| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 11:25 - Jan 30 with 1138 views | Antti_Heinola |
Had a bad feeling about this one from the start...
HOLLOWAY: I'm not one to shout 'never change a winning team' (not that this team won it's last game) - it's a facile cry, really, that ignores the next team you're playing will be different from the last one. But like many people on here I was baffled by the line up on Saturday. Of all the games in the next week, this was the one that gave us the biggest opportunity for three points. The players haven't played for a week. They're all fresh. Really, all that was needed was a minor tinker: Hall to step up a little into midfield, Wszolek to be allowed to play higher up the pitch. I was concerned that our recent tactics have been set up to thwart better sides and therefore expected this to be tough and wondered if we might struggle when the onus is on us to force the pace. That was right to some extent, but Burton were't exactly shy. They attacked well and with pace. We went back to the dark days of before Christmas.
The recent performances have been forged on, to quote a previous manager's favourite phrase, 'meticulous planning' - remember Mackie's glow and confidence after Reading, because the whole team had prepared so well and then carried out the gameplan to the letter. Here, you could smell the whiff of complacency and Burton took advantage to become worthy winners. But it wasn't just planning that had served us well - it was energy, desire, strength, attitude. Now I'm not going to dig out Lua Lua or Doughty, as reasons why we lost. And I can sort of understand the decision to maybe rest a player or two. But not Mackie and Manning, because along with Wszolek and Hall, they were the main reasons why the gameplan worked so well. Tenacious, unyielding, a winning spirit - even leadership - and I include Manning in that too.
More on Lua Lua in a moment, but the midfield just didn't have the same dynamism and harrassing qualities it had recently. We didn't have the energy, the bite. It didn't look right from the start and Holloway couldn't turn it round. Win this and a defeat at Newcastle means little. Now, w're staring at almost definite back-to-back defeats, back to three without a win, and the Blackburn game (where we rarely do well) suddenly has enormous pressure riding on it.
On top of that, in a game where we were desperate for an equaliser, Ollie compounded his error by refusing to give the desperate Mackie a run until the last five. Perverse. Yes, the players should have done better, but had JFH lost at home to Burton this place would have blown up, so Ollie must (as he has) take some blame for this insipid performance.
2. LUONGO. I'm a fan of Mass, but I think even he'll admit he had a dire first half. Better in the second, but the first was dreadful. Not through lack of effort. With Doughty less mobile and covering far less ground than the tireless Manning, he arguably had to cover even more of the pitch than he normally does (for the commenter who wondered what he does, I'm a bit confused - no one works harder, covers more of the pitch, covers his team-mates better and more often than Luongo - it was his harrying that set up the goal v Fulham, and his harrying that set up our best chance of an equaliser on Saturday). But what was most disappointing was his passing. At least four times in the first half he won or had possession in a great position, with space, usually around the inside right area, and four times he tried to measure a pass and messed it up - wrong weight or wrong direction. Infuriating. He has to get better at that - fine when you're trying to really split the defence with a risky pass, but all of these were reasonably straight forward balls that should have found their man.
Second half was an improvement, but it still featured him messing up a simple five yard pass to Bidwell that was both dirtectionless and woefully overhit. We rely on Luongo to knit things - to get it and give it. When his radar is of that badly, the whole team really suffers.
3. FURLONG & DYER: I'd be interested to know if Lloyd Dyer deliberately saves his best performances of the season up for when he plays us. Rarely has there been a game where we've been able to contain this guy. Martin Bullock, Paul Hall and an ex-Arsenal winger whose bloody name I can't remember, are all examples of half-decent wingers who we might have done well to buy just to stop them running rings round us every year. Furlong's been great since he came into the side, but Dyer was just too nimble, too sharp, and too clever for him. That's fine - that'll happen and it's a learning process, but while the whole defence was culpable for the second goal, Furlong's decision to leave Dyer and go to the ball was perhaps the most damaging. I wouldn't be completely surprised if Perch plays at right back v Newcastle, although with Hall out he may well find himself in that position instead.
4. LUA LUA: I thought he did OK overall - it was nice to see him finally get some time on the ball, and he does have a lovely stepover and turn of pace. The issue is more that sometimes, a little like Adel, he was slow to release the ball. A little unlike Adel, though, he isn't even close to having his end product, whether it's a ball into the box or a shot (who does?).
But if Ollie is going to dig out Shodipo for not tracking back fast enough it's odd that he'd pick Lua Lua instead, because he doesn't have Shodipo's ability to put a decent cross in and certainly doesn't have the edge on him in terms of industry. He's stronger, yes, more experienced, with a bit more savvy, but I'm concerned that someone who's not that incredible is a loan signing who's limiting Shodipo's chances.
5. SYLLA: Arguably his worst game for us and I worry again here. We've let Polter go and there are less than 48 hours left in the transfer market. We are desperate for an alternative target man, because much as I like Washington, he's not it, and whether we play one or two up front, we need an option.
He looked forlorn in this game. Feeding on scraps, chasing shadows, his (very) occasional flick-ons never finding a QPR shirt, frustrated with himself and with the passes he was getting. And the two chances he did have in the second half - a header, and when he tried to spin following good work from Lua Lua, were both tough, but spurned. He's not Polter, he won't chase like him or Mackie, and so to some fans he looks worse than he is. Especially so when he's failing so badly to hold the ball and lay it off, something he can do, particularly using his chest. But he was bullied out of this one and rarely looked threatening. Neither did Sordell for them, really, but he did enough to cause us important problems. Sylla didn't.
And I worry because Sylla was excellent v Reading. Then he didn't want to come off, was lambasted not once but twice in press conferences by the manager and suddenly he looks less impressive. I could be reading too much into it, but Sylla looks to me like a player that needs to be told how good he is, not publicly bollocked for, essentially, making a face. If no striker is signed, we're still in trouble.
