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Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 13:20 - Oct 17 with 2315 views

Not a great match, not a great performance, but really, not anywhere near as bad as the moaning minnies might have you believe...

1. SMITHIES: There were two bright spots in what was a reasonably drab game, and Smithies was one of them. After a difficult couple of games earlier this season, he's now bang in form and on Saturday he was a clear man of the match for me, with only Polti giving him a run for his money.

There are plenty of things to be negative about at the moment, but one thing we can be pleased with is that we have a keeper who is far, far better than his predecessor. His handling was excellent in Saturday and he made two or three very smart, if not spectacular saves, but what was most impressive was his command of the box and his quickness off his line. With QPR playing a high defensive line to catch Reading out offside (executed very well for the majority of the game), Smithies needed to be alert to balls over the top. He was. I think he came from his area five or six times to head or punt clear, and did so every time with no hesitation, no Green-style stop-start and always making a good connection. you van't ask for more than that and a sign that, even while we were far from brilliant defensively, things are being worked on. Overall, there was little to be excited about, but Smithies once again proved what an excellent buy he's been.

2. THE GOAL: Marvellous stuff and a proper example of how 4-2-3-1 can and should be an attacking formation. Our young left winger has the ball, he bursts forward with increasing confidence. Ahead is our striker, close by his our no.10 and then, most importantly, making a run infield to support everyone is our right sided forward. Suddenly, we have actual numbers in the box, Reading look confused, and Shodipo plays an absolutely perfect chip in, onto Wszolek's chest, for a smart volley in past the helpless al Habsi. Reminiscent of a goal by Helguson after a similar assist by Taarabt a few years back, possibly v Scunthorpe?

Anyway, it was a great goal and a richly-deserved first assist for Shodipo. We have to be patient with him here and JFH will be very, very careful with him - I expect him to be on the bench on Tuesday, before possibly coming back in again at the weekend - but I think we may have found one here. Something else to be very happy about. A youth player who genuinely deserves a place in the matchday squad every week.

The disappointing thing was that we didn't create more chances like this. We got in behind a few times - Wszolek twice and Washington twice, but on all four occasions the final ball was poor.

3. POLTI: Clearly back to his nuisance best after carrying around that glute injury for a while. This was classic Polter, not giving defender's a moment's peace, winning plenty in the air, making intelligent runs, showing far more smarts and skill that he was ever given credit for during the first half of last season. The only thing missing, really, was a goal. And we do need him to score more. sometimes he's a little too selfless I feel, with his running, while at other times he wasn't clinical enough. His one big chance was a header from a Chery corner that could not have been more spot on if Tjaronn had picked the thing up and placed it on Polti's head, but he glanced it just wide. The difference there between Austin and Polter, and a stark reminder of just how many dull games Austin bailed Redknapp out of three years ago.

Polti's other best chance was never a chance - with Reading caught square and high he bent a perfect run, only for Karl Henry to shank what should have been a relatively simple through ball. Which leads us nicely onto...

4. HENRY: I never really understood why we signed Karl. When the rumour started I thought it was a joke to wind up Barton. Then I thought that Redknapp deliberately signed him to try and usher Barton out of the club. If that was the case, it didn't work. I have a Wolves friend who is still laughing this far on that we took him off their hands - and for a substantial fee too. I've been vociferous in my belief that he shouldn't be in the side, but at the same time I've mellowed slightly and come to appreciate his professionalism, his fitness, his unwillingness to hide, his all round doggedness.

But Saturday was once again a demonstration of why we will not move forward as a team and in style of play until we finally get to a stage where he is on the bench and only an emergency back up. I have more sympathy for JFH here than many (as usual) - in the vast majority of cases, Karl is in because he has had few choices. Either lack of wide men forced him to play Cousins wide, or Cousins or Borysiuk were injured, or Luongo, as on Saturday, was recovering from his latest trip around the world. Having these constant spasms of 7 games in 21 days, followed by two weeks kicking our heels while Henderson and his chums do their impressive impersonations of QPR doesn't help.

