i'm gonna hold my hands up..... 23:41 - Dec 11 with 4948 views | qpr_1968 | and say 4 or 5 games ago we were fcucked..... but at the moment, love the football.... love the players.... love the staff.... love the fans.... i've started to enjoy going again..... who is all this down to? anyone know? | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 11:19 - Dec 12 with 1408 views | Wegerles_Stairs |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 11:12 - Dec 12 by WadR | https://fbref.com/en/squads/a757999c/Queens-Park-Rangers-Stats - Is useful for the xG and xA stats - scroll down to the scores & fixtures section. Feel like the stats mostly tally with the eye test. While we've definitely tightened up at the back and look a lot more solid for Varane getting up to speed and a relatively stable, consistent CB partnership, I do think a lot of the improvements is as much to do with the variance of luck. There were the Hull/Plymouth games earlier in the season where opposition keepers had incredible games and we conceded screamers. Feel like we're now getting the fall of the bounce, rub of the green with refereeing and offside calls. |
Thanks. Wow, the Plymouth one is mad. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 11:22 - Dec 12 with 1396 views | dmm |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 08:42 - Dec 12 by gazza1 | What has MC done to change things??? |
It's very much what Clive said in his Oxford preview and summed up in the title, 'Pragmatism v idealism'. MC wants us to play a more idealist passing and expansive game but has realised the players are not up to it. As with last season, he's now got them playing in a more pragmatic way, often going long and narrowing the defensive shape making us harder to score against. I think we'd all love to see QPR play total football but at this point in time it's a case of needs must. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 12:17 - Dec 12 with 1327 views | slmrstid | More green shots but its still only 4 wins in 20 and we're still very much looking over our shoulders rather than up ahead. Might as well enjoy some good form as fans because we ain't half struggled enough and its nice to smile about the R's but I'm sure Marti and the squad know well enough we're still in a battle in the bottom third. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 12:30 - Dec 12 with 1287 views | BrianMcCarthy |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 11:22 - Dec 12 by dmm | It's very much what Clive said in his Oxford preview and summed up in the title, 'Pragmatism v idealism'. MC wants us to play a more idealist passing and expansive game but has realised the players are not up to it. As with last season, he's now got them playing in a more pragmatic way, often going long and narrowing the defensive shape making us harder to score against. I think we'd all love to see QPR play total football but at this point in time it's a case of needs must. |
We should be playing better against Oxford, though. We should be able to hang on to the ball and control the match. Last night the players and management were awful. | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 12:32 - Dec 12 with 1274 views | BlackCrowe | Defensively the players so much more settled and comfortable with each other. Going forward we look pretty disjointed and like the bottom third team we are. But needs must a this stage. | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 13:00 - Dec 12 with 1182 views | Bluce_Ree | It's not just the wins. It's the improbable draws against much higher placed teams. Very cool. That said, I still think we're in for a tough time. This side is very capable of losing four or five in a row. So I'm tempering my expectations. But if anyone can do it, my lord and saviour Marti can do it. | |
| Stefan Moore, Stefan Moore running down the wing. Stefan Moore, Stefan Moore running down the wing. He runs like a cheetah, his crosses couldn't be sweeter. Stefan Moore. Stefan Moore. Stefan Moore. |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 13:52 - Dec 12 with 1079 views | dmm |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 12:30 - Dec 12 by BrianMcCarthy | We should be playing better against Oxford, though. We should be able to hang on to the ball and control the match. Last night the players and management were awful. |
Yeah, agreed Brian. Listening to Marti and Sam's post match interviews, I think they'd agree too - particularly in respect to the first half. But, in the end we did enough to win and get the 3 points. That's the priority at the moment. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:04 - Dec 12 with 1027 views | BrianMcCarthy |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 13:52 - Dec 12 by dmm | Yeah, agreed Brian. Listening to Marti and Sam's post match interviews, I think they'd agree too - particularly in respect to the first half. But, in the end we did enough to win and get the 3 points. That's the priority at the moment. |
