Bravo Harry Redknapp – Thoughts on Sunderland game

Another Rangers game and another blog. I think the old saying goes “you’re only as good as the last blog you write”, well at least I hope it does and I’m fairly grateful as my last one was s***. A much better performance by Harry Redknapp’s men today.

For a man, QPR were far better than last week at White Hart Lane. 3-5-2 was binned for a more conventional 4-3-3 and everyone knew their roles. Instead of Mauricio Isla being left with two men he now had a central midfielder (Mutch) coming over to protect him and press the man on the ball and a winger (Phillips) tracking the run of Van Aarnholt from full-back. Obviously there were times when Van Aarnholt got away and flew forward but he was more often than not matched by Phillips or stopped by Isla. With the protection he needs, the Chilean defender looked like a completely different player.

On the other side, veteran Clint Hill came into the side and didn’t let Adam Johnson settle all afternoon. To be fair to Hill, I was slightly worried when I saw he would be playing where he was up against Sunderland’s impressive wingers but he nailed it and Johnson in one swift movement. Within the first few minutes he clattered into the ex-Manchester City winger, the textbook ‘let him know you’re there’ challenge. From then on, try as he might Johnson had very little influence on the game and this was down to Hill. Balls into Johnson’s feet, which would have been an obvious outlet for the visitors, were met with the left-back being touch tight on Johnson every time not allowing him to turn, open up the pitch but more importantly run at the 35-year-old.

As he couldn’t turn and get wide, he was forced to go inside where he was met by a sea of blue and white shirts and was  quickly dispossessed.

The Rangers defence remained tight and disciplined throughout. Whenever Vito Mannone had a goal kick, they narrowed the lines and remained compact. Mutch covered Isla and Barton did the same for Hill, meaning any balls fired towards Wickham or Fletcher were either won by Rangers heads first time round or were perfectly placed for winning the second ball. Often the next phase of play would be to look for Fer who was the free man and slightly more advanced than the other two. . The former Norwich man drives at defences and is so comfortable on the ball, he can quickly make yards up and he did all day long (until he tired around the 60^th minute).

Whilst Johnson came further and further inside, Vergini was left isolated time and time again, Hoilett had the beating of him. Catching him square and going down the line or going inside onto his favoured right foot. The Italian also stood off the winger far too much, after it was clear 24-year-old had the beating of him for pace, he could have done more to get tighter –  like Hill had done for Rangers. But his and Sunderland’s loss was the home sides gain.

Like most modern full-backs, Van Aarnholt is better going forward than he is defensively and had very little help from Connor Wickham and was constantly over-run by Phillips and the pacey Isla. The winger looks a little off the pace but still showed his quality with some brilliant crosses, it would be a real shame if he were to move on this week.

Against Hull, you could argue that Rangers rushed the build-up play through Ale Faurlin, who looked to take the ball off the t centre backs very quickly and play direct looking for Austin or Remy down the channels. Today, Rangers oozed class popping the ball nicely around the midfield three before spraying it wide and over loading the box with runners.

Charlie Austin’s and QPR’s first goal of the season was a cracker. I hope Match of the Day dedicate a little bit time to rip Wes Brown’s defending as they did for Rio Ferdinand on the opening day of the season. Joey Barton produced a fine performance dictating the play from deep and acting as a shield in the middle. His set-pieces improved too, a deep inswinging corner was met by the head of Leroy Fer who had managed to lose Scott Parker and Joey Essex’s lovechild; Lee Cattermole. But Austin’s movement was the real gem. A little dart towards the front post before pulling back onto the penalty spot allow Fer to nod down and the rest was history.

Wes Brown and John O’Shea won a lot in the air against Austin, but you would expect that two veteran defenders, what Austin did offer is endless running and pressing. Rangers played traps all day long and Sunderland played into them. Unlike Tottenham, when Remy let Spurs’ defenders do what they like with the ball, Austin hounded. The midfield and defence moved up as one and the players went in packs to shut the space forcing the long ball. Think of when Larsson was dispossed by Austin and Barton and Rangers broke at tremendous pace.

As the game wore on and when Sunderland threw more forward, Rangers dropped deeper. Phillips and Hoilett, who had a brilliant game by all accounts both attacking and defensively, were moved into ‘full-back’ positions to cope with the wingbacks and provide adequate protection and they did it very well, it was only when Traore came on and he was laboured in doing so Rangers got caught out. But thankfully Hill cleared off the line to save his team-mates blushes.

So bravo to Harry Redknapp and his coaching staff, a good performance and the first win out of the way.

A busy week for all at the club, no doubt plenty leaving and I’m sure fans will see more than enough players come in. A note too for Tony Fernandes, stood proud and joined in with the Faurlin chant in the 18^th minute. Gutted for the Argentine, life can be a bastard sometimes.

Some thoughts on Spurs away and 3-5-2…

It’s hard to know where to start with QPR’s performance at White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon, so much went wrong all over the pitch it was reminiscent of some of the performances from Rangers when they were last in the top-flight.