Still, this was classic Henry. Apart from one stupid headed backpass so telegraphed that the entire stadium could see it happening before he even got within playing distance of the ball and almost resulted in a gift for Kermogant, he did little that was actually wrong. He covered, he ran, he tried. But time after time the pass was the easy one back. Time after time the only angle he'd make for the defenders was a square ball (so he could pass back) and on the occasions he did burst forward, he stopped, checked, and went back. It was infuriating at times.

Putting so much blame on him for our performances is unfair - one player can't have such a huge bad influence (we saw with England how simply taking Rooney out the side doesn't necessarily mean getting the lovely fast football everyone craves). But it's equally true that I am desperate to see how we do play with any combo of Luongo, Cousins and Borysiuk. Hopefully, that is not too far off, but because the Pole is still not quite used to our stupid schedule, I expect what we'll get tomorrow is another game with Henry.

5. ATMOSPHERE: Clive's article about atmosphere before this game was tremendous. One of his very best. All valid points, superbly made. I saw on here after the game that people said it was dead. It wasn't great, I'll give you that. But I also actually thought the QPR fans did pretty well on Saturday. More encouragement, a bit more belief, and some loud singing even after Reading scored. I thought there was real effort there. It wasn't rocking, but I don't think it's ever rocked in a mid-table championship game anyway, has it? Maybe that night it snowed v Birmingham? Even then they were heading for promotion and we were underdogs. There were some boos at the end, which as usual seemed a bit OTT for a fairly even game, but overall I thought it was slightly improved.

6. 4-4-2: Haven't read it in years. So old-fashioned. Should rename it. Ha ha. Anyway, it's interesting that so many people see things so differently. I've heard or read separate people berate JFH for only playing one up front at home (we only played one up front at home for the entire championship season, it bears repeating for the millionth time) and then others for appearing desperate by throwing on Sylla and making the 4-4-2 that so many bellow for.

In fact, the change in system made us less effective - not more and created more problems than it solved. Chery had to be switched from right to left because Reading cleverly exploited him and launched wave after wave down our vulnerable right hand side - in the end Washington's extra energy and enthusiasm stemmed that flow. And while Polti had won plenty of the ball all afternoon, he seemed to fade once Sylla came on. I was surprised - I thought as they'd struggled a bit with Polti, to have Sylla too really might trouble them, but we never managed it. Neither Washington or Chery managed a decent ball into the box and while Lynch did his very best at overlapping, he certainly doesn't have Bidwell's delivery. This 4-4-2 could work for spells, but it fells like it needs more natural wide players and more active full backs and more dynamic central midfielders to work properly. Maybe with Kakay, Bidwell, Cousins and Luongo it could work, but possibly JFH needs to occasionally sacrifice Chery to allow that to happen.

Bare bones.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 14:16 - Oct 17 with 2119 views

simmo

Cheers for these Antti, well done on being bothered after such a tediously repetitive game.

I hope people that keep banging the 442 drum see how we were in the last 15mins or so. It was more 4-2-4 in the end and we were less effective going forward than at any point in the 1st half and were wide open through the middle and out wide. Having 2 big lumps up front can work and I do think we should be trying it more, especially at home, but it needs 2 proper wingers to service them and 2 CM’s that are comfortable being further up the pitch. Here we had Washington who showed he’s better at cutting in and joining strikers than supplying them and Chery on the right who wasn’t ever going to beat a man and deliver from wide, especially when having such a poor game. Add in Henry needing to play so deep and it meant that there was 20 yards between the CM’s and the forward line.

As always it’s not about the formation but how it’s applied, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 it just needs to be worked on so that we play to the strengths of the players we have available. Why did we have 2 inverted wingers when we have 2 target men on? Especially when we didn’t have full backs that can overlap and support attacks. It just meant everybody was ineffective.

