| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 22:28 - Sep 13 with 1718 views | gigiisourgod |
Really enjoyed this. Great read and an excellent evening of entertainment. Real spirit in this team and a togetherness between players and fans that has sadly been lacking in recent years. |  | |  |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 00:39 - Sep 14 with 1584 views | Kiwi76 |
Cheers Clive - excellent report as always and takes me back to wet midweek nights in 90's when was there in person.
Remember some silly games vs Wimbledon team of that era - a 4-3 comes to mind where continually lost sight of the ball above the stadium.
Great to battle back and secure a point and show a lot of fight where would've collapsed a year ago. |  | | |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 07:48 - Sep 14 with 1428 views | Churchie |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 22:28 - Sep 13 by gigiisourgod |
Really enjoyed this. Great read and an excellent evening of entertainment. Real spirit in this team and a togetherness between players and fans that has sadly been lacking in recent years. |
For which I think Olly, Les,Tony & Lee etc. Deserve a bit more praise and encouragement on here! | | | |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 12:22 - Sep 14 with 1197 views | francisbowles |
Clive your report is as exciting and entertaining as the match itself! | | | |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 15:32 - Sep 14 with 1021 views | qprd |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 12:22 - Sep 14 by francisbowles |
Clive your report is as exciting and entertaining as the match itself! |
Clive, excellent report.
Here are some of my random thoughts from the Millwall match as a supplement to your report:
1) Goalkicks: Holloway needs to sort out goalkicks when we pair Mackie and Washington up top without a conventional target man. When these two are leading the line, off goalkicks, QPR usually splits both centrebacks and has Scowen drop deeper. Smithies’ preferred option is to play the ball to a centreback or Scowen, as the long ball is less viable without a true target man.
In light of this weakness, both Ipswich and Millwall man-marked our centrebacks and Scowen in goalkick scenarios, forcing Smithies to go long. As none of Mackie, Washington or Wzolek is a viable target man, almost every long ball off goalkicks just led to us directly losing possession. I’m not sure what the solution is here. Perhaps advancing one of our three centrebacks up the pitch for long balls (like JFH did with Lynch at Fulham last year)? In any event, we can’t afford to keep giving the ball away off goalkicks.
2) Freeman on the right wing: Freeman has excelled so far this season operating in an advanced midfield free role. However, he seemed to struggle a bit in the second half in open play when he was deployed more as a right winger (when LuaLua came on, QPR shifted to a something looking like a 4-4-2, with Scowen and Luongo playing centrally, Freeman on the right wing and LuaLua on the left). Freeman was far from his best on the right wing, as he seemed to consistently cut onto his left foot into a crowd of Millwall players rather than play the simple ball to Wzolek on the overlap. With Smith and Sylla manning the box, I would have preferred he laid the ball off to Wzolek to whip crosses into the box.
3) Scowen: Scowen has been rightfully praised this season for his willingness to do the dirty work, ability to pick a pass, awareness of danger and all-around footballing IQ. We should also acknowledge how tough this guy is. He weighs about 5 stones, yet consistently goes for every 50-50 ball. In the first 40 minutes against Millwall, Scowen was absolutely battered on at least three occasions, and always got up without much fanfare.
4) Luongo’s Shooting: Much has been made about how Scowen’s addition to the starting XI has provided Luongo with the freedom to move further up the pitch. However, Luongo also seems to have gained some newfound confidence to shoot.
According to stats from ESPNFC, last year in 35 league matches, Luongo took 48 shots, of which 11 were on goal. Through only 7 matches this season, Luongo has already taken 16 shots, of which 7 have been on goal (only 4 less than last season, and we’re not even halfway through September).
Against Millwall and Ipswich, Luongo managed 8 shots, 5 of which were on goal. What was most impressive from these matches were the array of shots he was putting on target, including an attempt from inside the six-yard box (before Smith’s equalizer), shots from inside the box (including his goal), shots from the edge of the box and three screamers from 25+ yards out.
Luongo looks a different, more confident player going forward. The goals will certainly come.
5) Mackie’s Minutes: Jamie Mackie is like a car with only two settings: parked and in top gear. Unlike a Matt Phillips, Mackie has no in-between speed setting. This is certainly to Mackie’s credit, and its why QPR fans love him, but its something Ollie needs to be mindful of through a gruelling, 46-match campaign. Given the number of players on our squad, I think Ollie needs to conserve Mackie’s legs. Mackie should not be starting two matches in 4 days, or 3 in a week, particularly given his age, work rate and recent injury history.
6) Robinson at Center Back: I thought the criticisms of Robinson’s performance as center back against Millwall very overly harsh. Robinson held his own in the first half as part of a back 3 with Onouha in the middle, and was nowhere near one of our worst players. Once Onouha went off in the second half, Robinson played as a leftsided centerback alongside Baptiste. Archer and Morrison proceeded to target Robinson on long balls for the entire second half. It didn’t look pretty, but Robinson held his own, and Millwall barely had possession or threatened to score.
We were able to get away with the Baptiste-Robinson pairing on Tuesday, as Robinson had help from Baptiste against Morrison (who was totally isolated up the pitch with the other 8 outfield players dropped deep in defense). However, going forward, this pairing won’t be viable, as our opposition will target Robinson. | | | |
| Red card sparks rousing Rangers rally — Report on 16:44 - Sep 14 with 956 views | simmo |
"According to stats from ESPNFC, last year in 35 league matches, Luongo took 48 shots, of which 11 were on goal. Through only 7 matches this season, Luongo has already taken 16 shots, of which 7 have been on goal (only 4 less than last season, and we’re not even halfway through September)."
Great little stat that is and shows how much better he is with confidence and a clearly defined role. More goals definitely to come but his overall contribution both in tackling, carrying the ball and being available to receive possession shouldn't be overlooked. He's been a brilliant project and it's been good to see him work so hard to start to realise the potential we saw in him. Let's hope it continues! |  |
| ask Beavis I get nothing Butthead |
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