Columnist Antti Heinola picks up on the main talking points from a long overdue home win for QPR against Ipswich at Loftus Road on Saturday.
If choosing Massimo Luongo and Ale Faurlin as the midfield pair looked risky away at Forest, at least there was the (nominal) cover of Leroy Fer just ahead of them. On Saturday, while it perhaps wasn't a pure 4-4-2, it was as close as damnit - making it an even bolder selection from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. It featured six players ahead of the back four who are all more interested in attack rather than defence; even the combative Faurlin is essentially our playmaker.
It was a refreshing selection and one that certainly worked. In difficult conditions, we saw a lot of the small improvements from the last few weeks come together as more of a whole and the result was a very well deserved win which could and should have been a lot more. Still, it was a game that could have gone either way, but it would have been a travesty had an Ipswich side, who had little threat apart from wind-assisted long throws, sneaked a win.
This was probably our best team performance of the season. No one played poorly, everyone played to the plan, players covered each other, and everyone worked hard. On the tube on the way home I listened to two Ipswich fans bemoaning their direct tactics, but also talking about how much quicker we were, how we picked up the second ball more consistently, how we won balls in midfield more often, how much better our passing was. I'm not sure I can recall the last time I heard an oppo fan say the kind of things we've been saying about our own team for the last few years.
Let's hope this continues - regardless of results, we do seem to be moving in the right direction. Perhaps JFH, contrary to one prediction on here, might make it past Easter after all.
One of the sad things about our transfer policy over the last few years has been the effect it's had on some fans. We've been so damaged by big-name players who have let us down that we're deeply suspicious of almost anyone who looks like making a name for themselves. These days, as soon as another club shows interest in one of our players, a section of fans start acting like spurned lovers.
Matt Phillips, who finished last season strongly and was a sort of symbol of what can happen if you look for younger players with promise rather than older players whose best years are behind them, has somehow morphed into a shirker, a possible bad influence, a player who thinks he's too good for us.
Now I'm certainly not going to claim Phillips is a genius. I'm not going to pretend his defensive work is good enough. And he has had some games where he seemed to be channelling the worst of Scott Sinclair when it came to challenges. But he does average better than a goal every six games for us. He's scored six this season and nine since last March. I'd suggest he probably has seven or eight assists this season alone. Yesterday, it was his shot that almost brought us a goal in the opening seconds, he provided a beautiful cross that Hoilett should have scored from, his corners were consistently dangerous and he scored the winner. No, he didn't always make the right choice (a really good opening just before half time being the best/worst example of that), but it seems to me too many fans look at what our players can't do and not what they can do (Polter is another victim of that way of thinking). He's linked with Premier League teams and suddenly we're resentful when he doesn't immediately turn into Alexis Sanchez.
On Saturday, Phillips caused Ipswich real problems throughout the first half - as did all our front six. He was less successful after the break, but as a team we weren't as potent and arguably the conditions counted against us then too. But he still scored the winner - a far from easy chance which he buried really well. Despite all his faults, he's a potential matchwinner, one any club in this division would love to have in their ranks - it won't be easy to replace him if he does go.
After criticising JFH for not getting reinforcements on the pitch early enough v Wolves, it's only right to praise him for his work on Saturday. Ale seemed to be suffering from the awful smash on the knee he took in the first half (you have to think - studs up, knee high: that's a red, isn't it?) and it seemed to be the plan to get Toszer on pretty early after the break as a precaution. Thankfully, given Toszer's mostly poor form so far this season, that didn't effect us badly at all, with Toszer putting in probably his best shift of the season. Then, at last, Mackie got a proper 20 minutes and while he didn't have an enormous impact his energy and willingness ensured Ipswich could never take things easy at the back. And then Nasser came one for the tiring but hard working Washington - and it was his trickery (and great cross / shanked shot) that helped grab us a winner. Earlier, attacking decisions, made to try and win a precarious game. Good to see.
Again, I criticised his second half performance against Wolves, but here he started strongly and carried it right through to the end of the game, so props are due. We all know the ability he has on the ball - and several times on Saturday that was clear to see with some lovely short dribbles - but the steel was there too, and that made all the difference. He won much more of the ball, refused to be pushed off it, and showed great determination and desire throughout. Importantly, he showed he can play in that midfield two. It was probably his best performance in our colours and the only thing missing was a goal. He should have scored after less than 60 seconds, but on watching it again I'd put that down to a very smart save rather than a miss, while in the second half he managed two efforts from distance. Neither particularly dangerous, but hopefully the goals will come and we'll start to get a really rounded midfielder over the next two or three seasons.
The only thing I would say was that Ipswich had no interest in playing through the midfield, so I'm not quite convinced yet that Faurlin/Luongo has the necessary strength needed for this kind of formation, because this was far from the toughest test they'll have.
He really seems to be dividing opinions, but I honestly can't understand why. He's not near the class of Austin or Helguson I know, but some fans seem set on concentrating in what he can't do, while others have just decided he's no good and are all too willing to get on his back. There were a couple of occasions yesterday where he was too slow to make a pass admittedly, but to claim, as some have done, that he has no touch at all is absurd - worse, when he did make those errors there was a wholly unfair groan from some of the crowd, as if he had done nothing right all day, when in fact he played pretty well.
One excellent skill he has is the one touch lay off, utilised to great effect several times in the last six weeks or so and best exemplified by his lovely touch to set up Hoilett just before half time - a move he started in his own half with a great turn and a pass out wide, it should be noted. He has a far better football brain than given credit for in my opinion and the shortcomings he does have are all things that can really be improved upon in training and with coaching. Besides, when you're surrounded by five technically strong players like Faurlin, Luongo, Phillips, Washington and Hoilett, a bit of a battering ram is no bad thing. The Ipswich defenders, like all defenders he's faced this season, will know they were in a match on Saturday.
Let's be honest, he had a dreadful start to his career here. What should have been a safe, if uninspiring and fairly short term, signing, just did not work out at all. He quickly became a player fans got on the back of quickly and was used as a stick with which to beat both Ramsey and Ferdinand. But slowly and quietly he has been improving in the last few weeks. He looks fitter, stronger and is doing a much better job at stopping crosses now. Yesterday once again he was really solid - even almost scoring in the first half. While Konchesky, for all his endeavour, looks increasingly like our major weak link, Perch is starting to at least be a solid 6/10 on the other side of the defence. One less thing to worry about until the summer, hopefully.
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