The 3-5-2 system was picked apart by Spurs, every time they came forward they looked like scoring. I mentioned in my last blog (if anyone read it) that Richard Dunne wasn’t someone I wouldn’t fancy having on the left-side of the three and he proved it again today.

Clint Hill would be my choice – far better on the ball than he is given credit for, naturally left footed and comfortable being dragged out wide. Because, as is inevitable with wing-backs, you will get caught on the break. He’s far more mobile than Dunne and a much better communicator.

You also need to know whether you are going zonal or man for man, as Spurs played with the lone striker it pmade sense to go zonal as their movement would be all across the three depending on where the ball was. Unfortunately, it just created havoc.

If you’re playing next to Armand Traore, you need to be talking and as was proved from Tottenham’s first, a lack of communication was a clear problem down Rangers’ left-hand side.

The wing-backs arguably make or break this formation and Mauricio Isla is a very good signing, once fit I have no doubt that he is more than good enough to make the wing-backs position his own. Traore on the other hand looks very suspect playing in the role.

The obvious reason for needing to good wing-backs is that when in possession you can stretch the opposition across midfield turning your three into a five with the front two still being able to feed off of an attacking central midfielder and wing play being provided by the two wing-backs.

It’s therefore critical that the wing-backs know when to go and when not to. It’s physically demanding position so you need to have great athletes that are very comfortable on the ball but more importantly understand the system they are being asked to play and I’m not sure Traore does.

He’s definitely not a full-back, he gets beaten far too easily for that.

He’s not a left winger either, he looks much better if he can come onto the ball and deliver rather than having it at his feet in the first place and as a wing-back he’s starting position is a good 10 yards behind what it would be for a left winger so he’s unlikely to have that luxury. Something needs to change there. 

Chelsea managed to protect the limitations of John Terry in recent years by having a mobile midfield in front of him. Ramires, John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien have all had a role in making the former England captain look far more assured.

Despite Rangers having slow centre-halves, they’ve got slow midfielders in front of them and at times no-one protecting them. This leaves them wide open at times and it did against Tottenham meaning the likes of Lamela were having a free run at Ferdinand and Dunne.

Of the three central midfielders you need one to hold, one to be busting a gut to get into the box and finally one to sit just outside the box for any balls that come loose. They also need to be able to shift over and maintain shape whilst supporting both wing-backs – Isla was isolated so much today it was frightening.

It didn’t help having new-signing Leroy Fer thrown in despite being unfit, but the general basis of Barton being the one that holds, Fer being the box-to-box and Jordon Mutch being the more advanced of the three is fairly promising. 

Although I think a lot could depend on Joey Barton.

I’m a fan of Barton, I thought he did very well last year and could do very well this year if he limits himself. He could do very well if he plays as a holding midfielder and looks to give the ball, plays the pivot and acts a shield to the back 3. If he plays how he did a White Hart Lane then Rangers may as well give up now, he was everywhere and not in a good sense. His set-pieces were dire too.

If he’s going to be the one that holds, then he needs to hold – he can’t then look to get in the box when his two other team-mates have gone leaving Traore open to a counter which happened more than once.

He does have ability though, that’s pretty clear. He constantly looked to get on the ball and spread it wide, identifying that the strengths of the system are through the wing-backs, won the ball back for Rangers more than any other player and picked up more loose balls than anyone on the pitch. His ball to Matt Phillips points to his range of passing. He could play in the pivot, I really think that. But could Joey Barton limit himself?

Whoever plays in the future, they need to get tighter to the opposition far quicker. One of the reasons Spurs looked so sharp was because they never let QPR settle, for the first goal Loic Remy had 3 men round him hounding him out of possession. I don’t remember QPR having 3 men around any of Tottenham’s players at any point of the game.

Remy was starved of service far large periods of the game, but even when he got the ball, he looked to be playing for himself to much and often doing far to much and losing the ball instead of keeping it simple.

Matty Phillips who played alongside him had a fantastic opportunity at 1-0, after last week’s 19 shots Redknapp would have mentioned about how important it is about taking your chances so I was astounded that he went for an exotic chip instead of just putting his foot through it.

Rangers tried to play off of Phillips and Remy’s main strength of pace but they didn’t get the service, once this was obvious they needed to revert and play one up and one off. They needed the ball to stick. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen partly because of poor service and partly because of the fact Matt Phillips isn’t an out and out striker.

For the second week on the trot there’s no guile or flair when Rangers are going forward. Against Hull, QPR looked defensively assured. They lost that today but still gained nothing going forward. No-one is looking for a killer pass or looking to drive at the defence. To be honest, they look clueless at times. Once the ball is passed from right to left and no obvious gap has appeared we look totally void of ideas. Someone needs to get their foot on the ball and begin to dictate the play and create something out of nothing.

Roll on Burton..

