Had a bit of time to reflect on last night and I actually think that in the first half that TM may have got his tactics wrong, Huggins was constantly exposed and playing too high up the pitch, Hume was covering in midfield which left us totally exposed defensively. fair play to tony that he noticed this and almost reverted to a back 4 which helped us balance out after 30 mins and start to get a foot hold in the game. I did notice DN having a go at Huggins and again that seemed to help and the difference once we settled was obvious to see, Jobe was starting to have an influence on the game and between him and Neil we were moving through our phases and allowing Pritchard (who I thought was excellent from 30 mins onwards) to find the possession he craves in the right areas. Clark seems to play even better when Pritch is playing as I think it affords him some space to do his thing. Ballard and 09 were excellent all night and thought Huggins second half display was much improved. All in all we were not at our best against a very good Blackburn squad who if last nights showing is anything to go by will be in and around the top six come the end of the season as I think they are the best team we have played so far.
I also think there's an overwhelming point that Blackburn are genuinely a very, very good side with a very good manager and they play the game the right way. They just didn't take their chances, and we defended last resorts brilliantly. You don't even necesarilly need to get your tactics wrong to suffer the way we did at the start last night. Sometimes you have to ride out the storm and we did that so well. There's so much to like about that Blackburn side tho. The similarities are really quite stark when you think about it, and its not much of a surprise considering Mowbray and Harvey came from there as Speakman has spoken about how impressed he was with what they were doing there. And Tommason seems to have carried it on. But the similarities I see: Focus and trust in youth - two youngest sides in division Specific focus on youth in middle of the park - that Adam Wharton looks brilliant Focus on their own youth products as well - so many academy players in squads from both sides Both managers want their team to press aggresively but not without creating gaps behind Both managers want their team to play good football, but direct and get the ball up the pitch quickly, rather than mess about with it at the back Two managers who look miserable as feck but seem nice guys Large clubs from working class areas that deserve to be in the Premier League
I did like one exchange between Blackburn fans I saw on twitter last night. Can't find it now but it went something like this: Person 1 - Youve got to remember we are like the second youngest side in the division. Occasionally we are going to get out-thought by the more experienced teams Person 2 - I think Sunderland are the youngest though Person 1 - Oh ****
Couple of posts from a Blackburn match thread obviously not realising ours are younger and less experienced!! Not many people outside if SAFC have said much about him, but I like this comment as I thought he was excellent last night too
Jobe has been written off by many as "not as good as his brother" and subconsciously people then just see him as crap. The truth is his brother is the best player in the world. Nobody is as good as his brother. I think it will work in our favour, as people will only realise how good he is once he's got to the point where it takes £50m bids to buy him from us
Agreed. Being compared to the best there is, is unrealistic! But he has all of the traits to go on and play at the highest level. Hopefully, in our red and white stripes, but, if not, as you say, by bringing us red and whites £50m to replace him!
Nice to see TM took Bradley Dack back to Rovers even though he had no chance of playing. Shook hands with a few old faces which to me is Tony being his thoughtful best. Got to love TMs management style.
It's ridiculous how well we are playing considering the average age of this team, I keep forgetting Dan Neil is only 21. Our average starting age from last nights game was 22.5, Blackburns was 23.8. Good to see young players getting a chance at this level which is still one of the top leagues in Europe (Not that clubs have a choice anyway with the current inflated market prices for established players)
Jacky literally took the piss didn’t he, just glides past 3 and the keeper and rolls it in the corner. LAAAAAD!
Our lads are so good in possession teams will think they are in top then all of a sudden be a couple down, then others will be spanked for 90 minutes and wish it was home time!
Decent match report, looking from a Blackburn perspective (clunky website warning): https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co....h-sunderland-lesson-showed-blueprint-success/
I love the lad, I’m so excited he’s starting his career with us (and I have the same excitement with Rigg) I'm hoping Rigg signs his first pro contract with us and he goes to the absolute top as a result.
It’s the way we just explode in to life, it’s a beautiful thing. The players seem to love playing the way we do as well, the amount of runs has massively increased there’s a real understanding. Mowbray, we’ll come on he’s been a ****ing dream of an appointment and I was raging when he was linked. Consider my humble pie inhaled. We play in the style of a top, top team.
I agree. There has been a number of people criticising him which I think is unfair. Yes, he didn't have the best start but nobody did really, where even Ballard struggled a couple of times with the runs in the channel of the Blackburn players. I think it was the shape we played and the midfield/forwards struggling (which Mowbray alluded to in his post match interview by saying he was thinking of substituting Clarke if he didn't start doing things he was expected to do). He improved as the game wore on and I thought he did OK second half and will only improve as he gets more games under his belt.
Spot on...he was a different player in the second half. They targeted him in the first half...a lot of their play came down that side...and he did struggle a bit....but he grew into it in the second half and should get a lot of confidence from it.
Few thoughts from last night. I posted Ba 55m 12sec, last night, to remind me to mention something but I've forgotten what it was The Blackburn manager seems more miserable than Mowbray but they can't see that. His tactics were to overrun us which worked but they had no plan B when we sorted ourselves out, hoying three subs on looked poor as it just confused them. I'm sure Blackburn fans have previously said 'great result, sometimes you have to win ugly, it's the sign of a good team'. Can't wait for Sunday, we're a joy to watch, even when we're digging in and blocking endless shots.
