please log in to view this image The stakes could hardly be higher at Loftus Road this Saturday evening as QPRâs fight to stay in the league meets Tottenhamâs struggle to hold their season together as it threatens to come apart at the seams. Itâs probably an exaggeration to say that this season is ânow or neverâ for Spurs in their quest to become Champions League regulars, but I donât think itâs unfair to assume that itâs ânow or not for quite some time to comeâ. The question this week is whether Rangers should change not only their team, but also the system that has brought victories against Arsenal and Swansea in order to return Djibril Cisse to the starting line up. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp would, if neutral, probably advise Rangers against this because it has been his deviation from a winning system that has done more than any talk about his impending appointment as England manager. At White Hart Lane in October Tottenham were as near to perfect as I've ever seen a football team against QPR. They were actually beautiful, gracefully flowing forwards in formation like a flock of birds. Every Spurs player knew his role precisely and carried it out to the absolute letter, moving smoothly from left to right, back to front and attack to defence. It was awesome to be present for. It was to QPR's credit that they weren't buried by a double figure scoreline that day. The system was based around a back four with two powerful centre halves and two pacy full backs. Scott Parker held the midfield, doing the leg work for Luka Modric who played centrally and pulled the strings for three attacking talents ahead of him. To his left and right Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon provided breathtaking pace and width, straight ahead Rafael van der Vaat served as a link man to target man Emmanuel Adebayor. At one stage this team looked like it might genuinely win the league title. The thing is that at the halfway stage of the season Spurs had used less players in the league this season than anybody else, and rather than replace like with like Redknapp went away from what was working to cover for inevitable absences when they came. Bale moved to the right to cover for Lennon, and naturally cut in on his left foot more often than not taking away the width from the right flank. To cover for Bale, Luka Modric moved left where he wasn't nearly as effective as he had been in the middle, and wasn't nearly as quick as Bale had been there before. Redknapp also began playing Louis Saha, a bizarre January acquisition in my opinion, in a more conventional front two pairing which wasn't nearly as difficult to deal with as Adebayor and van der Vaat had been. I joked on transfer deadline day that Redknapp had come out of the courtroom at his tax avoidance trial on lunch and rung the office to say "get me Zaha" and would be furious when he emerged at the end of the day to find the ageing, injury prone Frenchman on his doorstep instead. In fact Spurs would have been far better served buying Palace's young speedster Wilfried, playing him wide on the right when Lennon was injured in a straight swap and leaving Bale and Modric where they were. Players back and previous system restored Redknapp is now finding that, as happened last season, van der Vaat is nowhere near as effective in the second half of the season as he was in the first and while he was farting about with the attacking side of things the centre of the defence has lost form completely. Injuries to centre backs and goalkeepers has meant regular team changes right in the spot you don't want them but there can be few excuses for the performance levels of either William Gallas or Ledley King at Wembley last weekend which were of a park standard. Kingâs chronic lack of pace has never really seemed a problem before, but he looked dreadfully slow last week and was regularly dropping five or six yards deeper than the rest of the defensive line to compensate for that allowing Chelsea to play in the Spurs half without fear of being caught offside. In attack Spurs are still capable of absolutely destroying QPR, but the heart of their defence is there to be got at which I why I'd change our own winning system this weekend and find space in the team for not only Jamie Mackie, Adel Taarabt and Bobby Zamora but Djibril Cisse as well. This is a vulnerable defence, low on confidence and form, ripe for another going over and the best way to do that, as Chelsea showed last week, is through pace and power which Cisse will add to our line up. Donât forget as well that despite Van der Vaat taking dangerous corners at Wembley last week theyâve only scored five headed goals all season, and two of them were against Swansea, while at the other end Man Utd were able