20/21 Matchday Thread

[That Fat Centre Half]

We have been way off the pace tonight against qpr, essentially one way traffic and qpr more than deserve the lead. Disappointing thing is the goal has come from a set piece which we are usually very good on. Pretty much no redeeming features of that half from our perspective.

 

[BelizeHatter]

My fav player Glen Rea makes more passes each week to the opponents than to a team mate. Hes rapidly becoming a liability

 

[Kenneth E End]

I dislike QPR just slightly less than the Golden Shower. Lets get at them. Very attack minded lineup.

I actually thought we setup pretty well. And the first 10 mins was ok, but since then it’s one way traffic. We stick Rea in at CB again so we only have two midfielders in effect.

The goal we conceded is appalling. Zonal marking a corner; three defenders go forward, Charlie Austin goes back and gets a free header. Shock horror, we lose our best defender and they go and attack that left flank...

The ingredients are there, but the tactics are awful the moment.

 

[oakroader]

What the fuck is lua lua still doing on the pitch???

 

[oakroader]

Triple substitution,about fucking time!!!
Been woefully bad...

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

As bad as we have been all season, should have been an absolute pasting tonight.

Looked defensivley sloppy all night, Rea was miles off the pace in particular, and going forward not a single iota of any quality amongst them. Even when gifted a 1 v 1 we managed to blast it miles off target, horrific performance.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Inexplicable tactics in this game from Jones. He hasn’t got much wrong since he came back, but this is a total screw up.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Inexplicable tactics in this game from Jones. He hasn’t got much wrong since he came back, but this is a total screw up.

Tactics havent been great, especially second half where I think he's just trying to make something work, i thought it was a decent move at the time to match up 352 half way through the first half as the starting shape wasnt working, but we just lost individual battles all over. He could have got the tactics spot on and it wouldnt have made a blind bit of difference IMO. Rea in particular has had as bad a game ive seen tonight.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Tactics havent been great, especially second half where I think he's just trying to make something work, i thought it was a decent move at the time to match up 352 half way through the first half as the starting shape wasnt working, but we just lost individual battles all over. He could have got the tactics spot on and it wouldnt have made a blind bit of difference IMO. Rea in particular has had as bad a game ive seen tonight.

Rea has been bad for a while now. But there is no way we had 5 midfielders in the first half... or if there were, they were wearing invisibility cloaks.

Got to say, my heads gone after that tonight...

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Rea has been bad for a while now. But there is no way we had 5 midfielders in the first half... or if there were, they were wearing invisibility cloaks.

Yeah you are right there, I think the intention was probably 352 to match what they were doing, but we ended up getting a more 523 as the wing backs got pushed back, LuaLua got lost in the shape and made us light in midfield. Just a shitty performance all around.

 

[Kenneth E End]

And then KLL ends up at LB? Wtf? What message does that send to Dan Potts... not an undeserved one I might add. Some of the tactical decisions today I’m at a total loss.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

And then KLL ends up at LB? Wtf? What message does that send to Dan Potts... not an undeserved one I might add. Some of the tactical decisions today I’m at a total loss.

Potts i am not a fan of, he was clearly not up to the level last season and hence why RND was recruited so going into the second half of the season with him starting at fullback isnt a great option for me. Clear to me we need to re-inforce that area and NJ seemed to be onboard with that in his interview after the game. Easier said than done on our budget though.

Yeah second half I think NJ lost his way and got muddled with everything. First change I got it, the rest of the second half was just a muddle and only using the subs very late made little sense. I remember Graeme Jones got a slating for putting LuaLua at wing back against Bristol City last season so an interesting comparison there!

A little bit worried this might signify a backslide down the table for us. Our next set of fixtures look tough (Bournemouth, Brentford, Blackburn all away). Got a nagging doubt we might be this years Charlton or Hull and just fall off after a solid first half of the season.

 

[Super_horns]

Losing a couple of players surely wouldn't help?

I know you have to be prepared but were they expected to go...

 

[SF_]

All going well, i'd hope we line up as follows against Bristol City on Saturday.

