I was so angry with what I'd seen last night that when I got home I ran through my recording of the game and made sure I heard what Garry Neville thought about the selections of Hughes, even though it was late and I had to get up at 6am this morning! Well, he said exactly what I did when I saw the line up........."going to get out numbered in midfield"!! The commentators picked up on it immediately too. Anyway, I will try to keep this as level headed and objective as I possibly can given that I'm ****ing livid still! Me and the lad set off with Mrs Rangercol and the step daughter last night (they were going to hit Westfield whilst me and the lad did the important stuff!). On the way me and the lad were musing as to what the team might be. I said that I thought Hughes would start with SWP and Park in the wide areas, but hoped that Hoilett would start playing off Zamora. "Dad!!", he said, "no one is that stupid as to play SWP at home". What prophetic words they were.......Hughes, indeed was that stupid. Not only that, but he chose Cisse to partner Zamora in an out and out 4-4-2. This was doomed to failure as we were always going to get out numbered in the midfield by the Hammers playing 4-2-3-1. With no second forward dropping into the "hole" to make the midfield a five we were in big trouble. (By the way, where was Dyer? Injured?) It only took 3 minutes!! Zamora gave the ball away terribly under no pressure and West Ham started to break (a recurring theme throughout the first half). Hill was done for pace (no **** Hughes ) and a lucky cross from Nolan found a criminally unmarked Jarvis who looked to head the ball across the goal, but the ball span off his head and in at the far post. I thought Cesar could have done better as he jumped up and waved his arms in a very "continental" way. FFS!! Throughout that first half, West Ham ran at our back four as our flat four in midfield were completely bypassed. Granero and Faurlin are very similar and neither of them sat as the dedicated "holding" player, resulting in zero protection for our back four. We were being out played and West Ham added a 2nd with more criminally bad marking at the far post as Vaz Te hit a clever volley, which gave Cesar no chance as the ball was deflected off M'Bia's arm. Park, again being played out of position on the left was playing terribly and getting awful stick from those around me in S block. It started to remind me of Barton last season and Park's obvious lack of confidence is similar too. He looks a shadow of his former self and looks to have lost a good yard of pace. Along with the rest of the midfield Park was chasing shadows all half, but he was always 2-3 yards off his man.........very poor!! The half time whistle came as a relief and all around me people started to discuss what substitutions Hughes was going to make to try to turn things around. He made none!! I glanced up at Goldhawk sitting a few rows behind me and his slow shake of the head followed by him mouthing the word "terrible" summed it up nicely!! Hughes did make a change at the start of the 2nd half.........he pushed Park into the middle and Cisse out to the left. Both looked totally lost and, a word on that change. After about 3 mins of the half, I was sat in line with Zamora and Cisse. Zamora was pleading with Cisse to get closer to him whilst Cisse was clearly gesturing that he was now supposed to be in the left channel. Zamora continued to argue. Now.........is this an example of Hughes not getting his message across to the players? Where exactly was Zamora during the half time team talk when this change in formation must have been discussed? Outside having a sneaky ***? Lying down in a darkened room? Surely he must have known about the change, so maybe, just maybe he thought Hughes was clueless and decided to go against instructions!! Anyway, this change had little effect other than to at least give us an extra body in midfield. The crowd were calling for Taarabt and finally, with just over 30 mins to go, they got their wish. A double change was made with Taarabt and Diakite replacing the hopeless Park and largely ineffective SWP. Well it only took 90 seconds for Adel to show his pure class. Skillfully collecting a clever flick from Hill, Taarabt cut in from the left and unleashed a superb, scintillating, scorching, swerving shot into the top corner from fully 25yrds, leaving Yaks-a-linesman rooted to the spot. A genius strike, very much like the ones we saw on a regular basis when we won the Championship. We were back in the game! The crowd, up till this point, very quiet for a London derby, found their voices and Rangers started to win the midfield battle with Diakite now sitting in front of the back four and offering them protection (it's not rocket science Hughes! ). The midfield was still a little unbalanced with Granero on the right, Faurlin in the centre and Adel on the left, all three playing ahead of