Continuing the theme of the 'Liverpool, West Brom, Fulham and Chelsea Thread' yesterday, is there a 'pundit' out there who has yet to have condemned us to the abyss? Is there an 'expert' who's expressed even the slightest doubt? With 7 games to go, they all seem unconvinced by our recent resurgence; and to a man have us down for a miserable P19 finish. Interesting that these paid thinkers ('thinkers'?!) are all so sure. Not just because they appear to have missed the final pieces in the Hughes plan slotting neatly into place (defensive solidarity, midfield dexterity, teeth AND applied game plan); but also the fact that there are NO EASY GAMES in the prem. Apparently content with their leisurely after-lives, they've all lazily disregarded the mindsets and ongoing ambitions of the also rans, checked out our rather dramatic-looking run-in and immediately written us off. Whilst there'll be little difference between our own expectations and those of the chattering classes tomorrow, no denying that everything points to a United win, our main focus has to be about preventing a goal-rush - and in so doing, who knows, we might even just umm... So let's just see how it goes in a few hours time⦠anything less than a four goal nightmare and weâve cleared the United away game and kept ourselves outside the drop zone! (Weren't we competing in an equivalent cauldron this time last year - and emerged with a well deserved Taarabt-driven 2-2 result?!!)
Good post. As Wigan have proved at the Bridge and Anfield in recent weeks anything can happen but I just feel the Manchester clubs are a cut above the rest and United in particular look flawless. Think they will have too much for QPR, but backing QPR to beat the drop
Good point about not losing by a hatful Brixton, though we've actually got a 5 goal cushion over Blackburn. Not sure we should go into the game thinking about goal differences however, it could end up in disaster. As for the 'pundits', they wrote us off because the bookies had. The pundits don't have any interest in our club; as someone pointed out on another thread, a few weeks ago they all had us staying up inspite of us losing to our relegation rivals. Now the odds (and fixtures) are stacked against us, they've noticed we've lost Cisse and they can't be bothered to dig any deeper. Bollocks to the lot of them! 2 -2 Tomorrow sounds good.
We are QPR! We nearly drew with Man City (admittedly at LR), we've beaten Chelsea and Liverpool and beaten and outplayed Arsenal. Nothing to fear and everything to play for.
I was the most optimistic poster on here, then I gave up, then I thought we had a sniff, then I gave up again and now I'm only slightly more confident we'll go down than stay up, so really I don't have a clue. I do, however, think that today's results may have removed any thoughts from Hughes' mind to rest a few players. I don't believe we should be writing off any games, no matter how pragmatic it might seem. United have been poorest when teams have had a go at them. If we curl up into a ball and defend the six yard line we'll get mullered.
Hi Watford, good point re resting players. The trouble is, that much overused phrase, 'must win', spectacularly applies to Wednesday!
We can play with freedom. Get Adel on the ball with nothing to lose. If we are behind and look like being beaten use the bench and give DJ and SWP a run out and rest BZ and AT. Their centre backs lack pace. Our only goal difference rival is Blackburn. Barton must not get a yellow card-he is on 9-one more and he gets a two match ban. Diakite and Taiwoo will have points to prove and energy for this game Swansea is THE must win game-they have lost 3 on the bounce Then WBA who are now safe and not great at home. Win those two and by next saturday we will be ahead of the pack..
This will be my first away game this season. Going to be a long trip from where I live but if we can can anything from the game it will be worthwhile. Absolutely buzzing for this game, and I'm going to make the most of it as it might not happen again for a long time. Believe, anything can happen!
I just realised 'The Big Four' are playing Tomorrow! No wonder all the press are talking about the games. Man U v QPR Arsenal v Man City
Just listened to that boring bald bloke (no not the one at Reading) the manager of Blackburn who said that we could shift a few goals tomorrow and Blackburn will be out of the bottom 3? Deluded muppet who is clutching at straws. Feel sorry for Blackburn fans losing 3-0 and all he can say is that Man U could score loads of goals? Would really make their fans confident that comment.
Enjoy it. Manchester is a great day out. Personally I think the Etihad is better but OT is a great experience
DL i think most QPR fans have been to OT as we played them in the cup a couple of seasons ago. Us older ones remember going in a league game.
Don't know about tomorrow to be perfectly honest. Anything from it will obviously be a bonus, and goaldifference could be absolutely vital in the end. But it's important that we don't approach the game in that manner (like pointed out above we would get murdered with that attitude), it's up to Hughes now, and with todays results it should be an easy task getting the boys up for it. Biggest worry though is our recent (not sure that covers it) away record. Last win was away to Stoke, try to remember that one, long time ago the 19th of November. Since then we have lost 7 out of 9, only drawing at Swansea and Villa, you could include our last minute equaliser at MK Dons in there if it makes you sleep better at night. So as I said, anything tomorrow is a bonus. I've targeted our three home fixtures against Swansea, Spurs and Stoke, all three of which I'm fairly confident we'll win. That's 9 points and puts on a total of 37. Then if we can get one point from any of our four away games, which with our away record seems a tall order, but just about doable. That would see us over the line and we can all live happily ever after.
That said, I got that tingling feeling in my belly I usually get when our games' approaching. I'm trying to beat my optimism to death but I just can't seem to make it. Why is that? Why do I always believe we will get something from the game? Last week I told anyone who would listen that there was no way we could beat that Arsenal team, even though deep down inside I had that sneaky feeling we would topple them. The key in tomorrows game would be managing the tempo of the game. We can't let it go all argy bargy and back and forth in a typical English insane tempo. It's when United move up through the gears they pummel you. Not an easy task I know, but we need to take the sting out of the game at every oppurtunity, waste time if you like. If we can keep the tempo halfar**ed throughout that's when I think we could hit them were it hurts. Both our away games against Liverpool and Arsenal have gone in slow motion except one brief spell where Liverpool managed to build pressure. Both times we ended up with the shortest stick, the trick this time will be to keep the game equal to those two but turning narrow 1-0 defeats into points. Anyone watched the ManU-Fulham game? Both United and their fans were VERY nervous in the second half, Fulham even should have had a pen near the end. They can be got at, just hope we got the guts, if we do, everything is possible.
Some interesting points made by all posters so far. Whilst I'll be on the edge of my seat praying for miracles and the eternal salvation of them Hoops (God, feels like I'm morphing into that DT/FJ/JP bloke!), I'll still be delighted with anything less than a two or three goal deficit. But it's all down to Hughesy though, ain't it? At least he's familiar enough with both the territory and the variables involved in both camps, to know when to twist or stick as the game unfolds... One thing's for sure, we'll know a whole lot more about this club and it's chances later on this afternoon! Best of luck y'all! URRRsss!!
This is a good Man Utd team, but not a brilliant one. They are beatable, and a draw is certainly not an impossibility. I just hope that we can continue the momentum of previous games, ( Sunderland aside ) and play good positive football. If we can pass the ball to each other and play with confidence then anything is possible. I just hope that we dont put in away performances like we did against Liverpool, Arsenal and the first half against Spurs. This is a new Rangers side, and one that is gathering momentum. The team spirit is growing game by game, ( has anybody seen the tunnel cam on QPR iPlayer? ) and it is this combination, along with the quality we now have within our squad that raises us above our rivals. Tomorrows game will not be the game that will send us down, but it will be a good marker as to how we can finish this season.
Quick Quiz Question???? Can anybody guess how many Fulham Fans went to the game at Old Trafford last week? I will post the answer before kick-off. Closest or winning answer wins a bag of salty nuts!!!
My bad, the way the OP had written it I assumed it was his first time going to OT I heard it was something like 300. Fewest ever at OT in the PL era
