Having said that, Derby versus Rotherham on a Halloween afternoon did turn out to be a horror show for the Millers fans who had travelled to the iPro Stadium, and the Rotherham players left the field at full-time looking like they had seen a ghost. Rotherham started the game fairly actively and looked busy for the first 10 minutes. The visitors even responded fairly well to going a goal down early on. Derby broke the deadlock when Jacob Butterfield played a defence-splitting pass to Craig Forsyth. Forsyth crossed into the box and though the ball was just behind the intended target of Chris Martin, it reached Andreas Weimann who battled with the defender to tap the ball into the net. Rotherham did not take this lying down at first. They nearly found an equaliser when Jonson Clarke-Harris chested down a ricocheted ball but fired his powerful drive just wide of Scott Carson’s post.
But then things then began to go downhill for Rotherham, the energy and focus left their game and the confidence drained as Derby retained possession and passed the ball around them as if they weren’t even there. The first half dragged on for the players and as they looked more and more like they didn’t want to be there, Derby thrived more and more. Derby’s tempo and Rotherham’s dark cloud led to Derby doubling their lead before half time. Derby displayed incredible build-up play running the Millers defenders ragged. The ball was played around in midfield with 18 consecutive passes before the ball reached Butterfield in acres of space and the midfielder fired his shot into the goalkeeper’s bottom left corner to make it 2-0.
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| Photo courtesy of Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
The second half was much more of the same and ten minutes into the second half Andreas Weimann nearly found himself a second goal. Craig Forsyth played a long ball over the top and the Austrian found himself with plenty of space in behind the defenders. He successfully chipped goalkeeper Lee Camp but Rotherham’s Danny Collins managed to clear the ball off the line.
Derby continued to control the game and began pushing for more goals. Chris Martin’s run was impeded by a Rotherham defender and the referee gave a free kick a few yards outside the box, roughly centrally. As soon as the referee blew for the free kick Martin tucked the ball under his arm, clearly confident that this was in scoring range for him. Martin smashed the free kick over the wall but it just didn’t dip enough and the ball struck the crossbar, flying up and swiftly back down into the 18-yard box. Jason Shackell attempted to apply the headed finish but was beaten to the ball by Danny Collins who put it behind for a corner. The resulting corner was whipped in by Johnny Russell and found Jeff Hendrick at the back post. Hendrick knocked the ball back across goal and Richard Keogh countered upon Rotherham's inability to clear their lines by blasting his shot into the roof of the net to make it 3-0.
Derby continued to control the game and began pushing for more goals. Chris Martin’s run was impeded by a Rotherham defender and the referee gave a free kick a few yards outside the box, roughly centrally. As soon as the referee blew for the free kick Martin tucked the ball under his arm, clearly confident that this was in scoring range for him. Martin smashed the free kick over the wall but it just didn’t dip enough and the ball struck the crossbar, flying up and swiftly back down into the 18-yard box. Jason Shackell attempted to apply the headed finish but was beaten to the ball by Danny Collins who put it behind for a corner. The resulting corner was whipped in by Johnny Russell and found Jeff Hendrick at the back post. Hendrick knocked the ball back across goal and Richard Keogh countered upon Rotherham's inability to clear their lines by blasting his shot into the roof of the net to make it 3-0.
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| Twitter: @dcfcofficial |
Not long after this, Derby hit the crossbar once more. This time a Johnny Russell corner kick met the head of Jason Shackell, whose headed attempt rattled against the bar and went behind for a goal kick. This was to be the last significant chance of the game and the referee blew for full time at 3-0 to the home side.
One of the major differences between the two sides, aside from the clear difference in confidence, was the fitness of the players. Derby seemed well-trained and physically fit enough to run Rotherham ragged. The constant pass-and-move style that Derby attack with seems to tire out a lot of teams. Not just in this game with Rotherham but also in other games this season too.
The Rams also seem to be able to switch formations so quickly by being well drilled and in good fitness. While they set up most games in a 4-3-3 formation, it’s simple to see a very clear tactic whereby they will play the ball out wide to the full backs when they cannot find a way through the middle and either commit more men out wide or push Chris Martin across to the flank. In this game, when Martin moved across to help the full back on one side, one of either Weimann or Russell moved up to a striker’s role next to Martin and the other of the two moved into the middle to support the midfield. Essentially, this is a quick transition to the much-criticised 4-4-2 diamond formation. Rams fans who claim it leaves the team too narrow have clearly not seen Craig Forsyth and Cyrus Christie dominating the flanks in recent weeks.