It is, I get that, dmm. Just very disappointed. We found a way on Saturday, a plan - press like fugg, defend narrow, harry, harry, harry. And we forgot it all again last night. Against a truly awful team. Work rate down again. Fitness questionable again. 40% possession. 11 shots. 4 shots on target. 0.67 xG 20 tackles 289 accurate passes. Every time I think we're making progress, we regress. | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:09 - Dec 12 with 1006 views | BklynRanger | I only saw the last 5 mins of the first half (thankfully) and the second half, but I actually thought we were excellent in that second half. Getting the ball back quicker than we have done for a while, attacking and defending in numbers, a decent mix of flair and toughness. And that move from Saito when he picked it up, moved forward, took 3 players out with one jink before shooting - that's what you want to pay to see. Last 15 mins was not really an issue, in fact we were a lot closer to their goal near the end. No idea what they must have been trying to do in the first half, but they didn't concede and were able to make meaningful adjustments. Found that very encouraging to be honest. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:23 - Dec 12 with 974 views | BrianMcCarthy |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:09 - Dec 12 by BklynRanger | I only saw the last 5 mins of the first half (thankfully) and the second half, but I actually thought we were excellent in that second half. Getting the ball back quicker than we have done for a while, attacking and defending in numbers, a decent mix of flair and toughness. And that move from Saito when he picked it up, moved forward, took 3 players out with one jink before shooting - that's what you want to pay to see. Last 15 mins was not really an issue, in fact we were a lot closer to their goal near the end. No idea what they must have been trying to do in the first half, but they didn't concede and were able to make meaningful adjustments. Found that very encouraging to be honest. |
The Saito move was really classy alright. Would have loved to see that curl in. So close! | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:34 - Dec 12 with 917 views | BklynRanger |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:23 - Dec 12 by BrianMcCarthy | The Saito move was really classy alright. Would have loved to see that curl in. So close! |
Really was. If he'd taken just a touch off it. He's getting used to the physical stuff too it seems. On those stats Bri, isn't the possession pretty similar to Saturday? Am guessing. No idea if this is tracked, but I'd love to see how much of our loss of % possession is down to the big decrease in passing back and forth among our defenders. I'd speculate it's most of it. Definitely going more direct, with less emphasis on that 'sucking them in and springing the trap' lark which sadly only seems to work less than a third of the time for us. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:43 - Dec 12 with 867 views | BrianMcCarthy |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:34 - Dec 12 by BklynRanger | Really was. If he'd taken just a touch off it. He's getting used to the physical stuff too it seems. On those stats Bri, isn't the possession pretty similar to Saturday? Am guessing. No idea if this is tracked, but I'd love to see how much of our loss of % possession is down to the big decrease in passing back and forth among our defenders. I'd speculate it's most of it. Definitely going more direct, with less emphasis on that 'sucking them in and springing the trap' lark which sadly only seems to work less than a third of the time for us. |
We're certainly not playing it around in our half much anymore, true. I think a lot of the low possession is down to poor passing, though, unfortunately. 289 accurate passes is woeful - three a minute. We cough it up easily and it takes time to get it back, partly because... Another factor is our recent willingness to drop back, protect the middle and concede space elsewhere, and let the oppo play in front of us or down the wings. It's a good tactic against good teams, particularly if it's a Plan B after an initial press fails. That worked very well on Saturday. But last night was a game we shouldn't have been playing on the break. If you can't dominate an awful team at home, then - crap recruitment or not - what are we doing here? | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:54 - Dec 12 with 819 views | BklynRanger |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:43 - Dec 12 by BrianMcCarthy | We're certainly not playing it around in our half much anymore, true. I think a lot of the low possession is down to poor passing, though, unfortunately. 289 accurate passes is woeful - three a minute. We cough it up easily and it takes time to get it back, partly because... Another factor is our recent willingness to drop back, protect the middle and concede space elsewhere, and let the oppo play in front of us or down the wings. It's a good tactic against good teams, particularly if it's a Plan B after an initial press fails. That worked very well on Saturday. But last night was a game we shouldn't have been playing on the break. If you can't dominate an awful team at home, then - crap recruitment or not - what are we doing here? |
