Rams vs QPR

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Originally Posted by MadAmster

.... yet he had, IMO, his best game of the season so far.

At what cost though?

Starting with the Red Dogs game, the 1-3-4-3 seemed to be going somewhere positive. Then Rooney comes back into the equation following his CV-19 episode. In that formation, he would have to displace Knight, Shinnie or Waghorn. None of those 3 deserved dropping. The case for benching Rooney was made easier by having Jozwiak back in the fold. The no brainer solution was to play our best XI fit players in the role that suits them and the team best.

But no, we go 1-4-4-2 to accomodate Rooney. Rooney has his best game of the season. Some decent passes and forced a save by their keeper 1st half and hit the post with a cracking volley 2nd half. However, he is not strong enough in the tackle and he hit a lot of poor and/or wayward passes. Honesty demands I point out that he was not the only one guilty of poor passing last night. In fact the entire XI had a "bad day at the office" on that score.

Other than to make room for Rooney, I can't think of a reason, never mind a good one, for changing a system that looked like it was a way forward. He had his best game of the season but the formation change to get him in the side skewed the balance in the team and that was the major reason for yesterday's non-performance.

Where was Buchanan last night? Not even on the bench. In his two videos pre game with Owen Bradley and the Press Conference he said there were no new injury issues. Why did one of our best players of late not even make the bench if he's not injured? Unbelievable Jeff.

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No idea why we switched from 3-4-3 to 4-4-2, maybe it was to improve our chances of getting a shot on goal? if so it didn't work.

Not convinced its Rooney thats at fault here, but whatever we are dropping like a stone and its a good job we didn't start with a 12 pt deduction!!

Maybe it was to prove a point to someone swales?

The formation does seem to give us a problem whatever it is. Maybe its a question of the personnel expected to perform in the chosen formation that is the problem. Seem to have no self confidence, keep making stupid mistakes and have the attitude that cannot risk anything so lets pass sideways and back rather than risk taking a chance on a more creative option. The pressure to keep ones place in the starting XI may underlie this as Cocu is becoming the new Tinkerman

Anyway, another change of lineup awaits at the weekend. I think we should go for a revolutionary 2-4-4-1

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Originally Posted by Geoff Parkstone

The formation does seem to give us a problem whatever it is. Maybe its a question of the personnel expected to perform in the chosen formation that is the problem. Seem to have no self confidence, keep making stupid mistakes and have the attitude that cannot risk anything so lets pass sideways and back rather than risk taking a chance on a more creative option. The pressure to keep ones place in the starting XI may underlie this as Cocu is becoming the new Tinkerman

Anyway, another change of lineup awaits at the weekend. I think we should go for a revolutionary 2-4-4-1

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2 Keepers?

I think 1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1, no more sideway passing.

2 keepers will mean that they can pass sideways to each other inside the area for 95 minutes and hang on for a 0-0 draw, unless one of them mi****s and gives the opposition the lead.

mi****s = mis-hits

The "players".

Marshall - outside of his long ball clearances he did what he was supposed to
Byrne - listen, you are allowed to go down the outside. Cutting inside is NOT compulsory. How he doesn't get loads of free kicks against him is a mystery. He ALWAYS has hold of his opponent's arm. Free kick every time that doesn't get given.
Davies - sound-ish but lost his man for their goal. Still a liability in possession
Clarke - decent enough but below his usual standards
Forsyth - passes astray, crosses poor and was way too far away from his man for their goal. The bloke had 5 minutes to look and pick his spot for the cross...... both Fozzy and Byrne need to remember that stopping crosses is one of the major jobs they should perform.
Lawro - a few nice moves but looke disinterested at times
Knight - adequate but not to his levels of late
Shinnie - idem ditto
Jozwiak - needs more protection by refs. How the QPR player didn't get booked for that 8 second log shirt pull is a total mystery. Suffering somewhat from not having an outlet.
Waghorn - put in a shift but that's about it
Rooney - his best individual performance of the season but I can't help thinking that it was to the detriment of the team. We move from the 1-3-4-3 of late that was starting to look promising and go 1-4-4-2 in order to be able to shoehorn Rooney into the starting XI. Not a good idea. and the new shape saw the rest perform below the levels they have shown in the last 3 or 4 games. If everybody is fit he should be on the bench and be used as an impact sub IMO.

The ref. Poor. That pull on Joz's shirt only led to a "word" with the offender. A few more QPR players should have been carded as well IMO.

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Originally Posted by AdiSalisbury

2 Keepers?

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Novel idea Adi but only one of them may be nominated to be allowed to handle the ball in the area.

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Originally Posted by MadAmster

The "players".

Marshall - outside of his long ball clearances he did what he was supposed to
Byrne - listen, you are allowed to go down the outside. Cutting inside is NOT compulsory. How he doesn't get loads of free kicks against him is a mystery. He ALWAYS has hold of his opponent's arm. Free kick every time that doesn't get given.
Davies - sound-ish but lost his man for their goal. Still a liability in possession
Clarke - decent enough but below his usual standards
Forsyth - passes astray, crosses poor and was way too far away from his man for their goal. The bloke had 5 minutes to look and pick his spot for the cross...... both Fozzy and Byrne need to remember that stopping crosses is one of the major jobs they should perform.
Lawro - a few nice moves but looke disinterested at times
Knight - adequate but not to his levels of late
Shinnie - idem ditto
Jozwiak - needs more protection by refs. How the QPR player didn't get booked for that 8 second log shirt pull is a total mystery. Suffering somewhat from not having an outlet.
Waghorn - put in a shift but that's about it
Rooney - his best individual performance of the season but I can't help thinking that it was to the detriment of the team. We move from the 1-3-4-3 of late that was starting to look promising and go 1-4-4-2 in order to be able to shoehorn Rooney into the starting XI. Not a good idea. and the new shape saw the rest perform below the levels they have shown in the last 3 or 4 games. If everybody is fit he should be on the bench and be used as an impact sub IMO.

The ref. Poor. That pull on Joz's shirt only led to a "word" with the offender. A few more QPR players should have been carded as well IMO.

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Maybe they were confused as Cocu uses 1-3-4-3 when they only understand 3-43 or 4-4-2? Just a thought!

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Originally Posted by swaledale

Maybe they were confused as Cocu uses 1-3-4-3 when they only understand 3-43 or 4-4-2? Just a thought!

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Have we got a squad big enough to play that formation?