How many times do we finish strongly after a shyte first half? That will be our downfall if we don't begin to get the team right from the off...
their first goal was class and I had to applaud that. The second was poor defending. I thought we sat back and admired their football instead of getting stuck in. The second half we had them on the ropes, without really testing their goalie into serious action. We have some exciting players in the squad and Manning is turning into a gem of a player. But make no mistake, we have some tough fixtures coming and are in serious trouble
Great goal by Freeman. We seem to be creating more chances now as well so hopefully goals will come. God we could do with 3 points next week though.
Hopefully next week Holloway will actually get his tactics right from the off rather than waiting until we are 2 down Anyone know why Morrison wasn't even on the bench yesterday? If memory serves I think that last time he was with us he was outstanding at B'ham away Thought that we were unlucky not to get a point yesterday, and interesting that Wagner picked his own keeper out for special praise. I thought that their keeper was excellent yesterday Huddersfield looked at really positive, solid side, and played some very attractive football
My take on yesterday was that in the end we played well enough for a draw. Conor beat the goalie early on and hit the post................ that would have made a difference. Before their goal, we were on top playing a back 3 with Perch in centre and Bidwell and Wszoleck as wing backs. At various we time resorted to some sort of back 4 or even a flat back 5...I assume they sort of knew what we were doing because we "experts" in the upper loft were not at all sure, especially towards the end of first half But the goals really took the stuffing out of us...it always does. It took half time and an Ollie team talk and a change in tactics to bring us round. In the second half, we should have drawn or even won it...Their manager said that...yes I know it is easy to be nice when you have won On top of that there was a handball that was not seen, and a push in the penalty area, that the ref was definately about to give (his arm was opointing to the spot, when he noticed the offside flag up)......yes it was that close My (biased) opinion, I was aggr1eved we didn't draw, a win was not too far away. Again, nothing goes quite right for us (obviously saving up the luck...for last minute equalisers against big teams like Newcastle!) THOUGHTS I assume Lynch was injured, no idea why we didn't play Furlong...I am assuming Ollie really wants to play with a CD as a DCM, which is why Perch played in that position. If so lets try Goss there. Ravel is unfit ( Ollie said that).... as yesterdays match was crying out for Ravel to come on....Yeni did that role, and was completely out of touch....missing the equaliser in extra time, when a quicker brain/pair of feet would have put away. Yeni has no future with us. Freeman was great in his first 15 minute.... a mazzy run Adel would have been proud of and a great shot.Freeman but did fade from the match when Huddersfield realised he might be a problem and man marked him more heavily. Luongo and Manning worked their socks off. Manning had at least two fantastic cross field passes. He cannot quite yet last the 90 minutes at his top performance, but is getting there. Wszolek was a problem for them throughout.................Mackie wasn't And Smith, absolutely worked his socks off and was able to nod the ball down to Connor with a much better accuracy than the BFG did. Smith had a decent shot with his feet too (although I had read on the Fulham site that he couldn't kick a ball to save his life). Conor plays like Mackie, but with a bit more threat. I think that combination will work well...especially with attacking midfielders (Freeman Wszolek, Manning ) coming in behind Again, I came away thinking we are better than our league position says (.....no not a lot better, but better enough to be in midtable medocrity) I do hope I am not wrong about that Worrying times
Luongo and Manning have no place in the same team. We were totally outplayed in midfield yesterday with our two 'creative' players offering nothing in return. Luongo in particular is a luxury we cannot afford: the very occasional decent game overshadowed by many poor performances such as yesterday. Manning can at least improve and should start in preference to Luongo but TBH there will be games when we can't afford to play either of them.
QPAAAAAAAGH...that is why Ollie is persisting with the CB/DCM position that Hall plays with Lynch and Ned or yesterday Perch played with Hall/Ned. Perch was not as effective there as Hall has been, to be honest it failed yesterday. That is why I was wondering about Goss in that position...or Lynch coming back. Luongo, worked tirelessly yesterday, I would not be as down on him as you were....but Brown their Chelsea loanee was a real handful, I have a feeling that it was down to Perch both times for not closing down the Huddersfields centre attack and Brown in particular
You might be right, their manager was quite complimentary about our performance and I left after 85 mins to watch the rugby anyway. We were murdered in the first half, though - Mackie is a total waste of a selection. I don't get the criticism of Luongo on here, whilst Wszolek is rather overrated in my opinion.
Well, Clint is playing, with Senderos as his partner and **** are they slow! Was mental for about 5 minutes as Morton went ahead, but now 1-1 at HT.
