Thrashing by Arsenal saved Rovers' season, says Pedersen
The last time Blackburn Rovers took on Arsenal it turned out to be
such a chastening experience for Mark Hughes he remembers feeling
"shell-shocked" at the end of the game. Arsenal had just scored six
and Blackburn's sense of anguish was compounded by what the
visiting players considered to be over-enthusiastic celebrations
from Arsène Wenger's victorious team in the tunnel.
Three weeks on, Blackburn will quickly get an opportunity for
retribution at Ewood Park today, having clambered away from the
bottom six with a burst of impressive results that suddenly makes
them one of the Premiership's in-form teams. "The Arsenal game was
a turning point for us," the midfielder Morten Gamst Pedersen said
last night, reflecting on a sequence of four straight victories
that have taken them to 11th. "They can jump around as much as they
want but this is a new game and hopefully we will be the ones who
are celebrating this time. Those six goals will count for nothing
when the game starts."
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The 6-2 thrashing was the heaviest defeat Hughes has experienced as
a manager, but he said he had used the experience as a motivational
tool for his players, leading to Premiership victories over
Liverpool, Middlesbrough and Wigan, as well as a 4-1 thrashing of
Everton at Goodison Park in the FA Cup third round last
weekend.
"Our professional pride was hurt at Arsenal," said Hughes. "It
wasn't nice seeing the newspaper headlines the following morning.
It's hard to accept conceding six goals even in a school game. We
actually felt we had played quite well in that game and that the
score didn't reflect how we had done. But since then we have
recovered extremely well. We've tightened up our defence and we're
winning games."
Wenger has criticised Blackburn in the past because of what he
perceived as unduly aggressive tactics. It is an accusation that
Hughes has always denied but his players will be encouraged today
to make it a physical game and not allow their opponents to find
their passing rhythm. Arsenal may have scored nine goals in two cup
ties against Liverpool at Anfield during the last week but they
have had an erratic record in the north of England over recent
seasons and Sam Allardyce, the Bolton manager, has spoken of them
being vulnerable when playing the more physical and direct
teams.
"It's not about kicking people," said Pedersen. "It's about working
hard and pressing them all over the field. If we can stop Arsenal
playing their way, then we can beat them - but we wouldn't go out
with the intentions of trying to kick people.
"There was a reason why we finished in sixth place last season and
it wasn't because we were kicking people. We beat Manchester United
home and away, we beat Arsenal and we beat Chelsea. We achieved a
lot but we never got the credit we deserved because of this
physical tag."
will liverpool's season be save then? 