After starting well in the first 10 minutes with the now usual 4-5-1 formation, Sven decided to sacrifice Michael Johnson for the physical presence of Emile Mpenza, switching to a more attacking formation after just 31 minutes.
“The only reason was that I saw in the last third of the pitch we weren’t good at all. I tried to give Bianchi some help up there with another striker,” the boss told us after the game.
City remain fifth in the Barclays Premier League despite two consecutive 1-0 away defeats and will look to get back on track next time out against Aston Villa.
For that game the Blues will be without skipper Richard Dunne who was sent off for the first time since August 2004.
And despite the flurry of cards, including two reds from referee Mike Dean yesterday, Eriksson didn’t agree with Arsene Wenger’s comments that Rovers are an overly violent side.
He noted: “It was not aggressive, but it was interrupted very often for niggly fouls and pulls, but it was not violent at all.
“Maybe they were too severe the red cards, but the rules are very severe if you pull the shirt and I think Richard Dunne did have a small touch on their player.
“It seems stupid to say but it was almost easier than I thought it would be, but any how we lost the game.
“Maybe we are more beautiful than dangerous and that’s not good. You don’t get any points for possession of the ball.
“You have to have shots and combine well in the last third, we did that a little, but it wasn’t good enough. We should have created more with all the possession we had.”
