I watched the game in a drunken haze but here's my memory. Rotherham are a different team from what we have faced so far, in fact I'd say they are a proper championship team. Big lads who get stuck in and then one or two players who can break and hurt you. They were well organised in the first half and definitely nulled some of our play which was straight from the off as we've seen so far. It was interesting to me to see what happens and what fails when teams put men behind the ball and try to stop us playing. First off, Klitch never had the space and actually contributed very little apart from one long range effort. Siaz had less space but as always he made space and still contributed massively. Philips didn't have as easy and it was difficult at times for him to pick the passes to link up the midfield. On a couple of times he found an opposition player which put us immediately under pressure. Passing out from the back, which has been relatively straight forward so far, suddenly was a bit more difficult with Rotherham's tricky front players hassling us. One pass across goal landed straight to a Rotherham player and only a great save from Peackock prevented us from being one down. I like the idea of passing and building from the back but I don't think our central defenders are good enough ball players to do it and I think as the weather deteriorates with the pitches this will land us in bother. So it was harder but we stuck to it and still managed to play some decent stuff without troubling their keeper too much. Second half, they either tired or we stepped it up because we completely dominted and played football similar football to that against Derby and Stoke. Siaz should have scored from 5 yards out after a great move before Ayling put us in the lead Our second goal was simply brilliant. I rememeber Rod Wallace scoring that goal against Spurs where he took it on the left side ,beat 3 men and curled it in the right hand corner. A great individual goal that won goal of the season, well I thought our second yesterday was better. We passed and moved from the back to the point where Roof was played down the left. He still had loads to do but managed to nip past the defender and from a tight angle placed it the inside of the dar right net. A spectacular goal which really for me represented the transformation in the team and players that Bielsa has created in such little time. It's a remarkable impact that he has had in that every player looks confident about the way they are playing and he has transformed Roofe into a confident championship striker who is going to make it very frustrating for Bamford. One other thing I've noticed is that our discipline seems to be improved and there's not as much play acting from Allioski and the likes. Maybe that's cos things are going well and it remains to see what happens when we are trailing ? Scores: Peacock - 9. I thought he was excellent and Derby hopefully was a blip. He looked confident and he's alonso intelligent when kicking and passing out from the back. Ayling - 8. First goal Cooper - 7. I think it was his back pass across goal that should have gifted them a goal. Beradi - 7. A decent shot and full blooded defending as usual Douglas - 7. Another decent performance getting forward as often as he could. He was up against their best player who hit the post and was quicker than him. Philips - 6. A bit of the old Philips in the first game but still effective in that role. Siaz - 8. Not as much space but still behind our best play. Hernandes - 7. Busy Kiltch - 6. Quiter and he's always the one that fades first. One decent shot first half. Allioski - 6. Some good crosses and ran around a bit. I'm not really a fan though and I would like to see Harrison get a go on the left. Roofe - 8. Only has 2 moments in the match, one was the brilliant goal and the other where he showed quick feet in the first half to create a chance which flew wide. He's definitely fitter and a yard sharper and the extra confidence is clear to see. Was I and others wrong when we said he wasn't ready for this level and couldn't play as a lone striker ? Maybe we were ? and long may it continue because I'm enjoying watching him now. Subs: Baker - he put a 30 yarder in the top corner which the keeper would have never stopped. Unfortunately the ref had just blown for full time. Bamford - did he touch the ball Can't remember anyone else coming on ? 4 wins out of 4 and that's a first for an manager in our history apparently. Good record.
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