Mark Hughes decision to play a weakened team at Old Trafford definetly payed off tonight, as QPR comfortably won 3-0 at home to Swansea. A clinical Joey Barton finish just before halftime, set the tone for the rest of the game as the R's dominated and finished off the game with a solo goal from Jamie Mackie and absolute belter from Buzsaky. A loud QPR crowd fully supported the team and they can have been nothing but delighted with the performance they saw. Early on Swansea had all the possession as per usual, however other than a couple of nervy moments from corners didnt create much. Meanwhile QPR could have realistically been 2-0 by halftime. Firstly Jamie Mackie could only shoot at Vorm in goal when Zamora knocked the ball to him, 6 yards out from goal. And then Zamora missed an open goal, although from a tight angle after Vorm came and missed a corner. However Rangers took the lead just before half time. A free kick from Taarabt was headed out to Barton who took a couple of touches before dispatching a neat finish passed the outstretched arm of Vorm. Rangers picked up where they left off in the second half. In the 60th minute, a pass from Ferdinand at the back found its way too an offside Mackie. From here though it was genuine class. A single touch turned Williams, before a fake to the side bought him time to finish, albeit with a helpful deflection from Rangel. And Buzsaky made the game safe a few moments later. A breakaway left Diakite running down the right wing. He crossed far too long for Taarabt who picked it up and passed it to Buz. Buz then hit possibly one of the cleanest strikes of the year. The ball flew up and dipped straight into the corner of the net. It is definetly up there with Smith's for the best goal at Loftus Road. From here with the game safe, there was only really one more chance with a good run from Zamora finding Onuoha 2 yards out from goal but he could steer the ball wide. Kenny 7 - another good performance from him. Dominated the penalty box again but was never really forced into that many saves by Swansea Onuoha 7 - a good performance from him, definetly better than from OT. Was beaten from time to time by Sinclair but with the game pretty much over by 60 minutes, was able to enjoy a much more free role going forward. Hill 8 - best defender once again for us. made a great header to get it over from practically under the bar and otherwise controlled Graham for the entire game Ferdinand 7 - looks much more comfortable alongside Hill than any other defender. Won most balls put his way and played the pass of the night to Mackie for the 2nd goal Taiwo 6 - looked a little wilder than usual at the back but was solid going forward. Was overlapped though a couple of times. Diakite 8.5 - to me, he is by far the best buy we have made this season. solid at the back, strong in the tackle, forceful going forward. Made several good runs going forward and would have been MOTM for me had it not been for the performance of... Barton 9 - I never honestly thought this day would come. His best performance in a QPR shirt to date, capped off by a great strike. Has finally learnt that the best part of his game is to be strong in the middle and to win the ball in tackles. Buzsaky 8 - good performance for Buz, capped off by another great strike from him. Fully justified his place in the team with a good performance. He really suits the 4-3-3 formation a lot more than any other as it gives him the freedom to get forward and have a couple of shots Mackie 8.5 - a typical Mackie performance capped off by a good goal (albeit with a bit of fortune). Continually caused Swansea problems down the wing with his runs and perseverance to close down players. Taarabt 7 - was frustrated by Swansea's possession tactics in the first half however in the 2nd, he showed his real class. Instead of taking the starring role and creating chances as per usual, instead tonight he took a role similar to Faurlin's of keeping possession and transferring the ball continually between the midfield and strikers Zamora 7.5 - another good performance from Zamora. Won the ball in the air and kept the ball up the field. Looks very comfortable when playing with Mackie Subs SWP 6 - there was a fair bit of debate before the game on not606 as to whether he should start or not tonight. When he did come on, I found his performance to be dissapointing again although he did create possibly his first chance since xmas Bothroyd 5 - the difference between us going forward with Bothroyd and Helguson/Zamora is huge. He doesnt win anything in the air and also shows little desire to play. Lazy I feel might be the best way to describe him Smith - n/a Manager Hughes 9 - tactically superb. Only thing I'd have changed would be to take off Mackie earlier as a precaution after his knock as the game was already won Ref Probert 7 - overall not too bad. Did miss Mackie being offside for our goal though which brings his mark down but with the crap officiating against us this season, we've deserved a bit of luck, right?
Great write up superdoopa Seem we are on the same page re ratings, thought of upping Buz to an 8 but left him at 7, 50/50 really. Glad we're the only ones to have Joey down as MOTM and that the media gave it to others, should keep him on the ground for the time being He seem to finally have sussed what it means to be a QPR player, and if he has, according to Newcastle people I know we might have quite a player on our hands.
Barton is a great player - hasn't tweeted in a while, just done his talking on the pitch! Keep him away from Twitter and you have a match winner on your hands!
Yeh its strange Norway because a lot of Newcastle fans I know said that basically he was a good tackler and good to put in the middle of the park but not much else, and while its taken him a long time, he's starting to prove it. Now that he's not allowed to take set pieces and has been told to always play the simple pass and keep possession he looks a lot better a player. He's the best tackler on the team and he's also starting to show what it means to be a leader. Dropping him might him been the best thing to happen to his career
Might have been wrong about the media, got that second hand from another thread. Sky Sports have him down as MOTM. http://www.skysports.com/football/match_report/0,,11065_3495100,00.html
The website might have given it to him but the Sky commentators gave it to Mackie and in the studio they said Diakite and Mackie
Barton was quality tonight. Sitting in the school end amongst a lot of tourist etc, I was actually sat between two couples of which consisted a couple from N.Zealand who were very vocal and had thier colours showing and a Sun reporter/editor and his son ( Whom I suspect were there to watch Swansea ) and you could hear Barton very clearly cajoling and encouraging the players in and around him of where they should be and what to do. He really was our captain tonight and he played a captains performance to a tee. He really showed me how much of a winner he was out there. Even in ear-shot of the Swans players, he didn't care... in no un-certain terms he told everyone what he demanded. Fair play to him, he was all about the win tonight, nothing else, and to this end, he lead by example.
Glad (and also regretful) to see Barton doing what we loved him for. Forget his egotistical bullshit - and it was just that; he seemed to think everyone cared about everything he did. He's a quality footballer - one of the best English midfielders around - but over the last year he's got caught up in his hype. Hopefully being dropped has set his ego back for at least another season
Thanks for the post superdoopa. Thought we were excellent again tonight. We really could and should have scored 5. Our back four is now consistent and Hill is our real leader at the back. Barton was excellent tonight but think MH might have pulled off the signing of the season in Diakite. What an engine this guy has. He is still a time-bomb when he leaves his feet, but in time, me thinks he will be a top top player. When we stay up, the very first bit of business we need to do is confirm his permanent signing. Zamora played well but looked leggy. Don't think we will get 90 mins out of him again on Sat. Might be an idea to give Zamora and HH a half each. Our ball retention was much improved tonight and the passing for our third was excellent. Can you imagine how efficent we will be in the middle when Faurlin is added to that midfield.
