| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 14:50 - Apr 10 with 4262 views | Antti_Heinola |
Ollie's weird record of runs of losses and runs of wins continues, but while the six in a row around Christmas was a dark period, at least now we're losing with hope. Good old hope.
1. EXPERIMENTATION: Seven changes, I think it was. Ollie has talked about his Blackpool side becoming too easy to read and him now wanting to be able to keep other teams guessing a little more with his line-ups and formations. But even by his recent standards this was unexpected. There were probably a few reasons for the changes - a run of three games in a week; thoughts on how to combat Brighton; but, undoubtedly, experimentation ahead of next season was on his mind.
Unlike others, I have no problem with the third reason in that trio. We are - or should be - safe. We have a run of competitive games (not pre-season friendlies, which mean f all despite what people like to read into 1-1 draws with teams from Holland) now where Ollie should be free to do whatever he wants. To try new formations, to be a bit gung ho, to test a few mettles. There have been some cries of 'always play your best team', and while I'm not totally against that radical idea, at the same time i have two thoughts: 1. The idea of a clear cut Best XI died about 20 years ago. It's amazing people still go on about it, as if there's no nuance in the game, or that no heed should be paid to form or fitness or tiredness, let alone the opposition. 2. I completely understand Ollie wanting to experiment without, say, Luke Freeman, who certainly is a first choice player, to see what we could do should he not be fit. This is exactly the time to see how things work - even if, frustratingly, it might cost us a few points. Short term pain, long term gain, people.
While I didn't think we played as badly as some here seemed to think - in the first half we held our own and certainly had the best efforts on goal - it's also fair to say that, as against Derby, our midfield three did again leave our wing backs dangerously unprotected and that's where Knockaert and March had most joy. Ollie must now recognise that and see that, at least against the better sides, if he wants to play that way then the team need to learn how to play it a little better. The midfield three need to be able to shuffle along so the right-sided player can help out the right wing back and vice versa. And the same with the back three. It's not easy, there are a lot of moving parts, but it has potential to work. and if he believes this is the way forward, then there's no better time than now to work it all out.
2. BRIGHTON: There was some anger on here after the game because we got nothing from a game we finished so stongly in, no doubt in part due to experimentation. But we shouldn't lose sight of what a good side Brighton are. I've seen comments on here saying they're not all that, but I find those as nonsensical as the comments from fans who said the same thing about us in our championship year. They're top of the league, likely to get well over 90 points. They have a superb home record and an above average away one. They score goals - only 5 less than Newcastle who've spent billions on their team. They have a strong defence. They showed us on Friday the level we need to get to if we want to challenge next season. To have that grit, determination, bloody-mindedness, will-to-win that spills over into the uglier side of the game, and also sublime skill is not easy. They weren't brilliant, no. And they were fortunate to escape with all three points after our new formation of 4-2-4 (2-4-4?) gave them a chasing. But that's what good teams do. Congrats to Hughton and to Brighton - promotion fully deserved - and heartening that we were always well in the game despite our experimental line up.
3. RAVEL: Might as well offer my opinion too, I suppose. Thought he was quiet first half, but grew into it in the second. Felt he was scared to get too forward, partly because Brighton are so good on the break and partly, as Ollie hinted at, he didn't feel he had the puff to get back and rectify any error. He certainly didn't have the mobility of Freeman, Luongo or Manning and so, with us too narrow, Brighton were able to exploit his presence.
But that was an inexperienced midfield three - in terms of game time for two of them and playing as a three for all of them. Considering the opposition, they did ok. I honestly think Ravel would be better playing off Smith to be honest, where he can really do damage, but what he did on Friday was keep the ball. Collected it, passed it, made himself available, passed it again. Most of the time the problem was that he wasn't adventurous enough, but a couple of times when he glided past a challenge, you could see he has genius in his foot bones. I also thought he was disciplined and worked hard. 6/10 for me, which is not bad. The question is whether we can get more and whether we can get it consistently. I'm just not sure, mainly because I don't know him and I'm not at training every day. Sorry.
4. MANNING: I think there's a small danger of us getting too excited by Manning and then becoming annoyed that he's not quite the player he has been lauded as in some quarters. Someone here (Bosh?) said he could be the next Liam Brady, which is unfair on anyone - and, sad to say - I think inaccurate anyway. Brady was truly a genius of a player. Manning is good, but I don't think we'll be seeing him lording it in Serie A in 5 years time.
When youngsters come through there can be a tendency for them to get by on adrenaline, work rate, enthusiasm and the element of surprise. Happens a lot that someone bursts onto the scene, big things are expected, but after a while form dips and their true level is discovered. Remember Olly Burgess? Manning's far better than him and I don't think this will happen to him, but Friday was an example of how we can't expect too much. Partly because he and Ravel didn't quite gel, partly because Brighton are a tough, experienced side, he didn't have his usual impact.
However, it says a lot for him that when shifted out to left wing back he became more comfortable, and was excellent in the final 20 minutes, making decent challenges at the back and also providing an outlet going forward. So I suppose my jerk is: Manning - bit quiet, let's not get too excited... but isn't it exciting that he turned a quite decent performance into a really good one by sheer willpower and determination?
