As I sat there at half time, waiting for the lad to return with his pie and drink, I mused as to what exactly had possessed me to make the late decision to go and watch this crap. In the first half we really were quite awful - every bit as turgid as the first half display against Doncaster. If Huddersfield had taken their chances they would have been out of sight by the break, but luckily, they simply couldn't convert the 2 or 3 golden chances that they had created. I'm sure all the 4-4-2 fans were really pleased when the team was announced and I have no problem with playing 4-4-2 at home for the most part. However, this team looked completely unbalanced. No wide players and for the first 20 minutes Krancjar was playing in a kind of free role which left us with three in the middle, but no one out wide. Huddersfield ripped us to shreds, with our lack of wide players giving them the space out wide to launch counter-attack after counter-attack. Add to that the absence of Onuoha's pace and Dunne and Hill were being left for dead with one ball in behind at regular intervals. A mixture of good keeping from Green and terrible finishing from them meant that we were extremely lucky to go in 0-0. The only stand out moments were the work rate from Austin and AJ up top, BAE putting in a couple of good crosses and the mad moment when Austin struck the post with a header, to be closely followed by a great save from their keeper and a terrible missed header by Henry, striking the bar when surely scoring would have been easier? The second half began with Phillips replacing O'Neill who had picked up an injury towards the end of the first half. Immediately this made a difference as we now started to attack down the right flank to add to BAE's occasional forays forward on the other side. Plus, Kranjcar was now keeping mainly to the left to at least give us some balance. Phillips looked to attack and run at players at every opportunity and Rangers got more and more on top. This pressure paid off when AJ cushioned a lovely ball into the path of Austin who took his time before firing a fantastic shot into the corner. A great finish!! As often happens, we switched off after scoring and a few minutes later, Carroll, who was very disappointing all game, was asleep on the edge of our box and allowed a Huddersfield attack to continue when he should have easily cut the ball out. The ball was crossed to Wells, who headed home (he'd looked very ordinary up till then). To Rangers' credit, we really went after the winner after conceding such a sloppy equaliser and we forced corner after corner. A BAE corner arrived in the path of Austin and he powered home his header to win the game yet again for Rangers. Cue wild and very noisy celebrations. In conclusion, why oh why does Harry keep on picking dodgy looking line ups, only to have to change it during a game to make things much better? Some will say good management, some will say the opposite. Did we miss Barton? Undoubtedly, although I suspect the line up would still have been lop-sided even had he started. Player ratings and comments: Green - 7 - Good save from a free kick and did nothing wrong Simpson - 6 - Always gives his all, but his first touch is often very poor and he looks a limited footballer going forward Hill - 6 - Solid as usual, but lack of pace exposed Dunne - 6 - Same as Hill BAE - 7 - Some wonderful touches and is simply a class act O'Neill - 6 - Didn't really notice him! Carroll - 5 - Poor. Gave the ball away repeatedly Henry - 7 - His best game for us. Won the ball well and kept it simple. Should have scored though Kranjcar - 7 - Some silky smooth skills but not a lot of end product. Should always be in a system that allows him to play in the centre. He simply can't play out wide with his total lack of pace AJ - 6 - Looked rusty, but worked hard and made Austin's first with a lovely assist Austin - 9 - Simply awesome. Won some great headers, never stopped working and scored two great goals. Unlucky not to get a hat trick Subs: Phillips - 7 - Made a big impact and should start Traore - 7 - Like Phillips, made a big impact, making great runs down the left, although he was only on for the last 10 minutes. Should start on the left of midfield imo. Thoughts?
4-4-2 will only work with a recognised DCM (how did he play in your opinion)and two wingers who turn their full backs and are attack minded.
Thoughts? First, excellent report mate. Have not seen anything of the game, only followed it on bet365 and on here. So can't really add anything about the match. Your report helps, very much like being there. But Harry's lineup and subsequent changes is a tough one to answer, it baffles me every week! Is it poor communication, does he struggle to get his points across or are the players to blame? Take Liverpool and Brendan Rogers tonight. Most, me included, could see before it even had kicked off that he had got it wrong. Playing two in the centre midfield against Villa's three, one of the two being an ageing and not very mobile Steven Gerrard. They were totally overrun and outplayed. You could see it five minutes into the game and more so after twenty when Villa took the lead. But did Rogers show any signs of changing things around? No way. What is this? Ego? Stubbornness? It seem to be a managerial trait.
Cheers Col, A great report as usual. It's a very strange season we are having thus far. As you pointed out about the changes it makes me feel Harold is still unsure about his best starting line up's. I totally get peoples frustration with how we are going about our playing, fans pay good money to be entertained. The strange thing about it is something is working hence our position on the table, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we have been lower than forth place yet. Like every other ranger I want us to get to and stay in the prem, my main concern is we are just not ready for it yet. If Harry is still unsure about our starting eleven and is it also nine of our players out of contract at the end of this season, we will need to rebuild again. I just hope if we do go up that lessons have been learnt, we don't want to repeat our last visit in the prem.
