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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses 17:25 - Oct 6 with 1539 viewsDylanP

QPR has not scored this number of goals since the early 1980s and the Clive Allen/Paul Goddard pairing. Our two main strikers are both in the top 5 goal scorers in the division and we've had goals coming from all over the pitch, especially from our young creative attacking midfield corp. Our wingbacks are well integrated in the attacking scheme and Manning seems to be at the heart of most of our most attractive scoring attempts.

However, we are also conceding lots and have yet to keep a clean sheet. So obviously the two things are linked. We often play three/five at the back with the two wingbacks encouraged to roam freely. Plus the centerbacks are also encouraged to play football and we have seen Barbet, Hall, and even Leisner carrying the ball upfield and getting involved in passing/attacking game. As a result, there are times when our backfield is overrun, outmatched and torn apart easily. Also, the constant passing back to the goalie leaves the goalie (who is not an outfield player and therefore not naturally inclined to passing the ball around crisply) sometimes getting caught out and looking clumsy.

These defensive lapses are inevitable consequences of the system that we are playing. The manager could fix them by playing a flat back four, but then there wouldn't be the structural foundation for the attacking magic that we are all loving.

This is a team of players who, in many cases, haven't played this system that long and are still learning the upsides and downsides of the system.The fans are going to have to be patient and understanding. If we want to enjoy the freeflowing football and freescoring fun we are going to have to accept that it comes with conceding plenty of goals as well. There are only 11 QPR players on the field at a time. If we are going to be devoting 7-8 players to the attacking effort at any given time, there are also going to be lots of times when the defense is going to be out of shape and overwhelmed. They are part and parcel of the same thing.

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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 17:54 - Oct 6 with 1474 viewsBrianMcCarthy

Some very good points, Dylan.

I think we looked ore solid yesterday with 4-2-3-1 but even then we were very attack-minded so we conceded chances like the disallowed goal from not tracking back correctly.

The penalty was all down to Barbet who first switched off and then compounded the error by panicking.

The second goal was down to not picking up Bennett their right-back, which I think is down to Eze who was still playing wide left, I think?

But, as you rightly say, these things are often the by-product of excellent attacking performances. There's always a trade-off.

"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 18:30 - Oct 6 with 1428 viewsBenny_the_Ball

For now perhaps but in the long term Warburton won't be accepting it

The central feature of the 3-5-2 is that with the ball wing backs support the attack and without it they tuck in to effectively transition into a 5-3-2, thus providing some defensive solidity There will be times when we lose possession in the final third and leave ourselves open to the counter attack so players have to be prepared to track back. This is an area where Manning in particular has excelled.

You are seriously misunderstanding the tactics if you think we are simply devoting 7-8 players to attack. Players have to communicate and be intelligent enough to know when they can go and when they need to hold. It's this fluidity and flexibility with potential threats from anywhere on the park that provides the formation its potency, not sending everyone into the box at once.

Note also that we have played a flat back four many times this season (albeit in a 4-2-3-1 formation) and still conceded goals. Whilst i accept that playing with freedom will leave us more susceptible to conceding and that the players are still gelling, the new football philosophy doesn't excuse sloppy goals due to lapses of concentration (such as Lumley's pass to the Luton forward), brain farts (such as Barbet's tackles) or not defending from the front (as in the case of the first West Brom goal scorer who was allowed to run with the ball unopposed for 40 yards).

Now it may sound like an oxymoron but what I'm saying here is actually very positive. How, I hear you ask? Well, because the examples I cited above are not down to the system per se and are eminently solvable. Rather than just accepting these lapses as inevitable warts of our formation, by recognising and addressing them we can look forward to a time when we are playing positive, attacking football and keeping it relatively tight at the back. Only then can we compare this team to the one of the early 1980s.