Why Alan Shearer is wrong…

I thought it was strange to watch Match of the Day on Saturday night and hear Alan Shearer’s comments on Rio Ferdinand. I’m not how much of the game Shearer watched but by his quote about Ferdinand having “one of them afternoons” – I’m going to hazard a guess at not much.

Ferdinand looked classy, very classy. As expected he started in the middle of the back three, playing as a sweeper and often the deepest of the trio. Yes, he lost James Chester for Hull’s winner and yes it happened again on the next corner…but the 35-year-old will still be an asset over the course of the season.

A sign of a good defender is not necessarily one that is diving in making last-ditch tackles or blocks but one that can read all the signs of danger before it has even happened. The Italians have it perfect. Why jump around flinging yourself at everything, when you can leave the pitch as clean as when you came on?

Ferdinand managed to do this time and time again, one of the most impressive times happening when Andrew Robertson’s – who looked impressive and a snip at just under £3 million – cross was taken off the toe of Nikica Jelavic by the former England defender who then looked to start a Rangers counter.

His leadership qualities shone through too, communicating and organising the defence throughout and he had his work cut out with Armand Traore and Danny Simpson. The look of horror on his face as Traore decided to stop playing and instead argue with Jelavic over the forward’s penalty appeal whilst the game was still going on really was something to behold.

Ferdinand had an impressive game no doubt about it and the stats back him up too.

He won the most amount of tackles on the pitch – in fact he didn’t lose a tackle. He won the ball every time he went to win it. To put that into perspective, Curtis Davies who also had a decent game only won 50% of his tackles, Ferdinand attempted double and won them all. He also made the most ball recoveries for QPR and the second highest on the pitch(which points back to my earlier point of his reading of the game). He also didn’t commit a foul or lose anything in the air.

Along with this, Ferdinand had the highest pass completion percentage with 89% – almost 10% more than any player. Of course, it’s easier for someone like Rio to pick a pass when he has all the time in the world and no pressure on him than someone like Ali Faurlin in the middle of the park but of the four passes he failed, three were in the attacking third and the other was in the middle of the pitch – were he made 29 other successful ones.

Hull obviously fancied their chances of Ahmed Elmohamady being up against Armand Traore . So much so, McGregor to the Egptian was one of the most frequent pass combinations of the afternoon along with Huddlestone to Elmohamady. Thankfully for Rangers, every goal kick that was aimed towards Traore, he won. All 11 times it was tried – he came out on top.

Despite looking defensively solid, QPR looked pretty void of any attacking flair in the new 3-5-2 formation. The most frequent pass combination for the home side being Ferdinand to Caulker, who then more often than not looked to his right towards Simpson, who  was often wasteful when in possession completing only 64% of his passes.

Jordon Mutch played and looked promising although slightly rusty in the more advanced central role with Joey Barton and Faurlin behind him. I thought the Argentine looked for the spectacular pass a little to often, playing off of his left foot and looking for the channel ball between Chester and Elmohamady and it often didn’t come off. Barton said himself that his corners were poor, but he also attempted 13 crosses in open play and was successful just twice.

Charlie Austin worked hard and created problems for Chester, Davies and Alex Bruce. He does look a little more bulky and it does seems to have made him slightly less mobile, he wasn’t the most agile in the first place so he will have to be careful but his tireless work rate will always create him chances. He mustered 5 attempts on goal and the only one on target was the penalty which was saved. Statistically his passing was slopping too but he can be pleased on the whole with his first performance in the top flight. He struggled for any real service all afternoon.

His partner was the man of the moment Loic Remy, whether he stays or goes is another matter but despite looking like he was blowing after the first 30 minutes, Remy was at the heart of everything good QPR did going forward.

He had three shots on target and should have finished his last one, turning substitute Paul McShane before firing at McGregor from 12-yards. He could have put it anywhere but he fired straight at the Scottish keeper, he has to score in that position .Get him fit and if they can keep him, they will stay up comfortably.

They won’t face many teams worse than Hull this year and really should have picked up some points, despite being praised for creating 19 attempts you really need to put the chances away and Rangers suffered by not doing that.

Another little final gripe from the game would be starting Richard Dunne. Surely, if you are playing with 3 centre backs you need the wide two to be able to be comfortable playing full-back and be able to play. I don’t really see how Richard Dunne offers any of that, especially with Nedum Onuoha and Clint Hill sitting on the bench.

It was obvious before the opener that Rangers need legs in midfield and nothing has changed – that was always obvious. I’d imagine Fer will sign before the Spurs game. Another striker to add some depth will no doubt be brought in, hopefully Vargas, and a number 10 that can thread passes and create a little bit of magic. I like Mutch, but can’t see him staying in the ‘hole’ for the duration of the season. Perhaps that slightly portly Moroccan will still be here come the end of August – he’d be perfect.

As usual, please do tell me how wrong or even right I am by commenting or tweeting.

You can find me on twitter here: @JordanJFoster