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Genuine question about tonights game 23:33 - Sep 18 with 6320 views

If playing one up front failed so badly in the 1st half , why did Harry think playing one up front in the 2nd half was going to work ?

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:35 - Sep 18 with 5070 views

baz_qpr

because we only have one first team striker, 1 up front IMHO was not the problem, the problem was that we moved the ball around far to slowly and wingers played far to narrow and failed to really get a decent ball into Austin

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:41 - Sep 18 with 5035 views

rsonist

If you get the support from midfield right then playing one up front can be far, far more dangerous than 4-4-2. Bunging another striker up top isn't the be all and end all of offensive tactics.

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:43 - Sep 18 with 5031 views

QPR1882

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:35 - Sep 18 by baz_qpr
because we only have one first team striker, 1 up front IMHO was not the problem, the problem was that we moved the ball around far to slowly and wingers played far to narrow and failed to really get a decent ball into Austin

Austin was so tightly marked all night the midfield had no one to pass to, probably the easiest game the Brighton defence will have all season.

As for i striker, why have Hitchcock on the bench and bring on Traore ?

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:45 - Sep 18 with 5014 views

baz_qpr

Agree I'd have bought Hitchcock on as the last sub instead of the utterly useless Jenas, problem for Austin was the midfield who were failing to move the ball quick enough or move forward as a unit

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:54 - Sep 18 with 4980 views

HollowayRanger

this was so so much like the ispwich game and we all know what happened there 20 mins to go hitchcock comes on and 3 points QPR

HE scores in midweek twice and yet today

nothing? why harry why!!!!!

jenus for henry was a wasted sub

phillips ok knackered but traore!!!!!!

why not

austin
carroll
swp barton henry o'neill

or

austin hitchcock
swp barton henry o'neill

surely better

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Genuine question about tonights game on 23:58 - Sep 18 with 4963 views

Northernr

1 - because it didn't fail so badly in the first half, certainly not as badly as the two striker system failed on Saturday.
2 - because we're not exactly blessed with a lot of options in that position.

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:02 - Sep 19 with 4948 views

daveB

We created next to nothing playing 4-4-2 all season so not sure why 1 up front is now an issue.

I thought that was a better performance than Saturday, created a lot more but couldn't find the goal, we just need to get one of the three midfielders closer to Austin, much like Taarabt was with Helguson

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:10 - Sep 19 with 4929 views

jonno

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:35 - Sep 18 by baz_qpr
because we only have one first team striker, 1 up front IMHO was not the problem, the problem was that we moved the ball around far to slowly and wingers played far to narrow and failed to really get a decent ball into Austin

Exactly. Far too slow moving the ball through midfield - it needs to be much faster against teams who get ten men behind the ball as soon as they lose possession, which will be most teams who come to LR this season. We did speed it up a bit second half, but we need to move it quickly and have more movement off the ball.

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:11 - Sep 19 with 4925 views

QPR1882

Genuine question about tonights game on 23:58 - Sep 18 by Northernr
1 - because it didn't fail so badly in the first half, certainly not as badly as the two striker system failed on Saturday. 2 - because we're not exactly blessed with a lot of options in that position.

(1) In what way did it not fail ?

I can't recall one chance that fell to a forward that was in open play and not a dead ball in the 1st half.

(2) Hitchcock did not deserve 45 minutes in the 2nd half ?

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:17 - Sep 19 with 4911 views

connell10

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:02 - Sep 19 by daveB
We created next to nothing playing 4-4-2 all season so not sure why 1 up front is now an issue. I thought that was a better performance than Saturday, created a lot more but couldn't find the goal, we just need to get one of the three midfielders closer to Austin, much like Taarabt was with Helguson

better than saturday, really? i thought it was probadly worse than saturday as on saturday at least we got the ball in the net mate!

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Genuine question about tonights game on 05:29 - Sep 19 with 4821 views

WatfordR

Whether we played one up front or two, the two systems have yielded just five on target attempts on goal in two home games. We've only scored more than once in seven league games. And we are an injury to Austin away from no strikers. And perhaps an injury to Dunne or Hill away from just one CB.

There is a reason that most on here have been screaming for another striker and CB to be added to the squad since the start of the season. And there will be plenty more screaming on here if something isn't done quickly to address this.

It might actually be time for Arry to stop looking at who Tottenham can loan us to fill a gap, and acknowledge that there are other clubs out there with players who might do the job more effectively.

Genuine question about tonights game on 07:45 - Sep 19 with 4707 views

ElHoop

I've never really got the lone striker thing as very few strikers have the all round ability to handle it. Whether you call a player a striker or not, you need more than one man getting into the box when we are in their half. We didn't have enough of that last night although Phillips showed some promise I thought, particularly with the long ball which he managed to control pretty well. He's obviously not 100% match fit yet but he looked promising. And that's part of the problem - we have so many players who are not 100% fit and until they are I'm happy to see us scrape points here and there.

