Antti Heinola witnessed QPR’s attempt at the world record for most consecutive home games conceding exactly two goals continue apace against Blackburn on Tuesday.
I'll go in to formation a bit in a moment, but for now, the issue with these two is that they are simply not mobile enough, or quick enough, to cover those positions effectively. Worse, their passing last night was dreadful. Karl Henry's passing is never better than average, and usually it's predominantly going backwards, but while Daniel Tozser was at least looking for forward passes, time and again he found the shins or boot of a Blackburn player. Henry did well to get forward for the chance that should've brought a penalty, but that closing of the gap between defensive midfielders and attackers was all too rare in the first half. Flabbergasted that neither was replaced by either Faurlin or Doughty. Sadly, I suspect they'll both start again on Saturday, likely with similar results.
First half, the gap between our defensive six and our attacking four was too often too big, and when Tjaronn Chery or Massimo Luongo did drop to look for the ball they looked up to find they were bereft of options. Again and again Blackburn exploited the space in front of Tozser and Henry, where they had the freedom of the park. It wasn't working defensively, or offensively.
After the break, however, we increased the tempo, helped by the quick goal. Those gaps narrowed, we had more of the ball, and while a lot of people not at the game have been screeching about shots on target, the fact was we looked dangerous and created a few excellent openings: a wonderful move between Austin and Phillips that should have seen Luongo score; Henry's shot that should have been a penalty for handball and so on. Whereas Blackburn, who equally looked dangerous in every attack first half, were made to work harder for openings after the break. Their goal was actually a very decent one - yes, both our centre backs could have done better, but it was a good flick and then lovely skill and strength from Rhodes.
So 4-2-3-1 is not necessarily a problem. We're scoring plenty of goals with it. But for it to work we need to play at that high tempo, to squeeze the space, to play higher up the pitch, and to have at least one mobile attack dog of a defensive midfielder.
Unfortunate in the first few minutes of his full league debut. Some said he looked nervous after that, but I think with the conditions and with not getting the free kick, he just elected to punch and be safe, and he probably caught or punched away more crosses in this game than Green has in about six months.
He then made two very fine saves, one absolutely point blank, to keep us in the game. Second half I was impressed. He looked confident, he shouted a lot, his kicking was safe, his distribution decent. Should retain his place. For those saying he's a bit small, at 6'3 he's not exactly short.
But then there was the Charlie Austin fiasco. Firstly, I noticed some people thought Austin was carded for not having his boot on, but the guy next to me said Austin was lucky not to be sent off for a clear elbow off the ball. We'll probably never see that incident again, so only Austin knows the answer to that.
But, in terms of waving him back on, that I do not understand. I tried to be reasonable and thought perhaps there's a law that if you voluntarily leave the pitch, with the ref's permission, in a situation other than an injury, you can only return once the ball is out of play. But I've just spent a load of time combing the FA laws and FIFA's laws and can find absolutely no evidence of this. There were at least three, maybe four, clear opportunities where Austin could have safely returned to the pitch and Deadman refused to wave him on. It was crass refereeing, spiteful, without any common sense, and unnecessary. We don't go to watch refs, but Deadman is a fan of being watched.
It's worth bearing in mind that Rhodes scores goals for fun at this level, and I thought his strike partner Koita was an awkward opponent too. Simply blaming the defence is a little simplistic - we need to defend better as a team. However, although Angella lost out to Koita for the flick on for the second goal, he won a lot of the ball in the air (which was nice after he inexplicably ducked out of one early on). More importantly, we saw glimpses of the ball-playing centre back Ferdinand and Ramsey were keen to recruit. His passing and confidence to move with the ball out of defence, again, particularly in the second half, was encouraging. He passed the ball better than the two midfielders in front of him, that's for sure.
He has a great knack of nicking the ball from the opposition and then springing away with it. He has a bit of pace. He rarely wastes the ball. And he is the kind of player you're always happy to see receive a pass, because you know there's a decent chance he won't lose possession. A really intelligent player and it'll be interesting to see if his future lies slightly deeper once Fer comes into the side, or if Mackie forces his way into the starting XI.
Just one bad moment, after Charlie's ball of the match that opened up the Blackburn defence and Matty Phillips' perfect pass, Mass had the goal at his mercy, but shanked a poor ball to a marked Mackie. He beat the ground in frustration. He cares. Looking forward to his first goal - he does just need to have more of a killer instinct when it comes to finishing moves.
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