"Playing an absolute blinder" - Pundit raves about Blackburn Rovers boss John Eustace as promotion push continues | OneFootball

EFL expert Ali Maxwell has heaped praise on Blackburn boss John Eustace and the job he's doing at Ewood Park this season.

EFL pundit Ali Maxwell has been raving over the job that Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace is doing at Ewood Park this season, as Rovers continue to build into Premier League promotion contenders.

Rovers sit fifth in the Championship after 20 games played, with their 2-0 home win over Luton Town on 14 December making it six wins on the bounce for Eustace's side.

Having seen highly important players such as last season's Golden Boot winner Sammie Szmodics and Sam Gallagher depart the club in the summer, many had predicted a long and difficult season for Blackburn.

However, as the halfway point approaches, they appear to hold a genuine promotion claim, and have emerged as one of the division's big surprise packages so far.

"Playing an absolute blinder" - Ali Maxwell heaps praise on Blackburn Rovers manager John Eustace

Speaking on a recent edition of the Not The Top 20 Podcast alongside fellow EFL pundit and presenter Colin Murray, Maxwell raved over the job that Eustace has been doing at Ewood Park this season, and credits him as playing a vital role in Blackburn's cohesion, production and results so far this term.

Maxwell said: "They are into the top six in the Championship with six wins in a row; what and who is underpinning this incredible start to the season which many people, myself included, did not see coming - John Eustace.

"The manager of this team, and has built a team that is so much more than the sum of its parts. That is to me, basically the most impressive feat of management.

"Of course you want to have promotions on your CV, you want to have the big ticket stuff. But, on a very basic level, in each of your jobs, can you do more than expected with the players at your disposal? Because clearly, leagues have a correlation in terms of the league table, with talent and strength of squad.

"So, can you disrupt the most talented teams in the league when you yourself don't have maybe quite as much talent, or as much depth as the managers around you? Eustace is playing an absolute blinder.

"He's getting so much from so many players, unheralded players in so many ways. 15 goalscorers in the league this season for Blackburn, that's the most in the Championship. So even if you don't think this squad is one with huge depth, Eustace is getting every last bit out of all the players at his disposal, all the attacking players at his disposal.

"He's finding solutions. When key attacking players are absent like Cantwell, like Dolan over the weekend, can we bring in Cozier-Duberry? Yes we can. Will he score the first goal? Yes he can. Can we bring in Makhtar Gueye who's been out of the side recently? Yes. Will he contribute to the team's win? Yes he will.

"Eustace's Blackburn are not tied to star players, which I think is to his credit, and I think probably to the benefit of the team when we see whether this is a sustainable play-off push for down the line.

"They've scored the eighth most goals and the sixth fewest conceded; that is an excellent combination. They've scored 25 goals from 24.7 expected, so broadly in line with their numbers.

"In terms of chance creation, they are only around mid-table for that in terms of style. We're looking at a team that's not that fussed about controlling the game with the ball and controlling territory. We can see that in the fact that they are 17th for average possession, and 20th for touches inside the opposition box.

"This isn't about keeping the pressure on, building and building and controlling territory, it's about attacking with lightning speed on the break and after high turnovers. It's something that they're very good at.

"You can see that despite being 17th for possession and 20th for touches inside the opposition box, they're 11th for big chances. So they're doing quite a lot with the attacks that they do create.

"Defensively, really strong overall numbers. The 11th best xG (expected goals) against in the division, but 10 clean sheets is right up there. 23.8 xG against, but only 17 conceded."

Eustace is getting impressive contributions from all areas of his Blackburn squad

A major part of Blackburn's success so far this season is by how far and wide the positive contributions have come in the playing squad, with players in every position stepping up at various times to win Rovers points at both ends of the pitch.

Maxwell continued: "They maybe don't have one standout star right now, but they have a group of players who are able to rotate and seem to slot in and contribute when they need to.

"So, this is a very solid team, with a high-performing goalkeeper. They can turn not much of the ball into some really good chances, and they've scored some great goals. They've got a lot of attacking players contributing, which I think shows cohesion and clarity of gameplan, which comes back to John Eustace.

"The fact that, that incredible defensive record is somewhat contingent on some hot shot stopping is a bit of a concern going forward - what if Aynsley Pears gets bruised or has a dip in his shot stopping? Suddenly there could be a bit of slippage in the goals against column.

"Also, when a team hits the top six and stays there, the second half of the season often chucks up new challenges. Opposition teams are maybe a little wiser, maybe a little more differential to Blackburn letting them have a bit more of the ball. Will they be comfortable with that?

"They may need to adapt their gameplan in the second half of the season to keep maintaining this level of results, that'll be a challenge for Eustace. But, the fact we're even discussing a top six finish, when so many were concerned about a relegation battle for Rovers, just shows the job that John Eustace is doing.

"At the moment, it feels like it's Blackburn or Watford, or West Brom for the sixth place play-off spot, and I'm feeling quite good about Blackburn Rovers, but I'm not ready to stick my neck on the line and say they'll be a play-off team come May.

"I think they've put themselves in a great position. I mean they've already been on one slightly barren run this season, so I'm still trying to work out the kind of general overall level. But, how good they are defensively gives me hope that they will stick around a little bit."