Charlie Austin showed his Premier League potential with two fine goals as QPR's recent improvements continued with a 2-0 home win against Aston Villa on Monday.
More effort, more hard work, more commitment, more confidence, a lot more entertainment, a lot more goal threat, a sense of purpose, and a victory. But, more important than all of this, Queens Park Rangers are starting to look like they have some semblance of a plan.
It's the lack of a plan that hurts QPR the most, on and off the pitch. Off the field it's all haphazard, unfulfilled promises about training grounds and focus on academy, and a pie in the sky dream about a new stadium on some land somebody else owns and doesn't want to sell. On the field it's a collection of individuals, expensively assembled, slung together in a variety of combinations, shapes and systems followed by a string of excuses about fitness, injuries and bad luck when it doesn't work out. As a result, QPR are consistently outperformed by clubs of similar sizes with clear strategies.
But in the last two home games at least, Harry Redknapp and his players have hit upon a proper plan. It's not pretty, it's not going to win many friends, and it's almost entirely reliant on the continued fitness of an ageing target man who has shown repeatedly since his expensive acquisition from Fulham nearly three years ago now that he is physically shot, but it's a plan all the same, and it's making a hell of a difference.
Knocking it long to Bobby Zamora and feasting on the service he can provide thereafter was always likely to cause problems for a Liverpool team with a vampire-like fear of crosses into their penalty area, and a manager who has perhaps tipped too far towards sitting his players down on soft furnishings and talking about the "collective" and the "whole" rather than getting them out on a muddy training pitch to work on marking at set pieces. QPR were dreadfully unfortunate to lose a game they should have been out of sight in by half time last time out on this ground.
Trying the same formula against Monday night's visitors Aston Villa looked foolhardy. Long balls floated in the direction of Zamora would, by definition, also be played into the vicinity of Villa's Dutch centre back 'Concrete' Ron Vlaar. Would he even need to change out of his club suit to deal with such rudimentary opposition?
The first quarter of an hour suggested not. QPR were shambolic. Leroy Fer, a right footed central midfielder, was picked on the left wing. Eduardo Vargas, who troubled Liverpool with two late goals as a central striker, had to make do with a spot out of position on the right. Sandro, who Harry Redknapp mentions in every interview and clearly believes holds the key to QPR's survival this season, gave the ball away almost as if he'd been threatened by snipers on the roof that they'd pick him off if he dared find a team mate with a pass.
Villa, on a run of four straight defeats without scoring but knowing this was easily their most winnable game during an unfortunate run of fixtures that has essentially seen them play the best six teams in the country one after the other, realised they might be onto something. Ashley Westwood, educated at Crewe and looking quite at home in the Premier League, struck a firm volley that Robert Green was fortunate to see fly straight at him — two yards left or right and Villa would have been ahead after three minutes.
Green was due to begin this game on the bench until Alex McCarthy suffered a thigh injury beforehand. He was called into action again 60 seconds later when Colombian international Carlos Sanchez, who comprehensively dominated the first half from the centre of Villa's midfield, tried an ambitious 40 yarder that, again, flew straight at the keeper.
It had Redknapp's critics reaching for the knife block. After 30 years in the game as a manager, was this really the best he could do? A basic 4-4-2, with two players out of position, and long balls being knocked to an ageing target man?
Then, from nothing, Rangers took the lead. Richard Dunne, keeping his place at centre half and looking a lot more solid alongside Steven Caulker than Rio Ferdinand did previously, knocked that long ball towards Zamora . Vlaar found himself pinned behind the striker — too casual, too complacent, not determined enough to get in front of his man and win the header. Zamora chested the ball down perfectly for Charlie Austin to stride onto confidently and glide into the bottom corner of Brad Guzan's net from 20 yards out. A beautiful finish to route one approach work.
QPR should have taken a good deal of confidence from that Liverpool game, despite the result and the heartbreaking circumstances around it. Early on it looked as though they'd remembered the disastrous, last-second Steven Caulker own goal more than the 94 minutes of hard work and enterprising play that preceded it. But the goal, against the run of play, settled the R's down and they began to look like a genuine Premier League team for pretty much the first time this season.
Villa continued to create chances — Green's full stretch dive suggested he wasn't sure Christian Benteke's flicked header was going wide for instance. But Several Rangers players started to grow into the game. Caulker and Dunne buried Benteke just as they had done with Mario Balotelli the previous week. Sandro stopped giving the ball away as much, but even when he was handing possession over the calm, authoritative presence of Karl Henry alongside him limited the damage. The former Wolves man, who QPR were trying to offload two months ago, is in superb form at the moment and was the only QPR midfielder who could hold a candle to Villa's Sanchez. Vargas started to cause problems down the right, cutting in field to join the two strikers in a dangerous three-man attack.