The more I come round to the fact we’re a basic, attritional, mid-table team the more I think we should just put Sylla and Polter up top with Wzsolek and Shodipo wide (and staying properly wide) and 2 shuttling CM’s in Luongo/Cousins and Borysiuk and just work all game to get it wide and put crosses in. If that’s not working then use Chery, a smaller more mobile forward in Washington or a tricky winger like El Karate, but save those options for certain situations or when counter attacking away from home

ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 14:22 - Oct 17 with 2102 views

CFW

Thanks Antti - good read as usual.

A couple of points - if you take the most consistent and successful sides they all have one thing in common, the manager knows in his mind his best side, how he wants to play and will stick with his game plan as much as possible. Once in a while he might change the set up for good reasons but always he knows how he wants to play. My point is I am not sure JFH knows his best side or how they are best set up as a side.

We therefore get changes every week to the team and in most cases the way we play. Now to be fair you might argue we have been unfortunate with injury's along with other reasons for players not being available for selection but why are we unable to get players to adapt to a system of playing. So if one player is not fit then another steps in and knows exactly what is required of him?

Henry - I do not dislike the bloke and is almost a model pro but why oh why is it every match? What I find strange was he was out of contract - great, thank you ad goodbye. But no we keep him on as BACKUP ONLY AND A SQUAD PLAYER. So now he plays every single game and even though he is crap and everyone knows he is crap he still plays - sorry I simply do not understand.

On a more positive note the last 8 league games show we have won 2, drawn 4 and lost 2 and we are not that far away from a play off place. The draws are disappointing especially the ones at home when we have taken the lead. There is a long way to go yet and as we all know in this league teams will have good and bad runs, a half decent run will see us more up the table. Not all doom and gloom!!

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 14:49 - Oct 17 with 2024 views

dannyblue

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 14:22 - Oct 17 by CFW

I think JFH has an idea of his best side and how he wants it set up. Looking at who he plays when he's able to, who he rotates, and who he brings on, I think he wants to put this 11 out.

It looks like he wants to play 4123 in attack and 4411 in defence.

Attack:
Wszolek Sylla Yeni
Chery Cousins
Bidwell Borysiuk Perch
Hall Onouha
Smithies

Defence:
Sylla
Chery
Wszolek Borysiuk Cousins Yeni
Bidwell Hall Onouha Perch
Smithies

The changes are due to rotating for the crazy schedule, the time it took to get new players up to the levels of fitness he wants, and niggling injuries and knocks. Henry's always in the team because, to his credit, he's always fit. I bet he gets great numbers in their training ground tests.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 14:55 - Oct 17 with 1993 views

francisbowles

Thanks Antti, good points all well made as usual.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 15:00 - Oct 17 with 1977 views

adhoc_qpr

All good points as usual.

The formation isn't the problem, it's the defensive mindset! Any formation can be more attacking or more defensive, depending on the players and how they are instructed to play.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 15:05 - Oct 17 with 1966 views

rsonist

Re point 2 and the goal: agree with the main point but it's also not difficult to turn it round and look at it as an example of the perhaps unrealistic technical demands the formation places on the attackers at this level.

Shodipo had two options at the key moment of that fast break: a short, quick ball inside to Chery (which he didn't spot soon enough) or the worldy chip over (which he did). (Ideally there should also have been a third option of an overlapping fullback to play in, but it didn't happen). Altogether that's a very high bar to set if that's what it takes to be consistently dangerous in this set-up, and you go back to wondering how stodgy the Warnock side might have also been without Adel's outlandish inspiration to unlock the door.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 15:15 - Oct 17 with 1940 views

TacticalR

Thanks for your knee jerks.

1. SMITHIES. Looks like he is regaining his form. A couple of times he had to judge running to the touchlines to get his defenders out of trouble, and he got his timing right. If it had been Rob Greene at least one would have ended with a wild lunge on an opposition player and a red card.