We started with an odd formation yesterday and it didn't work. I love playing two up top, having a bigger man to support Washington, but Jake Bidwell as a wing back, are you serious? Then, more critically, to saddle our most effective attacker of recent weeks (Wszolek) with defensive duties, for which he is ill-equipped and for which he has shown limited appetite in recent matches, gives a worrying insight into Ollie's crazy mind. Moreover, for the last two home games, our version of 5-3-2 has been insufficiently fluid: we get locked into a defensive mind-set and it doesn't transform (often enough or sufficiently enough) into a more offensive 3-5-2 when we have the ball. In conclusion, we sacrifice our attacking threat for the defensive solidity of 5-3-2 but Huddersfield's two goals yesterday tell us that, as practiced by QPR, IT AIN'T SOLID. I thought Huddersfield looked a good side with some talented players. For me, the difference in the first half was that they finished their chances clinically and we didn't. There wasn't too much in it. I thought Perch was too slow to clear the danger for their first goal and was beaten to it by a quicker, sharper Issy Brown (Chelsea loanee) who looked classy all afternoon. After half time, Ollie went chasing the game (credit to him for that) and we went 3-4-3 for a while which worked really well. After we pulled one back, Ollie bottled it and put Manning at left back (!) and we seemed to be more 4-4-2. Why so many formations? I struggled to keep up with it and the players clearly did so as well! Smith won loads of headers but, despite giving him 40 years, I could beat him over 100m. Freeman showed some lovely skills and, whisper it, we may have a midfielder who can score goals. I hope he can put in the graft as well as the show pony tricks. The ref was about to give us one penalty for a push on Smith but the assistant ref intervened to given an offside which I couldn't see at the time and still can't see on the replay. We should have had another penalty when there was a clear handball which I could see from BLOCK C but the ref couldn't see from 20 yards. It was a very enjoyable game, especially the second half, and I felt we were unlucky not to get a point. It was a fitting game for me to celebrate 50 years of supporting QPR, my first game being a pulsating 0-0 draw with Mansfield on 4th February 1967, a game which got a mention in yesterday's programme commemorating the 66/67 season. It seems that the masochistic pleasure of supporting QPR hasn't diminished over those 50 years.
If you mean by working tirelessly that he ran around the centre circle ineffectively as Huddersfield played their quick footed triangles around him then I might understand but otherwise I can't think how he influenced the game at all. His two truly effective performances of the season against Reading and Fulham now seem like dim and distant memories and we are back to the normal Luongo service of not breaking up opposition attacks, not linking up the play and certainly not providing decisive through balls - all things we have a right to expect from his type of player. Anyhow, as I mentioned there is really only room for one such luxury player in a Championship team and for my money it may as well be Manning who, despite a poor performance himself yesterday, may yet blossom into a Ray Wilkins type of player.
How many playing minutes was Freeman on the pitch for us before scoring? Luongo has made 42 appearances without scoring. How many creative midfielders can we afford to have in a team that don't provide goals, when we have a paucity of effective strikers? Agree totally with comments above that Luongo is a luxury as we go forward with Manning
I agree with all of that. Luongo is often complimented for his tackling and ball winning but if he is picked to create opportunities and score occasionally it is probably time he was given a rest. he rarely creates anything really noteworthy and has had as many opportunities to score as Washington. Conor is very predictable when running at the defence from outside the penalty area with the ball at his feet and I have to say never looks like scoring. But at least there are signs that he is getting there and will probably get more chances to score inside the penalty area and the six yard box playing alongside Smith. As the weather is lousy I have just watched the full 90 minutes and the offside decision which cost us a penalty must have been very borderline. I froze the frame at the moment the kick was taken and Smith and his marker seemed to be level at best. I thought the extended highlights would replay the incident but for some weird reason it has been edited out which makes me suspicious that the lino's decision was probably correct.Was anybody sitting in line who can tell us?
I like manning but thought he was awful yesterday and too weak slow small and outclassed I like Pavel as well but thought he was far too slow and no right back As soon as Freeman came on Luongo improved as he gave a received quick balls I did think th Huddersfield midfield was the best we've seen Get the blend right Ollie For those who moan about Ned can you name a better defender yesteady?
Not really the point though is it? Saying that he was the best yesterday is no great achievement. Both goals preventable if we had central defenders who concentrated for 90 minutes and someone who could marshal them into working as a unit. That requires communication from a leader which he has shown us he isn't
They are a very good side, and I've seen them play much better (against Brighton for example). Having said that we were unlucky with both penalty shouts, certainly seen less valid ones given against us - must be due some luck after our ghost goal last week as well.