The youngster and I set off early yesterday, with the temp already nudging 28 degrees C. We were both full of excitement for the new season and like many on here, we were trying to guess what the starting 11 would be and who was fit etc. We'd left early so that the lad could try to get some new autographs and he wasn't to be disappointed (unlike all of us by the end of the match!!), collecting the monikers of Park, Hoilett, Fabio and Green. Unfortunately Cisse did his usual billy-big-bollocks act and refused to sign! Mind you, so did Faurlin, although he did say "I'm late!!" as he rushed by. I didn't want to burst the lad's bubble, but I have to say that going to the game during a hot, summer's day didn't quite feel right! I also think the atmosphere in the ground was a little down on what it would probably be on a cold winter's day against Chelsea/Spurs etc!! Mind you, the 30 degrees C heat didn't help I'm sure. Anyway, we got in the ground early as usual so that the boy could watch the players warming up and to our delight, they were set up right in front of us instead of being over in the opposite corner like last year. My son (and me to be honest) was delighted, watching Hoilett, Park, Green, Fabio and of course the other players warming up so close to us. The excitement was building and as kick off approached I got those familiar butterflies in my stomach. We said hello to some season ticket holders that we'd got to know last season and then the players were out and the game was about to start. When I heard the team I was pleased that Hoilett AND Taarabt were in the same line-up and I hoped that it would mean Adel playing up off Cisse, with Mackie, Park, Diakite and Hoilett being the 4 behind those two. Unfortunately we set up with 4-1-4-1, with Diakite holding behind the four midfielders and Cisse up top on his own. Rangers started brightly, with Taarabt, obviously having been told to get on the ball as often as possible, spraying the ball around and getting Hoilett involved in the game. Hoilett does look to be a great signing and he looked dangerous throughout. Adel was too deep though and Cisse was looking cery isolated, although it has to be said that his first touch was absolutely woeful nearly every time he was asked to hold the ball up! Then it happened! That moment that many Rangers fans had been predicting.....Rob Green produced a howler! With their first attack of the game, Routeledge ran at the back four and a half clearance was met with a weak shot from the edge of the box. To our horror, the ball ended up in the back of the net. It had gone through Green's hands as he went down in installments to try to gather a ball that most of us would have saved!! This was the worst possible scenario - going behind to a team who keep the ball for fun in 30 degrees heat!! The goal came against the run of play and Rangers continued to play some pretty decent stuff and should have been level minutes later. The ball fell to Mackie 6 yards out and he should have buried what was a sitter of a chance. Unfortunately he didn't hit the shot well, allowing Vorm to pull off a very good save. He shouldn't have had a sniff!! The impressive Hoilett then went close with a great curling shot that had Vorm grasping at thin air and well beaten. Hoilett also probably should have done better with a header after he had got ahead of Vorm, sending the attempt well wide! Green made a good save from a long range free kick, although the ball was heading wide! Before the half was over though, Green nearly gave the Swans two more goals. First he was in no-man's land as a corner went over him and a header thumped against the bar. Then he punched weakly at another corner and after the ensuing scramble, the ball was again thumped against the Rangers' bar. It could have been 0-3 at half time, although 1-1 or 2-2 would have been fairer. Rangers began the 2nd half well and more good link up play between Taarabt and Hoilett led to a clumsy challenge on the Rangers debutante by Angel. It wasn't a nailed on pen, but you've seen them given. Not this time unfortunately!! Then the melt-down got underway. Cisse again failed to gather a pass from Taarabt, instead trying a weak pass that went straight to the opposition. Routeledge left Diakite in his wake and set up Michu for a sublime finish. Great goal....but Park could have tracked the scorer harder. The third goal soon followed, with Fabio giving the ball away carelessly and Dyer was sent clean through the gaping Rangers defence. This time Taarabt was culpable as he didn't make any effort to run back with Dyer. The fourth was a result of Fabio AGAIN being hopelessly out of position, allowing Dyer to get in behind for a simple fourth, although Dyer's first touch was sublime! The Billy Smart's Circus show