6. FAN: After a great atmosphere v Fulham, it took just 20 minutes for people around me to start turning. Furlong took some stick. As did Luongo (deservedly) as did Sylla (a particular target near me) and Lua Lua. There's the bloke in front of me who is the king of hindsight - after every failed move, he pronounces on what should've happened: 'No, cross first time... no, should've kept it... no head it back... no should've headed it forward...' He has little appreciation of the game at all.
But worse was a new bloke behind me, who very probably coaches a kids side and very probably thinks he could manage to professional level. The. Entire. Game. He shouted out cliche after cliche, as if he was standing on the touchline coaching his (miserable) kids: 'FEET! FEET!... Call him Bidwell, call him! (Bidwell probably was - but we wouldn't be able to tell, being about 100 metres away)... Time!... Quicker!... No, time!... Turn and face TURN AND FACE!' Oh God. Luckily he tired in the second half, possibly realising his coaching wasn't having the desired effect. Mainly because they can't hear him from the back of the SA Stand. Otherwise his nuggets might have turned the game.
Anyway, that's my whinge. I'm probably as annoying as the next guy.
PS - Goss. In long coat. On the pitch. Oh God. Last time we pulled that sh!t was Hateley. At least Goss was walking without the aid of crutches. |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 on 11:36 - Jan 30 with 1113 views | Maggsinho |
We tried to sign Paul Hall back in the League One days, he turned us down in favour of a better deal from Rushden and Diamonds which was a bit of a reality check at the time. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 on 17:07 - Jan 30 with 899 views | OldPedro |
Agree with most of this. One thing I found frustrating about Lua Lua was his diving - on a couple of occassions I thought I was watching Tom Daley. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had got booked. Also seem to remember that it was a dive from him that lost us the ball on the edge of the Burton box from which they broke away and scored their 2nd goal |  |
| Extra mature cheddar......a simple cheese for a simple man |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 on 17:24 - Jan 30 with 870 views | londonscottish |
Agree with most of that.
I thought Furs had a decent game. Pavel was as industrious as ever but his touch deserted him a little at times.
I liked what I saw from Lua Lua except for the fact that (as Clive pointed out) that he kept cutting inside and running into trouble.
Palmer for them delivered a fabulous cross ball to set up the first goal but from where I was right at the front of S Block on Ellerslie Rd I've still no idea how that goal went in and why Smithies didn't budge (unsighted? deflected? both?)
But it was SO frustrating watching Mackie warm up for virtually the whole game. And my 10 year old daughter who remembers him from first time round felt the same.
Had a good day out, met an old mate I hadn't seen for a long while at HT and got to see Washington score.
Shame about the rest of it. |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 on 19:46 - Jan 30 with 743 views | Harbour |
Thanks Antti another good summation. Bit worried I sound very much like the annoying fan you sat next to.I hope Sylla finds his form the public dressing down appears to have affected his performance but Smith will provide some competition if he lands this might be the motivation sylla needs. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 on 19:54 - Jan 30 with 718 views | Hitch |
Goss came out looking like Dr Who. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Burton 2 on 23:40 - Jan 30 with 525 views | Neil_SI |
I think I counted at least five misplaced passes where we tried to find a player only for it to hit one of our other players en route, and one occasion where we hit the referee, so six in all. I don't recall ever seeing that happen that many times before, it was bizarre. Everybody just seemed to be on totally different wavelengths, and thus, we kept giving the ball away needlessly.
That can sometimes be a telltale sign that there was a tactical misunderstanding. Perhaps too many different styles of play being tried, and then with a change of personnel, potentially affecting the relationships and combinations that have recently been built up.
I thought the real pity for us was the period after we were 2-0 down, when we finally seemed to get a grips with what we needed to do, and pulled one back, then totally went back to how we were playing previous to that period.
In that moment, LuaLua was much better, managing to isolate his marker in the penalty area and able to drive down the outside and put the ball into a dangerous area. Ok, he didn't really look what he was doing sometimes, but if a player is willing to do that, and we have other players willing to make runs and also players arriving late for any scraps, you increase the pressure and likelihood of fashioning out a chance. Why we went away from this after we pulled one back, was the major disappointment for me.
What went on before happens, even if this was pure QPR in the sense that you knew we could make a meal of a match like this. But to almost figure it out and abandon it so soon afterwards proves the team still have some way to go.
I also can't work out if the players are trying their best to play to the letter, or not working things out quick enough for themselves. We are splitting and creating an awful lot of space in dead ball situations with players spread out, say from our own goal kicks or free kicks that we can launch forward.
That's fine, it creates lots of opportunities initially, but when the ball is in the air and travelling towards its destination, the players then need to move and work out where to go to support the play quickly. This just isn't happening and I can't help but think they're doing what they're told to do initially and then not taking the initiative afterwards.
There is really no point launching the ball to Sylla if you're not prepared to move to where the second ball might be, whether it's a knock down we've won, or a clearance from the other team. You have to have the nous to know how to compact and compress the play in certain scenarios to maximise the probability you will pick the ball up. Instead, if you lose the ball as much as we did here, you are immediately vulnerable because so many players are out of position and too far away to impact play. It can leave gaping holes and make it easy for the opposition to play through you and break quickly, which happened here a few times.
I don't mind the rotation as much as some, even if it was a bit misguided, however, I thought we were far too conservative with the selection and should have been bolder and attacking from the outset. Having said that, we still saw their players sometimes running through unchecked, there was a fine save Smithies saved where they just allowed the man on the ball to run from miles back without a challenge in sight, or a player in the correct position to engage. A bit amateurish, as was the defending for their second goal. |  | | |
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