With all the transfer fever about, I'm not sure how much interest there will be in this report, but I'd like to keep the reports up for every game. When my son and I heard the team we were a little surprised to hear that Fabio was in midfield and two keepers were on the bench (nice one 'Arry!!). Although it was a clever move by Harry to double up with Fabio and Traore on Silva. Rangers lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with Derry and Mbia in front of the back four and Granero between Fabio and Taarabt, behind Remy. Although, a lot of the time Derry played in front of the back four with the other midfielders in front of him in a 4-1-4-1. The plan was obvious and again Rangers managed to park the bus to great effect. The game started with City soon getting into their stride with nearly all the possession. The conditions were pretty wild with driving wind and rain blowing into Cesar's face. It was probably these conditions that led Cesar to weakly punch a corner straight to Lescott on the 6 yard line, but the centre half volleyed high over the bar. Another weak punch saw the ball land onto the top of the net. Rangers were under a lot of pressure and Zabaleta thundered a header against the bar after superb play by Aguero and Silva. Rangers were struggling to keep the ball for any time at all, with Granero guilty of giving the ball away repeatedly, whilst struggling to get anywhere near the City midfield. However, Granero did play a clever quick free kick, which released Remy, but his shot from an angle was deflected wide for a corner. Cesar pulled off a world class save from a stinging drive from Barry, turning the shot around his right hand post. Then Rangers had their best chance of the match. It fell to Taarabt, who was playing really well whilst working hard too. Lescott was robbed on the edge of the /rangers box and the ball fell to Granero who quickly fed Taarabt with a clever chipped pass. Adel sprinted into the City half and with Remy making a good run to pull defenders away he did a clever step over to fool Clichy, but unfortunately his left footed effort was brilliantly saved by Hart. The atmosphere from the home fans was electric and the place would have exploded if that had gone in. The half ended with Rangers reasonably comfortable in their defensive mode. The second half saw Rangers keeping possession much better, but with only Remy in a forward position, they never really looked like scoring. City huffed and puffed, but they also didn't look too threatening. Dzeko came on and his physical presence gave the sturdy Hill and Nelsen a few problems, but they held firm. All of us in the Ellerslie thought that Rangers should have had a penalty when the lively Remy ran at Lescott and appeared to be tripped just inside the area. However, referee Dowd just waved the appeals away. This wasn't a surprise as Dowd seemed determined to give the bigger team most of the decisions, much to the derision of the Loftus Road faithful. Then it was City's turn to shout for a penalty. The impressive Onuoha seemed to trip the lively sub Sinclair, but he just caught the ball first and thankfully Dowd made the right call. Cesar then made another fantastic save, this time from Silva. The Brazilian keeper was superb.....again!! In the dying minutes Taarabt made another fantastic run, driving at the City defense and nut-megging Lescott before a well timed challenge by Garcia forced the ball for a corner just as Taarabt was going to pull the trigger. All in all. this was a battling Rangers performance and they also played some decent stuff at times. The defence were superb, with Cesar world class behind them. However, at some point we are going to have to start attacking more as 3 points are a must in quite a few games to ensure we climb the table. Player ratings and comments: Cesar - 9 - Simply world class! Onuoha - 8 - Superb defensive display. Hill - 8 - Solid and secure. Nelsen - 8 - Same as Hill. Traore - 8 - Defended well and also got forward when possible. Derry - 8 - Another storming performance from the old warrior. Superb in front of the back four. Mbia - 7 - Worked tirelessly, but passing is so erratic. Granero - 6 - Improved second half, after awful first half, but did supply the passes for the Remy and Taarabt chances. Fabio - 7 - Worked hard and tried to keep the shape well. Taarabt - 8 - Superb display fro Adel. He's now doing what his doubters were asking for by performing well at this level every week. Made some great, skillfull runs and worked back well too. Shame the chance wasn't on his right foot, but he probably feels that he should of scored. Remy - 7 - Looked lively and always tried to run in behind. Lasted nearly 90 mins which should do him good. Subs - N/A ( Not enough time on the pitch ) Thoughts?
