Midfield

[Col city fan]

All I'm saying about QPR is that they have had the money to spend on players and on wages. The point is that (at least so far), Redknapp has done exactly the right things with the resources at his disposal. He's seen that the Championship is about 'toughing it out'. It's not about flair and fancy football, it's about being solid, tight, grinding out results and not conceding goals.

Redknapp is demonstrating just how poorly Sven did actually. The latter, with resources at his disposal, developed a disjointed side, easy to beat and leaking goals. The two are different as chalk and cheese in terms of their managerial acumen regarding what is needed to get out of this division.

Where Redknapp has it spot on IMO, is by filling up the midfield when going away from home. Tough, controlling, ball-winning players who, over the course of a game, begin to dictate the tempo.

This will work I think and I'd like to see Pearson stopping the 4-4-2 away from home where we leave ourselves open to A. Being over-run and B. then finding it difficult to create chances.

[LCCFox96]

I still think there are areas we need to improve - out wide being one - but tactically (bar saturday) I think we have been pretty good. Also team performances from the likes of Vardy, King, Drinkwater etc have been good since day 1.  Its not a lack of perspective to say our centre midfield is strong and there is definate improvement from last year, i'm not saying we have promotion nailed on. But I am quietly confident and I think Wasyl and GTF will make a difference in defence and midfield. Particularly Wasyl as a player of his quality and rep is a real coup.

 

Some of the TV pundits feel we are playing well just not fully clicked yet.  Every team has their weaknesses or they wouldn't be in the 2nd tier and everybody's will be exposed over the season - this is the championship where the formbook counts for shit! Even Cardiff got turned over by posh twice last year. We are playing well, just not clinical enough yet but it should come. End of the day we are 3rd, looking strong, have only lost 2 and taken all bar 4 points between these international breaks. I would have taken this at the start of the season.

[Greatness_Since_1884]

I don't think Nigel is one to pick 'away teams' or only play certain players at home. He operates on a game by game basis and if you play well enough the previous game, you keep your place the next game be it home or away.

[_Fatboyslow_]

Babs and LCC's post both look fair to me and I cannt comment on how well Del Boy is doing with QPR as I don't give them much thought and certinly have not analyzed how they play and I am it overly interested in anyone that plays Barton.

After 10 games yes the leauge can be misleading, but you still have to being doing something right to be at the sharp end of it. As for lucky penos, from what I have seen mostly they were clear open chances, not hand to ball or players heading towards the goal line.

As for formations we have tried others but 442 suits is best at presant, maybe this will change after the break,

[Long Eaton Fox]

Think we should be playing 3 midfielders for away games no matter what the opposition. I thought that was what Hammond was brought in for. Midfield control is vital away when the opposition are more attack minded. Also when we start with 2 wingers and concede we have to bring on a midfielder to control the game that we are already losing. Bringing on a winger if we are losing is the correct option. 2 wingers at home when the oppos sit back.

[phillo]

get over it

[svensson]

All I'm saying about QPR is that they have had the money to spend on players and on wages. The point is that (at least so far), Redknapp has done exactly the right things with the resources at his disposal. He's seen that the Championship is about 'toughing it out'. It's not about flair and fancy football, it's about being solid, tight, grinding out results and not conceding goals.

Redknapp is demonstrating just how poorly Sven did actually. The latter, with resources at his disposal, developed a disjointed side, easy to beat and leaking goals. The two are different as chalk and cheese in terms of their managerial acumen regarding what is needed to get out of this division.

Where Redknapp has it spot on IMO, is by filling up the midfield when going away from home. Tough, controlling, ball-winning players who, over the course of a game, begin to dictate the tempo.

This will work I think and I'd like to see Pearson stopping the 4-4-2 away from home where we leave ourselves open to A. Being over-run and B. then finding it difficult to create chances.

What games have we been "over run" in midfield and lost? Doncaster didn't over run us in the slightest. Are you claiming Charlton did?

There are zero simmilarities in terms of the curent QPR squad and the one that Sven tried to build here. Joey Barton (albeit a complete t&at) is head and shoulders above any player in this league.

[Col city fan]

What games have we been "over run" in midfield and lost? Doncaster didn't over run us in the slightest. Are you claiming Charlton did?

There are zero simmilarities in terms of the curent QPR squad and the one that Sven tried to build here. Joey Barton (albeit a complete t&at) is head and shoulders above any player in this league.

For the last time...

I'm NOT only on about this season. Pearson's 4-4-2 away from home has left us short of midfield control for ages.