was completed when the very poor Onouha played a hopeless, aimless ball out of defence and then failed to close down Sinclair as he was given all the time in the world to pick his spot. 5 - 0!! Not sure any of us, Swans included saw that coming!! In conclussion, I think MH got the formation wrong, leaving Cisse very isolated and Taarabt too often too deep. With the players selected either Taarabt or Hoilett should have been up further, playing in and around Cisse. If Taarabt is played too deep centrally he will often let us down defensively and won't be far enough up the pitch to hurt the opposition. Swansea again kept the ball well but ML seems to have instilled some steel into them. They were very niggly with a lot of shirt pulling and rough-house tactics. Having said that, Swansea were superb on the break, looked a yard quicker all over the pitch and thoroughly deserved to win. Rangers looked all over the place defensively with Onouha, Fabio and Green particularly poor. MH got it tactically wrong and also made very strange subs....the most baffling being the removal of Hill and replacing him with SWP who played in a kind of right wing-back position with Onouha moving into the centre. Not sure if Hill was injued, but if he wasn't, being taken off would suggest some blame for the chaos. I didn't see it that way tbh. Making Park captain is also a very poor footballing decision imo. Good commercially, but on the pitch, although he looked quite classy and worked his socks off, I didn't see Park give out any encouragement or instructions once!! Fortress Loftus Road? MY ARSE!! Player ratings and comments: Green - 4 - Terrible debut. Looked so nervous and lacking in confidence. Can only get better I suppose! Onouha - 4 - Very poor. Looks very indecisive. Hurry up Boswinga!! Ferdinand - 6 - Looked ok amid the chaos. Exposed, due to the formation with Swansea running through the midfield. Hill - 6 - Same comments as Ferdinand. Although possibly a season too far for the great warrior? Fabio - 5 - Looks as though he will always try and got forward well on occasions. But he looks as though he is from the Paul Scoles school of tackling and was hopelessly out of position a lot. Hoilett - 8 - Rangers' best player and always looked a threat. Deserved a goal. Park - 7 - Looked class at times. Hardly ever gave the ball away and worked tirelessly to win it back. Very quiet though and should never be captain! Diakite - 6 - Looked a bit off the pace and probably not match fit. Will get better and better, especially if we get Faurlin in alongside him. Mackie - 5 - Ran and ran, but with very little end product. Also loses a mark as he missed an absolute sitter which would have put us right back into the game! Taarabt - 5 - Linked play well and sprayed the ball around a lot. But he needs to be further up the pitch to damage the opposition and didn't track back with Dyer for one of the goals. Should either be played off the striker or from wide left or right. Unless we play my preferred 4-2-3-1 then he could be given a free role in the middle of the 3. Will always give the ball away at times as he's the one trying to force the issue. Not at his best yesterday and may have to give way to Hoilett in the starting 11 if MH can't find a system where they can both play together! Cisse- 4 - Looked totally out of sorts and his first touch was abysmal! Left very isolated by the system though and although I'm not a big fan of 4-4-2, we need to play someone like Zamora up with him to get the best out of him imo. Subs: SWP - 6 - Worked hard in a lost cause. Derry and AJ - N/A - Not enough time to figure and the game was well and truly gone!! Thoughts?
Cheers for that COL, great write up. (Still would prefer if you were more critical of Taarabt though!) Sounds as though we wasn't as bad as it seemed. Lets hope that this is our one freak result out of the way.
I think it was quite a freak result. They either hit the bar or scored with virtually every effort. That happens!! Not sure how much more critical I could have been about Taarabt. Blamed him for one of the goals; said he will always give the ball away at times; said he will always let us down defensively if played too deep and suggested he may lose his place to Hoilett. Fact is, unless I suggest he be taken out and shot, you'll always have a dig!
Not at all mate, I genuinely value your opinions. Your match reports show that you have a good knowledge of the game. Only, you never say he was SH*T! Even though he often is. A number of posters said so yesterday as well. The problem is when you see that someone has a blind-spot for one particular player, it kind of devalues the rest of their opinions. Which is a shame because, like I said, you do seem to have a very good knowledge of the game otherwise.
