posted Feb 14, 2007

cleanistheboroair - to answer your question, no I don't think that Matthew Le Tissier's penalty taking success rate was pot luck, but I don't see what that has to do with it. Maybe if I had said 'penalty shootouts are pot luck' you would have understood where I was coming from? Shootouts aren't about the penalty 'specialists', they are about the weaker players who are often the 4th or 5th takers in a shootout. They are more often the ones who fluff it up. (e.g. I don't think Shearer ever missed a pen for England, certainly not in a shootout, but that never helped us in a shootout!).

So, sorry but I think you won't get much support for disagreeing that a penalty shootout is pot luck!

The Merson comment was more funny because of the way he said it rather that what he said, He looked pretty cheesed off to be at the Riverside in the first place, I guess you had to watch it to get what I mean, but sorry if it gave offence.

Like other posters are saying, it's been nice to go out of the cup having done league one proud because after 2 games and extra time the teams were equal.

So after watching the game, and taking into account the actual result, City were unlucky because the difference between the two teams was a penalty save by Schwarzer against City's 6th penalty taker!

Good luck against WBA (honestly!)

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posted Feb 14, 2007

"Also can i just mention that i was impressed with fabio rochembach he played some brilliant football last night. He actually looked like he was interested in playing last night his distribution was as stevie mc would say was magnificent. and although its only one game maybe he may just turn out good after such a hard season and a half at boro.
Played Rocky keep it upAlso can i just mention that i was impressed with fabio rochembach he played some brilliant football last night. He actually looked like he was interested in playing last night his distribution was as stevie mc would say was magnificent. and although its only one game maybe he may just turn out good after such a hard season and a half at boro.
Played Rocky keep it up"

Were you drinking while watching the match?

Rochemback was terrible. I groaned when I saw him in our teamsheet, I groaned when he avoided being substituted, I groaned everytime he wasted possession with an impotent long-range shot or wasted free-kick indulgence, and I especially groaned whenever the ball fell to the edge of the 18 yard area- EXACTLY the spot where attacking midfield players are supposed to pop up and smash them in- and found it barren, with everyone's least favourite Brazilian "playmaker" sat 30 yards from goal.

Attacking midfielders are supposed to get in the box. I'm not sure Rochemback did that once before he stepped up for a penalty. It's absolutely no coincidence that both of Arca's goals (Arca, a left winger, being employed as an attacking midfielder in favour of Rochemback speaks volumes all on its own) for us this season came in exactly this situation- the ball falls at the edge of the box and Arca smashes it in. That's how Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes et al get their impressive midfield goal tallies. They don't score 15 a season from midfield by shooting at goal from 25 yards when their team is breaking.

If I was impressed by anyone last night (other than Viduka, natch) it was Adam Johnson. Talk about a big performance when it was needed. He gave Rochemback a lesson in long-range shooting, he set up our second goal and he scored the winning penalty.

As for the West Brom match, I think we'll beat them because we're actually aware of their threat. If there's one continuing problem with this Boro side it is that we can become complacent against teams we "should" beat, which is suicide in the FA Cup. We know what West Brom are about.

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posted Feb 14, 2007

Er... I'm also not sure how I managed to duplicate the quote like that.

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posted Feb 14, 2007

Ferdferd,

Normally when people say that a team was 'unlucky to lose', they're saying that the team in question played better than their opponents but luck outweighed quality. What one or two Boro fans are taking exception to is the idea that Bristol City played better than Boro; and these fans can do this while at the same time agreeing with you that penalty shoot-outs are a matter of luck.

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posted Feb 14, 2007

Well played, by the way.

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posted Feb 14, 2007

Granpaw_Jarvis - thanks for bringing some sense to the situation! I agree that Boro SHOULD have won, but I also hope that Boro fans appreciate that we didn't come to the Riverside to hoof the ball 40 yards at every opportunity hoping that our striker would get a lucky break like some other lower league teams might attempt to do. We played our own game. The difference is, we didn't have someone with the class of Viduka to come off the bench for us!