2. THE GOAL. One of the best team goals I've seen at LR for ages. A moment of brilliance from Shodipo, and great control from WszoÅ‚ek. Every match needs something to remember, and that was the something to remember in this match.

3. POLTI. Yes, if that chance had fallen to Austin it would have been in the back of the net, but then Austin is one of the best in the game at that kind of chance.

4. HENRY. We really missed Luongo and there wasn't always someone for Henry to pass to (Borysiuk seemed to fade in and out), but yes Henry was very...Henryesque. It wasn't just us though - Reading also spent a lot of time passing it round at the back (and got caught out a few times doing it).

5. ATMOSPHERE. Agreed that the fans did ok, and better than in some previous games.

6. 4-4-2. Once again agree. It didn't work the way we played it with Washington and Chery as wingers. Also, I am not sure Sylla is that great with his back to goal.

[Post edited 17 Oct 2016 16:02]

Air hostess clique

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 15:32 - Oct 17 with 1907 views

derbyhoop

More and more I believe that, to quote Antti, "we will not move forward as a team" when Karl Henry is part of the midfield. IMHO, he takes too many touches to control the ball and never plays anything other than the simple pass - usually square or backwards. The effect is to take all the tempo out of our game. I suspect JFH has a similar view but when Henry has played 11/12 league games compared with Luongo (9), Cousins (9) and Borysiuk (5, 2 of which were as a sub) then you see the problem. Given full fitness, all 3 would make the starting XI ahead of Henry, but it's been rare when 2/3 have been fit enough.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all oneâ€™s lifetime. (Mark Twain) Find me on twitter @derbyhoop

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:20 - Oct 17 with 1821 views

ozranger

Thanks Antti. I think there is a point missing from the discussion here on Henry and Tactical touched on it. He said "4. HENRY. We really missed Luongo and there wasn't always someone for Henry to pass to (Borysiuk seemed to fade in and out)" How true.

What I saw as the real problem was that Henry and Borysiuk were the same player in this game, not that Borysiuk was not in the right place as suggested. Whether this is on purpose a decision by JFH or because they are is a question I cannot answer fully. However, for Henry, Borysiuk or any of the defenders, the fact that both holding midfielders were sitting together back nearly all of the time led to two disastrous consequences. The first was that there was rarely anyone available for a short pass, Chery and the others too far away and secondly, and possibly more importantly blatant, was that most defensive headers (second ball) fell to their players backing up. We needed someone there - Cousins, Luongo - to be able to collect the crumbs from the defensive headers or at least challenge for them. On some occasions there was a huge hole in our midfield with our six defenders looking on as the ball fell to their midfielders and another attack was launched.

Whether through intelligence or something else, Henry did move forward in to that position on occasions during the first half and made that scything run in the second. Otherwise, we had six defenders for most of the game. The linkage was a real problem.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:25 - Oct 17 with 1811 views

vegasranger

Thanks for the report Antti. Although I'm not a big fan of playing players out of position, I was very surprised with our back 4 set up. Most fans agree that Perch has only looked half decent at left back , so why not play him there? That would have allowed Joe Lynch to play left centre back. There seems to be an obsession with formats. At the end of the day you attack and defend as a team. Players need to know their jobs, understand their roles in transition. Pass and move, overlap, track back. The system always has to be fluid because of the opposition and the needs of QPR at that moment in the game. Just throwing on forwards and having two wide players who aren't natural wide players surely isn't going to help?

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:35 - Oct 17 with 1792 views

dannyblue

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:20 - Oct 17 by ozranger

Exactly this!

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:49 - Oct 17 with 1756 views

Antti_Heinola

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:25 - Oct 17 by vegasranger

I was going to have this as a knee jerk and forgot!
Saw the team and was convinced it'd be:

Ned Lynch Hall Perch

and was shocked that it was how it was. Think it would have been better with Perch at LB, agreed.

To be fair, Washington has looked good as a wide attacker recently.