We clearly saw the same game mate! The only thing I would add is that Fabio has no left foot that I could see, which means no quick crosses in from that side even when he did get forward (90% of the game). Traore left back, Fabio right back, Bosingwa CB? It could also be possible that Hughes did have a game winning plan, but the players did not execute it - did Adel come too deep off his own back to get the ball? Finally, Swansea were clinical in their finishing, moving the ball fast and accurately around our penalty area, exposing the lack of pace (physical and mental) in our central defence. Would have loved to start the season on a high, but no depression or panic in my house, or with the mob I was sitting with in the Loft. In fact for a lot of the first half we looked very good indeed coming forward, need a proper defensive midfielder (Diakite loves to go forward and I don't blame him, he's more box to box than DM) and all will be well.
Very good write Col, like the background stuff on the atmosphere as of course you don't get that on the net in Norway! Agree with most of your conclusions too. I thought Anton was worse than you portray him, he always seemd a yard or so behind his man. I thought we needed Derry in yesterday to give better central defensive cover to our weak back 4, Diakite is not quite up to that yet, and Park is better further forward I think. I would probably have left Park out for Derry. he's certainly never a Captain!
I was glad to see QPR as our first game when the fixture list came out because our best chance against you was right out of the gate ... between that and us getting the big breaks & you not really getting any , QPR seemed doomed . I thought the turning point of a very good start for both teams was your keeper let in the first easy one , followed by a stunning save by our keeper . Still think QPR will finish top ten !
Fact is.....he wasn't ****!! Not at his best and played in the wrong position, but NOT **** by a country mile!! Green was **** and Onouha and Fabio weren't far behind him!
He wasn't anywhere near his best yesterday, but equally I didn't think he was ****. I saw him against Spurs away. Now that was ****!
Fair enough guys, you were there and all I had was a shi*ty stream that kept stalling and some highlights on MOTD so I'll trust your judgements on this one. Who knows, if the luck goes our way at Norwich, we could turn this result around.
Thanks Col. When I sat down at half time I genuinely thought that we were easily the better team and that swans had created very very little. I was more than confident that we would continue to create and get something out of the match. Really thought that we passed the ball well in the first half and showed great link up play and movement. IMHO we looked a pretty decent side. The second half was a disaster. Simple as. What disappointed me was: Green. He was shocking yesterday. Fabio. At this stage in our development I really don't think we need young defenders on loan who are still learning there trade. Although a promising prospect he is inexperienced and not what we need now. Diakite. At the moment he is still only potential and showed yesterday that he still has a lot to learn. Think he will improve as the weeks and months go on but not the finished article yet. Adel. Thought his passing was poor. I don't mind the spectacular pass not coming off but he consistently gave away the ball yesterday. Cisse. Off the pace. The biggest disappointment for me yesterday was the lack of energy we displayed and in particular we did not press them enough up the pitch. This allowed them to come uncontested into the middle of the pitch and pass easily through us. Just my thoughts.
Cant see how the CBs were a 6 yet the FBs were lower. the 2 CBs were the worst players on the field along with Green. They still were not as bad as the manager who made the worst decisions ive seen in years. He got everything 100% wrong, the team, the formation, the lack of subs at 1-0, not changing to 442 and instead bringing on yet another wide player to play FB! Utterly clueless from Hughes, that was Holloway material right there.
I think Cols ranking are close to spot on. Adel didn't have a vintage game and gave the ball away a fair few times and hit set plays were poor but I thought he kept going until the end and was involved in much of the game. Also think the captaincy is a real serious issue. We do not have a natural leader. The fact that there wasnt a natural pick for captain is frighetening and the lack of leadership has been a real problem for the last two seasons in my opinion. We desperately need a rock that can manage and keep the players on track when things start to go wrong.
The full backs were by far and away the worst out-field players flyer! The rest of your post I agree with!
Your reports on the team's performance are really well balanced, Col, and a great reminder of the ebb and flow of 90 minutes. I don't take issue with much. Thought Onouha was ok in the first half, but as you say, shocking in the second. Green clearly suffers from nerves - I think he'll come good over the season. West Ham fans seem to rate him. I think 4 for Cisse was generous. 2 for me. I know he didn't get much service but when he got it, he looked abject, even in the first half.