Diakite and behind Zamora and Cisse. But it was a formation that finally, the clueless Hughes had got us playing !! Taarabt played some lovely passes. Most found their target....one or two didn't. He missed with a free kick, but he always got us moving forward. A marked contrast to the mainly sideways passing of Faurlin and especially Granero. We were looking like we would get back on level terms. Then Diakite showed us that he must have the brains of a rocking horse! After getting a booking for pulling down a player from behind (fair enough) he dived into yet another reckless challenge, giving Twatenberg no alternative other than to send him off. This I can't blame Hughes for. Diakite cost us the chance to maybe get something from the game.......what a muppet!! Hughes took off Onuoha and brought on Hoilett in a final throw of the dice, but all to no avail. Granero should have done better from the edge of the box. He had time to pick his spot, but gave Yaks-a-linesman a chance to pull off a fine save. Faurlin forced a more routine save with a shot from outside the box and Cesar pulled off a truly world class save, pushing a goal bound thunderbolt against the bar and over. Rangers huffed and puffed and always looked likely to concede a third as the ten men tired. Cole should have done just that but missed a glorious chance. And then it was all over and we all trudged out of the ground. Fair play to West Ham, they were very good and will have no trouble staying up this season. Cole won just about every header and was a constant thorn in our side, as was Carroll when he replaced him. Zamora hardly won a header all night!! Hughes, yet again, got it hopelessly wrong. The flat 4 in midfield was tactical suicide. We will go down with this clown in charge unless he changes his stubborn thinking and fast!! With the squad we have, we wouldn't be in the position we are with any of the other current Premiership managers in charge!! I despair!! Player ratings and comments: Cesar - 7 - Should have done better with the first goal, but pulled off one very good save and one simply world class one in the 2nd half Onuoha - 5 - A solid defender but terrible on the ball. He ain't no full back! Nelsen - 6 - Hardly won a header against Cole all night. Made some good blocks and his distribution was good. M'Bia - 7 - Looks a good player, but I'd rather see him as a holding midfielder. Positioning looks questionable at times. Hill - 5 - Lack of pace exposed and not comfortable when the ball is at his feet. Park - 3 - Simply awful!! But still not being played in his favoured position of right mid. Granero - 5 - A poor game. Lightweight and wasted possession too often Never gives up though and works hard. Faurlin - 5 - His worst game this season (player of the month curse?). Some poor passing, but also never gave up. SWP - 5 - One decent low cross and..............that was it. Ran a lot. Cisse - 5 - Made some decent run s in behind, but offered very little threat. Zamora - 5 - Gave the ball away sloppily for the first goal and again in the build up to Diakite's sending off. Hardly won a header. Subs: Taarabt - 8 - Sensational goal and progressive passing throughout the half hour he was on the pitch. Always looked to get us moving forward. Our best player by a country mile. Should have started. Diakite - 4 - Made a huge difference to the momentum of the game, but ruined it all by being totally thick!! Hoilett - 6 - Looked a threat running at the opposition. Should have started along with Taarabt. Thoughts?
I think you got some of the ratings wrong yesterday, i also was very disapointed with yesterdays game. Now that Taarabt is back from injury, I think the lads could turn this around. Cesar - 6 - He was poor in the first half,should have saved both goals, did better as game went on Onuoha - 6 - He looks good going forward, needs practice on crosses Nelsen - 7 - I think Nelsen is one of the only players their that don't care just about money Mbia - 7 - looked weak againt Reading but better yesterday, good in defence cause of his hight Hill - 7 - Hill - is not a LB but i think did good job yesterday and did better when Taarabt came on Park - 4 - was poor, he needs to play centre but he is not better then Granero of Faulin Granero - 5 - poor yesterday, all I can say Faulin - 5 - Poor, did better with Taarabt SWP - 6 - I think did better then last year so far, needs support up front, he can cross a ball Cisse - 3 - poor, has been poor all season so far, needs to improve or he could be replaced Zamora - 5 - poor again, better when taarabt came on and is better without cisse Taarabt - 8 - came on andworked magic, glad he is back from injury, hope he can help the others find their way in the Prem Diakite - 5 - Silly tackles but had a few good passes Hoilett - 6 - looked like he was a threat, maybe should have started instead of park I also think that Hill or Nelsen should be captain... NOT PARK...!!!