It was pleasing to also see the return of Craig Bryson, who has missed nearly 3 months to injury since picking up a knee problem in the first half of the season opener against Bolton. Bryson came on for Jacob Butterfield on 79 minutes and received a warm reception from the Rams fans who sang his name loudly and continuously for several minutes. Bryson had come under heavy criticism from fans after a difficult season last term. This resulted in a gesture in that season which some fans interpreted as a response to the criticism. The Scottish midfielder celebrated a goal against Blackpool by pressing a finger to his lips and appearing to tell his own fans to “shush”. Understandable if that was the intention, the fans may ‘pay his wages’ but that’s not an open invitation to lambast him on Twitter resulting in him deleting his account. Nobody really knows if that was what he intended to do after that goal back in April of this year but it’s satisfying nonetheless to see a much friendlier relationship with the fans return. After all, he was a fan favourite prior to his bad season last year so to see that relationship hit turbulence was depressing to say the least.
This was another good result for the Rams in another game where they simply looked too strong for the opponents. But this game was different to the other wins. In this one, Derby had to deal with the absence of a key player in Ince, and the virtual absence of the star players in Chris Martin and George Thorne who did not have their best games in a Derby shirt on Saturday. Despite this, we saw other players show their star quality. This is especially true for the goalscorers. Weimann and Butterfield had not yet scored in a competitive game for the Rams, and Keogh hadn’t scored for Derby since December 2013. It’s fair to say that from a confidence point of view, the ‘right players’ scored. The players who probably needed it most were the ones to get the goals. This is a testament to the strength of Derby’s squad and it only bodes well for a season which is bound to see injuries, suspensions and fatigue attempt to disrupt their flow. The Rams showed that they have the strength in depth to make sure that doesn’t happen.
One of the major differences between the two sides, aside from the clear difference in confidence, was the fitness of the players. Derby seemed well-trained and physically fit enough to run Rotherham ragged. The constant pass-and-move style that Derby attack with seems to tire out a lot of teams. Not just in this game with Rotherham but also in other games this season too.
The Rams also seem to be able to switch formations so quickly by being well drilled and in good fitness. While they set up most games in a 4-3-3 formation, it’s simple to see a very clear tactic whereby they will play the ball out wide to the full backs when they cannot find a way through the middle and either commit more men out wide or push Chris Martin across to the flank. In this game, when Martin moved across to help the full back on one side, one of either Weimann or Russell moved up to a striker’s role next to Martin and the other of the two moved into the middle to support the midfield. Essentially, this is a quick transition to the much-criticised 4-4-2 diamond formation. Rams fans who claim it leaves the team too narrow have clearly not seen Craig Forsyth and Cyrus Christie dominating the flanks in recent weeks.
It was pleasing to also see the return of Craig Bryson, who has missed nearly 3 months to injury since picking up a knee problem in the first half of the season opener against Bolton. Bryson came on for Jacob Butterfield on 79 minutes and received a warm reception from the Rams fans who sang his name loudly and continuously for several minutes. Bryson had come under heavy criticism from fans after a difficult season last term. This resulted in a gesture in that season which some fans interpreted as a response to the criticism. The Scottish midfielder celebrated a goal against Blackpool by pressing a finger to his lips and appearing to tell his own fans to “shush”. Understandable if that was the intention, the fans may ‘pay his wages’ but that’s not an open invitation to lambast him on Twitter resulting in him deleting his account. Nobody really knows if that was what he intended to do after that goal back in April of this year but it’s satisfying nonetheless to see a much friendlier relationship with the fans return. After all, he was a fan favourite prior to his bad season last year so to see that relationship hit turbulence was depressing to say the least.
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| Photo courtesy of Twitter: @popsider |
This was another good result for the Rams in another game where they simply looked too strong for the opponents. But this game was different to the other wins. In this one, Derby had to deal with the absence of a key player in Ince, and the virtual absence of the star players in Chris Martin and George Thorne who did not have their best games in a Derby shirt on Saturday. Despite this, we saw other players show their star quality. This is especially true for the goalscorers. Weimann and Butterfield had not yet scored in a competitive game for the Rams, and Keogh hadn’t scored for Derby since December 2013. It’s fair to say that from a confidence point of view, the ‘right players’ scored. The players who probably needed it most were the ones to get the goals. This is a testament to the strength of Derby’s squad and it only bodes well for a season which is bound to see injuries, suspensions and fatigue attempt to disrupt their flow. The Rams showed that they have the strength in depth to make sure that doesn’t happen.
