QPR V MIDDLESBROUGH 0-3 FT
Jan 20, 2018 21:07:02 GMT
Post by kingfisher on Jan 20, 2018 21:07:02 GMT
Jan 20, 2018 19:14:14 GMT @singlespeed said:
By the highlights it looked more end to end than it was. We are just not clinical enough. Home form is getting worse as the season goes on Yes indeed @singlespeed it was very much end-2-end stuff but as northwesthoop has already indicated it was a question of us being outclassed - mostly in attack. Their first goal felt literally like a surge of Boro players pushed the ball over the line and looked as if the ref should have blown up for any number of fouls; but the other two (especially the second) were good goals taken on the break. The difference was that Boro had some players who were a class above ours, including the 33-year old Stewart Downing, and we played into their strengths! I would add that those at the Loftus Road end were convinced that 2 penalties should have been awarded to us, and Smith (yet again) was penalised for virtually just breathing near a Boro defender....
This was definitely the 'other QPR', playing 'ping-pong' heading with a Boro side quite content to let their superior height at the back make the difference. Little passing along the ground and our midfield trio were forced to chase down Boro players all match long. We did use the wings a few times but far too often it was a case of trying to bludgeon our way through the middle of a well-organised defence and finding, even when we did break through, that poor finishing by the strikers rewarded us with nothing. I definitely feel the wrong striker combination started - Washington & Oteh. If ever there was a game for Smith to start, this was it! Oteh was overwhelmed/ineffective, so much so that Lynch was instructed to adopt the striker role and actually did pretty good. Whilst the removal of Oteh and the sacrificial Bidwell for Smith and Osayi-Samuel gave extra attacking options, only Smith seemed to make a difference. What exactly does Ollie see in Osayi-Samuel that I cannot? Pavel Wszolek for me is a far more effective choice AND with less defenders on the pitch he would have tracked back to help.
The third goal was always a risk, and one Ollie had to take with his attacking substitutions, but I never felt we were going to get much reward in front of goal today. Now going to open a beer can and try to forget the match (for today at least)!
