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Match Review: QPR 2-1 Fulham

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! That is all.

Such is the relief that there isn't a zero next to our name in the Premier League table any more that I can't conjure up a witty title or subheading for this blog post. The mighty Superhoops have won a league game for the first time since May 6th. But this wasn't just any old victory: they beat West London rivals Fulham, who they hadn't even scored against since last beating them in the league in 1983. And best of all, they thoroughly deserved it!

Harry Redknapp appears to have finally realised that Bosingwa and Granero are not good enough and don't have enough stomach for the relegation battle ahead and has brought back forgotten men Nedum Onuoha and Alejandro Faurlin from the cold. He also decided to be positive enough to play Mackie and Djibril Cisse up top with Taarabt in his favourite attacking central midfield playmaker role in front of Derry and Faurlin, the classic Championship-winning combination. 

The proactiveness and positive mindset of Redknapp clearly had a galvanising effect on the side, and QPR started the game with a real purpose, freshness and tempo about their play. There was an energy in the passing and closing down that we haven't seen all season and this immediately got the home fans engaged and supportive. Fulham, on the other hand, didn't appear to be expecting any sort of tempo from the home side at all and appeared to have turned up expecting to play a side emotionally drained and bereft of confidence. Jamie Mackie nearly made them pay for their sluggishness when John Arne Riise's casual backpass to Schwarzer was intercepted by some quick thinking by the Scotland striker, but he put the ball agonisingly wide when it seemed easier to score. What was hugely frustrating about this chance was that if the mistake was made by us, you could put your mortgage on every other team in the Premier League clinically punishing us for it. 

QPR were the better side throughout the first half but suffered the same old familiar problem of not finding enough ways to test Schwarzer, who was even brought out early during half time to warm up (I think Jol was taking the piss!). At least in this match we weren't treated to the sideways football of Hughes! Adel Taarabt was looking determined and in the groove, Faurlin was spraying passes around like he always has done when in QPR colours, the play was not so skewed to the right hand side as it has been in recent weeks and Traore was bombing forward which was encouraging to see - the over-reliance on Bosingwa and SWP down the right this year has been completely unnecessary and reaped no rewards. Mbia was finding plenty of room to operate in the middle, Nedum Onuoha looked solid and able to support in attacks where required and, for a change, even the 'mature' central defensive partnership of Hill and Nelsen were not having any problems. Fulham's best chance came from Armand Traore inexplicably letting a pass from Taarabt through his legs to roll all the way back to Green when there were Fulham players in the vicinity. Luckily the goalkeeper was alert but it is this kind of lapse that has changed some of the games we have been involved in this season in the blink of an eye. Apart from this, Green only had one awkward cross to deal with, which he caught rather than flapped at as Cesar would have done in the same situation. Dimitar Berbatov did show glimpses of the class player he is but wasn't given much room to manouevre. A neat flick had the tourists in the away end "whoo"-ing with ecstasy but it didn't lead to anything, and overall his impact on the game was minimal. 

The second half began much as the first had ended, with QPR once again in the ascendancy. Adel Taarabt was being given plenty of room to stretch his legs in his attacking central midfield role even with Steve Sidwell chipping away at his ankles (and those of other QPR players). On one of these occasions, he made a straight run forward at the Fulham defence who parted like the red sea. Taarabt found himself with just Brede Hangeland and Mark Schwarzer in front of him and, in true Taarabt style, shot from way out with what appeared at first to be a fairly poor effort, but had sufficient pace behind it to ricochet off the backtracking Hangeland and completely fool Schwarzer. This was exactly the sort of luck we need and resembled the lucky break we got at Wigan the previous weekend, only this time, we were the side in control and had not looked anywhere near as frail as we did at the back that day. The moment was soured a little by referee Martin Atkinson, who has a long history of poor refereeing decisions when it comes to QPR and football in general (Clint Hill v Bolton away anyone). This time he was determined to make the headlines by booking Taarabt for over celebrating. What really grated me about this was that Taarabt didn't even remove his shirt and if you're a struggling team at the bottom there is bound to be an outpouring of emotion in moments like this. There was absolutely no need for it; yet more rubbish from one of the league's worst officials.

