The QPR game; the Good the Bad and the Ugly These are just a few thoughts on the game having watched the match again and thought through all that transpired. Some of this is a rant true but some of it is serious stuff..See what you all think. The good; Mikel had a good game..especially considering he was essentially on his own in the central mid field. He made only one mistake of note but as oft happens with the mistakes the DM makes (especially if they don`t have consistent back up) it nearly cost us the one point we got from the game. Despite that however anyone abusing Mikel for his performance is being truly very uncharitable..the boy played his heart out and lamps hung him out to dry by being missing for most of the game..that is just the plain truth and frankly I don`t blame lamps for his sub par performance..i blame RDM for putting him on the pitch given his logged in minutes and travel time during the international game. Other goods; Victor moses..actually doing what a winger is meant to do..take on the fuill backs, hug the flanks, cross the ballâ¦for the little time he was on the pitch he did well..i can only imagine what may have been had he started the game. The final good; Ramires when moved to his natural box to box position. The difference was as clear as 7-up..Ram is no winger..but he is a pretty good box to box central mid and his energy, passion and commitment are unquestioned..RDM for the love of God play the boy in his position of strength. The Bad; Definetly RDM. Those who know me know how much I love the guy..i am one of his loudest advocates but one has to call a spade a spade..he botched it here..big time. First of all what was the point in playing Ash and JT in this game with all the Anton Ferdinand nonsense around..especially as both were both just back from international duty..and just recovering from injuries..what person going into a pool of sharks decides to trouble the waters and pour in a few buckets of blood for good measure because that is what RDM did here..the whole stadium was energized by having JT and ASH to hate on and boo. The were energized by Ferdinands idiotic hand shake snub and false bravado. Can you imagine how different the ambience at Loftus road would have been if as I and several others had suggested RDM had played Ryan in his natural LB position and Cahill instead of JT.. Anton would have looked like a right old fool with no one to snub for the handshake photo op..the whole drama would have been non existent..the mob mentality of the crowd would have been subdued and we would have had an actual football game instead of siege mentality. Let me not waste time with the rest of the line up which virtually all of us know was just wrong and set up with a negative defensive mind set. Fortune only favors the brave..for goodness sake this was QPR not Bayern munich or Real Madrid..why play Ryan as a left winger which he isn`t. Why play lamps when he was clearly tired and totally ineffective? I know RDM is a smart man..i know he sees what most of us fans see so I can only surmise that his team selections are based on one of two possibilities neither of which is palatable. 1. He is being told he has to play certain players by orders from up top..if that is the case..the man should preserve his dignity and resign..this is getting ridiculous..no coach should have to work under such conditions..Capello is respected worldwide because he has a set of rules and standards..when even the great FA crossed that line he told them to shove it and moved on. The world respected him even more for it. So RDM if you ever get to read this please don`t sacrifice your dignity for a job..if you are being ,mandated to play certain players from above it is time to move on..simple. 2. He is being driven by a desperate fear not to lose his job and so he is so scared of losing that he is unwilling even to take the most basic and calculated risks. This if true will be a major cause for alarm because fear has a paralytic not liberating effect. There is a saying that the coward dies countless times before his actual death. If this is the issue my advice to RDm is this..Roman had fired managers of far greater pedigree than you..to let fear of being fired by Roman paralyze you and prevent you from having a go ..and going for the jugular in games wont preserve your job security..it will only hasten the very thing you fear. If I were to advice RDm on this ..i would give him the adage from the wild west..if you must go down..make sure you don`t go quietly but with all guns blazing..dare to be bold..the fans will appreciate it and I suspect even if we lose a game here or there being bold Roman will probably be more forgiving than being timid and excessively cautious. You have a full 25 man + squad ..for goodness sake use it..stop over burdening a set of 12-14 players for virtually all the games!!! As it is ..it is almost a given that other than Mata possibly included (and JT left out if the late injury in this match turns out to be a big deal) we will field the same starting line up against Juve on Wednesday as today..on barely 3 days rest . This will not only burn these guys out but makes us so easily predictable to the opposition. Now the Ugly; I cannot tell you all how disgusted I was by the way El nino behaved today when he was subbed of. I don`t even want to mention his performance on the pitch. It is true we did not have the most productive or incisive central midfield out there today but the guy can simply not play back to goal..he cannot hold up play when the ball did come to him..he cannot take on opposing defenders and beat them with any consistency..he certainly cannot make use of aerial balls and the QPR defense wisely shut down the passing lanes he thrives on to get those forward passes he loves to run on to. Compared to Bobby Zamora who made himself a nuisance to JT and Luiz the two QPR center backs had a holiday with Torres as our designated center forward..that is not to blame him though..it is the sort of forward he is..he is not like Drogba, Falcao, RVP, Arguero etc who are the sort of strikers that can literally manufacture goals out of next to nothing and make life a living hell for their opposing Center backs even when they dont score. We know that but when the manager decides after ~ 80 minutes on the pitch and nothing to show for it that he needs to give the other striker an opportunity to try and help the team and possibly help us score a goal you could not, to then come of, ignore the manager and your team mates on the bench and then storm of to the dressing room is absolute nonsense and a disgrace. I do not want to hear anyone justifying or defending this petulance. Please ask yourself would El Nino pull this stunt with La Roja if subbed out? Hell No because he knows were he to do that it would probably be the last time he ever got called up to the squad by Del Bosque. So what is different here..why does El nino feel the entitlement to openly disrespect his manager and his team mates in this brazen fashion. Let us be clear here..this is a big deal..Some members of the French National team were suspended and fined for this sort of petulance when subbed of. Compare Bertrands response when subbed of to El ninos..one player acknowledged his manager and joined his other team mates on the bench to cheer and support his other team mates doing battle on the pitch in a hostile environment while the second ignored his manager and his team mates and stormed of to the showers while his team mates were still fighting to try and win a game or at least secure a draw. Anyone who tries to justify this does not understand team dynamics. This sort of thing severely undermines a coach and if there are no consequences and punishment it reestablishes the player power problem we have had for so long at Chelsea. It says some players can do what they please and get away with it while some others cannot. At the bare minimum El Nino should sit out the next game against juve and apologize to his manager and his team mates for this (Behind closed doors of course). The fact that probably none of this will happen just reinforces the reality that some players in our side have direct ear and access to higher ups in our club above their manager and this is a big part of our ongoing problems. Make of it what you will guys..rant over!!! Read more: http://www.chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=530997#ixzz26c2KJxXG