I have consistently advocated playing a third central midfielder when playing away. Right since the start of last season in fact.

At home.... 4-4-2

Away... Some formation encompassing a third central midfielder.

[Corky]

Col, we played 3 in midfield at Charlton and lost. Two at Doncaster and lost. It doesn't matter how many you play in midfield if you resort to hoofing the ball. The midfield was showing, and coming short to receive it, but were ignored.

[svensson]

For the last time...
I'm NOT only on about this season. Pearson's 4-4-2 away from home has left us short of midfield control for ages.
I have consistently advocated playing a third central midfielder when playing away. Right since the start of last season in fact.
At home.... 4-4-2
Away... Some formation encompassing a third central midfielder.

You dwell on the past too much, who cares about last season?? It has no bearing on this one.

[mackiepas]

Toothless - Spineless - Backwards - Sideways - Inept at times.

How many games per season does King really have a good game? We all know he is a good player with a nice touch, eye for goal and has the club at heart but how often does he 'bring it'?

Will Drinkwater ever pass forward? I understand the importance of retaining possession, patient football and building from the back but his instant reaction to reaction to receiving the ball is to pass to either Koncheskey or Morgan.

Teams run through our midfield on a regular basis without a touch or a push or ANY pressure at all.

King, Drinkwater and James are all the same player who play the same way. They offer very little going forward and in defence. No drive, no determination, nothing. All they do is pass the buck to the next man.

This was the reason we lost yesterday.

Notes:

- Not an overreaction to yesterday

- My thoughts for a long time

- Enjoying ripping my arguement apart and betending everything is okay.

Idiot.

[svensson]

Idiot.

Agreed, love the fact all the moaners are using the new "buzz" word "inept" we were far from inept. Naive and out of sorts maybe but inept, a little overboard i feel.

[deep blue]

It's true there's no guarantee that we would have won if Nige had changed the team, but if you look to the previous game we were starting to look leggy and only had 3 days to recover.  A less lively performance at Doncaster looked a strong possibility, so it was an ideal opportunity to freshen things up a bit - to bring in Wasy in a 3-5-2 or similar formation, with Hammond coming in to strengthen the midfield, thus taking the strain off the other midfielders so they didn't have to run themselves into the ground.

 

As I said - no guarantees - but the signs in the previous game gave good support to the need for small changes to the personnel and formation for this one.  It's not a case of trying to find fault just for the sake of it, but to try to anticipate a poor performance rather than find out when it's too late. But it's all personal opinion, and Nige is in the best position to judge.

[Col city fan]

It's true there's no guarantee that we would have won if Nige had changed the team, but if you look to the previous game we were starting to look leggy and only had 3 days to recover. A less lively performance at Doncaster looked a strong possibility, so it was an ideal opportunity to freshen things up a bit - to bring in Wasy in a 3-5-2 or similar formation, with Hammond coming in to strengthen the midfield, thus taking the strain off the other midfielders so they didn't have to run themselves into the ground.

As I said - no guarantees - but the signs in the previous game gave good support to the need for small changes to the personnel and formation for this one. It's not a case of trying to find fault just for the sake of it, but to try to anticipate a poor performance rather than find out when it's too late. But it's all personal opinion, and Nige is in the best position to judge.

Your usual sensible kinda post buddy..

[lc4lcfc]

I read most of the comments and firstly I'm glad to see MOST posters are not over reacting too much. I felt wary before the game I don't know why, I just had a bad feeling.

This maybe because I felt we should have rested a player or two.. Moore drinkwater and king in particular sounded very tired towards the end of the Last game.. True id have been more comfortable with wasilewski in this game but I'm not saying we should have rested half the team.

It may have been because we played 442. We have looked a much more solid team in this formation so I understand persons reasoning behind the line up but I didn't think it was ideal for THIS game. I'm perhaps more disappointed that Pearson didn't change things in game.

But in retrospect we just had an off day. We couldn't break through the proverbial parked bus. And it was a single MISTAKE that cost us the game. I'm not trying to assassinate kasper but it was a poor handling error and had he not gifted them a goal who knows what the outcome would have been or indeed how the game would have gone.

You win some you lose some and with Leicester nothing is straight forward but it's only our second defeat of the season. I'm just a little disappointed we have to wait 2 weeks for the next game to put things right.

[Johnny Cash]

Idiot.

Can you expand on this please?

[Johnny Cash]

Agreed, love the fact all the moaners are using the new "buzz" word "inept" we were far from inept. Naive and out of sorts maybe but inept, a little overboard i feel.