We're in 2nd place and 13 pts + GD above Brighton in 7th place and should be a shoe-in for at least a playoff berth.
Good report and I agree with most of it but I have to say, this Hill and Dunne pace thing is a nonsense. Somebody just decided at the start of the season that they'd struggle, people started repeating it and it caught on. Its become the buzz phrase even though there's no evidence to support it. We've by far the best defensive record in the league and that's largely down to the center-half pairing. The chances we coughed up in the first half weren't down to the center backs, it was the midfield. Its standing out a mile. I don't think I've ever seen a more unbalanced midfield before. Set that up right with a proper holding player and you won't be talking about Hill and Dunne anymore. I actually think there's a bit of ageism running through the criticism of those two blokes. They cop a lot of unwarranted stick.
Whenever we play 4-4-2 we're vulnerable to the quick counter-attack and any team with pace upfront will expose our defensive shortcomings, it's where Onuoha would be a better choice than one of the veterans to compensate. We just don't seem to be able to get the midfield balance right and it could prove costly unless we start scoring more goals and a more flexible 4-2-3-1 with the wide men working their socks off is probably a better bet. I think all our problems increased when Ale Faurlin was injured, he was a perfect fit in front of the back four as his distribution as well as his tackling made him ideal for that system and it's no surprise our form faltered since his injury...
I very clearly stated that it was the unbalanced midfield that led to most of our defensive problems. I rate both Hill and Dunne highly at this level, but there is absolutely no doubt that Ned' pace would have snuffed out a couple of those early chances, as they were the result of first, being over run in midfield, but then, a simple ball played behind the back four. I don't care what age someone is.....young or old, it's how they play that counts.
You're spot on mate. As for Henry, as I said, I think he had his best game for us. However, he couldn't cover everywhere and the lack of wide players meant there were just too many gaps for them to exploit. Play Henry holding (Faurlin would have been perfect!) in a 4-4-2, but we MUST play two wide players too, who, as you say, must work their socks off up and down. I played out wide in a 4-4-2 and it's incredibly hard work! I'm not sure we have the players to do it perfectly, but I'd give Phillips and Traore the job for now.
Excellent report Col. The ease with which they cut us open in the first half was embarrassing, and you are absolutely correct that we need Onouha’s pace to counter their forwards lively movement. As to who you need to drop to accommodate him, I do not know. Redknapp is paid to make those decisions though. Stan and I started counting the clear cut openings but gave up when it was 8 – 2 in their favour after about half an hour. Thankfully this all changed in the second half, particularly with Phillips looking to attack them at every opportunity and pulling the team along with him. I don't understand why he is not in the starting eleven. On the other hand (or wing) I'd not like to see Traore from the start of a match. Yes he looks dangerous attacking and at one point late on in the match when he was charging through it looked like a scene out of one of the Jurassic Park films as 6 Huddersfield defenders pursued him like raptors closing in on their victims, but he does not have any defensive nous in his bones; he happily left BAE to cope on his own against two opponents while he wandered back. He can only ever be an impact sub. As you say, thank God for Charlie, two more solid finishes being thoroughly well deserved reward for his tireless running.
I didn't notice the Traore not tracking back incident, but if it's a choice between him, Hoilett or the ridiculously slow Kranjcar, I'd pick him first. IMO his experience at left back would help BAE more than the others. He has reportedly improved both his fitness and his attitude and I'd like to see him start. I do however agree that he could be devastating coming on for the final 30 minutes in games.
What a fantastic report! Pretty much word for word accurate. I too wondered during half time why I'd wasted time and money showing up to watch the utter drivel that was on offer. I can only re-emphasise your points on both Carroll and Traore. Carroll looked awful, completely out of his depth and obviously cant play in a 2 in midfield, and to be honest i wouldn't want him in a 3 either. Im amazed he is so highly rated at Spurs, he is lightweight and couldn't even do the basics right yesterday despite Spurs fans and players raving about his technical ability. I was praying Harry was going to take him off and and throw Diakite on after we scored, but he didn't, and the goal we conceded was down to Carroll being asleep on the edge of the area and being out muscled when he did eventually challenge for the ball. He truly was a boy amongst men and it makes me wonder how poor our youth team is that none of our kids are getting in the team ahead of him Traore on the other hand was excellent when he came on and has to start now, I know he's had his problems but looks like he has turned a corner and looked great. He was only on for 10-15 minutes, put 2 or 3 lovely crosses in whilst on the move and had the beating of the full back every time, offers real width and service which Austin must love. Id suggest moving to a 4-4-1-1 until we get another striker in to accommodate both Nico and Traore, with Nico playing behind Charlie, although I would like to see us playing 4-4-2 eventually at home once we get another solid striker in. If we could get someone like Rhodes in to play with Charlie, then with the service Traore and Phillips provide, we simply should be able to outscore most teams at home and don't really need to worry about the possession game benefits of having 3 in midfield. Lets not forget the standard of opposition in this league is generally pretty poor (although Huddersfield looked alright at times and try to play). If we spend big on another good striker we'll go up, simple as that. Until then i'd imagine we'll just keep spluttering along with a series of average performances like yesterdays hoping for one goal margin wins.