Great stuff, Col. Cesar was indeed world class for most of the match, although those punches out need some working on. "...at some point we are going to have to start attacking..." - We've reached that point. We have to go on the offensive now and pray that the new players reach an understanding fast
What took you so long? It looks like I'm the only that thinks Fabio was quite poor. He had 50 % passing accuracy and was most dispossessed player yesterday. I agree it was far from his natural position on left/right back (who would know) I really like Remy. He looks so dangerous when he gets the ball around the penalty box. I dare to say he'll score a brace on Saturday Nice read. Keep it coming
Great you keep these coming Col, they are the highlight of the week of the week on here. Having tried my very best to find something to disagree with - I can't really! As always I think these ratings are generally too high, but then I can delude myself into seeing them as scores out of 12 - then I'm happy!
Nice one Col, perhaps a little harsh on Granero - definitely erratic, but at the centre of most of the good stuff too. Mbia, though I love him, was a bit of a comedy turn in passing, tackling and generally standing up last night, but he certainly makes his presence felt. I thought it was a stonewall penalty, haven't seen any recorded versions, what's the consensus? Storming atmosphere last night, need to carry it over to the big, big game on Saturday, despite the early kick off. No such thing as a 'must win' for me until the maths makes it unarguable, but bloody hell I want to stuff them. Expect to see Remy/Zamora (Crouch?) start up front?
I have said this before but if you were in the ground you could see how hard he was working which was the #1 ask of all the players last night. Derry had a very similar game and made plenty of balls that were non-productive but no one is arguing about his 8 mark I assume.
From the TV replays it was doubtful Remy was touched- The TV pundits (at least one was City) thought he anticapated the tackle / jumped over it / dived. I wasn't sure whether he was touched or not, I didn't see a good pic, but if he was it was only a free kick anyway as I think he was a fraction outside the area if/when he was tackled. Onouha's tackle could have been give a pen, he took the ball very slightly first, but the man too - we were a bit lucky there I think.
Mate you know I can only watch the games on the telly or streams. I can't judge on things I don't see, We've been through this many times.
Fair enough Pirate. You're right in that Fabio needs more composure on the ball, but his work rate is immense and he did a good job in helping out in front of Onuoha.
Funny. I thought your earlier post WAS a judgement on Fabio. I guess I misunderstood. Statistics are useful to complete a picture but they are never the whole thing. For example, a player may have a low 'completed passes' count but in doing so, have harassed and hassled the oppositions star player to death so that they were totally neutralised. Not that I am saying that was the case for Fabio, as I wasn't at the match and therefore don't have the full picture. Just sayin'... Well pleased with the clean sheet and not losing. N BTW, I learned a lovely phrase from our cousins across the pond today. "Armchair quarterbacking". I sat next to one of those last Saturday.
Cheers mate. I'm just not convinced by Granero. Not sure he's what's needed in a side fighting for their lives....but I'd love him to prove me wrong! The atmosphere was indeed storming and you're right, we really must make it the same on Saturday. Have I mentioned that I ****ing hate Norwich?
Agree with the majority of your post, with one of two exceptions: Fabio -7 - Had a good first half, but faded in the second Remy - 7 - Thought he really struggled to get involved. In fairness to him, the way we were set up and the service to him didn't help. Just wanted to add that Cesar was outstanding, OK, a couple of dodgy punches from corners, but otherwise faultless. What a signing, he could be the one that keeps us up!
Not sure how you can call it a 4231 at the start, we played the formation I said we should (I think Harry must be taking notes here ) which could also be seen as a 4141. Its got to be 4231 or 442 if we get Crouch on saturday, we cannot play a 451 or 4141. Cesar was under intense pressure for the corners, the idiot behind me was moaning about him not catching them when it was clear it was impossible to catch when he would have needed to go through 4 players to do so.
Thought Fabio played a big part in keeping Silva quiet till the latter moved inside later on. Remy looked lively to me. Always looking for a ball to be slipped through and got the same amount of service as Cisse was getting..................very little!!
At the start they lined up with Mbia and Derry next to each other. No point in arguing over semantics. Let's call it 4-5-1 eh? Whatever, we need to attack much more on Saturday.
Hi Col. Thought your description of the line up got it spot on: lined up initially as 4-2-3-1 but it seemed to quickly morph into 4-1-4-1. I told my son well into the first half that Granero was having a bit of a nightmare but by the end of the match thought he had done well overall. From Block C of South Africa Road I had a clear view of their penalty shout and I was absolutely clear it was nowhere near a penalty and was glad that Dowd - who had a bad game - agreed. Our shout looked a stronger claim but I was some distance from that one.
I think the main reason for it morphing into 4-1-4-1 is Mbia's inability to stay in position.......can't help but like him though!