Yes, just as expected, Boro played better than us. What was surprising (even to me!) was that at times the sides looked pretty evenly matched which is why we've had 2 fantastic games!

Maybe it would be fair to say that we were outplayed at times (I think the goal post is still shaking!) but we never looked out-classed!

Good luck at the weekend.

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posted Feb 14, 2007

system j i agree with you about adam johnson he was quality.
Although can i just point out rochembach position isnt as an attacking midfielder it is the same sort of role pirlo has at milan. He is given the ball from the defence and distributes it around the pitch. I played 2 dream balls into the box in the first half and had it been viduka and not christie on the end of them we may have had a couple before half time. also he got himself around the pitch making a lot of key interceptions in the final third.
I do admit i may have overhyped him by saying he was magnificent but i was still impressed with the performance and his attitude he gave considering all the rumours that circulated last month. Obviously its something we arent going to agree on but i was happy for him especially when he scored that penalty. He needs to build on his performance he had in the future games when he is given a chance.

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posted Feb 14, 2007

ferdyferd - I certainly don't think that many Boro fans thought that City had come to the Riverside to defend and boot the ball 40 yards up the pitch in the hope that luck would win out. Boro gave City the respect they deserved due to the good football they played in the first leg and the character that they showed in coming back from 0-2 down and with Boro seemingly breezing to an easy away victory. Penalty shoot-outs eh ? Either you love them or hate them. They have been with us for years now and this is because there is nothing better that has been found to replace them. Away goals in a two-legged match is better but the FA Cup would not be the same if two-legged matches were introduced as it would result in fewer giant-killings. Boro would have gone through on away goals as it was 1-1 after 90 minutes last night. I do agree that there is a difference between taking penalties in the match and in a penalty shootout, and it was because you actually said that penalties were pot-luck that you got the answer that you did. Only one team can progress to the next round so there has to be some way of seperating them and at least there is some element of skill and a degree of bottle required in a penalty shoot-out. Some people say that the teams should play on until a goal is scored and maybe even reduce the number of players on the pitch. This would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that the next round is on Saturday and whichever team scored the 'golden goal', they would have some very tired players and may have picked up more injuries. This would have given WBA a distinct advantage on Saturday. As it turned out, it was a great match last night and Bristol City will be remembered and admired by the Boro fans for the manner in which they played and came from behind in both legs to take it to the penalty shoot out. Apart from Yakubu, the other 5 Boro players took their penalties very well and Adam Johnson at 19 years old was, dare I say it ..... magnificent.

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posted Feb 15, 2007

"system j i agree with you about adam johnson he was quality.
Although can i just point out rochembach position isnt as an attacking midfielder it is the same sort of role pirlo has at milan. He is given the ball from the defence and distributes it around the pitch. I played 2 dream balls into the box in the first half and had it been viduka and not christie on the end of them we may have had a couple before half time."

Sigh. We don't need a deep playmaker like that though. You have to be an exceptional player to pull that role off, and Rochemback is no Pirlo. When the ball was dropping at the edge of the 18, what was he contributing by staying in midfield? Boateng is the defensive midfielder and the other two are wingers. SOMEONE has to pick up those balls, and it should be the free midfielder, regardless of his style. Arca is a winger by choice yet he does the job required in that role. Rochemback isn't afraid to shoot from range, so he has no excuses.

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posted Feb 15, 2007

Having been generally dissapointed with the performances of Rochemback so far, as have the majority of Boro fans, I still hold out some hope that he can be a success with Boro if we decide to keep him and he decides to stay at the end of the season. Whether he stays or goes though, I think that he definately has it in him to become a very good player. Arca has done quite well in the midfield role but I don't think that he is going to get much better and if Boro are to improve, we need a naturally gifted midfielder who can create and score goals consistently. It's finding one that will sign for the Boro that could be the biggest problem.

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