We lost 1-0 to a poor team without causing them too many problems after what would have been weeks of scouting and apparently that is naive not inept.

Nice one.

[Johnny Cash]

I cannot believe some of the criticisms on here following a defeat. If you'd actually been to the game, you'd realise that the defeat was not because of:

Doncaster running through our midfield too easily (didn't happen)

Our midfield playing too many sideways balls (didn't happen)

We lost because Doncaster were gifted a goal very early on which set the tone for the game and changed their approach. Their sponsors' MOTM said afterwards that they knew if they got an early goal they could then sit back, soak up the pressure and try and catch us on the counter attack. This is EXACTLY how the game panned out.

Our midfield had a lot of possession, Drinkwater continued his very strong start to the season, particularly in the first half where he was our stand out player. I sat in the Directors box and we all agreed he'd had a good game. I'm more inclined to go with that opinion, rather than a negative fan like Jonny Cash for example who I doubt was at the game at all. Drinkwater also isn't a player who gets 'pushed around'. He's a tough little thing and I often find myself comparing him to Neil Lennon in the way he gets his body infront of the man to shield the ball/ win the ball. Of course, he's not quite the player Lennon was- are any midfielders in the championship? Not in my opinion. Drinkwater is a good player, he's scored a few goals this season too.

Andy King was awful on Saturday. A couple of times he pulled out of challenges. He didn't get forward like he usually does. All players have a poor game every now and then.

Doncaster defended very very well. They gave us no space down the flanks, everything was made to go through the middle which meant it was just too tight to create anything. Yes, top players will create something, top managers will change something tactically to change the way the game is going. We've done so this season- Bham at home springs to mind. Poor first half, no width. Half time Dyer and Knockaert come on and the game changed in our favour. It just never happened at Doncaster. I'll say it again, Doncaster defended very very well. Their players seem to have adopted their manager's playing style- never say die, don't give up on any ball etc. fair play to them.

The last 15 mins or so were poor from us- we gave up trying to pass our way through Doncaster, and resorted to lumping balls forward. So, although Nugent and Vardy didn't have great games, they never really stood a chance of scoring the equaliser whilst we were playing like that.

Just one of those days. No need to go so over the top about our perceived weaknesses. Someone even commented how well QPR had done signing Karl Henry? Check the stats- he barely gets a game for them. It's easy to look at other clubs and say you'd prefer this player, you'd prefer that player. Reality is, we've got some very good ones here at our club, with a good Manager too.

I LOVE YOU!!!

You are what this forum is all about. People building arguements that make zero sense and the standard attempt to win the debate by saying "I BET HE WASN'T EVEN AT THE GAME" haha.

A chimp would be able to make the presumption I was at the game, which is correct, but for the purpose of your well thought out response I'll allow you to believe otherwise.

Your stand out comment has to be that Drinkwater is a 'tough little thing' and you have likened him to Neil Lennon. I don't even know where to start so I'm not going to bother.

You're my hero!!

[svensson]

We lost 1-0 to a poor team without causing them too many problems after what would have been weeks of scouting and apparently that is naive not inept.

Nice one.

I think you need to look up the definition. Its ok we are all wrong sometimes, you just more so than others.

[svensson]

I cannot believe some of the criticisms on here following a defeat. If you'd actually been to the game, you'd realise that the defeat was not because of:

Doncaster running through our midfield too easily (didn't happen)

Our midfield playing too many sideways balls (didn't happen)

We lost because Doncaster were gifted a goal very early on which set the tone for the game and changed their approach. Their sponsors' MOTM said afterwards that they knew if they got an early goal they could then sit back, soak up the pressure and try and catch us on the counter attack. This is EXACTLY how the game panned out.

Our midfield had a lot of possession, Drinkwater continued his very strong start to the season, particularly in the first half where he was our stand out player. I sat in the Directors box and we all agreed he'd had a good game. I'm more inclined to go with that opinion, rather than a negative fan like Jonny Cash for example who I doubt was at the game at all. Drinkwater also isn't a player who gets 'pushed around'. He's a tough little thing and I often find myself comparing him to Neil Lennon in the way he gets his body infront of the man to shield the ball/ win the ball. Of course, he's not quite the player Lennon was- are any midfielders in the championship? Not in my opinion. Drinkwater is a good player, he's scored a few goals this season too.

Andy King was awful on Saturday. A couple of times he pulled out of challenges. He didn't get forward like he usually does. All players have a poor game every now and then.

