Reply With QuoteUnited – After some terrific performances of late; we were not at it today. We missed Fleck and changed things round a bit and it did not quite work. It happens. Not going to pan the manager or team. How can I? We are still in a great position and go again Saturday.
Our passing, link play and general patterns of football were off. They did press and harry us but we still gave it away so much tonight. QPR won a lot of the loose balls and turned us round often
They put our defenders under pressure by making them turn the other way. This is something they have not been used to. When we did have it we were too slow to move it and the ball rarely stuck up to with only Clarke a threat all game in this sense.
The players who came in did not really do it but even solid players who are regulars made so many mistakes. We met a side who played very direct and went 3 up top and had a go at us. They could have scored 3 or 4 first half but we missed 2 bad ones too.
Second half I felt we would improve and we had a lot of the ball but cannot recall too many clear chances save for a weak Sharp effort, an offside goal and a speculative Brooks shot. We got into some decent positions but we never got enough crosses in of quality and the final ball was poor.
They got men behind the ball and we looked a bit bereft of ideas. We looked to Brooks and Duffy but even those two were often too far from goal to make anything happen. We did not make their keeper make a save of note all night except a couple of weak efforts from Clarke and Sharp. They actually had far more efforts all game and probably looked more like scoring again than we did of levelling. It sort of petered out in the end and we had no real shaped or pattern as they did enough to break up play and get bodies in the way.
We were not really helped by an awful referee who gave us nothing all night. An assistant who could not wait to get his flag u for offside but missed the ball going out by a yard twice.
Still to blame officials would be wrong. We met a team who actually got the better of us tactically and even outworked us at times. We could not say we deserved anything really sadly. We now have a few injuries and one potential long term one in Blackman. We have to regroup and get back to standards of previous games. Tonight showed when he changes the side there is a drop off and we need to go back to the same side (Moore apart) that got us getting such good results. Fleck, Duffy and Sharp were badly missed and even though those two came on we were chasing the game.
QPR – Had two tremendous results this week after a very ordinary start to the season. Not far off the bottom places last year and I feared with the debts/players lost; they might get sucked into a relegation scrap. However, Holloway has managed to get those two big results and get them into the top half. Today they played well. They were committed and matched our energy but also looked a goal threat. They were direct and played a lot of balls down the channels and over the top but it worked.
They defended well too and I felt they saw us off quite comfortably in the end. They may have expected a tougher game.
Holloway has been about a bit but QPR seems to be his club. He seems well suited to them and after a few years of lavish spending and some time in the top flight; is probably the right man for their current predicament. They have wasted a lot of money in recent years and are still trying to recover from this. Although most of the big earners have now finally gone; they now have a squad that is a bit of a mish mash of experience, some young players and a few talents who could keep improving like Luongo, Bidwell, Freeman and Washington.
I expect them to finish around middle of the table but you never know. Holloway has shown his motivational skills before and it really is a wide open division. Could as likely be top 6 as bottom 6.
Opposition man of the match – They all worked hard. Freeman and Luongo controlled midfield for large parts. Washington and Sylla were threats but I think the former Blade Baptiste was outstanding. He did not put a foot wrong all game.
Opposition weak link – No one really. They all worked hard and many won their individual battles which has been rare for United this season. Maybe the lad Scowen for his ridiculous reaction to Brooks push. Shameful playacting trying to get the United man sent off. It was farcical.
Originally Posted by Deadbat_DB
UTCB