to move into a two goal lead against them with two goals from set pieces against the run of play. Whichever way Hughes goes, this looks like a high scoring encounter waiting to happen. by Clive Whittingham LAWRO'S PREDICTION QPR v Tottenham (1730 BST) Tottenham's 5-1 defeat in the FA Cup semi-final flattered Chelsea and I don't care what anyone else says - awarding the Blues their second goal when the ball did not cross the line completely decided the outcome of that match. At the same time, Spurs are just not firing at the moment. All of a sudden they have started to make mistakes at the back and, whoever they play, they look very vulnerable. They did not look secure at Wembley, even though Scott Parker was back for that game. There are still some good individual performances but they are not quite clicking as a team and I just wonder if they have tensed up a bit, because it does happen sometimes at this stage of the season. Spurs played some absolutely brilliant football for weeks and weeks but they have not really looked like their old selves for a couple of months now. I don't buy the theory that they have slumped because of the speculation linking Harry Redknapp with the England job. It might have had a little effect but the biggest factor for me would be what has happened to them mentally. It is a bit like a golfer playing really well and leading a tournament going into the final day and, instead of relaxing and playing and showing everyone what a good player he is, he is trying to almost guide the ball around the course, which doesn't work. In a football sense, Tottenham are doing that. Every mistake they make tends to be punished and they are thinking about things a bit too much. It's unfortunate for them because, when they are confident and playing football at their best, they are a really good side to watch. QPR keeping winning then losing - but that is fine as long as it keeps their head above water. Djibril Cisse is back from suspension, which will help them here - as long as he manages to stay on the pitch this time. Rangers' run-in is particularly tough on paper but, like I said with Blackburn's fixtures, who is to know what will happen in the next few weeks? Chelsea have got the second leg of their Champions League semi-final to play before they play QPR, and they have got the FA Cup final the week after. Mark Hughes' side have to go to Manchester City on the last day, but City might not have anything to play for by then. Prediction: 1-1 LoftForWords QPR welcome old friend Clattenburg for Spurs game http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/fb_news.php?storyid=16766&title=qpr_welcome_old_friend_clattenburg_for_spurs_game History - Memories of Wilkinsâ diving header as Spurs visit http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/fb_news.php?storyid=16776&title=memories_of_wilkins%E2%80%99_diving_header_as_spurs_visit_%E2%80%93_history Opposition focus - Crunch time approaches for wobbly Spurs http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/queensparkrangers/fb_news.php?storyid=16788&title=crunch_time_approaches_for_wobbly_spurs_%E2%80%93_opposition_focus
History It’s the last orders at the Last Chance Saloon for QPR against Tottenham this Saturday. Oh how they could do with a repeat of an extraordinary second half performance against Spurs on this ground in 1992. QPR 4 Spurs 1, Saturday October 3, 1992, Premiership QPR manager Gerry Francis had complained long and hard about the requirements placed on his side at the start of the inaugural Premier League by a gruelling August fixture list. Taking part in the first ever Premiership Monday night football game on the opening weekend against Man City followed by a home match with Southampton 48 hours later Rangers would somehow end up playing five matches in 12 days. That didn’t seem to faze them initially, a third straight win in the fourth match away at Coventry lifted the R’s to second in the fledgling table, but there were hints of fatigue setting in through September as first Arsenal and then two of the newly promoted sides Ipswich and Middlesbrough came to Loftus Road and left with draws. Still, by the time Tottenham Hotspur came to W12 on the first Saturday in October Rangers had lost just one of their opening ten league games. That said, star striker Les Ferdinand was injured for this game and replaced in attack by Dennis Bailey alongside Gary Penrice. Spurs were under the joint managership of Doug Livermore and Ray Clemence at this stage with Terry Venables in situ as chief executive and Alan Sugar as chairman. They finished fifteenth the season before, and sacked Peter Shreeves as boss as a result, but striker Teddy Sheringham would go on to bag 21 goals this season and lead the team to slightly better things. On