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The Weston Report: McClaren Experiments But What Did We Learn?
Monday, 26th Jan 2015 12:35 by Ryan Weston

File this one away under, ‘typical cup tie.’ An open, entertaining game which could - and should have - resulted in more goals.

Crucially though, the Rams didn’t suffer the same fate as minnows Chelsea and Manchester City, and instead safely dispatched their Derbyshire rivals to reach round five.

The Derbyshire Derby was a strange game, one that prompted Steve McClaren to say that, ‘he had learnt more about the team in,’ than the last six-months.

Choosing to make almost a handful of changes from the game that we don’t talk about from last weekend, there was a debut for Albentosa, a full debut for Bent and games for Roos and Hendrick.

An impressive crowd of over 28,000 (much more than the 28 that seemingly watched Blackburn in the early game) - Derbyshire fans greeted the players and a new formation for the Rams.

Starting 3-5-2, with Christie and Forsyth employed as wing-backs and Bent partnering Martin up-top, the Rams made a shaky start and were almost behind inside two minutes. A cross from the right wasn’t dealt with, before a simple-tap in was evaded by Christie’s excellent block on the line to deny Gnanduillet.

The early exchanges were littered with nervous Derby defending as the Spirerites showed that they were not here simply for a local day out. A missed interception by Keogh allowed another curling effort from the big Chesterfield striker to test Roos.

Going forwards, it seemed that the system may bear fruit. Bent, lively from the opening whistle, showed more class in ten minutes then Best had for the entire period of his lone spell. Playing on the shoulder, it seemed only a matter of time before one of Hughes or Martin would pick him out. It was those two players though who almost combined, Martin’s audacious flick just two long for the perfect one-two. This said, the Rams were unusually guilty of being too direct, recent opponents’ style rubbing off on us. A shaky clearance from Albentosa did little to address the notion that this could turn into a shock.

What wasn’t a shock though was when Bent marked his home debut with a goal. Mascarell delivered Derby’s first corner onto the head of Buxton, whose knock-down was poached upon by the forward to nod in from six yards. One could imagine Paul Lambert shouting obscenities at Soccer Saturday…

A goal up but the Rams still looked as secure as McClaren’s Dutch accent at the back, with the system certainly not working. Affording a decent Chesterfield side far too much space in wide areas, the Rams were almost pegged back twice in quick succession. O’Shea (not John) was the threat, first cutting inside and unleashing a superb shot whistling just wide. The same player then gave Roos the chance to audition for the circus, the goalkeeper juggling another long-range effort.

Going forwards, the Rams looked ok. Christie was being afforded the freedom of Pride Park, though with little end product. Neat football and a marauding Keogh run, on which he skinned three players, both led to Hendrick being well-placed but guilty of doing too much.

At the other end, another delivery from the wide areas saw Clucas fire over from inside the box. With an excellent atmosphere and a real game brewing, half-time brought more questions than answers.

One was answered immediately, with the gaffer sensibly opting to change formation. Still, our normal system was not employed, with a 4-4-2 preferred. Russell came on for Albentosa to partner Bent, with Martin at the tip of the diamond.

The brewing cup-tie came to the boil almost straight away, with a first-fifteen minutes full of goalmouth incident. First, Martin’s delicious pass sent Bent away clean through. With enough time to run to Villa and back before scoring, Bent instead saw his effort well saved by Lee to his left.

With the diamond making us look more fluid and with Bent and Russell causing all kinds of problems with their movement, we were soon in again. This time it was Hughes playing the killer pass and Johnny going one-on-one. Breaking free into the area and with the ball on his left foot, we all expected the net to bulge. Instead, Johnny’s weak shot beat the keeper but not the defender on the line.

Back came the Spirerites, with a ball into the box well won for hotshot Doyle, who swivelled past Buxton but shot well wide. With the atmosphere reaching tremendous decibel levels, we contrived to miss our third one-on-one of the half.

A long ball in behind caused confusion in the Chesterfield ranks and a poor back header saw Bent in again. Trying to lob the advanced goalkeeper, Darren could only produce a fantastic leaping save from Lee. Would it be one of those days?

