Have to admit that I find it very hard to get the marks right. Also, one person's 6 is another's 5 or 7 etc etc. Yeah....Hoilett. Looked overweight to me too. Bit like DJ and Puncheon before him. What happens to these players when they join us? Do we have a very tempting canteen or something?
Having watched the goal again, maybe I was a bit harsh on Green. But he did get two hands to it and I wonder whether it would have beaten Cesar. Still, Green certainly saved us with that magnificent save against Sunderland.
I was right behind the goal when Villa scored and just felt Green didn't use 'strong hands', a goalkeeper's essential to keep it out. SWP gave his best performance in a Ranger's shirt and would be my pick as MOM. M'Bia and Diakite could be a formidable partnership in future games as their understanding can only get better. I just don't think Hoilett's best role in the team has been found and that's worrying for such a talented player. Plenty of positives to take from the game but goalscoring could be our undoing in the next five weeks...
Yet another frustrating afternoon was experienced by us long suffering faithful at HQ. Villa seemed to get their tactics right while we were impotent. Villa set out with their intended plan to sit back and break in numbers when the opportunity arose. In the eigth minute it did. A catalogue of errors then ensued. Traore failed to clear, he should of hoofed the ball up field or at worse into row z. But no he opted to play it inside which put us under pressure. The ball fell to Westwood who then played a simple pass in field to the Australian Holman who was given the freedom of Loftus Rd, he turned and hit it from 20 yards out. Green got his hands to it, and should of kept it out. Obviously he didn't. But he was not the only one at fault here. Other than Traore with his mindless pass, Taarabt didn't track Holman back and M'Bia didn't close down the space between the back four and see off the danger of Holman who had acres of it five yard in front of him. Poor stuff all round. We then seemed to drop too deep and Villa had another two decent attacks and Loftus Road seemed to have quietened down until Bosingwa and Diakite combined, with Samba flighting in a cross which Mackie guided a header into the far side of the net. 1-1. Game on. On 30 minutes the innocuous Granero hit a defence splitting pass that SWP superbly got onto the end of but Guzan in the Villa goal did well to block. The noise was now starting to rise again. M'Bia then controlled the ball beautifully on his chest, brought it down and played a great ball through to SWP again who crashed his shot against the post on 33 minutes. QPR had the upper hand and Loftus Road began to rock. A seemingly serious injury to M'bia seemed to then knock out the stuffing of the team for the rest of the first half. Derry came on for M'Bia but with no real effect. In the second half Villa seemed to keep eleven men behind the ball, and had settled for the point. Park came on for Granero at half time and played quite well. He even had a half chance that he took well on his wrong foot but in truth, lacked conviction and was an easy save for Guzan. Hill came the closest to a goal with a header from a corner which Guzan tipped onto the bar. And that was more or less that other than Hoilett replacing the injured Diakite and producing FA. In conclusion.... I thought we played better on the whole overall. Villa defended well and we lacked the guile and invention to break them down. Whether Harry can address this and has the personnel is another matter. Time will tell. In truth it never really felt like we were going to win this one. We really suffer from a lack of cutting edge. Mackie did really well up top on his own, he worked as hard as he could, but the rest of the side were too far away from him to offer any support. My ratings... Green 6 Looked comfortable when called upon. ( Rarely ) But should have prevented their goal? Bosingwa 7 Played quite well imo. Maybe Harry will have the right effect on him Traore 6 Had a good first half attack wise. But got undone by Lowton, Holman and Bannen combining down the right. Hill 7 Solid through out, never put a foot wrong. Nelsen 7 Mr Consistent. Our best player this season and along with Hill has formed a solid partnership. Diakite 8 Motm for me. Solid and got forward well. M'Bia 7 Played well up until his injury. He looks up for it. Granero 5 Went missing a lot. Good ball though to SWP but that was it. Taarabt 5 Played a lot within himself. Scared of giving the ball away? SWP 5 Other than his two chances was actually poor. I know many people are saying that he had a good game, I beg to differ. His positioning and runs were poor. Didn't show himself enough for the ball. Shold've scored one of those chances. Mackie 8 Did what you'd expect from him. 100% effort scored a goal, but if he plays in that role he will need someone playing a lot closer to him. Granero should of been playing just behind him. That is where we will get the most out of him I reckon. Subs Derry 4 Worked hard and does what he does. One dimensional. Would be good to bring on to defend a lead. ( Whatever that is!!! ) Park 6 Did well and got into the rhythm of the game quickly. Limited in his effect though. Hoilett 0 We might as well of carried playing on with ten men. Contributed the sum total of .'**** All.'.......... Truly shocking.