As for bringing on Hitchcock, i probably would have been tempted, but Harry knows the side better than I do and he went for 'stick' rather than 'twist'. We took the point and Brighton might also be more of a threat later in the season when they are at full strength, so we denied them much chance of getting the three here.

It was dull to be honest, but that's football and it's a long season and there's plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

One question though, if we don't sign Baird then who is the back up centre back? Would Harry go for Ehmer, or try someone like Henry in the back 4?

Genuine question about tonights game on 07:51 - Sep 19 with 4689 views

daveB

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:17 - Sep 19 by connell10
better than saturday, really? i thought it was probadly worse than saturday as on saturday at least we got the ball in the net mate!

performance wise better than Saturday, we kept the ball a lot better and created a few more chances. if Dunnes header goes in from a similar chance to the Birmigham goal or Austins chance in the first half then everyone says how well we did. Small margins and all that.

I don't think we're playing great but it's not easy when the crowd start moaning if we haven't had a shot within 5 passes, almost impossible for a team to play possession football at QPR without getting moaned which is making the notion we should have gone for Poyet in the summer laughable. The noises from the crowd indicate we want it got forward quickly ala WImbledon 1986, i really don't get it

Genuine question about tonights game on 07:57 - Sep 19 with 4677 views

chris1969

Matt Phillips should have played off Austin from the start of the 2nd half and Barton and Henry were far to deep. Hitchcock would have been a better option for the final sub and it did show we are lacking creativity.

Unless we can keep our few creative players fit it's going to be a long and at times very frustrating season.

Top of the league and bored

Genuine question about tonights game on 08:03 - Sep 19 with 4662 views

Neil_SI

For me, the reason we stuck with 4-5-1 last night was simple, it was tactical. Brighton packed their midfield and had one up top — and if you concede numbers against teams in the middle who can pass and move it well, and who can maintain possession well, then you're going to get dominated and give yourselves a lot of problems.

This is actually becoming a consistent theme. Most of the sides we've played are packing the midfield for us and we lack the quality and creativity to break them down. At the same time, their lack of strikers is contributing to the number of clean sheets we've had.

So what do we do now? The answer is to switch to 3-5-2, because that allows us to still compete in the middle, to provide an extra body in the top end of the pitch, and still leaves us with three players at the back capable of dealing with a lone striker.

Now, this doesn't have to be conventional 3-5-2, it can also be 5-3-2, or another combination where we use a player like Karl Henry in a half-back sort of role, who never drifts very far from the central defenders to offer them additional protection.

The wide areas can be attacking or defensive, depending on the combination of players used, so you can play a wide man, or a wing back, and we've Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Danny Simpson who can easily cover those roles, or we can play more traditional wide men and look for the protection from the defensive midfield area. And you'd change this based on the opposition, whether you want to exploit a weakness or protect against a strength they have out wide.

The top end of the pitch can easily be two strikers or one up and one in behind, which again, gives some additional ways you can blend and balance the system.

It's worth some thought and a try in some of the matches to see if it helps us unlock the door and provides us with the balance to contain and keep tight, but also improve our options and creativity in attack. We certainly have the players, and enough midfielders, to make something work.

Genuine question about tonights game on 08:12 - Sep 19 with 4633 views

Northernr

Genuine question about tonights game on 00:17 - Sep 19 by connell10
better than saturday, really? i thought it was probadly worse than saturday as on saturday at least we got the ball in the net mate!

Far, far better than Saturday IMO. Brighton are a vastly superior team to Birmingham.

Genuine question about tonights game on 08:14 - Sep 19 with 4627 views

YorkRanger

I'd hate to see the posts when we aren't top of the League.

We are not going to win every game this season. Sides will come to Loftus Rd and make it very difficult for us.

We played well enough and we did create some chances - on another night one of those may have gone in. Expectations are running away with themselves I think.

We are doing well. We are well organised, hard to score against and have a lot of ability. The team look unified and the fact it has been rebuilt in such a short space of time and to the extent that we are top of the League is nothing short of a miracle.

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:06 - Sep 19 with 4525 views

jeffro

Genuine question about tonights game on 08:03 - Sep 19 by Neil_SI

Decent reasoning, but why change to 352/532??

The defence has kept 5 clean sheets in a row, putting another player at the back, or infact trying to play with 3 CB's and Simpson/BAE as wing backs will distort a very steady back line.

If we lose saturday, playing this, the questions will be there from our most fickle of fans
"Why did we change a defence that kept 5 CS's"
"Why did we change formaion when we were unbeaten" etc

The key for me is to play as we did last night formation wise, make sure Matt Phillips keeps wider , offerring a threat from out wide and stretching the opposition back line.

Bring in Tom Carroll and push him further forward to link with Austin.

Defensively we are fine; Dont touch it, just need to find the right blend offensively and I think Kranjcar will be this link.

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:12 - Sep 19 with 4507 views

Tonto

OMG we are top of the league - quick - lets find somethign to moan about cos it feels so unatural if we dont...

