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Early thoughts on Marti's QPR and what he needs in January
at 03:59 2 Jan 2024

Obviously we don't produce a lot in the line of entertainment anymore so I have spent the last few games watching us closely from a tactical perspective, trying to understand our approach. I'm watching from abroad (Sydney) so unfortunately I don't get the full pitch perspective that one would get at the games, I'll give it a shot though.

Marti has not been shy about telling us that we will not be keeping the ball just for the sake of it. However, that is what we are seeing, a lot of very static possession between the back four and goalkeeper. There is clearly a huge conflict between what he is saying and what we are seeing. This appears to be a personnel issue more than anything else. We are certainly not as static up front as we were under Ainsworth and often when our back four receive the ball we see the players ahead of them running forward at varying angles, with purpose. I believe the purpose is to do enable the back four/deeper midfielders to do one of two things;

1) Play a ball over the top to turn the opposition around and prevent them from pressing our back four. Doing this a few times per game has teams second guessing whether they should be pressing or not and allows us to maintain possession deep in our half.

2) Play the ball into the feet of an attacker in "the hole" once the gap between the opposition defence and midfield is widened.

Unfortunately, due to a complete lack of technical quality and courage in the current squad this rarely seems to pan out. I'm sure that they have been told "if the opportunity isn't there rotate out and start again" and they use this get out clause frequently, more than Marti would like. This is abundantly clear when you listen to his post-match press conferences.

I came to the conclusion last night that we are not necessarily any better defensively under Marti than we were under Ainsworth. I think there is a misconception that we have gotten better defensively if you look at the number of goals conceded alone. However, we just have more of the ball and thus give opposition less opportunity to attack us. I feel that opposition still create a meaningful goalscoring opportunity any time they get the ball into the final third but they just have the ball there 40% less than they did before. Our players are aware of this frailty and thus no-one wants to be the guy that gives the ball away, making us frustratingly risk averse.

Clearly Marti's way of playing gives us much more of a chance of staying up than Ainsworth's insistence on us playing almost entirely without the ball. However, without some additions to the squad in key areas I can't see us picking up the necessary points in the second half of the season. Below in order of priority;

1) Goalscorer. Needless to say we need someone that can score goals. We simply will not stay up if we don't have a player that at least breaks double figures. Marti would probably want a striker comfortable on the ball who can link the play as well as having the physical attributes to occupy defenders and threaten in behind. However, beggers can't be choosers and if we can somehow convince a proven goalscorer to join us for the second half of the season he will have to take them.

2) Creative midfielder(s). If we don't score goals we won't stay up but I actually think this is the most important signing to make Marti's style work. This could be a "10" to play in the pockets we are creating between the lines currently or a "6" to receive the ball off the back four to get us playing forward, I suspect he would like both if possible. Currently Marti is stuck shoehorning Dozzell into those roles and he has not been consistently effective in either. Having a confident ball player in either of those positions completely transforms what is often sterile possession at the moment into purposeful possession in the oppositions half of the pitch.

3) Another ball playing defender. Without doubt our best combination at the back is Cook and Clarke-Salter. However, given the injury profile of both and the attritional nature of the championship, it is clear that we need someone to cover them that is not Jimmy Dunne. Having confidence on the ball both beats the oppositions press and also allows our defenders to step forward and draw a man if the opposition sit back. Rob Dickie in his prime was superb at this. If teams pressed him he would play a pass or turn past the attacker, if they backed off he would stride into midfield and take opportunity for a shot or cross. Himself and Barbet enabled the best of Warb's football. Marti would probably kill to have those two now.

4) Starting goalkeeper. I really don't expect this to happen given how much stock the club have put in Begovic but I'm sure Marti is pulling his hair out having to watch Begovic play with his feet in recent weeks. Similarly to our centre backs, if we had a keeper with a broader range of passing it would both nulify the opposition press and allow us to play through/over it. Currently, we often see the ball find it's way into the stand whenever any sort of pressure if exerted. Begovic is a passable shot stopper and this was fine for Ainsworth, it is not enough for Marti.

With the limited resources that we have I think it would be foolish to prioritise the full back positions or wide areas. Paal is probably our best player. Cannon is quality if he can stay fit. Smyth/Chair/Willock/Kolli/Adomah/Richards offer good depth in wide areas.

Interested to hear what others have thought of Marti's start and what they feel he needs to be successful.

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