Hughes got it very wrong today I'm afraid. I was advocating 4-2-3-1 with the possibility of Cisse in the 3 behind BZ....but that was before we KNEW we HAD to GET SOMETHING today. Then I posted an article saying that we should go 4-4-2 with Cisse and Zamora up against their make-shift defence!! Cisse looked lost on the left and so ineffective!! Why in God's name did MH start with such a negative formation?!! Having said that, so many of the players seemed to lack any fight whatsoever!! Big salaries and egos with little or no regard for the club!! We saw that as soon as we went 4-4-2 we posed them more problems....although it is fair to say that they were 5 up by then!! I'm afraid I have to agree now that Paddy isn't up to it anymore....he was shocking today!! Mind you Taiwo, Hill and Barton weren't far behind him!! I won't stop believing that we can stay up till it's mathematically impossible to do so....but I just can't see 3 more points being enough (that's if we get them!!). That was a gutless, shameless display today!! From the team and management alike!!
It didnt look any better on the TV Col. But it ain't over yet, and the supporters were singing loud enough to obliterate any Chelsea noise except the charming booing when Anton got the ball.
I don’t think that the formation really mattered. We were completely out gunned and gave in without a fight. I can accept defeat, especially by a far better team, but I can’t accept not competing. Deja vu? I’m sure that I wrote exactly the same thing after the FA Cup match against Chelsea. We certainly need to call in some favours now, we won’t be doing this on our own.
As soon as I saw Chelsea's team I knew we were in trouble without Diakite, they really exposed our lack of pace in the middle. Conceding in the first minute set the tone but a lack of bottle, passion and common sense all contributed to a shambolic performance. We have seven days to regroup and make sure the players are in the same mode we were in against Arsenal & Spurs and we get a Swansea-like result...
We can all see it was a dreadful performance utterly lacking in any passion. Once again we seemed content to try to keep possession and knock it around instead of aiming to score. Not quite sure how we managed to rack up 11 attempts on goal. I think we can see that it is us the fans who provide the motivation at Loftus Road. When we play away, we look as though we are scared of our own shadows. Positives? Blackburn were even more lifeless. Not a single shot on goal. They are now down without a shadow of doubt.
Yes, there was a thread recently that claimed we now have a team with a backbone - but the biggest test of character is when a team plays away, and we've looked weak at away games for most of the season. The performance today was deeply disappointing. If Hughes reads the riot act to the players and gets the tactics right, we may get three points from Stoke at home. ManC is a gonner on a probability test. Bolton may lose at home to Tottenham on Wednesday, and then they face West Brom at home and Stoke away. I could see them getting two draws from those three, which would be enough for us if we beat Stoke. I think Villa will just get enough from Spurs and Norwich to see them safe - but Norwich could possibly do us a really good turn on the last day...
