So I think I know why QPR are sh*t
 |
It's bloody frustrating being an Rs fan. Anyone who has seen Four Year Plan knows just how difficult it was for QPR to get to the Prem. And although we were relegated in two seasons we somehow managed to find our way back to the big time last May in an enthralling, and hugely stressful encounter against the unfortunate Derby County.
Yet despite two promotions, QPR have never really got going in the Premier League. And what is more frustrating, is that Rs fans have been forced to watch Southampton, Swansea, Crystal Palace, West Ham among others, all win promotion and consolidate themselves in the top flight, despite having for the most part spent less money.
A managerial change this season has done little to change fortunes but I think I am starting to work out why QPR have been so poor this term. At just 100m x 65.85m, Loftus Road has comfortably the smallest playing area in the Premier League.
Another theme of Rangers' disappointing season has been the contrast between home comforts and away fortunes. Just three of Rangers' nineteen points in the Premier League have come on the road, or to put it another way, one win in fourteen attempts, a record which is quite frankly abysmal. Contrast with our record at home and this isn't quite so bad, positioning Rangers 13th in the league and ahead of all of their relegation rivals.
|
|
It would be easy to flatter ourselves and posit that Rangers' world class home support is the determining criterion for this rather odd situation but I reckon that there is a more profound link between the Loftus Road pitch and our oscillating form. Anyone who knows anything about football will tell you that the key to winning football matches is controlling the spaces. That means you want to make the pitch as big as possible when you have possession, so as to stretch the opposition and create space; and as small as possible when out of possession, pressing as a unit so that the opposition are suffocated in possession and the ball is won back as quickly as possible.
Consider Loftus Road then, where the small pitch makes finding tight spaces extremely difficult at the best of times. This was most prevalent in October when Brendan Rodgers' free-flowing Liverpool side were simply unable to get going against a hard-working Rangers side and it was only through us gifting the Reds two sloppy own goals that they were able to go back to Merseyside with the three points.
 |
| Gutted - a late Steven Caulker own goal gave a poor Liverpool side a 3-2 win over QPR last October |
In my years supporting the Rs I cannot say I've ever seen us play what I consider to be good football. And this season has been especially poor in my opinion, with only Burnley and Manchester United averaging more long balls than us per match. At home, this often works, where teams who have tried to play a progressive game have been found wanting by the Rs quick, combination of counter-attacking wide-play and the effective utility of underrated front-man Bobby Zamora, whose intelligent hold-up play has been crucial in enabling the Rs to retain possession high-up the pitch without necessarily passing the ball well.
 |
| OOOOH BOBBY ZAMOOOORRRA - since his Wembley goal last May, the target-man has put in a string of impressive performances |
But this has consequences away from home too. It's not the case that QPR are actually a long-ball team. Indeed, at times this season the Rs have gone on the road and look like they quite simply have no plan at all. Sometimes we try to play passing football, but due to a lack of rhythm and discomfort at trying to play a style they don't use at home games, the Rs often lose possession quickly and in dangerous areas. When they try to play more direct, they discover quickly that something which works on a small pitch, where Zamora and leading-scorer Charlie Austin are able to get support from the midfield quickly, does not work away from home when these two frequently find themselves isolated.
Off the ball, the problems continue. At home games we often get away with not pressing effectively because the pitch is so small that space is already hard to create for opposition players. But away from home the lack of preparation is clear for all to see. One of the most important principles of pressing is that it must be done in unison, and that is not something which happens over night - rather this needs to be harnessed over time both in training and in matches. QPR at present have little incentive to do this, because they think that provided in home games their pressing style works, this should seamlessly translate to away games. But quite clearly, in all three of QPR's recent Premier League seasons, this simply isn't working, and the spaces between the lines are at times embarrassing.
So there you have it. It's the middle of March but I think I've finally cracked the mystery which seems to have evaded both the departed Harry Redknapp and the incumbent Chris Ramsey. It's the bloody pitch!