It certainly looked that way as Russell then departed with a hamstring injury. Ward was his replacement as we continued with two up-top. It was Chesterfield though who broke next, with a basketball feel (only better and with more contact) to the game. A great cross from the left found Ryan unmarked at the back post, but he sliced wildly over the bar. Next, Gnanduillet tested Roos’ handling as we looked nervous again.

The nerves were not helped with a poor decision (my opinion, don’t shoot me) to take Martin off. For me, his linking and overall game was top drawer, so it was surprising to see him replaced by Dawkins as we returned to our customary 4-3-3. What was not surprising was the petulant reaction to being subbed from the big man, the sort of man who one imagines argues with his own reflection in the mirror…

Dawkins however was quickly involved, with Ward’s terrific run down the right resulting in a chipped cross to the back post where he rose highest to head against the bar. The rebound fell to Bent who picked out Ward, who picked out row M.

Our third formation change of the day did not, thereafter, seem to help. Suddenly passes were going astray, fans were getting annoyed and the away fans were buoyed. A worryingly similar feeling to last weekend in that game…

Chesterfield kept coming and kept testing Roos with balls into the box. A couple more half-chances weren’t taken as the defence was having one of their off days. What we needed was a goal to take the pressure off and, thankfully, that’s what we got.

My old Sunday morning manager used to say, ‘don’t dribble out of your own defence’ - if only Chesterfield’s Clucas had been at training that day. Bringing the ball out from the back, he was robbed by Hughes who then drove towards goal. With Bent in support, Hughes showed him how to finish a one-on-one by coolly sliding inside the near-post to cap another impressive personal display.

The goal killed off the plucky threat of our Derbyshire neighbours - not that they stopped playing - forcing a couple of free-kicks in dangerous positions which had to be well defended. All that was left was for me to ask if the bloke in front had been smoking something as he went through the other latest scores…

A clean sheet though probably underserved was gained as the referee brought a strange game to its conclusion.

So what had we learned?

We discovered that 3-5-2 needs more work.

We discovered that Martin looks class at the top of a diamond.

We found out that Chesterfield are actually quite good.

And we learned that Darren Bent could prove to be a brilliant bit of business.

Roll on round five!


Weston’s Player Ratings:

Kelle Roos- 7: Another accomplished display from our number 2.

Cyrus Christie — 6: Didn’t do enough with the ball in good space.

Richard Keogh — 6: Won some good headers and good better after poor start.

Jake Buxton — 6: Not his best display but ok.

Raul Albentosa — 6: Looked ok after a few understandable nerves.

Craig Forsyth — 6: Fits and starts display.

Omar Mascarell — 6: Caught in possession a few times.

Jeff Hendrick — 7: Improved display on recent showings.

Will Hughes —Weston’s Star Man —9: Another very good display and well taken goal.

Darren Bent — 8: Good full debut. Lively, intelligent movement and a goal. Should have bagged a hat-trick.

Chris Martin — 8: Class from the big man, linked brilliantly before subbed off.

Subs:

Johnny Russell — 6: Hope the injury isn’t too bad.

Jamie Ward — 6: Created a couple of good openings.

Simon Dawkins — 6: Not brilliant but not awful.


Match Info / Rams Team:

Ref: David Webb

Crowd: 28,392


Derby: Roos; Albentosa (Russell 46’ / Ward 65’), Keogh, Buxton, Christie, Hendrick, Mascarell, Hughes, Forsyth; Martin (Dawkins 70’) Bent

Unused Subs: Bryson, Shotton, Mitchell, Warnock


Match Stats — Derby / Chesterfield:

Goals: Bent (20’), Hughes (82’)

Possession: 52% - 48%

Shots On Target: 6 - 4

Shots Off Target: 7 - 15

Corners: 6 - 6

Fouls: 10 — 7


We Said / They Said - Match Reaction:

We Said — Steve McClaren:

"We knew the game would be open and we were fortunate to go 1-0 up. At half-time we had to change and we tried a lot of things but I think we've learned a lot from that game.”

"I'm just pleased that we came through the ups and downs of the game and we are in the hat."


They said — Paul Cook:

"It was always going to be a difficult game for a club from a lower tier but at the end of the day you can only look up and say, 'Did we do okay?' but as a manager I felt they did more than okay."


Highlights / Post Match Interviews:





Up Next For The Rams:

Derby vs. Blackburn

iPro Stadium — 7:45pm Tues 27th January




Photo: Action Images



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