Another three points and decent performance from a home match on Saturday should have QPR in confident mood going into a Tuesday night trip to Swansea — but their away form has been alarming so far.
Tomorrow evening 11 players in QPR kits will walk onto a football field much the same size as any other to play 11 other men wearing Swansea kits. These are the basics of it — 22 players, three officials, set of goal posts at either end, grass pitch, one ball, 90 minutes plus a bit more if Man Utd are losing. That’s football.
And yet to watch QPR this season you’d think that games played away from Loftus Road are a different sport entirely. It’s like Loftus Road is a skating rink, or triangular shaped, or has a pitch made of solid wood, and only QPR know about this and are used to it.
Rangers are turning into a formidable opponent on their own patch. Only Liverpool and Hull have won in Shepherd’s Bush this season and both were lucky to do so. Champions Man City scarcely deserved their point and Sunderland, Leicester and Villa have all been beaten. Rangers get amongst it at home, play with attacking formations, throw caution to the wind, attack in decent numbers and often look half decent. Having fallen behind to Leicester in the third minute on Saturday the R’s subsequently took 31 shots on the goal searching for a win which eventually came their way by three goals to two. A shot every three minutes for goodness sake. It was ludicrous.
This is Harry Redknapp football. Everybody remembers the great Portsmouth team he had, where even the great teams like Manchester United and Arsenal would fear a trip to Fratton Park because you knew they’d come at you quickly, directly, powerfully, in big numbers, with a big-man-little-man combination up front, two flying wingers and a maverick central midfielder of some sort. Redknapp had players like Paul Merson, Niko Kranjcar, Andres D’Alessandro and Pedro Mendes in his midfield. They were a swashbuckling team, fearing nobody on their own patch. QPR, with players like Charlie Austin and Eduardo Vargas coming into fine form, are looking like a similar outfit.
Or, rather, at home they are. Away from home QPR look as they have done for much of Redknapp’s time with the club: sluggish, uninspiring, ineffective, negative. They set up not to lose rather than to win, play with no kind of belief that they can actually achieve that aim, struggle to muster any kind of tempo, and usually lose meekly. Rangers have played seven games on the road this season and lost all of them, scoring just two goals. How can that possibly be the same team that looked so dangerous against Liverpool, Man City, Villa and Leicester in West London?
The Super Hoops have, by way of mitigation, had an incredibly difficult set of games on the road so far. The six away league games they’ve played so far include four of the top five, five of the top seven and six of the top nine. The lowest placed team they’ve played on their travels so far is Newcastle, who went into that game on a five match winning sequence. That continues with Tuesday’s night’s trip to eighth placed Swansea who’ve been beaten just once at the Liberty Stadium this season — and that by a late goal from high flying Southampton after they’d been reduced to ten men. A fortnight ago they tore Arsenal apart on this ground.
With trips to Everton and Arsenal next up QPR will, weirdly, have played the entire top ten apart from Manchester City for their first ten away games of the season. Little wonder points have been in short supply.
But their current approach and attitude to away games cannot be allowed to go on and fester. Earlier in the season Harry Redknapp’s side rolled over pathetically at Old Trafford at a time when Sunderland, Swansea, Burnley, MK Dons and Leicester had all taken positive results from fixtures with Louis Van Gaal’s team by showing no fear and going to attack them. Redknapp described the trip as a "bonus game”. Joey Barton too has recently been quoted as saying that "anything we get away from home in the Premier League is a bonus” and it’s that mentality that is much more of a problem to Rangers on the road than even the quality of the opposition. His team has shown against Man City and Liverpool that it is capable of troubling the league’s better teams when it gets into full flight, there is no reason at all to suddenly go all meek and cowed simply because the game is being played on a pitch surrounded by different stands and more opposition fans. The performances against Leicester and Man City were markedly different to the one at Newcastle in between them — and there is no good reason for that.
Away games are not bonus games, and the points available from them count just the same as the ones we get from the home fixtures. QPR are not going to stay up this season with 19 away defeats from 19 played, and they are not going to do a good deal better than 19 losses if they continue this half-arsed approach to away games where they sit in, try and keep it at 0-0 and maybe pinch a point if the opposition have a bad day.
We’ve seen in the recent home games that there’s a decent team at Rangers this season. It’s time to be a bit braver, a bit more adventurous, throw a bit of caution to the wind and start showing that same verve, ambition and tempo in the away games.