Ok but, first half of that second half at least, we weren't playing on the break - we had them penned in like a half court press and Varane was monstering every attempt they made to try to get out. Changed a bit later on granted, and passing accuracy needs to improve. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 15:05 - Dec 12 with 787 views | BrianMcCarthy |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:54 - Dec 12 by BklynRanger | Ok but, first half of that second half at least, we weren't playing on the break - we had them penned in like a half court press and Varane was monstering every attempt they made to try to get out. Changed a bit later on granted, and passing accuracy needs to improve. |
Agreed. That was definitely our best spell. | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 15:24 - Dec 12 with 711 views | Ned_Kennedys |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 14:09 - Dec 12 by BklynRanger | I only saw the last 5 mins of the first half (thankfully) and the second half, but I actually thought we were excellent in that second half. Getting the ball back quicker than we have done for a while, attacking and defending in numbers, a decent mix of flair and toughness. And that move from Saito when he picked it up, moved forward, took 3 players out with one jink before shooting - that's what you want to pay to see. Last 15 mins was not really an issue, in fact we were a lot closer to their goal near the end. No idea what they must have been trying to do in the first half, but they didn't concede and were able to make meaningful adjustments. Found that very encouraging to be honest. |
You really needed to have watched that first half to see how bad both teams were: a lot of the crowd were laughing it was that dire as player after player passed it straight to the opposition or hoofed a pass into touch. It was dire. | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 15:42 - Dec 12 with 655 views | BklynRanger |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 15:24 - Dec 12 by Ned_Kennedys | You really needed to have watched that first half to see how bad both teams were: a lot of the crowd were laughing it was that dire as player after player passed it straight to the opposition or hoofed a pass into touch. It was dire. |
I believe it! | | | |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 15:48 - Dec 12 with 647 views | kensalriser | The possession stat v Oxford is really something, but it was even lower v Norwich. Much of it was allowing the opposition to pissball around interminably in their own half. We were pressing Norwich higher, but although I thought Oxford were passing it around quite nicely in the first half (certainly better than we were), they had no capability in the last third despite the amount of space we were affording them. The more telling stats from these games are the shots - v Norwich 9/5, 5/1 on target and v Oxford 11/4 and 4/1 on target. No doubt there which side dominated the game. | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 17:22 - Dec 12 with 473 views | davman |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 15:24 - Dec 12 by Ned_Kennedys | You really needed to have watched that first half to see how bad both teams were: a lot of the crowd were laughing it was that dire as player after player passed it straight to the opposition or hoofed a pass into touch. It was dire. |
Not sure it was that good, Ned. The difference between the parachute clubs and most others in this league is the gap between the best and worst performances. On their day, most teams at this level and the one below can give ANY team a good game. But its the teams who can maintain that level who are the ones that succeed. When we're off it, we get that first half last night, the second half at Blackburn, Middlesbrough (h), Derby (a), Pompey (h), first half v Sheff U (a), Leeds (a) - all totally unacceptable performances. We look to be improving, but that improvement needs to get to the consistent state it was over the last 14 games last year, but even then we got Stoke (a), Hull (a), Huddersfield (h) and Sheff W (h) in that run. | |
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i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 17:48 - Dec 12 with 417 views | Loft1979 |
i'm gonna hold my hands up..... on 23:48 - Dec 11 by bosh67 | Marti. He swallowed his pride, his ideals and went back to simply making us hard to beat and playing to the team's actual ability, like last season. So far it has got us back on track and I agree, we looked totally doomed before the last international break. I also think that the Morrison/Cook partnership has been important. Morrison is massively impressive and like Cook, seems to read the game a few steps ahead. No coincidence that we've improved so much. Morrison is a big find. |
I thought he was poised. Enough to point out the injustice being doled out , while simply improving his tattered lot while dealing with injuries and suspensions. I was deflated by the showings against Derby and Leeds. But overall I loved the team effort. Dunne and Field failed as CBs. But it is obvious what a wonder Liam has been , while Varane, Saito and Morgan keep improving. Well done Marti! I hope you sweep manager of the month. | | | |
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