QPR Analysis QPR Ratings

Good morning.

It was a combination of things. After the intensity and focus of Thursday’s performance invoked the Tottingham malaise of not quite being at the races for their next game. QPR pressed and pressed. The first half and indeed good spells of the second were miserable.

A key issue we have is that the physical absences of Modric and Rafa have been filled but the overall creative footballing IQ of the group has dropped.

Now this is in part to players still finding their way.  But right now we aren’t as mentally dangerous as we were. Or at least we weren’t yesterday. Now, fortunately we have a manager with a tactical brain of immense human dimensions, but the plan that I and many others thought was good turned out to be …less than good.

Bale at left back didn’t work. Not only was his heart not in it, but it left us beyond uninspired up front. And of the entire 90 minutes Bale’s charge alongside Jan Vertongen and the subsequent goal was not only the only highlight of the afternoon but what is really damning is that it is was a one off. Bale eventually moved up to play as an inverted winger and it was here when playing from deep he and Vertonghen showed the benefit of players with pace having space to in which to exploit it.

Admittedly this isn’t a classic example to make the point I appreciate, as it was a break. But Bale in a position that is too forward negates his pace as he has nothing approaching the space in which to fly and really cause havoc. I think his worry is that he was turning into a one trick pony who every time he got the ball he went haring up the wing.

If his season continues like this the only positive that will come out of it will be that January’s back pages won’t be carrying any ‘Barca Set To Swoop’ tales.When I wrote that Ego Has Landed piece it wasn’t well received. Weeks later fans at games were singing ‘He plays on the left’.

Bale is drifting into the realm of the mediocre and he needs to find a compromise that works for Tottenham somewhere between his Ronaldo ‘vision’ and being an outstanding footballer in the Lilywhite. Right now, he’s being indulged. So there, I told you so.

The boss switched to a 442 or as near as dammit in the second half and this made the onslaught from QPR ‘less worse’.

The league table says we won and took all 3 points but the table doesn’t say how fragile we were and how much possession QPR who aren’t the world’s greatest were allowed. Manchester United up next in the premiership and we won’t buck the losing habit of a lifetime playing like that. It was confused and unconvincing out there yesterday and a really talented outfit would have kicked our heads in. 

He kept us in the game. He stopped them from winning. 

If he wasn’t a footballer he’d open up a gym called ‘Love Muscles’ that would shut down within a year. Or start a fight in a Chick King demanding to order a pizza. Thick as paint. 

Yes he gave the ball away, yes he was off his game. Playing with Kyle would leave most people sucking their thumb in the fetal position, with a facial tick. So he did quite well to stay on the pitch.

I’m a fan. Very, very happy to see him out there. More please.

Forget the big boys coming in for Bale. Jan’s the man who will be getting all the press attention come the new year and it will be genuine. Eridivisie player of the year and looking good enough to walk into any top flight European first eleven.

It’s early doors but we urgently need to find this guy a specific role. Right now we have a talented bloke who seems to spend most of his time doing a good impression of a dog chasing cars. This was QPR and he wasn’t quite up to the task.

Beast-like. Given that fact that he was doing the job of at least three people it’s little surprise he looked knackered come the end. He was outstanding.

  Suffering from being frequently hemmed in, but he didn’t help himself. He needs to move. make space and have in his head, ‘what would I do if I got the ball know?’ Too frequently the ball came to him and he seemed to start weighing up his options from scratch.

Lennon flattered to deceive. Lots of huff and puff but bantam weight on achievement. Needs to find the confidence to start taking shots on goal, especially when cutting in, he also needs to do this and make his passes at least a yard sooner. You can hear every fan in the world shouting ‘hit it!’ then there’s a 2 second delay and he does it.

  Sort it out.

A bit nothingy.

He scored. Elsewhere he contributed zip.

The good news was that he changed the system and by the skin of our teeth we took the points. I’m really worried that players like Walker and Bale are saying, ‘yeah boss, 100% boss’ and then going out there and doing whatever the hell they feel like. When Benny returns he needs to shuffle the back four and bench Kyle.

You were booing again weren’t you? Those that boo their own should be evicted by a squad of heavy mob stewards. If the price of admission is weighing so heavy then refund these arrogant dogs.

Nor do I want to hear that ‘others were doing it and they just sort of joined in.’ Funny, that’s what a lot of people said about National Socialism in the 1940’s. Booing at half time and clapping at full time. If I was playing I’d tell you to stick your full time cheers up your bottoms. You’re not fans, you’re idiots. How do you go in the Home stands when you sound like the blokes in the Away end?