Links >>> A test case in ambition — opposition focus >>> Dreaming of more European adventures — interview >>> Memories of Robbie James — history >>> Friend in charge — referee >>> Travel Guide >>> ’Arry’s Presser
Swansea’s David Cotterill looks on in despair after seeing his penalty turned aside by in-form goalkeeper Paddy Kenny back in late 2010 as these two sides fought out a goalless draw. Rangers went on to win the Championship that year, and Swansea followed them up into the Premier League via the play-offs.
Elsewhere: A special midweek round of fixtures in The Best League In The World, in place for the sole purpose of catching out slumbering Fantasy League managers, is spread over two nights this week with Big Racist John and the Boys hosting Spurs on Wednesday in the "game that matters” of round 14.
Six of the fixtures are on Tuesday and there’s plenty to interest the QPR fans already watching the league table keenly, hunting down those crucial three worse teams for May. Aston Villa certainly look like one and having escaped with a lucky draw from Burnley at the weekend they’re now journeying down to Crystal Palace — another side Rangers probably have their eye on catching up with in the coming weeks.
Burnley host Newcastle with seven points from their last nine games, while chronically out of form Leicester host The Men of Liverpool Together as One Collective Unit Whole. West Brom are keeping their heads above the water line quite comfortably so far, and they have a chance to post more points at home with a visit from Big Fat Sam’s Big Fat Brand of Entertaining Football. Louis Van Gaal takes on Meticulous Mark and the Taffia.
On Wednesday Southampton’s inevitable dramatic plummet down the table continues apace at Arsenal while Sunderland follow Saturday’s visit from Big Racist John and the Boys with a home match against reigning champions Man City. Tigers Tigers Rah Rah Rah can’t buy a win, and have slipped perilously close to the trap door — they’re at Everton this week.
Referee: Kevin Friend is the man in the middle for this one, his third Swansea appointment of the season already but his first QPR game since the home draw with Millwall in the Championship last season. For his extensive QPR case file and recent stats, please click here.
QPR: Rangers have played seven, lost seven, scoring just two goals on the road so far this season — admittedly against six of the top nine sides in the Premier League, plus Burton Albion in the League Cup. They’ve conceded 15 goals on the road and, needless to say, have yet to keep a clean sheet. In contrast to Swansea, QPR have conceded the first goal on ten occasions this year — more than any other team in the top flight.
Betting: Fresh from a successful call on the Brentford-QPR double at the weekend, professional odds compiler Owen Goulding tells us…
"QPR travel to South Wales on the back of an entertaining win against Leicester. This is a different proposition altogether though as the Rangers terrible away form will once again be scrutinised against a Swansea team who have lost only once at home this season. I would love to say QPR look a decent price at 9/2 to win the game but the likely set up of the team has me worried for this particular fixture. QPR playing Kranjcar and Fer in supposed 'wide' positions is a big concern against a team with the width of Swansea who excel in spreading the play. I expect Monteiro and old QPR boy Routledge to put the Rangers overworked defence under a lot of pressure here.
"Swansea are a best priced 3/4 to win this one and that is nearly enough for me to consider it as a bet but not quite enough. As I’ve said many times before, successful betting is not about what you think will win or lose, it’s about backing prices that are much bigger than the true odds of the outcome. Swansea have scored inside the first 30 minutes in 66% of their home games. QPR have conceded in the first 30 minutes in 50% of their away games. This coupled with the worrying set up of the Super Hoops, makes the 6/4 available at William Hill for the time of first Swansea goal from 0-30 minutes a play. 6/4 equates to a chance of 40% it happening, when the statistics so far this season suggest it is much more likely, giving us a nice edge to soften the blow of an expected tough night across the border.”
Recommended Bet: Time of First Swansea Goal - 0-30Mins @6/4 (WillHill)
Prediction: Reigning Prediction League champion WestonSuperR tells us…
"What a fantastic win at the weekend. It didn't matter how we got it, it was just vital we found a way. We are now starting to turn into a team with a some very decent home form, especially when you could argue we were worth at least a point if not all three against both Hull and Liverpool.
"On the road though we are a very different outfit with a sadly very different record. So despite looking good going forward on Saturday I worry that we will struggle yet again on Tuesday night and I don't think Swansea's quick passing game will suit us either. I can see us keeping it tight and possibly cause Swansea a few problems but worry that they will also fancy their chances against our back four, particularly with arguably our most in form defender (Yun) missing. We must pick up some points away from home soon but not sure they will come on Tuesday especially if Harry has an eye on the vital match with Burnley on Saturday.”
John’s Prediction: Swansea 2-0 QPR. No scorer.
LFW’s Prediction: Swansea 2-0 QPR. No scorer.
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