Doncaster defended very very well. They gave us no space down the flanks, everything was made to go through the middle which meant it was just too tight to create anything. Yes, top players will create something, top managers will change something tactically to change the way the game is going. We've done so this season- Bham at home springs to mind. Poor first half, no width. Half time Dyer and Knockaert come on and the game changed in our favour. It just never happened at Doncaster. I'll say it again, Doncaster defended very very well. Their players seem to have adopted their manager's playing style- never say die, don't give up on any ball etc. fair play to them.

The last 15 mins or so were poor from us- we gave up trying to pass our way through Doncaster, and resorted to lumping balls forward. So, although Nugent and Vardy didn't have great games, they never really stood a chance of scoring the equaliser whilst we were playing like that.

Just one of those days. No need to go so over the top about our perceived weaknesses. Someone even commented how well QPR had done signing Karl Henry? Check the stats- he barely gets a game for them. It's easy to look at other clubs and say you'd prefer this player, you'd prefer that player. Reality is, we've got some very good ones here at our club, with a good Manager too.

I missed this gem of a post, was wading through the negative drivel! Spot on post to be fair, just about agree with all of it.

[LCCFox96]

I LOVE YOU!!!

You are what this forum is all about. People building arguements that make zero sense and the standard attempt to win the debate by saying "I BET HE WASN'T EVEN AT THE GAME" haha.

A chimp would be able to make the presumption I was at the game, which is correct, but for the purpose of your well thought out response I'll allow you to believe otherwise.

Your stand out comment has to be that Drinkwater is a 'tough little thing' and you have likened him to Neil Lennon. I don't even know where to start so I'm not going to bother.

You're my hero!!

Well your argument fell flat on its face as soon as you posted it - this was because it was bull. Please don't bother starting again. Your comments are slightly embarrassing. Dickov22 has spoke more sense in that post than you have in the whole thread. The whole thing is made even worse by the fact you were at the game. Should probably watch it a little more closely next time then return with a "well thought out response" to why our midfield is so bad. Oh I forgot if we win our next game you won't post anyway!

[Dickov22]

I LOVE YOU!!!

You are what this forum is all about. People building arguements that make zero sense and the standard attempt to win the debate by saying "I BET HE WASN'T EVEN AT THE GAME" haha.

A chimp would be able to make the presumption I was at the game, which is correct, but for the purpose of your well thought out response I'll allow you to believe otherwise.

Your stand out comment has to be that Drinkwater is a 'tough little thing' and you have likened him to Neil Lennon. I don't even know where to start so I'm not going to bother.

You're my hero!!

I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, tried to assume that if you'd been at the game you couldn't possibly believe the rubbish you came out with in that post. Knowing you were at the game AND came up with that post makes you look even more ridiculous. You just don't know football. Look forward to your post match analysis for the next game.......

[indierich06]

It's true there's no guarantee that we would have won if Nige had changed the team, but if you look to the previous game we were starting to look leggy and only had 3 days to recover.  A less lively performance at Doncaster looked a strong possibility, so it was an ideal opportunity to freshen things up a bit - to bring in Wasy in a 3-5-2 or similar formation, with Hammond coming in to strengthen the midfield, thus taking the strain off the other midfielders so they didn't have to run themselves into the ground.

 

As I said - no guarantees - but the signs in the previous game gave good support to the need for small changes to the personnel and formation for this one.  It's not a case of trying to find fault just for the sake of it, but to try to anticipate a poor performance rather than find out when it's too late. But it's all personal opinion, and Nige is in the best position to judge.

 

But again, if he'd changed the formation and personnel and we'd lost, he'd be getting dog's abuse on here for changing a winning side. Like Babs said - damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Babylon]

It's not about flair and fancy football, it's about being solid, tight, grinding out results and not conceding goals.

 

We've conceded one goal from open play in the last 6  league games.

 

Donny - Own goal from a corner

Barnsley - Penalty

Yeovil - Penalty

Blackpool - Penalty & open play

Blackburn Penalty

Wigan - Clean Sheet

 

But for some individual errors we have been pretty solid and tight. Plus penalties don't count and are only seen as "lucky".

[suffolk fox]

We've conceded one goal from open play in the last 6  league games.

 

Donny - Own goal from a corner

Barnsley - Penalty

Yeovil - Penalty

Blackpool - Penalty & open play

Blackburn Penalty

Wigan - Clean Sheet

 

But for some individual errors we have been pretty solid and tight. Plus penalties don't count and are only seen as "lucky".

Not picking on you but I think you will find Barnsley scored from open play.