Increasingly impressed with Traore Worried about our only DCM being Henry...who is playing much better now he has all the responsibility I have been assuming that 'Arry is trying to second guess the opposition...it has been true from the start that playing QPR is a little like a cupfinal to some teams...come here stifle us, and win on the counter. I think 'Arry is shaking the team around to out think the oppo...Huddersfield know we play with a single striker...so he plays 442, that sort of thing Unfortunately, the team get out of sorts too....and his plans are also disturbed by injuries (Faulin, Barton, AJ, Hoillet) It is a caused by some lack of faith in his own players (can we blame him). I would like to see a team that didn't need picking to disturb the opposition...seriously hoping that when we get another serious striker, we will pick a very similar team week in week out. Because it is 'Arry's indecision on what to do with that position that is upsetting the team equilibrium.
Points but no poise, results but no resonance. Truth is Huddersfield had 7 (seven) very good goalscoring opportunities in the first 30 minutes, which most teams would have scored 3 or 4 from. Most of these arose from a completely porous base of the team - those of you who this Henry was good yesterday, reflect on what his job is supposed to be. He certainly wasn't protecting the pensioners for the first 30 minutes. We offered nothing going forward because we had no width in the first half. Kevin Bond spotted this and commented on it after the game. Shame they hadn't spotted it before the game when they picked the team. Philips improved things second half, but Charlie Austin, once again, did the business. Traore.....come on goldfish memories, I've been watching him for two and a half years, he's no good in any position, comically one footed and away with the fairies. He is fast though. Might as well put Tom Carroll out of his misery and send him back to Spurs. Sections of the crowd hate him, rise to their feet with spittle foaming on their lips, little piggy eyes bulging, screaming abuse at every mistake. He wasn't great yesterday, but made no more errors than anyone else. He'll be a good player one day, but not for us. These 'fans' are a f**king embarrassment though. A personal highlight was AJ getting the ball off his shiny pink face from a free kick. Went down as if shot, but amazingly his hamstrings/ligaments were not affected and he could continue. So, no shape, coherence, control or intent, scrape a win again, somehow remain well in the chase. How can this happen? Easy, this league is crap. I may have mentioned this before. Before the game Nines, Roller and myself were discussing whether it would be better to get automatic promotion or the big day out of a play off final at Wembley. I think Ninesy was pro automatic promotion because his holiday plans would be buggered up with play offs. I was too because I hated the thought of play off heartbreak, leaving Roller alone. But on reflection I've changed my mind - a big day at Wembley and a loss there is perhaps the catalyst the playing side of the club needs. If we go up we all know we are back to square one, we will have to buy a new squad and the only players that will come to us are the type we have been collecting for the last 3 years, for the same reasons. Redknapp is laughably conservative in this area. Then more struggle and a good chance of relegation. We need the young manager approach, proper philosophy, 2 - 3 seasons building a squad with style and energy. Trouble is the business side of the club is forging ahead and we can't afford the time to build. Roller didn't particularly want to open the performance v points debate and I understand why. I remain firmly in the performance camp, and I firmly believe that playing good football does not mean you won't win enough to be promoted - quite the reverse. We are well over the halfway point this season, lets face it, this team isn't going to 'click'. For what its worth I think we will be promoted, probably automatically, through grinding out tedious wins against poor opposition, and the whole season will have been a deeply unsatisfying experience, caught in microcosm by yesterday's game.
I think this sums up my experiences watching us this season. I havent seen us play unfettered expansive football. Mostly its been turgid and at a level if dullness equalled only by some of the Dowie management years. I don't know what the answer is but i expected more flair from a Redknapp side. I think its clear now we won't get that this season as Arry has been told by Swiss Tony its promotion or be shown the door, hence the grinding out of results
I see both sides of this Staines, on the one hand we want to go up, winning games and keeping the faithful happy but, in reality, we are not happy because we know this team is as short of what is required for the Premier League as our last promotion-winning side were, a point emphasised by the Everton thrashing. The trouble is if we don't go up Harry will be off and we will be really up sh*t creek with a squad load of pensioners/mercenaries and facing probably 2-3 years of rebuilding a squad that should have been dismantled and rebuilt last summer with younger more long-term prospects taking a more circumspect approach to the future. The rumour that we are going after Rhodes has me thinking we are doing the same as we did last time we were relegated from the Premier League when we signed Mike Sheron who was scoring for fun until he joined us...
No spittle or bulging eyes here just head in my hands in disbelief that someone who would struggle in an under 16's game is first choice for our creative midfield slot. Not his fault - you can see a good footballing brain at work sometimes - but he just doesn't have the physicality to survive in this league. He is one of the main reasons why I am finally questioning if HR is up to the job. That and the continual use of first half tactics that does not deliver anything like enough chances - it doesn't matter if its 4-4-2, Diamond, or anything else, we quite simply never get the ball forward quickly enough.