Iversen
Fisher, Huntington, Davies, Hughes
Whiteman, Molumby
Barkhuizen, Browne, Sinclair
Maguire/ Riis
​

Assuming Doncaster's claims about Whiteman's self isolation were bollocks.

 

[thewwfc]

we've now been hit by COVID in the squad so have called off Saturday's game v QPR.

 

[Millerbri]

we've now been hit by COVID in the squad so have called off Saturday's game v QPR.

I don't get the rules on this.
We were told to play Barnsley or face a fine and possible points deduction.

It's time to call a halt to the season, players lives are being risked.

 

[Super_horns]

Must be a certain number as we have had players missing for games but no games called off .

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Tough ask for us tomorrow at Bournemouth, would absolutely take a repeat of the game a few weeks ago which ended 0-0 if offered right now - unless there is drastic improvement from midweek then I cant see a path to us getting a win.

Wouldnt mind seeing a few changes, Rea had a shocker midweek and with NJs comments on Morrell today - that he is in direct competition with Rea and the reason he hasnt played is because Rea has been performing - if he doesnt make an appearance tomorrow you have to question whether NJ simply doesnt fancy him.

Not sure if he would be ready but would be tempted to get Naismith straight in there at left wing - we arent getting enough from the players who are playing in those wide areas regularly enough, leaving KDH as our only creator of note at times. A fresh face there would be welcomed IMO.

 

[Atavistic]

Playing Cardiff today for the second meeting in around a month or so, so it will be interesting to see if they've worked out how to better approach playing against us after we easily beat them last time. At the very least, I imagine they'll try to bully Cantwell and Buendia a lot more than they did last time.

With Quintilla and Mumba both now also self-isolating with covid (alongside Krul and Idah), I assume we'll be seeing Sorensen back at left back again, which is a slight shame as I was very impressed with his performance in the middle of the park against Coventry in the cup last weekend.

A good opportunity for another win here, but we can't afford to get complacent and need to watch out for the set-piece threat again. I'm at least more confident in Barden controlling those situations in his box than I was about McGovern.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Tough ask for us tomorrow at Bournemouth, would absolutely take a repeat of the game a few weeks ago which ended 0-0 if offered right now - unless there is drastic improvement from midweek then I cant see a path to us getting a win.

Wouldnt mind seeing a few changes, Rea had a shocker midweek and with NJs comments on Morrell today - that he is in direct competition with Rea and the reason he hasnt played is because Rea has been performing - if he doesnt make an appearance tomorrow you have to question whether NJ simply doesnt fancy him.

Not sure if he would be ready but would be tempted to get Naismith straight in there at left wing - we arent getting enough from the players who are playing in those wide areas regularly enough, leaving KDH as our only creator of note at times. A fresh face there would be welcomed IMO.

Rea has been pretty poor all season to be honest. The odd game he's done well but very much the exception to the rule. To say to Morrell who has consistently got minutes for Wales and will be going to the Euros in the summer, you're not going to be good enough to get in ahead of him, is a bit of a joke. I would like to see Joe be a bit more combative, which he certainly has in him.

On another point, I don't understand why the diamond has been dumped by Jones. The 4-3-3 doesn't really work that well I think.

For some reason our bosses in recent years have never thrown in a player straight away - look at Charlie Austin on Tuesday. QPR's best player by a mile.

We actually played really well against Bournemouth in December - I thought we more than deserved a victory.

I'd go for the following:
GK Simon Sluga
RWB James Bree
LWB Kal Naismith
CB Sonny Bradley
CB Tom Lockyer
DM Joe Morrell
CM Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu
CM Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
RF Harry Cornick
LF George Moncur
CF James Collins
Subs: James Shea, Dan Potts, Luke Berry, Danny Hylton, Elliot Lee, Glen Rea, Jordan Clark, Peter Kioso, Kazenga LuaLua

 

[Atavistic]

Pukki absent from today's squad with a side strain, so Hugill starts up front with Omotoye deputising on the bench. As expected, Sorensen is back in at left back, while Vrancic is again in the number 10 role with Cantwell and Buendia alongside him on the two wings.