Moments after going into the lead it really really really should have been 2-0. Chris Baird was put under pressure by Ryan Nelsen (caught in the opposition penalty area for the 2nd match in a row!) and the ball fell to the feet of Djibril Cisse, who, instead of providing the simple finish, decided he would try to beat Schwarzer with a curling effort off the ground but it went inches wide. Cisse has got it in him to be an excellent and lethal finisher but for some reason this campaign he has tried to score with the spectacular more often than the simple finishes. Luckily for him though it soon did become 2-0. Taarabt marauded his way through that central midfield area once again and this time, with no defender in front of him and time to think about how he would finish the chance, he produced an astonishing curling effort with the outside of his boot which took the daisies on the ground with it beyond Mark Schwarzer and precisely into the bottom corner. A beautiful finish! 

The 2-0 lead relaxed QPR a bit and whilst the home fans rejoiced, the players took their foot of the gas and stuck to possession football. As he always is against QPR, Steve Sidwell was an annoyance throughout the match. I'm not often ginger-ist and I have many orange headed friends, but he plays football exactly how I'd imagine an annoying strawberry blonde to play - kicking seven shades out of people and getting away with it! In the 76th minute, Martin Atkinson, with extreme pressure from the crowd, finally booked him for what I'd guess was his seventh foul of the match. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not too keen on him...

The last ten minutes was just a little bit too relaxed and QPR became happy to let Fulham have the ball. With three minutes to go, it was the heart-in-mouth time that we have grown so accustomed to over the years as Rangers fans. Mladen Petric, fresh off the tourists' bench, got a run at the QPR defence and a sight at goal and... well, wouldn't you just know it. The shot took a wicked deflection to carry it past Rob Green who was at full stretch. It was a real shame that this had to become such a nervous end to a game we had controlled and Green had been so quiet, but it wouldn't be QPR if it wasn't this way.  The goal seemed to breathe life into both sides, with Fulham suddenly sensing an unlikely shot at an equaliser, but the R's were disturbed from their slumber. In fact, the game's final chance fell to the Hoops, where Armand Traore produced the kind of wonder cross we all know he has in his locker but hardly ever see, Djibril Cisse got excellent contact but it was well anticipated and very well stopped by the Aussie custodian. Fulham regained possession after QPR gave away free kicks in stoppage time but were unable to cause any further damage to the scoreline and the R's held on for a much needed victory that maybe, just maybe, makes things a little bit more interesting down the bottom.

In summary then, this was the best R's performance since at least Tottenham away. A clean sheet would have been nice but this will do. QPR were by and large dominant, determined, fluid and excellent and not the side Fulham were expecting to play.

So, for now at least: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GwjfUFyY6M

Man of the match: When he's interested, engaged, in the groove and that first trick of the game comes off for him, he can be unplayable. Adel Taarabt was terrific in this match and Fulham just could not live with him. 

Groundhog Day at Loftus Road

Match Review: QPR 1-1 Reading

Queens Park Rangers are still winless after this 'must-win' fixture ended in a draw. Time for Hughes to go now surely? I'm beginning to think so...

The message from Mark Hughes at the end of last season was simple and clear: "For as long as I'm here, the club will not be in this situation (a relegation dogfight) again". Very bold at the time but yet fairly convincing when you consider the outlay and calibre of players coming through the revolving door at QPR over the Summer. But football has a nasty habit of making your words come back to haunt you...

Going into this round of fixtures (the 9th game of the season) the Hoops found themselves rooted to the bottom of the league. We've been told not to panic and to start with I admit I bought into the noises coming out of the club and was prepared to be patient. "We haven't had the rub of the green with decisions", "We're dominating games, we've just been unlucky", "We've had a difficult fixture list and played all of the top teams bar Manchester United in those nine games", "We've made several changes to the playing squad and it will take time for the team to click and us to discover our best formation". But surely after this game, the 'must win and will win' game as labelled by the pundits, the game where Anton Ferdinand and Jamie Mackie told us they 'knew what they had to do'; the spin machine which puts the PR in QPR must be running out of lines...