Spot on as usual col. How can Hughes not see the error of his ways when it is so bleedin obvious to the rest of us incl Gary Neville?
When Taarabt & Diakite came on it was hard to tell who they were more scared of. Enjoyed those few precious moments.
Didn't Onuha actually have a go last night? think he did get forward onceor twice but only remember 1 half decent chance he created. Better than usual imo.
Indeed, Diakite was great while he lasted. Both should start when available. Adel should have stayed captain, Warnock messed up big time on that one and the legacy of his mistake is with us to this day.
You summed up my thoughts, especially on Hughes, how can the whole crowd see it but he literally does nothing until HT when its too late. We were trying to play short 5 yard passes through a 5 man midfield which meant we constantly lost possession. Hughes cant even see the basic tactical mistakes hes making. Im right on the tipping point, I will be over that if he started both SWP and Park on the left the next game.
He must have gone somewhere because he was missing for both the goals leaving a man unmarked where he should have been.
It's so frustrating isn't it. I've played at a decent level, but I have no coaching badges.......yet I can see it, as can my 13 year old.
Thanks Col. I have to agree with TheFaceOfRangers' 7 for Hill, though. Granted he lacks pace, but he earns an immediate 3 points for giving a damn for the whole time he's on the pitch in every game he plays before you start awarding points for his actual performance. As I said on a number of previous threads, Onuoha had the look of a frightened man about him last night. He was a rabbit caught in the headlights and simply awful.
Calm down Col, if you have a stroke who will write these reports? First half was horrible last night, but at least it made me think about why. Hinges on the fullbacks, plus the caution that Hughes has after the carnage of the Swansea game. Fullbacks are crucial to the style and intent of all teams in the modern game. Competent defenders who are comfortable on the ball, can distribute it accurately and pose an attacking threat allows you to play more creative players in front of them, which pushes the opposing team onto the back foot. Last night, through no fault of his own, Hughes had to field two very weak fullbacks, both painfully uncomfortable in possession of the ball and nervous of the wide players they were up against. Hughes played hard working players in the out of position and out of form Park and the severely limited SWP in the wide midfield slots in an attempt to protect his fullbacks. This failed, the fullbacks were predictably exposed and our central defenders and midfielders manfully struggled to shore the whole thing up. Getting some decent fullbacks on the pitch - Bosingwa, Fabio and Dyer all fit the bill, jury is out on Traore for me - is pretty important. Both Hill and Onuoha can do a job at CB in that desperate, backs to the wall English way, as long as they have a Faurlin or M'bia near them to take the ball off them and distribute it properly. The other major disappointment was Cisse. His selfishness is understandable in a born predator. But if he is not scoring goals he looks like a luxury, as he does nothing else except hold his head in his hands. Started to link well with Tarbs later on though. Tarbs, M'bia, Diakite (apart from the obvious) Cesar all well in the credit column for me.
Rangercol that is a great effort mate, you must of spent a very long time with that post and it is very good
A tad condescending mate.......I'm ****ing angry. Hughes is making a complete horlicks of a very good squad of players!! You're point about the full backs is completely valid, however, you miss the point entirely about Hughe's tactical error of playing a flat 4 against West Ham's midfield 5!! The full backs weren't half so exposed after Diakite was (finally) employed as the holding midfielder.
Pretty much agree Col. The Liverpool nose was on the PL channel and he and others also said the same about us being liable to be overrun in midfield and that vaz Te would give Clint problems on their right, which they did from the off. Why it took MH to get the message says it all about him. I thought Cesar should have stopped their second goal, he did well otherwise, but not a 7. Clint did have problems out of his best position, but he worked and organised like the captain he should be. Onouha was awful - nowhere for the goals - a 3 for me. Hard to know Park was even on the pitch, a 1 would be generous. Cisse had an amazing shot in the 38th minute that their keeper did well to tip over. I thought he provided a bigger threat than Zamora all evening, though don't think he's back at his best yet. But a 6 for me. I thought Zamora looked slow, when Adel, Diakite and Hoillet came on his lack of speed spoiled promising moves. Only a 4 for me.