Bare bones.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:52 - Oct 17 with 1753 views

Dorse

I don't really know how many times we've had all our CM players available at the same time this season but it doesn't feel like it's been very often. I honestly think that JFH's preferred CM partnership is Borysiuk and Luongo but we haven't seen it very often. I can't think that he would go for Henry / Borysiuk as a first choice.

'What do we want? We don't know! When do we want it? Now!'

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 19:40 - Oct 17 with 1547 views

enfieldargh

Felt Shopido should be out wide hugging the touch line drawing a defender out wide and opening up gaps in the defence. He best performances have come from precisely this.

Too often he came inside in search of the ball into over crowded areas although for the goal I'm glad he did.

Get the ball out to him, Pavel on the opposite side and sling balls into Polti, Sylla.

Where this leaves Chery I'm not sure

	captains fantastic
Poll:	QPR V BURNLEY WIN DRAW DEFEAT

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 22:17 - Oct 17 with 1409 views

ozranger

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 16:49 - Oct 17 by Antti_Heinola
I was going to have this as a knee jerk and forgot! Saw the team and was convinced it'd be: Ned Lynch Hall Perch and was shocked that it was how it was. Think it would have been better with Perch at LB, agreed. To be fair, Washington has looked good as a wide attacker recently.

But this begs a serious question. Why can we see this but the manager can not? Ostensibly there were two players out of position, Lynch and Ned as Ned has been pretty well planted in the RB position. Even when Caulker came on it appeared to be the best option. When Lynch was playing CB - Sunderland I think - he was extremely vocal and impressive at that. Here he struggled with understanding the position within the new setup that JFH has. Perch knows what to do.

On Washington there is another question. Can we convert him into a wide midfielder? I personally believe that is an option that could be investigated within a 4231 style as he certainly has the wheels and can cross the ball. Trouble is that he still, though not as much as earlier in his QPR career, does not have any real confidence. A pure example was very late in the game when, if I get this correct, first Sylla headed on and then Polter headed in to the box. Washington, with confidence, would have been sprinting in to the box searching for the ball to grab a chance for a shot. Instead he stood back a little distance from Polter.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 10:17 - Oct 18 with 1275 views

Antti_Heinola

Well, I'm sure he can see it, but he just decided this was better. He will have his reasons. We can't say Ned is out of position at CB when everyone's been saying all season he's out of position at RB. Fact is, he can play both, and Lynch has played at LB quite a lot in his career too. But it was odd.

Washington's confidence is coming i think. He'll start tonight I expect, and wouldn't be surprised if he notches.

Bare bones.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 11:49 - Oct 18 with 1227 views

francisbowles

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 10:17 - Oct 18 by Antti_Heinola

I didn't think it was odd, Lynch is left footed and with the all our options for wide left midfield being right footed and cutting inside, it at least gives us the possibility of someone comfortable going outside and getting the ball across.

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 14:52 - Oct 18 with 1149 views

ozranger

Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Reading 1 on 11:49 - Oct 18 by francisbowles
I didn't think it was odd, Lynch is left footed and with the all our options for wide left midfield being right footed and cutting inside, it at least gives us the possibility of someone comfortable going outside and getting the ball across.

I think you are both missing my point here. I am not saying that Lynch cannot play at LB. Not at all, he definitely can. However, the problem here is that JFH has a specific style he wants to play in defence where his full-backs work differently to that off most other teams. Yes, they get up and down and cross and defend. However, it is the last bit that JFH has worked hard on. The compression of the defenders and working together as a unit. Lynch is completely new to this while Ned and Perch both have lengthy experience in JFH's method. Lynch is more comfortable as a CB and many would agree is probably better at it than Ned is currently. My feeling is that Ned's head is more in the RB mode than CB at this time and if he is to be played in the combination we have now, RB is preferable with Lynch in his CB position and Perch out left. Until we get Bidwell back, at least, this to me appears the better solution for the defence.

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