Doncaster Rovers v Blackburn Rovers

Last Time Out

...or first time out as it happens to be in this case.  Sadly, Donny came off worst in the end but are we disheartened?  Well personally, no.  My impression listening to the match was that the 1 : 3 scoreline flattered Blackpool more than a little.  

The first two goals were disappointing, the third an irrelevance as were the scores still level, it would not have happened.  Good lessons to be learned about things Donny got away with last season that this season will cost them.  The first goal was a case of everyone rushing to close down a shot, but then being nowhere when the 'keeper wasn't able to push away as far as he would have liked.  The second goal was a needless corner followed by crucially losing the man at the back post.

But didn't Donny compete well?

The Seasiders had more possession than us but were massively out-competed in the air.  Pleasingly, all Donny's passing stats were better than their opponents, but the stats also indicate why Blackpool were able to keep Rovers from scoring more than the one goal.  Look at the throw count against Donny.  Blackpool were able to keep forcing Donny into playing the ball out so disrupting flow in Rovers play.  

There's a table of the Rovers' general performance stats.  Up arrows show better than average performance and down arrows worse than average.  Where appropriate, I've marked the best and worst stats in the class in green and red.  The data comes from www.whoscored.com and is sorted in the order of their ranking (highest to lowest).  

I'll pick out a couple of points that I see from the stats.  The two highest ranked players were our Centre Backs and you see them both contributing well to tackling and the aerial battle.  You can add over 60% of the Rovers clearances their stats and you see that they came under pressure but stood up well.

Also worth a mention is Chris Brown.  Yes, he's a little way down that list, mainly due to poor passing but the aerial balls won; the fact that he wasn't dispossessed in the game and  a couple of turnovers won, and you see a man who did a fine job as the lone front man.  He needs support though and hopefully, new signing Theo Robinson will provide that.

Final mention, sadly not so positive.  James Husband didn't show so well.  His passing was off and he made just two tackles.  It wasn't much better looking at his attacking stats.  None of his crosses found their target and he played just one accurate long ball.  Not a good day for James but it would be harsh to write off his chances of stepping up to the championship after one game.

Meanwhile...

Blackburn were getting off the mark with a draw at Derby but unlike Donny, Blackburn have seen action since the opening day, which means of course that I have twice as many stats to deal with (waves of enthusiasm over the ether!).

Just one point out of six was won with an opening day draw against Derby.  Luck only came into that result in that Blackburn equalized in the 89th minute through and excellent finish by Leon Best, but they were good value for the point.  They kept attacking Derby right up to the end even after they had equalized.  What impressed me was how they broke at speed through series of quick, short passes.  Impressive and intimidating.

On to game two the East Midlands are up again in the form of Nottingham Forest who visited Ewood Park.  Having won a point with a last-gasp goal on th opening day, on this occasion they lost the point and sadly, it was a case of giving it away rather than having it taken.  'Keeper Karl Darlow committed himself to a ball he had little chance of taking and instead clattered into Jamie Mackie.  Other players may have rolled around crying for a penalty but refreshingly, Mackie didn't.  Instead he got up and played a quick short pass to Darius Henderson who placed his finish into the empty net.  

Comparing the stats on the two games and I think I've highlighted the key-points that lost Blackburn the Forest game.  They allowed their opponents too much possession.  Blackburn made 50% fewer tackles than Forest allowing them to knock the ball around (high pass success).  On the other hand, Blackburn's possession was broken up.  End result - look at the shot counts.  21 shots for Blackburn at Derby but only 6 at home to Forest.

There's the Blackburn average performance data per match so far and first of all, its good to see Tommy Spurr doing well.  Other interesting points? - Leon Best, like Chris Brown look like a formidable front man but look at the number of dispossessions.  Against Derby he lost the ball just once.  Against Forest it was 5 times.  Perhaps he is worth pressurising.

Finally we see that so far Jordan Rhodes hasn't been involved enough in games.  He's also not doing what he's paid to do and shooting.  Even in the shot-fest against Derby, Jordan only managed two shots.  Lets hope he doesn't suddenly improve tomorrow evening.