The worst thing about this plight is that much of it seems to be so avoidable - individual defensive errors, lack of discipline and playing one up front at home - I thought we'd cured all those woes last year when we finished the campaign so strongly (well at home at least) and secured our Premier League status. All of the above has returned in recent weeks and it is very alarming. 

"We'll win this week kids, I promise"

Hughes seems to have signed players with lots of experience (which was definitely needed) but what we didn't need were 'has-beens' which push out the bread and butter players because of their reputation alone. On paper these players looked great signings, but as one pundit commented at the time: "this team would have been challenging for top honours five years ago, not sure about now". Players like Djibril Cisse and Ji-Sung Park started their QPR careers so well but have faded somewhat and look lifeless at times in a league where extreme energy levels are demanded no matter what the opposition. And then there are some players whose QPR careers just haven't started at all (Shaun Wright-Phillips). And then there are the 'hot heads'. Mark Hughes seems to have a knack of picking players with highly volatile temperaments, who can go from being calm and composed in one minute to just plain ridiculous the next - Cisse, Diakite, Mbia and probably even Taarabt can be considered amongst that number. Finally, there are those that are just lazy and don't look interested - Bobby Zamora is arguably the worst offender of those and astonishingly (though perhaps unsurprisingly) in the week following this game, he was quoted in an interview as saying that he 'doesn't enjoy' playing football any more and just 'does it because it's a job'. That's not the sort of player any club needs and it is gut-wrenching to think how much money he is earning.

Anyway, on to this game itself. Reading started brightly and clearly came sensing that they would go home with something if their attitude was right on the day. They've already turned over QPR's first team at Loftus Road in the COC this season with a 3-2 victory and the tactics used by McDermott were almost carbon copied here. They pressured QPR and allowed them little space, whilst also identifying crossing from the wings and getting in behind the back line as their best plan of attack. Unbelievably, Hughes didn't seem to re-brief his side after the disastrous performance, individual and tactical errors against the Royals in that cup match, and Rangers were undone yet again by the man they let go - Kaspars Gorkss. Having already been unmarked for a header early on, he again was given the freedom of the penalty area he once defended for  Rangers and this time even had so much time to show the home crowd something we didn't know he had in his locker - an excellent volley which flew past Cesar, who couldn't possibly have foreseen it. From what I have seen of Gorkss so far this season (not just against QPR), he has been quite impressive defensively in a struggling side and Reading use his aerial prowess to ruffle the feathers of many teams when attacking set pieces. I really regret that we let him go in favour of keeping Fitz Hall and signing Anton Ferdinand last season and just wonder how many of our goals he could have prevented this year if he had played rather than Scooby Doo or Madman Mbia. 

Hughes and his coaching staff also clearly didn't do any homework on Reading's only real danger man from open play - Jobi McAnuff. His tricky wing play has caused plenty of problems this year and he was the shining light in their recent match against Liverpool. I just can't understand how we allowed him so much space to operate in the first half. Part of the reason he had so much space though was the decision to persevere with Jose Bosingwa, who has not looked like a player that has won the Champions League twice at all since pulling on the Hoops jersey for the first time. I'm starting to wonder whether Chelsea have set us up with the guy. But with Nedum Onuoha equally inept, and Luke Young not named in the 25 man squad, what choice do we have?

Rangers did their usual 'response in kind' after the goal had gone in and were unlucky not to level through Esteban Granero's stunning free-kick which Alex McCarthy, a keeper in the form of his life at the moment, somehow tipped it onto the bar. You just sensed at that moment that the crowd knew it wouldn't be QPR's day.

So 0-1 it was at a thoroughly depressed Loftus Road at half time in cold and wet conditions. Hoilett was toilet and the recalled Jamie Mackie, brought into the side after looking lively and dangerous against Arsenal at the Emirates a week before, was completely anonymous (still, better him than SWP). The real concern is that Reading were not and are not even good. If we can't beat a team whose best player is top end Championship standard at best, and with Jimmy Kebe and Pavel Pogrebnyak (two of their other best players) on the bench, then what hope have we got for the rest of the season that lies ahead? We were even making Mikele Leigertwood look good!!! This was soul destroying. 

