QPR...... our style of play under MH

Something I have wanted to get off my chest for several months. I know when MH arrived we were on a severe downward slump. At least half our squad/first team was not Prem quality, we were trying to gel together our third team of the season, we were facing an extremely tough run of fixtures and there were rumors of unrest in the dressing room. Looking at our squad, I always felt MH was restricted as to the formations he could play due to the lack of versatility and mobility of some of our first team players. Taking all this into consideration and although obviously delirious that we survived the relegation trapdoor, I have to admit that I was/am not happy with the style of our football under MH so far.
We all know certain clubs/managers have a reputation for playing good football while equally certain clubs/managers are known for boring laborious footie. Where do we fit in? Although we played well at times under MH, I always felt that we conceded possession of the football far too easily to the opposition. While this was understandable when playing better teams, I could not understand why he basically retained the same tactics against teams that we could/should be beating. We showed way too much respect to teams that we should be beating.
When a team concedes primary possession so easily, it runs the obvious risk of conceding a goal and as we showed several times last year we did not have the ability to change our formation and produce a plan B when we went behind. Was this down to the lack of quality players we had, or our management? To play this dangerous game, a team must have genuine pace in midfield to launch quick counter attacks. Again, I feel that we did not possess the necessary pace to really stretch and trouble teams.
I am watching our summer signings with interest. I am hoping we sign players that will allow us to change formations and at least try dominate possession against teams in the bottom half of the division. I don’t want us playing teams like Fulham, WBA, Sunderland etc etc and not competing for primary possession and allowing them to pass us to death. I have had enough of that watching Ireland play for the last 10 years. I like my teams to compete, to get stuck in and to have the ability to hold onto the ball for more that 3 passes. Can anybody define our style of play under MH so far, and would you be happy with this again for the coming season? Thoughts!!!

 

he only had a few months nuts so with a good pre-season behind & few new players i'm sure we will compete a lot better next season & hopefully should see a bit more pass & movement.

 

i wish you had put paragraphs in that Nuts as it went on a bit and was doing my eyes in, however agree with some of that.

for me:
QPR will be hard to beat next season and MH will adapt better to who we play.

You say you don't want us playing like Foolham WBA and Sunderland but sometimes you have to. It's no good trying to out pass Arsenal with Mackie/Derry/Hill? And you cant be soft against a Strong Stoke team. So you need to adapt.
Foolham mix things up well and get results from it. Sometimes they look rubbish but normally put in a good shift.

Next season is another let's stay up without the last day panic and build from there.

As for formations i think the AJ signing is because he wants to change and adapt to different teams. I am really looking forward to see who we bring in next.

 

My thoughts

- you're right about giving away possession too easily - frustrating, but it was happening before MH came in. Our saving grace was that imo we countered well and caught reasonable teams like Liverpool and Arsenal napping. May be we could do with more pace. Cisse is a good start.

- MH must have time to fashion the team he wants - his purchases since he came in have been encouraging. He kept us up but his big test starts now, and that's why his forthcoming purchases in this window will be fascinating and give us an idea of his intentions

 

Nuts , i do reckon you will see two types of performances from us next season . One will be like in our run in at home this season, playing good sides and one up top, trying to nick some points ( we did this very well this season ). Then i believe we will go for a more aggressive style against the lesser clubs , playing two up top etc. It is a case of horses for courses.

 

I thought we were overly defensive under MH. Because of the precarious position we were in that was to an extent understandable, and we ended up surviving just so arguably it paid off. But I hope we can be a bit more offensive next season, and play ourselves through the opposition more, particularly the weaker teams.

 

There's no point in moaning about our style of football, there was a job to be done and that was staying up, at any cost. I remember posting before the Stoke match 'it will be ugly but we'll have to win ugly' and we did.

The team we have won't transform into an Arsenal/Spurs type team overnight and whilst it will be great to play a more expansive game I think we will get more of the same until the right players are in the team, hopefully some will join in the summer but we still will need time to develop a passing game. I'd love to see Traore developed as a box to box player as his delivery is superb, he wouldn't have been at Arsenal if didn't have skill...

 

Hi Ellers, what i was trying to say is that i can understand us sitting deep and conceding possession against the bigger clubs, but MH also used the same formation/tactics against the mid table and lower teams, which I don't agree with and could not understand. Surely against teams like Fulham, WBA etc etc you go out to compete on an even footing and while you show respect you do not play defensively agaisnt them. Just my thoughts mate.

 

OSLO, you summed up my thoughts in a few sentances. Exactly this.

 

I would be very happy with this as long as we at least try and dictate the game against teams in the lower half of the division.

 

Agree

 

Totally agree , for example i reckon you could see Cisse and Zamora up top together a lot more. I'm looking forward to that.

 

Come on, really? Moaning about him keeping us up.

Let's not forget that most of our players were underachieving massively, and the rest just kept getting sent off. What else could Hughes do? We were in free-fall and as the OP said, had the run of death to contend with. Hughes showed himself to be a very good tactician and did what most, including myself thought was impossible and kept us up.

Do you not think it is a bit unfair to judge, let alone criticize how he performed and the style of play he chose under the circumstances?

Let's have this conversation in a years time, then we can truly get a feel for how he will have us playing.

 

Fair points Loneranger. I am aware of the restrictions MH had in relation to player quality/quantity, our difficult fixtures, red cards etc, I am just pointing out that IMHO it was not the most attractive brand of football and i hope considering the alledged transfer funds available to MH and with a full pre-season ahead, that we develop a more attractive style of football this coming year. But, i also understand, that football is a results business and MH did get the job done last season

 

It's a fair point NUTS, Sparky is not known for a good brand of football at his previous clubs.

 

I'm not saying it was pretty, but the point is when you're up against it you have to 'win ugly' as they say. Do you think with the position we were in Hughes could really change us to a team playing pretty football under those conditions?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but some of our football when we got promoted was bloody awful, but we dug deep and did what was needed to bring the points home, I don't remember too many complaining then, and is that not what Hughes set out to do? Win at all costs.

 

I think your missing my point Loneranger. While i did not think our style of play was great under MH, i do fully understand why we played the way we did. Pretty or not, I agree it was totally necessary given our circumstances. What i am saying is that now we face a new season and MH has a clean slate to impose his ideas fully on our team. He will also have the ability to buy another 4-5 players which means our team is getting much closer to being his own team. My main point is that while i accept our style of play may have been necessary last year, i really hope we play a better brand this year and not concede possession so easily to teams we should be beating.

 

Hughes plays percentage football which I think is the correct way to play, of course you want to give yourself the best chance of winning.

There might be a shift this season but i wouldnt bet on it.

 

Question to NUTS: If we finish top half next season playing similarly will you be happy?...