Down to just seven on the bench, but two of our options to bring on are the pace of Placheta and Hernandez, two very nice weapons to have available. Pleasantly surprised to also see Dowell back again after he picked up a knock fairly recently; he wasn't supposed to be back in the squad today, as far as I'm aware.

Being without Pukki is definitely a blow (hopefully that's just a short-term injury), but otherwise fairly pleased with that XI and we should be aiming for another three points here.

 

[chicowintry]

I don’t see that XI scoring tbh. Hugill is not Pukki and not sure he fits in that team. Best hope is keeping the game tight then pray Placheta/Hernandez perform when called upon - they’re more likely to put in balls Hugill can attack than any one starting.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Rea has been pretty poor all season to be honest. The odd game he's done well but very much the exception to the rule. To say to Morrell who has consistently got minutes for Wales and will be going to the Euros in the summer, you're not going to be good enough to get in ahead of him, is a bit of a joke. I would like to see Joe be a bit more combative, which he certainly has in him.

On another point, I don't understand why the diamond has been dumped by Jones. The 4-3-3 doesn't really work that well I think.

For some reason our bosses in recent years have never thrown in a player straight away - look at Charlie Austin on Tuesday. QPR's best player by a mile.

We actually played really well against Bournemouth in December - I thought we more than deserved a victory.

I'd go for the following:
GK Simon Sluga
RWB James Bree
LWB Kal Naismith
CB Sonny Bradley
CB Tom Lockyer
DM Joe Morrell
CM Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu
CM Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
RF Harry Cornick
LF George Moncur
CF James Collins
Subs: James Shea, Dan Potts, Luke Berry, Danny Hylton, Elliot Lee, Glen Rea, Jordan Clark, Peter Kioso, Kazenga LuaLua

It might be the diamond today looking at it unless Pelly is playing wide?

Only change to the team from midweek being Berry for Lua Lua is a head scratcher for me. Would have liked to have seen Moncur back in to give us some more threat. No kioso even on the bench is also strange given we recalled him.

Rea not being dropped is just a bit mad to me after his performance mid week. Maybe he thinks it’s not a Morrell game and prefers Rea as Morrell isn’t exactly the most combative like you say but im beginning to question why he was signed that being the case as he doesn’t seem to fit us and how we play right now. We aren’t going to be a ball dominant team and I’m not sure he is the right type of midfield player for a team who plays a lot of the game without the ball.

 

[Kenneth E End]

After a very abject display on Tuesday, Luton make just the one change with LuaLua going out and Berry coming in. Somehow Rea and Potts retain their places.

 

[Kenneth E End]

It might be the diamond today looking at it unless Pelly is playing wide?

Only change to the team from midweek being Berry for Lua Lua is a head scratcher for me. Would have liked to have seen Moncur back in to give us some more threat.

Rea not being dropped is just a bit mad to me after his performance mid week. Maybe he thinks it’s not a Morrell game and prefers Rea as Morrell isn’t exactly the most combative like you say but im beginning to question why he was signed that being the case as he doesn’t seem to fit us and how we play right now. We aren’t going to be a ball dominant team and I’m not sure he is the right type of midfield player for a team who plays a lot of the game without the ball.

Morrell is very combative normally. He is a 10 yellow card a season man. He should've been sent off for Wales during the last international break.

I agree, this could be at least a flat 4-4-2 or a diamond.

 

[oakroader]

grahame jones,stacey,carter-vickers... cmon town...stick it to em!!!

 

[oakroader]

lua lua has got to put in 90 mins...not just a cameo performance

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Morrell is very combative normally. He is a 10 yellow card a season man. He should've been sent off for Wales during the last international break.

I agree, this could be at least a flat 4-4-2 or a diamond.

I know what you mean about yellows but was more talking about combative in the way Rea cuts passing lanes, makes interceptions, does a physical screening job and snaps about the midfield (when he is playing well). He isnt excatly that sort of DM - or at least from what ive seen so far. Out of the possession ive noticed him be pretty anonymous in his few appearances.

 

[oakroader]

cant remember having the sort of captain that inspires the team and fans since nicholls??

 

[oakroader]

isnt this a home game for you sumo?....