a miserable day weather wise at Loftus Road things started as you might expect: Darren Peacock producing a trademark slip in the wet conditions and Sheringham stealing in to open the scoring at the Loft End in the midst of the ensuing goalmouth scramble. Tottenham held that lead through to half time. But Gerry Francis, who would go on to manager at White Hart Lane after walking away from Rangers two years later, had inspiring words for his team at the break and QPR blew their north London visitors away in the second period. A deep cross from Ray Wilkins fell kindly for Ian Holloway who struck a powerful bouncing volley into the roof of the net for a rare goal to equalise. Then persistent pressure around the edge of the Spurs area and an injury to Darren Caskey eventually meant space opened up down the left flank for Andy Sinton to cross low into the area where Ray Wilkins stooped to head home from six yards. Wilkins didn’t score many goals for QPR, and even fewer headers, so that was a real collector’s item and absolutely brought the house down. It was one way traffic thereafter and Sinton was the architect of a third goal, pulling a cross from Andy Impey out of the air at the back post, skipping to the byline and hammering in a low cross that Gary Penrice could scarcely miss from four yards out. And when Impey then cleverly stepped over a low centre from David Bardsley Penrice again found himself unmarked, on the penalty spot this time, and he lashed home emphatically to seal a memorable 4-1 win. It’s strange the things you remember, even from all those years ago. This was my first year as a season ticket holder at Loftus Road and back then the tradition was for our travelling party from Grimsby to meet with our London friends in Farmer Brown’s café in Covent Garden for breakfast. My dad had a full English that day, as per usual, but spent most of the first half returning it projectile style at the back of the P-Block. Scrambled eggs on toast for him every Saturday thereafter, for he blamed the food rather than the copious amounts of bitter supped in the Goldhawk between the breakfast and the kick off. Rangers finished fifth in the Premier League that season, four points ahead of eighth placed Spurs who sacked the management team again at the end of the campaign and brought in former player Ossie Ardilles who’d just won the Second Division play offs as manager of West Brom. QPR: Stejskal, Bardsley, McDonald, Peacock, Wilson, Impey, Wilkins, Holloway, Sinton, Penrice, Bailey by Clive Whittingham [video=youtube;zpVa_wzV-1k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpVa_wzV-1k&feature=relmfu[/video]
Tottenham will look to boost their hopes of a top-four finish when they take on London rivals Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road on Saturday evening. Mark Hughesâ men are in a relegation dog-fight, sitting just two points above 18th-placed Bolton, and are looking to their home fixtures as the key to their survival hopes. Rangers have won their last three games at Loftus Road, including wins over Liverpool, Arsenal and Swansea, so will go into this game with high hopes of securing a positive result. Spurs will be looking to put last weekends FA Cup disappointment behind them and concentrate on having a strong end to the season in the league. Harry Redknappâs men have come un-stuck in recent weeks and have won only once in their last eight games, which now leaves the once title-contenders in danger of missing out on a top-four place. Team news Mark Hughes will be able to call upon striker Djibril Cisse, with the Frenchman returning from a four-match suspension. Cisse is expected to come stright back in and start alongside Bobby Zamora up top. Shaun Wright-Philips is hoping for a recall but may have to make do with a place on the bench once more. Brad Friedel will return for Spurs after being left out of last weeks 5-1 defeat to Chelsea. Harry Redknapp will have to decide whether to keep faith with the side that crashed out the FA Cup or freshen things up. Jermain Defoe and Sandro will both be pushing for a recall, but Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson remain on the sidelines through long-term injuries. Likely Line-ups please log in to view this image Predicted Score QPRâs recent home record is excellent and they are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the league. Tottenham are on a terrible run and come into the game off the back of a damaging 5-1 defeat in an FA Cup semi final. Therefore, we can see the home side getting something from this one. QPR 1-1 Tottenham. What are your thought on the game? Get involved in the comments section belowâ¦
That was a great game. Has anyone seen Michael Nymans musical score composed for that game?- it was brilliant.
