I really can't fathom out how we're expected to be ready for Preston with our current set-up. No strikers and having sold a 20+ striker to one of our relegation rivals. We were toothless for much of last season and we seem undercooked for the start of this one. Looks like more of the same...
I think the detail of what I'm saying is getting missed. At no point did I say Madsen is a quality player. Any player deserves criticism, if not pulling their weight. He's not good enough for what we need in the middle. But his form picked up a bit towards the end of last season and he contributed. I've seen him have a small handful of decent games. However, he's been here a while now and can't seem to adjust to this league. But he can do nothing right in people's eyes. I've been at LR, watching him put several good passes together with people still groaning all around me with each touch he makes. I've seen him send in a pass that leads to an assist and the moans come as soon as his foot touches the ball until it gets banged in. Every season, there is a player that we just seem to pick for slagging off. I get that he is largely ineffective at this level but what's the point of specifically trying to criticise him blindly, even when he's doing something right or even when he's not the worst on the pitch. I honestly think Morgan played worse than him yesterday. I like Morgan but he's been out of form for several months now. He seems to panic a bit. I couldn't count how many times he gave away the ball yesterday. But everyone picks out Madsen. He's a player at QPR. The managers pick him. What can we do? Hopefully, there's still some business to be done in the transfer window, to bring in a replacement.
If the team and him start well it’ll change. Obviously expectations are higher for a big money (by our standards) signing than a kid who wasn’t meant to be in the first team last season. My gripe with him last season wasn’t so much with the ball, which most of the time was crap, but without it. There were months on end where frankly he was cowardly when the going got tough. There are far harder crowds than ours to please. And yes, he did pick up towards the end. We all hope it’ll click but I don’t think it will and there’s a reason every club had a look and no one else made the plunge.
As I said previously, there was a time where I didn't want to see him play for us again. But he seemed to pick up, like we've said. He clearly can play football to a decent level but I think it comes down to both confidence and effort. Yes, of course we have patience for Morgan. However, I wouldn't be starting him at the moment unless we have no options. Maybe we actually don't have any options! Can Vale play a central midfield role? As I understand it, he's seen more as an attacking central midfielder.
From the descriptions of him he’s like an old fashioned utility player. I’m a Morgan fan and while he’s got a lot to improve on has some great ability IMO our other midfielders lack. I guess how much he plays depends on what happens with Varane along with the inevitable fitness issues we’ll have by about the third week.
I wish we had the luxury of sending Morgan out for maybe half a season loan in league 1. I think it'd do him good, build his confidence up. I think Varane is staying. They've publicised him too much recently. He's a player we can't afford to lose. In fact, we can't afford to lose any midfielder until a replacement comes in.
We haven’t kicked a ball in anger yet and the amount of mentions of “Relegation battle”, “Relegation rivals” we are doomed etc is slightly unbelievable to be honest, let’s leave it until 10 games in before we start the usual doom and gloom !! We have a new manager, new players let’s see how he and they perform in the heat of battle before writing them all off Whinge over
not many highlights then not much of a crowd either third of the highlights taken up before a ball is kicked
Of course, Turkish, you're absolutely right, let's give it time. I'm normally a glass-half-full kind of guy as far as QPR are concerned and I think my match report (above) was fairly upbeat. But, let's be realistic for a moment: only one of those new players made it into the starting line up on Saturday; with the possible exception of Varane, none of the many subs materially improved the team; and we've taken a gamble on a manager with no experience of the Championship. Does that suggest to you that we are likely to be any stronger than we were last season? I think we need to brace ourselves and hope that one of our many mis-firing, absentee centre forwards hits a career-defining hot streak and that Julien Stephan can sprinkle some magic dust on the rest of the team. Come what may, I've got my season ticket and I'm going to be there, at HQ, cheering the boys on.
Read quite an interesting post on LFW from a guy whose name I’ve forgotten but he writes well predicting we’ll try and do all the progressive ball out from the back, through the lines stuff as it’s the club model to try and play this way and essentially replicate how bigger clubs play so they see value in our players. Maybe JS achieves this where MC couldn’t. Logically you’d think not but it’s the ‘ethos’ he’s signed up for. Cifuentes fairly quickly realised it’s a better team when it sticks to the basics, earns the right to play, nothing silly and any other Championship cliche. Maybe the likes of Poku and Mbengue change that (both seem real coups). Maybe we keep Varane who continues to improve, Chair flourishes in a new role, Larkeche is less **** than our glaring weakness at left-back appears to be, someone up front scores now and again, Mbengue and Morrison proves to be the partnership I think it can be etc. For the little it’s worth from a friendly, with better players at his disposal Leicester apparently played the way he preached here and did extremely well on Saturday v Fiorentina. These first three games will tell us quite a lot IMO. Preston (like us) predicted to be a poor side, Watford always bedding in new players and then Cov who haven’t had a lot of upheaval and should be nearer the top than bottom. The fixtures look for now like it’ll be far harder in Oct/Nov than Aug/Sept so while I’ll be heart over head, my honest prediction is it starts a bit like but not quite as bad as last season, always being crap against the crap and quite good against the slightly better.
I'd feel a lot more confident going into the season with the GK situation more certain. Walsh is not the answer (yet), even if they don't have confidence in Nardi. I'm swinging between optimism & doom Optimist - new manager has decent track record - Varane, Morrison, Morgan, Demebele, Kolli, even Celar and Madsen IMO will continue to improve - Mbengue and Poku look like good signings and add pace - Burrell adds pace too, if yet unproven. Doom - 2/3 promoted sides are very strong. Division harder than ever. New manager unproven in champ. Seems like starting on the backfoot on injuries. GK uncertainty. No out and out first choice striker. Not lots of strength in depth if Varane/Field injured or sent off. Who is first choice CB pairing?
Shame that even Guardiola is now saying that the ‘progressive ball out through the back’ stuff has been superseded by the more aggressive high press stuff which is why he’s recruited Klopp’s old number 2 at Liverpool to be his right hand man at City. Expect quite a big tactical change from them this season. Cifuentes will be judged on whether he plays the youngsters and what he gets out of them at Leicester, apparently. The ‘good’ players on bloated wages need to be moved on. I hope our first 16 games don’t end up like last season but it wouldn’t surprise me. I was hoping that Vale would prove to be a big step up in quality, but apparently not.
Think he needs time and his value is more in his versatility when gaps in the squad inevitably pop up (and AFCON which could **** us). I wouldn’t expect him to hit the ground running having not played competitively for some time. I hope we don’t try to run before we can walk and I don’t think we’ll be quite that naive. We’ve added some pace and strength which was desperately lacking after the car crash that was last summer’s scattergun acquisitions.
l liked / love the new jersey, nice big chunky thick stripes. The long shorts look like they should be worn in the middle of winter but hey, whatever works.
