up with Emerton down the left channel. Emerton's finish, beating Sorensen at his near post with the outside of his right boot, was class. Ewood erupted.
Ten minutes later the tiring Djorkaeff was replaced by Stead and our control on the game was relinquished. Stead was awful and most of our attacking moves broke down when the ball reached his feet, resulting in Villa winning the ball back easily and attacking with regularity. We survived a disallowed goal and Friedel made two or three good saves before Villa's pressure paid off.
A corner was met by a free header at the far post by Delaney (guess who was marking him - yep Neill) who knocked the ball back across goal to the unmarked Mellberg. Mellberg scored.
We responded well and put Villa under more pressure, but neither team looked like they were going to get a winner. So it proved.
The change in formation worked well. Djorkaeff and Ferguson took it in turns to support Dickov - the extra man in midfield gave them both the freedom to join up with the attack. Dickov played superbly as the lone striker. I didn't rate him before we bought him and I'd only begrudgingly given him credit up to now, but I thought he was excellent today. Not only did he hold the ball up well but he turned defenders and laid passes off with accuracy. Man of the match easily. Emerton was a threat throughout and was involved in most of our best moments. The four players mentioned linked up superbly at times, often interchanging positions, and Villa couldn't handle it.
Jansen and Tugay were poor. Jansen will have to improve if he wants to fill the left wing spot and Tugay just looks past it. Stead was shocking when he came on. He's so lacking in confidence it's untrue.
By far and away the worst aspect of the team today though was our defence. They were scarily shocking. Amoruso was awful, Matteo not much better. Neill and Gray did ok going forward but were poor defensively. Don't put all the blame on individuals though. We don't defend well as a team and our back four don't play as a unit. Nobody covers anyone else, there seems to be a lack of communication and confidence between the defence and Friedel, and we lose concentration at set-pieces.
If we continue with this formation (and I hope we do) we'll need someone new to sit in front of the back four. I still think Flitcroft can do this better than anyone else in our team. We'll also need an improvement in Jansen or someone else on the left, and we need Short back in defence. I'm also not sure if the new formation will work away from home. It was a very open game today and we'd surely be carved open if we played like this away from Ewood.
Still, I'm happier than I've been for a while. I'm confident that our defence will improve with coaching over time. I also think the signing of Djorkaeff gives us so many more options going forward, and he allows the likes of Ferguson and Emerton to play to their strengths. This is the first game where I think Hughes has really made a difference to us tactically. It was a vast improvement on what I've seen over the last year.
Match report written by Scotty
|
BRFC Supporters Internet Site - The fans' choice since 1996
