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Now that this season is over attention inevitably focuses on squad building for next year. Any lower league gems or players from any of the relegated teams we should look at? One player I’d like us to sign would be Chris Mepham. A suitable replacement for Ronnie Edwards, his contract at Bournemouth is apparently up, he’s had a very good season on loan at Sunderland, he’s a good age at 27 and most importantly, he’s a QPR fan! Only downside is I’d imagine his wages would be pretty high.
We beat Eustace only a couple of games ago and I reckon we’ll beat his team again. I’d also like to see Colback and Morgan as the deeper laying two in midfield and Kolli given a chance after an hour or so if he’s recovered from his recent injury/illness (?). I think he’s been hard done by recently considering the amount of goals and assists he’s had.
Unfortunately I missed about 10 minutes of the match after Ashby came on. So, for those that saw it all, was he injured or hooked and if he was hooked, why?
Has anyone else noticed that, when he’s subbed off, Saito turns to the pitch and bows. In a sporting context this is also done at martial arts dojos and at Sumo wrestling. Being a bit of a fan of all things Japanese I love that he does this.
This team is its own worst enemy. After slowing the play down to a snails pace allowing the opposition to retain shape, we resort to play passes into players, usually tight to the touch line, who’re tightly marked and got their backs to goal. Often there is no supporting QPR player within 20 yards. They have no where to go and are immediately under pressure. This often tends to be Saito or Dembele both of whom are not physically strong enough to cope with receiving the ball in this way. We either lose the ball or it goes out for a thrown in.
This seems to be an option as the midfielders just don’t show for the ball. Im going to single out Field and Varane on this as they are the deeper lying midfielders. Varane, who Im still far from convinced by, is often positioned behind an opposition player when the CB’s are in possession effectively taking himself out of the game. He often has a tendency to stand and watch rather than affect the game by at least searching out space in which to receive the ball and turn the play around. The ability to do this was apparently one of the reasons we identified Varane as a player to turn defence into attack. I’ve seen precious little of any of this. I’d like to see what % of his passes actually go forward compared to other DM’s in the league. His tendency to pass backwards slows our play down again.
I’m not sure you can excuse his lack of experience of the championship for this as to my mind searching out space to receive the ball is basic midfield play regardless of what league you play in. He’s good at breaking up play when out of possession, which is what his stats showed before we bought him.
Field is better out of possession than in it. He is a disrupter and nothing more. He’s technically quite poor and has no ability to advance the play through the thirds (as they say). As a result we effectively have this gaping hole in the middle of the team. When push comes to shove later in the game, we resort to the basic tactic of pushing Jimmy Dunne further up the pitch and knocking it long(er). This has paid off several times but I’d rather not have to rely on this to get us out of a hole of our own making.
It could be an option to play Madsen in a deeper role but he seems to lack the workrate and grit needed for that position. Colback has occasionally been a liability but I can’t see any player in the squad that plays this DM position better than he does.
It’s all very well having game winning players like Dembele or Chair in your team if you struggle to get the ball to them quickly with the opposition retreating at pace (see Freys goal today).
I’d quite understand that a match involving any team placed 22nd in the table against the team at the bottom would be a rather depressing prospect. The fact the Loftus Road was sold out, the place was rocking and we were fully behind the team (and have been for quite some time now despite deep moments of frustration and anxiety) is pretty remarkable. It’s support like that that lifts a team and contributes to success.
I’d say our support deserves a big pat on the back. Well done everyone.
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