But, as happened against Liverpool , the tempo and standard was actually being set from left back, where Yun Suk-Young continues to be something of a revelation. Without the ball the South Korean international is strong and uncompromising in the tackle. He's intelligent with the positioning of his body, winning free kicks for his team even when he doesn't have possession. With the ball it took him 86 minutes to play a stray pass, and his distribution is both economical and imaginative — he has confidence in his own ability to play a pass with a purpose, rather than completing one for the sake of it or simply to shift the ball on one. His reading of the play when faced with overlapping attackers has been exemplary in the last two games and he's not troubled by tight spaces or risky situations.
He takes nice set pieces as well — a dangerous inswinging delivery caused panic on the half hour and bodes well for the future. Of course, against Liverpool , QPR were a liability with their own attacking dead ball situations, regularly conceding lethal counter attacks and shipping two goals as a result. Here, when Weimann broke into clear space downfield following a cleared corner, Suk-Young judged an uncompromising block tackle superbly and came away with the football. A new hero is born.
Later, a deflected cross from Weimann drew Green from his line for a brave claim at Benteke's feet when self-preservation had to be forgotten and the handling needed to be faultless.
For once, Rangers made it into the second half without having to replace injured players. Even Sandro lasted a full 90 minutes for the first time this season. It left Harry Redknapp free to make the changes he wanted to make, rather than the ones forced upon him, and he judged his first perfectly after an hour.
QPR had started the second half sitting deep in their own half, in full-on soak it up mode. Westwood got Benteke in round the back with a deep free kick that the Belgian nodded down and Ciaran Clark, up from the back, bundled wide from close range with the marking slack. It felt like it was going to be a long night. Typically, it was Suk-Young who responded, with an eye-catching piece of attacking play that drew a frustrated foul from Weimann and the first yellow card of the evening from referee Lee Mason.
Redknapp recognised the problem — QPR were never going to be able to do this for a whole half and not concede a goal — and acted swiftly. Junior Hoilett came on for Zamora . Suddenly, after dealing with a physical challenge all evening, Aston Villa were faced with pacy wide men in Vargas and the Canadian, running right at the heart of their defence either side of Austin. They didn't deal with the transition at all well and almost with his first kick, Hoilett was able to curl a fine strike around Guzan and off the top of the left hand post having been left in space 20 yards out.
The change also added an extra body to the midfield. Villa had dropped Sanchez deeper after half time, presumably to assist in the marking of Zamora when the ball went long, but he was complicit in laying on a second goal for the hosts 20 minutes from time. The Colombian, faced with a restocked home midfield, played a dreadful pass from a quick free kick straight to Karl Henry and when he freed Vargas down the right there always looked to be a chance in the offing. The Chilean, intelligently, backed his man off into the penalty box where he could no longer execute a tackle, then widened the angle with a drop of the shoulder for a perfect low cross that Charlie Austin read superbly and smashed in, first time, at the near post. Two nil now, Guzan no chance at all.
Austin, at times, has struggled in the Premier League in open play. He doesn't look quick enough, or physical enough. He hasn't carved a niche for himself. But where he has stepped up is the area most Championship strikers struggle in when they move to the higher level. Austin, and the other second tier hit men, are used to having far more time, and getting far more chances. Balls drop in the penalty area in the league below, defenders aren't as talented, pockets of space open up, goals can be presented rather than earned. In the Premier League, space and time are luxuries strikers are not afforded. Barren spells can result, and soon strikers are snatching at chances. Austin's last three goals — two here, one against Southampton — have shown a real appreciation for the lack of time available to get a shot away, an efficiency that is needed when chances are coming your way once every three weeks rather than three times a half, and above all else a genuine ability to beat defenders and keepers at the highest level. His first goal looks a good deal better on second viewing, but the intelligence of the run, the awareness of his location in the area, and the sharpness of the first-time finish make the second a really special goal for me. He took Vlaar and Guzan, two full internationals and very decent players, completely out of the game with a clever run and razor sharp finish.