5. YENI: A true enigma. Did actually have a couple of chances and almost fashioned a goal, but also barely touched it after he came on. I'm not sure if he can really change a game from the bench. He looked focused and ran a lot and did a lot of talking and all that... but the ball didn't seem to go near him. Maybe it was because we were hoofing a bit up to Sylla and Smith by the end. Strange. Next season will be interesting.
6. DAVE THOMAS: Football fans are a funny lot. All hard and calloused and used to failure and heartbreak. Beers. Shouting a lot. Sometimes aggressive. Man's game blah blah. But the great thing about football is the emotion it brings out. To fans of smaller clubs anyway - I doubt any Celtic fans felt anything more at winning the league than we did at beating Rotherham the other week. This season in particular has had more than its share of emotional moments. Tiger Cubs - always. Stan's induction. Mark Lazarus hugging Andy Sinton. The kid on the Victoria Derbyshire show. And now Dave Thomas, weeping as he thanked the fans for donating for his guide dog appeal. Not ashamed to say I shed a tear or two listening to him then too. Sometimes I think it's trite to say 'Im proud of our fans' or 'I'm proud of the club' but genuinely, I am. To give back to Dave Thomas, such a great player and a great man, tot he extent that his gratitude comes out like that, is amazing. Well done everyone and I love you Dave. [Post edited 10 Apr 2017 15:03]
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 15:52 - Apr 10 with 4184 views | DannytheR |
Cheers Antii, good jerks as ever. I was also very puzzled by Yeni on Friday. Rate him highly and agree he will huuuuge for us next year, but it's strange when a player can somehow be that busy and that superfluous to the game at the same time.
But I do have to say a word in the defence of Ollie Burgess - don't think it was a question of him finding his true level, the poor bastard completely did his knee only a couple of months after breaking into the first team, was out for the best part of a year, and was never the same again. You never know what might have been, of course, but it was the Langley/Rowlands/Ale curse of the cruciate that did for him rather than any lack of talent. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 16:10 - Apr 10 with 4167 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 15:52 - Apr 10 by DannytheR |
Cheers Antii, good jerks as ever. I was also very puzzled by Yeni on Friday. Rate him highly and agree he will huuuuge for us next year, but it's strange when a player can somehow be that busy and that superfluous to the game at the same time.
But I do have to say a word in the defence of Ollie Burgess - don't think it was a question of him finding his true level, the poor bastard completely did his knee only a couple of months after breaking into the first team, was out for the best part of a year, and was never the same again. You never know what might have been, of course, but it was the Langley/Rowlands/Ale curse of the cruciate that did for him rather than any lack of talent. |
Fair point had forgotten that! | |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 16:21 - Apr 10 with 4150 views | nadera78 |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 15:52 - Apr 10 by DannytheR |
Cheers Antii, good jerks as ever. I was also very puzzled by Yeni on Friday. Rate him highly and agree he will huuuuge for us next year, but it's strange when a player can somehow be that busy and that superfluous to the game at the same time.
But I do have to say a word in the defence of Ollie Burgess - don't think it was a question of him finding his true level, the poor bastard completely did his knee only a couple of months after breaking into the first team, was out for the best part of a year, and was never the same again. You never know what might have been, of course, but it was the Langley/Rowlands/Ale curse of the cruciate that did for him rather than any lack of talent. |
Funny that we're discussing Burgess, given that Warren Neil was on the pitch at half time on Friday. He was the coach of that Academy team with Burgess, Cochrane, Walshe, Murphy, Bull, McFlynn, Pacquette, etc, etc which was probably the last time we had high hopes for a group of youngsters coming through. All of them turned out to be L2/Conference players in the end. Wally was a good coach, had that group very well structured and probably got the most out of them all.
The thing is, an injury here, a change of manager there, a missed opportunity, and suddenly the highest-rated kid slips through the net. |  | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 17:33 - Apr 10 with 4082 views | DannytheR |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 16:21 - Apr 10 by nadera78 |
Funny that we're discussing Burgess, given that Warren Neil was on the pitch at half time on Friday. He was the coach of that Academy team with Burgess, Cochrane, Walshe, Murphy, Bull, McFlynn, Pacquette, etc, etc which was probably the last time we had high hopes for a group of youngsters coming through. All of them turned out to be L2/Conference players in the end. Wally was a good coach, had that group very well structured and probably got the most out of them all.
The thing is, an injury here, a change of manager there, a missed opportunity, and suddenly the highest-rated kid slips through the net. |
Yeah, it was an interesting era, albeit one where the kids suffered from the legacy of Gerry's approach. Certainly showed how much of a chasm there is between youth football and even League One. I remember thinking Wes Daly and Dennis Oli were both absolute certs to light up the first team at that level, and then it didn't happen for either of them (though Oli I know had a very solid career further down the leagues).