The second half was better from Rangers and as we've come to expect, they dominated possession, played nice football and created some chances which were wasted, with Taarabt the particularly guilty party. The Moroccan has definitely looked better under Hughes in the Premier League than he did under Warnock but continues to entertain and frustrate in equal measure. He just had to finish a one-on-one with McCarthy which he had in this half. But he didn't.

When the equaliser did arrive, it did so out of nothing. The ball ricocheted its way to Djibril Cisse, whose initial heavy touch looked to have taken the chance away from him, but he then adjusted himself very well to poke the ball beyond Alex McCarthy for 1-1. For a few moments, the crowd were back with the home side and there was belief. How nice it would have been to see Hughes make a positive attacking change to the formation or personnel with the wind in our sails and the crowd in full voice. No chance of that, and after this brief excitement the game returned to being evenly fought in midfield.

Eventually, with ten minutes to go, Bobby Zamora (who should have started but presumably wasn't in the mood) was introduced and he made a difference, up against the lofty Gorkss and Morrison centre half pairing who had had no trouble dealing with QPR aerially all afternoon up until this point. 'Bobby Zee' really should have buried one in the closing stages when a rare counter attack culminated in a rare fantastic delivery from Djibril Cisse, but he failed to connect properly with the ball and despite bundling it goal-bound there was not enough contact on it to take it pass the grateful McCarthy who was disappointingly even able to catch it.

The Biscuitmen attempted to snatch all three points late on with the introduction of Adam Le Fondre, but in the five or so minutes that he was on the pitch he only embarrassed himself with a terrible dive which saw him rightly booked by referee Michael Oliver.

In conclusion, this was Groundhog Day at Loftus Road: same shit, different week, apart from the small milestone of there being no QPR bookings(!) A draw was a fair result because neither side really did enough to win the game, in what was a low quality affair which threatened to entertain towards the end of the second half when both sides went for it. A draw, of course, is no use to either side though.

Since this report, another Groundhog Day (the away version) has occurred at Stoke, whereby yet again one defensive lapse (shocking marking by Rangers saw three men gather around Crouch and leave Adam all alone at the back post), a lack of attacking threat or poor decision making (Taarabt attempting a chip when placement into the bottom corner was all that was required) have proved our downfall. On the road the script tends to be that in spite of having some (albeit limited) chances we have lost by the odd goal. That doesn't bode well, especially as our next two away games are at Manchester United and Sunderland, traditionally unhappy hunting grounds for the R's.

"What the hell am I doing playing here every week?"

Southampton picked up a point against Swansea to send us back to the foot of the table (they lifted us off it with their inferior goal difference on Monday night) and they are the next side to visit Loftus Road. So next week really really is your last chance, Sparky. Win or bust.

Man of the match: I don't really think anyone really covered themselves in glory in Hoops in this game. Samba Diakite still looks a cut above the others though, and showed once more that if he can keep his discipline, he is a fine central midfielder. He continues to keep the much loved Alejandro Faurlin out of the team with his performances of late and will continue to do so whilst Hughes persists with the same formation. The question is: Can we find another way to use Faurlin? He's clearly one of our most talented players who is obviously hating being on the bench but the Granero-Diakite combination is the one positive so far. 4-1-3-2 anyone?

C

A minute of madness

Match Review: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

Onlookers will see the scoreline and think this was a routine Tottenham home win and an equally routine abject QPR away performance. Those who were at the game will know the true story. For QPR fans it was an absolute travesty to come away with nothing. And it all boiled down to one mad second half minute...

QPR went into this one with long odds against their name and a patched up team with no less than four defensive absentees (Traore, Fabio, Ferdinand and Mbia). Four became five just three minutes in to the game when Jose Bosingwa felt his hamstring go and immediately signalled to the bench to be taken off. Emergency wing back Kieron Dyer was thrust into action, himself a man made of glass. However, what was to follow was a remarkable performance from Dyer and the rest of the patched up Rangers side.