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Genuine question about tonights game on 09:13 - Sep 19 with 4497 views

baz_qpr

I dont see the need to change, formation I do see the need to move the ball around quicker playing more as a team as an attacking unit rather than Barton being the centre of the earth, I also think the wingers need to get wider and stretch out the pitch forcing the full backs to come wider and thus giving Austin and whoever is playing the 10 role some more space

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:13 - Sep 19 with 4497 views

YorkRanger

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:06 - Sep 19 by jeffro

agreed

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:14 - Sep 19 with 4494 views

westberksr

the football in terms of the passing, ball retention and general play was much better than Saturday despite the result not being so.

on Saturday it could be argued that B'ham had the better chances and our play was far more disjointed, and Brighton are far better than B'ham too.

had one of the chances gone in it would have been another not particulalry convincing 1-0 but i thought the general understanding between players was better.

what we lack (gets ready to duck for cover) is somebody like Adel who can pull that something special out. Junior looked in the first couple of games that me might step up and do that job, his pace agaisnt Wednesday was terrifying their defenders but as per his hamstrings have decided to not join in.

Phillips looks to be full of strength and has a few tricks but needs to get fit. otherwise i think the likes of Phillips and SWP need to try and concentrate on beating fullbacks and getting to the byline occassionally. we look a bit too predictable as they don't seem up to going that route and always recycle the ball inside or backwards. get the wingers playing like wingers for a change, then Austin can look to feed off some crosses to mix it up, or cutbacks for the likes of Joey or O'Neill.

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:29 - Sep 19 with 4471 views

Neil_SI

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:06 - Sep 19 by jeffro

Sure, you've fair and valid arguments as well, there are a number of ways to try and progress the play and this is just one of them. In fact, they can stay as is, but in a scenario like last night, if they switched to one of the formations I described during the match, it would have made us more offensive while maintaining a steady defence.

It's just about weighing up what the opposition have to offer, last night they had limited attacking options in the final third and didn't really have the pace to threat down the wings either, so the amount of defence versus their sparse attack was overkill really. And when you factor in that we were the home side and had an extra days recovery, then we had everything in our favour.

As a consequence, that amount of caution is clearly detrimental to our chance of creating successful attacks. If you don't score, you don't win. If you don't concede, you don't lose. But you have to score to win, whereas if you concede, you don't necessarily lose. That's the difference.

For me, right now, there is a fair amount of isolation and separation between the various units at the moment, and I find the play a little bit forced as a consequence. What I mean by that, is the various areas of the team, defence, midfield and attack, are operating well in isolation but the blend between them as they transition isn't right.

It may be that you're right, and the players to come in, like Krancjar will help that transition and blend (let's hope so), but, they may not, it may be they just improve their unit. It's hard to tell right now, but that's why I've said before that adding in a new striker may not necessarily do much for the side, irrespective of how good they are unless they have moments where they can use their individual qualities when they get on the ball. We're not creating many chances at all in open play for the current strikers to know if they are effective or not in front of goal, but history suggests that if you service Charlie Austin correctly, he'll score. Right now though, he is playing so far away from the penalty box most of the time that I'm just not sure.

And, away from all of this, and probably nobody will really agree with me, what I think we're really missing is a top class centre back and/or a top class central midfield player that can do all of that binding from the base of the team. The way we build from the back, the key passes, decisions and movements we make on the ball dictates everything going forward.

I think long term, we need to find a ball playing centre back to help us. That's not to say the defence aren't doing a good job otherwise, they're doing very, very well from a defensive point of view, but at this level, they should, it's a basic requirement for their performance given their pedigree.

I expect a defence of the players we have to be able to cope if we want to open up more. They're good enough too and we shouldn't be afraid.

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:38 - Sep 19 with 4452 views

Neil_SI

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:13 - Sep 19 by baz_qpr
I dont see the need to change, formation I do see the need to move the ball around quicker playing more as a team as an attacking unit rather than Barton being the centre of the earth, I also think the wingers need to get wider and stretch out the pitch forcing the full backs to come wider and thus giving Austin and whoever is playing the 10 role some more space

Yeah I definitely agree that we could do with passing and moving the ball with more pace and a bit more tempo to our play. That would definitely help and I agree that Joey Barton has too much of a central role in our current system. Barton's passing and decision making on the ball are not his strengths, but he probably feels otherwise.

We would also do a better job of sucking teams from one side of the pitch and then playing a couple of shorter set passes before spreading it out quickly and down the other side. We don't really do that enough, though I did think we passed it reasonably okay around the back last night, as we did against Birmingham too, so they have made some progress there. We've looked more comfortable on the ball at the base than we did in the earlier matches.

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:39 - Sep 19 with 4448 views

Neil_SI

Genuine question about tonights game on 09:12 - Sep 19 by Tonto
OMG we are top of the league - quick - lets find somethign to moan about cos it feels so unatural if we dont...

We're not having a moan, just chatting football.

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