Of that crop, it was the relatively unhyped Marcus Bean who probably had the best career —Â and Giles Coke, who we let go. | | | |
| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 23:50 - Apr 10 with 3859 views | Neil_SI |
I thought we competed well on Friday. I had no problems with the team selection, performance and in the end, even the result. We were a bit unfortunate to be two down suddenly, and in the end, a bit unfortunate we didn't take something from the match.
But, we gave them a decent game and tried to win it. We just came up short and they took their chances and made us pay for our mistakes and we didn't take ours. Sylla's miskick and Washington's poor effort that went well over the bar when he had more time were key moments. Matt Smith also had a header straight at the keeper, though he scored soon after so perhaps that one doesn't count as it was kinda in the same move.
I'm someone who is always cautious when it comes to kids and inexperienced players, but I thought Manning was excellent in that first-half. I expected he would struggle far more than he did against a top class Brighton side, but he was bright and clever in many skirmishes and exchanges where he needed to be. He arrived on the scene in tight moments and made some great quick first-time passes that needed to be made to keep the ball alive or retain and recycle possession intelligently.
I was also pleased with some of the positioning and angles he took up on the pitch when he came deep for the ball. This is something a lot of players can get wrong and even a yard or two out of place can close the door or make the passer nervous to play.
It's these sort of games that kids can overdo it and try too much, but I never saw that here. Apart from one instance where he was robbed on the ball near their area and they broke on the counter, he barely put a foot wrong for me. I was impressed.
I've said some bits and pieces about Morrison on another thread elsewhere, so won't repeat them here, however, to add to that, even if he's fit and firing, I'm not sure he suits this QPR team. I can't see how his style of play matches that of the rest of the players, and if you want the best out of him then you're going to need to build your team around him and personally I don't think we should do that. That said, I do like the way he controls matches from deep, that style suited the Harry Redknapp team and perhaps that's why he stood out more. He played deep, coming to receive the ball and dictate play back then and that's where he seems to be most comfortable at the moment.
But, we've a really exciting trio emerging out of Luongo, Freeman and Manning and if they can keep improving and perform consistently, then they'll provide everything we want and need at this level and I'm excited to see them continue on their journey.
I think what we need to work on is the delivery into Smith. We've got to get the timing and the quality of the ball into him right, and then the support needs to be bang on to help out. On Friday the balls into Smith, and in some previous matches, really just were not good enough for him or Morrison. We struggled to go to feet, which is partly why Morrison struggled because Brighton closed the lines off well. But, we then didn't do a good enough job of the direct balls and that's when the attacking play can completely shut down.
When Freeman came on, this helped us change the momentum positively. Manning was able to play diagonal balls in from the left-back position, or from the wide crossing position, which suited Smith better and Freeman's purpose and skill helped us change the momentum from the other side of the pitch. He introduced pace, skill and excellent delivery from better angles that gave Smith a greater chance of winning the ball, and that's the type of stuff we need to continue working on.
Of course, playing that way makes it harder for the likes of Morrison and Yeni to get involved, as this type of play doesn't suit their strengths and that's partly why I struggle to see how someone like Morrison fits into the bigger picture.
In addition, Brighton also did well in parts to lock down who had the ball. Eventually it ended up a fair amount with Onouha or even Lynch, and both of them are not necessarily strong when it comes to playing direct balls forward. To me, that looked deliberate, because those two are more "hit and hope" type of passers and about putting a ball into an area. The lack of quality reduces the probability that Smith can get hold of it, making it harder to retain possession and build. Eventually, that's also what led to Onouha making a mistake which they capitalised on and scored the opener from and those small details can be the difference between winning and losing.
In the end, despite all of the changes we made, I came away pleased to see that the squad looks like it can compete no matter who is out there. That's an improvement on many similar times this has happened in recent seasons, though we shouldn't get carried away either of course. But to end further on a positive note, four goals in nine starts for Smith is a very good return. [Post edited 10 Apr 2017 23:53]
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 10:02 - Apr 11 with 3634 views | bosh67 |
To be fair I have said Manning could be our own Liam Brady. Even Brady has talked about him on TV as being potentially a player in his own image. So, you're right, he does have a lot to live up to.
Excellent column by the way! |  |
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| Antti's 6 Knee Jerks - QPR 1 Brighton 2 on 00:47 - Apr 13 with 3352 views | TacticalR |
1. EXPERIMENTATION. Yes, now is a good opportunity to experiment.
2. BRIGHTON. Played with all the confidence and the patience that comes from being a promotion side. Whether or not their individual players are better than ours, they were a better team. A lot of attacks began from the right-back Bruno who was comfortable on the ball and was looking to pass the ball forward. I wasn't that convinced by our performance - we 'did an Arsenal' and played well when we were 2-0 down and were not going to win.
4. MANNING. His balance is fantastic. I think it's one of the reasons he is able to turn so quickly and to pass the ball so well. It also enables him to shield the ball against stronger players and fall over at the right moment to win a free kick if they try to use their strength against him. As discussed in his interview on the QPR podcast it would be good if he could chip in with some goals from midfield. [Post edited 13 Apr 2017 0:48]
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