Richard Langley - Man Utd Game

SUNDAY, 8 APRIL 2012

Hughes Not Putting All His Eggs In One Basket
The game on Easter Sunday has just finished. Rangers faced the champions and the most consistent team of the moment. *QPR left empty handed as was expected. I am sure there will be a few of talking points that will be filling the cars and coaches of the Rangers supporters that are heading home this evening.*

Some will feel Hughes had his eye on Wednesday' s home game to Swansea and almost admitted defeat before kick off today with omission of Zamora and Barton. The Swansea game will be seen as a must win, whereas anything earned today would have been a bonus.

The tactics that Hughes had all week to work on were as good as useless on 14 minutes, when Derry was involved in what cannot even be described as a coming together or a collision. A huge refereeing mistake. The referee was looking directly at play with nothing obstructing his view. *Young was guilty and not for the first time this season of simulation. Derry barely laid a hand on Young who managed to pirouette, dive and throw himself to the ground in one fluid motion encouraging the referee to award a penalty and a red card. *Rooney slotted the penalty away to Paddy Kenny's right and the afternoon for the R's was off to the worse possible start.
The game nowadays is moving at a quicker pace than ever before, but I think this means that the referee's have to be unequivocal in their decision making. Any doubt in their mind should keep them from blowing up. Today there was no tangle of legs, no pulling of a shirt yet Young went down like he had been shot by a sniper. The decision was instant, I would love to know what the ref saw. I think if they had to face the camera's after the game to explain why they made certain decisions, we might see an improvement in the officiating. It is frustrating because there is nothing we can do about it now apart from discuss our misfortune. The decisions seem to be a lot easier to make when going in favour of the bigger teams at the big stadiums.*


United were patient in their play and it was hard for QPR to establish any sort of foothold in the game. The players were chasing shadows and our only chance of getting back into this game would have been a set piece. Rarely could we get players forward to support the lone striker, Bothroyd. *

Manchester United played at their own tempo and dictated play as you would expect. Scholes was orchestrating play, but in all fairness to QPR they held on strong. I knew our full backs would have to be on form and Taiwo didn't disappoint. He coped with the threat of Valencia extremely well until the latter parts of the game and was helped out by Taarabt who put in an impressive defensive shift as well keeping the advances of Rafael to a minimum.*

At 1-0 you would like to think that we were still in the game. It would have taken just one set piece to get back into the game. Maybe this was the aim, stay in the game for as long as possible then throw a few bodies forward in the last five or ten minutes. Knowing that we needed the points desperately I was hoping for an earlier change in tactic. Bothroyd was up there alone and United piled on attack after attack. Each time the ball reached the safety of Paddy Kenny's gloves the ball was directly booted in the direction of the target man, who I presume had a job of trying to flick the ball on to, well no one. *Instead of waiting for the inevitable to happen why not take your destiny into your own hands? We needed a goal and getting one wasn't going to come the way the game was shaping up. Bringing on a second striker would have given QPR a chance to retain some possession in the United half. Yes, we would have been susceptible to conceding another goal, *but no more than we were when we were parking the whole team on the edge of the box. We were waiting to get what United and in particular Paul Scholes were conjuring up. Playing with ten men was always going to be hard, but it was sad that we didn't really give it a real go. *I didn't agree with the decision to swap Bothroyd for DJ. Leave them on the pitch together, leave 3 at the back, 4 in midfield and 2 up front. That change didn't do anything to alter the flow of the game.*

Scholes finished the game off with a trademark strike from the edge of the box. The game as good as over. The champions surely started to sense that the fight for retaining their title was nearly over. Before people get carried away and say that Adel should have cleared the ball, let me start by saying, I I agree, you are right, but if you pause the action when Scholes receives the ball there is no urgency to close the ball down whatsoever. You will see Onuoha amble across the box to resume his right back position and *no one makes an effort to close the ball. To have one of the most talented strikers of a ball The Premiership has seen within twenty yards of your goal should trigger a reaction to close him down. Just pointing out that we were not all on the ball today.*

United *killed this game, with little resistance offered by the travelling team. QPR had a few stand out performances for me. We saw the desire and commitment of Mackie and even though his game isn't so pleasing on the eye, you cannot deny that he gives all he has. Taarabt showed glimpses of genius again, but being down to ten men didn't allow him to affect the game closer the opponents goal. Hill and Anton put in an honest shift. DJ came on and looked rusty, but was full of energy.*

One disappointment for me, not just today but the last few weeks, was Onuoha. His recent performances haven't been commensurate with his transfer fee or the positivity shown in his interviews. He has shown more passion in front of the camera than he has on the pitch. I do not like *to dig anyone out but Hughes should be questioned on this buy. We had and still have an experienced right back in Luke Young, yet we bring in a youngster who has been supported by big players for most of his career. Now we are asking him to step up to the plate and do a mans job. Unfortunately I don't see it in him as yet. Too willing to take a back seat in his role as a right back. He is playing scared at the minute and on the back foot. Uncertain in every move and offers little to nothing going forward.

The*thing that hurt watching this game, was to see SWP come on and stroll around for 20 minutes with a smile on his face. *For me it looked like he was taking part in a testimonial match or a preseason friendly. I don't blame SWP for this, because, looking back at it now, it seems very obvious that Hughes is saving our most valued players for Wednesday night, the importance of a win seemed to lessen the minute we had Derry sent off and even more so when the second goal went in. The onus has to lie with the manager. He is the one that sets his standards, and keeping them high is not as easy as turning up and choosing to switch it on, as and when you please. As a supporter, I am sure you would agree, especially if you travelled so far to support the team, that you would expect our team to try and win for the duration of the game and not give up halfway through because they have their thoughts on defeating Swansea.*

Maybe Hughes has it all figured out and come Wednesday night we will all be forgetting this "no show" and celebrating a shrewd Welshman bringing some more points to Loftus Road.
Posted by Langers at 18:23

 

I agree with his observations about Onouha, there's something not quite right with that lad.

 

Have a look at his website Woody, kickingitmyway.com