Anton Ferdinand was sitting amongst the travelling support

The R's had started brightly and were pushing the ball around the makeshift side nicely. Hoilett, starting in an unfamiliar striker's role alongside Zamora, seemed to adapt well to the short passing game and possession football was the order of the day. Granero and Faurlin picked up where they left off against Chelsea and sprayed the ball all over the park all game - yet again they appeared a classy combination. It did look as though the defence was vulnerable to the trickery of Bale and pace of Lennon and Walker down the Spurs right hand side. But Rangers dominated possession with neat play which meant Bale et al were given a taste of their own medicine for a change and were left chasing Rangers shadows. Even when the R's did lose the ball, they were very effective at winning it back again through the once again outstanding Ji-Sung Park and Granero. The attacking mentality instilled by Hughes was a joy to watch given how hopeless QPR have been on the road for the last season (and in many gone by). A further plus for the R's was the quality of Granero's delivery from corners - for years now QPR have suffered from Adel Taarabt's bizarre corner routines but now we really do look a threat from them. This all gave Brad Friedel plenty of work to do and his first half performance was a stylish retort to the suggestions made by a certain Monsieur Barthez during the week that he didn't deserve to be first choice at the club and should immediately have been displaced by the incoming Lloris. However Friedel couldn't keep out Bobby Zamora in the 33rd minute, who scored with a fine finish after clever play from Faurlin.

After the goal, there was more of the same from the away side and the home fans grew in frustration in a half in which they were totally outplayed, and where Cesar did not have a save to make. Spurs' best chance fell to Dembele who hit a shot high and wide from range. Spurs did have the ball in the net but that was about thirty seconds after play had been stopped due to Defoe being offside (Rangers caught him off three times in the first half). I'm sure that not playing to the whistle earned a certain Robin Van Persie a second yellow in the Nou Camp in a Champions League game once upon a time, and since that day I don't think I've seen a single player receive a card for committing that offence. Where's the consistency?!

This was without doubt the best away performance I've seen for QPR since they played Ipswich in a midweek game at Portman Road in the promotion winning campaign. White Hart Lane was a library and Spurs were there for the taking. The only regret was that for all the Hoops' endeavours it was only 1-0...

Tottenham emerged after the break with a tactical substitution from AVB, with Gylfi Sigurdsson withdrawn to make way for Steven Caulker to both shore up the defence and allow Bale and Walker to push further forward and force the issue. It was clear straight away that Clint Hill was vulnerable to the pace of the Tottenham attack (particularly Lennon and Defoe) and the second half wasn't going to be as easy a ride as the first. However, QPR still continued to dominate possession and looked as though they could continue to cause the Spurs defence problems themselves. But then, on 59 minutes, disaster. A harmless looking corner had been partially cleared and then pinged back into the box. The ball was met inexplicably by a defending Alejandro Faurlin who put through his own net to gift Spurs a foothold in the game.

This visibly lifted the crowd and Spurs players and, with their tails up, they immediately pressed for a second goal. And somehow, within a minute of the own goal, QPR's game plan was in tatters as Spurs carved the defence open and scored a second, with Defoe driving home a rebound from a shot which Cesar had brilliantly tipped on to the bar. It was gut-wrenching.

QPR were forced to open up as they went in search of an equaliser which left them short at the back when Tottenham countered, but Cesar was solid and kept them in the game. Zamora soon tired and Hughes should have taken him off earlier than he did. However, his replacement, Djibril Cisse, looked off the pace and out of form when he entered the fray, perhaps an explanation as to why Hoilett was preferred to him for a starting position. At this stage Hoilett and Wright Phillips' play was diminishing in quality and Hoilett took far too much time over a one on one situation with Friedel which allowed a defender to get back and steal the ball from him just as he was about to pull the trigger. This was to be the best chance for an equaliser and in spite of the fact that the R's continued to make all the running in the game and dominate possession, they couldn't create any further clear cut chances before full time.

The result leaves us languishing in 19th spot in the Premier League with just two points from five games. The moral of the story? If you don't score when you're on top in a game, you'll get punished. And that is especially true against the top sides (and Tottenham). QPR have got to start turning performances into points. And that ought to start at home to West Ham on Monday night, in what is now a hugely important game for us.

Man of the match: Yet again I find myself spoilt for choice with candidates, but this week I definitely will award the coveted accolade to Ji-Sung Park, who has been everything QPR fans hoped he would be since joining the club and whose tireless work rate and outstanding ability are a pleasure to watch. An excellent choice for captain by Hughes, too, I must add.