Villa immediately introduced Darren Bent, carrying himself with all the commitment of a teenager in a further maths class, and Joe Cole, who looks like he's developed rather too much of a taste for a cooked breakfast since transferring from West Ham in the summer. If Villa didn't know it wasn't going to be their night before this point, Cole banging into Benteke and sending the ball skewing out for a goal kick just as the Belgian had finally freed himself of Dunne's shackles and attacked a good cross at the near post, sealed it. In the away end, one Villa fan was slapped around by his irate better half to the merriment of the watching QPR fans. "Where's your missus gone?" the home ranks sang after she'd stormed out. Villa's season, which started so well with impressive away wins at Stoke and Liverpool and ten points from five games, is in danger of going the same way as that marriage.
This was to be five straight defeats without a goal scored, and QPR knew they had their guests right where they wanted them. The R's even started to look confident in possession of the ball. Mauricio Isla, improving game by game, started a glorious passing move that moved through three separate sets of triangles, diagonally across the pitch from the QPR right back slot to the left wing via the thick end of 20 completed passes, until Vargas received the final ball, onside and clean through, but tragically couldn't beat Guzan for a deserved third. In the next attack, Hoilett streaked away down the left and drew another yellow card for Lowton.
Still, a nervous final ten minutes could have changed the complexion of the game completely. Two nil can be a funny scoreline and when Tom Cleverley drew his right foot back on the edge of the area ten minutes from time it seemed that QPR were in trouble. Green saw the ball late, so did well to pull off an unorthodox save at all, thought he could only direct the ball back into the traffic where Sandro saved his bacon with a last-ditch sliding tackle on Clark that sent the ball bobbling back to the stricken keeper rather than into the net. The competition between Green and McCarthy seems to be bringing the best from both.
In the end it was a procession. Redknapp ran the clock with substitutions — Armand Traore and Niko Kranjcar on for Vargas and Fer. The Chilean deserved his standing ovation. The massed ranks of Villa fans behind the goal — a totally sold out end at more than £40 a ticket for a televised Monday night game — started to drift away into the night. Such travelling support deserves a far better team than Randy Lerner and Paul Lambert are currently providing for them.
For QPR, with games against the two best sides in the country up next, and teams above them threatening to open up a gap, a win was vital. This lifted them above Burnley at the foot of the table and narrowed the gap to fellow strugglers Sunderland , Leicester and Palace. It also kept Villa moving in the Super Hoops' direction. But the plan is more important than all of that. QPR have one. At last. A clear framework to approach games with. Now they have a fighting chance.
Jeff Beck rarely sounded so sweet.
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QPR: Green 8; Isla 7, Caulker 7, Dunne 8, Suk-Young 8; Vargas 7 (Traore 87, -), Sandro 6, Henry 7, Fer 6 (Kranjcar 90, -); Austin 7, Zamora 7 (Hoilett 63, 7)
Subs not used: Ferdinand, Hill, Phillips, Murphy
Goals: Austin 16 (assisted Zamora ), 69 (assisted Vargas)
Villa: Guzan 6; Lowton 6, Vlaar 5, Clark 6, Cissokho 6; Cleverley 6, Westwood 7 (Cole 70, 5), Sanchez 8; Agbonlahor 6, Weimann 6 (Bent 70, 4), Benteke 6
Subs not used: Okore, Bacuna, Richardson, N'Zogbia, Given
Bookings: Weimann 57 (foul), Lowton 76 (foul)
QPR Star Man — Yun Suk-Young 8 Again. As said above, not since Gino Padula has a left full back come into the QPR team quite so out of the blue, and made quite this big an impact. It's his calmness and cuteness in possession, and reading of the game when he's facing an overloaded attack that's impressing me the most. He makes things happen with the ball, and he stops them without it.
Referee — Lee Mason (Bolton Wanderers) 8 Not a lot for our old chum Lee Mason to get too excited with here. Both bookings were correct decisions. I felt a couple of times he allowed himself to be conned by a bought free kick — Sanchez and Zamora both did it to him, falling over as soon as anticipated contact arrived for cheap free kicks when really they should have been told to get to their feet. Overall though, pretty decent.
Attendance 18,022 (1,800 Villa approx) For a televised Monday night fixture, with Villa in poor form and QPR bottom of the league, with the tickets overpriced, I thought it was remarkable to see Loftus Road this full. The Aston Villa supporters are a credit to themselves and their club — such unfailingly large numbers and loud noise, at every away game, despite the team being bloody awful for several years. But the QPR fans really did their bit here as well, making Loftus Road hum like it always used to at night matches. It added to the spectacle and was a pleasure to be a part of.
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