I, for one, am super excited by the prospect and can't wait to see how this team develops.
[Post edited 6 Oct 2019 18:34]
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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 18:31 - Oct 6 with 1425 viewsqprd

It’s not just the formation- a lot of is substitutions and tactics from the manager

After we went up 2-0, qpr really amped up their pressing. A more pragmatic manager might’ve had his team sit back, see out the next 10 mins and try to counterattack rather than try to win the ball further up the pitch and score a third (but leave us vulnerable if the press is broken)

Our first sub was hugill for bright at 3-1, shifting us from a 4231 to a 442. A more conservative manager might’ve brought on another midfielder like ball to pack the midfield and see out the game

We made no defensive subs (hugill, Pugh and mlakar).

Warburton has a lot of talented attacking players who he probably wants to keep happy w playing time, but I wouldn’t mind the odd cynical sub.
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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 19:43 - Oct 6 with 1288 viewsbosh67

Our main problem at the back is that they do tend to go walk about and get far too narrow and then too far apart at times, they have short patches where they lose concentration, they are not the quickest or biggest, and they tend to have some kind of odd zonal/man marking system as well.

It is the one area of the team that needs to adjust in shape and pick up attackers quicker. We have an international break and I would hope it is the main thing the coaching staff focus on because otherwise we are a joy to watch.

Never knowingly right.
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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 20:16 - Oct 6 with 1242 viewsBrianMcCarthy

Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 19:43 - Oct 6 by bosh67

Our main problem at the back is that they do tend to go walk about and get far too narrow and then too far apart at times, they have short patches where they lose concentration, they are not the quickest or biggest, and they tend to have some kind of odd zonal/man marking system as well.

It is the one area of the team that needs to adjust in shape and pick up attackers quicker. We have an international break and I would hope it is the main thing the coaching staff focus on because otherwise we are a joy to watch.


Agree that we were too narrow at times yesterday, Bosh.

Some good posts on here. Interesting stuff.

"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 20:58 - Oct 6 with 1170 viewsTacticalR

We showed against West Brom and Cardiff that we can have defensive lapses without goals.

Air hostess clique

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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 21:58 - Oct 6 with 1102 viewsEsox_Lucius

It should also be considered that the team was only fully assembled in the week leading up to the Stoke game, barely 10 weeks ago. We have been sold the old "the new players need time to gel" etc. many, many times and now we are attempting to do it with 14 new players. I think it is both a minor miracle and a testimony to MW, Eustace, Banfield etc. that we are doing so well after only a very short period of time. The defensive lapses are not as dramatic as they were in the first few games and they will steadily improve even more as the season draws on. I refuse to worry too much about the odd silly goal against whilst we are watching some of the best football we have seen in W12 in many a long year.

The grass is always greener.

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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 00:07 - Oct 7 with 1042 viewstimcocking

Are they intrinsically linked, though?

I mean yes, of course, if we're committing more forward it will make a difference to some extent, but i'm not completely certain that a good attack equals a crap defence. Obviously, two up front might change the dynamic, but the formation at the weekend, two holding midfielders...i just think we're a little dodgy in defence. There have been soft goals aplenty. Not to kick Joe when he's down, but he's made errors, that's sod all to do with our swashbuckling magnificence down the other end.

And 5 effing penalties hasn't helped. We won't save a penalty this season.

Whatever, i'm loving it so far. Proud of my team. Such unexpected pleasure; i was bracing myself for a year of horrendous misery.

Warburton for president.
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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 02:08 - Oct 7 with 1015 viewsMiss_Terraces

I thought we were going to be relegated this season, in August. In October we are three points off the top of the table. The defence is not good but we are doing far better, than I thought we would be. I'm extremely happy, yes we are conceding far too many goals. We are scoring far more than I thought we would and we are level with big spending fulham

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Enjoying The Goals Means Accepting The Defensive Lapses on 10:09 - Oct 7 with 877 viewsPinnerPaul

Blimey what a wonderful thread.

Plenty of thoughtful erm thoughts - until this post obviously.

Seriously though, compare this with some of the barely readable rants I've read on oppo fans' forums and we are very lucky to have this forum to enjoy!
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