The positive thread

[maidstone_hoop]

I thought faurlin looked ok..

Wouldn't say poor but just a average player for this league which in fairness is what the whole squad looks like right now. We look like a team that's good enough to stay up but won't won't really push on a over 12th-14th.

[ArthurQPR_NYC]

Faurlin bossed the midfield? Is that some sort of joke?? Diame would have dominated playing with one leg

mate, what game were you watching? faurlin played an excellent game today. held up a lot of the ball, alleviating a lot of the embarassing hoof-it-way-up-the-field play we play now, made good smart passes, and often.

sometimes "fans" just love having a go at everything at the club. #burnItAllDown

[Rebel R's]

We aren't in the relagation zone yet

[acricketer]

We'll have a strong squad when we go down and a manager who has experience of that league.

[Fordy]

mate, what game were you watching? faurlin played an excellent game today. held up a lot of the ball, alleviating a lot of the embarassing hoof-it-way-up-the-field play we play now, made good smart passes, and often.

sometimes "fans" just love having a go at everything at the club. #burnItAllDown

I thought Faurlin played average, never ever bossed the midfield though. He was blowing out of his ####.

[Alanwycombe]

Unfortunately, I have not been able to play football at any level on account of having a severe medical condition limiting my stamina and ability to run for such a long period of time. Instead, I've spent a lot of my life studying the intricacies of the sport, understanding what the players go through and what they are supposed to do, hence my belief of Ned doing what he is supposed to.

Next, if you think full backs are taught to defend first any more, you are in for a shock. In fact, most full backs are just wingers who either can't shoot, or who can run for 90 minutes at full speed. Full backs are attacking players these days, the position demands it. These days, squads have 3 hyper defensive players in the middle in the form of 2 cb's and a cdm, 4 moderately defensive players in the form of two centre mids and two full backs, but ultimately their main aim is to push the ball up field. So no, full backs are not coached to defend first. They are coached in attacking initially and the defending really comes down to experience. There is a huge level of trust in football. Ned closes down and makes the decision to push his man as far out as possible, to make the cross, which he can't block easier to deal with. The winger is not going to cross it into a position where Onuoha could consider getting a touch on it. So Onuoha's best bet of stopping a goal would be to force him into a bad crossing position in terms of location and balance, something he did well. For me, the cross was not a danger at all. It was aimed into an easy position to deal with. Onuoha has to trust those around him to deal with it, something they could not do unfortunately.

Finally, I posted stats showing that he did have a good game in general. My consensus on the two goals, as I said many times now, was based on my experience at the game and numerous replays I've seen at home.

Problem with stats Nas is they reflect quantity not quality. So what if someone plays 70 passes - were they any good? A shot at goal which is a poor effort is still a shot at goal. When Tom Carroll was here he'd run across the back four, pick it up and play it back three times then run off and hide so, statistically, he'd had x% possession, played 3 passes and got precisely nowhere.

[nasser95]

Problem with stats Nas is they reflect quantity not quality. So what if someone plays 70 passes - were they any good? A shot at goal which is a poor effort is still a shot at goal. When Tom Carroll was here he'd run across the back four, pick it up and play it back three times then run off and hide so, statistically, he'd had x% possession, played 3 passes and got precisely nowhere.

Well no, but I understand that if you don't look at stats you won't respect the quality of players like Tom Carroll, which far too many people don't. People suggest that players like him or Faurlin can be passengers to games when in fact, they are the pilots. They force the ball to move and force the opposition to move.
Here's something for you to know, when a player makes a pass, the opposition move to cover. This means that at least 1 player is now out of position. Think about it, every single pass played forces one player out of their designated position, because no team in the world (least of all in the Championship) is organised like that, or intelligent enough to maintain their shape. So even a back pass, a sideways pass, a simple two or three yard pass is vital in breaking down teams. So every single pass and move that faurlin plays is vital in opening up space for players ahead of him.
So the suggestion that anyone who spends a lot of time playing the ball back is making no progress is ludicrous and unfounded. What they are doing is opening more space for themselves when they are under pressure, or opening new gaps when they see movement from the opposition. So yes, the majority of those 70 passes were good, because they created space, as all passes do. Secondly, for someone to hold onto the ball for almost 9 minutes of play is a scarily impressive amount of time. But again, if you don't see the point in backwards passes, you probably won't see the point in opening up and holding the ball. Just the basics of him holding the ball, as our most talented ball player, he can generally get the ball away to players easily. If other players are closing him down, it creates new space which attacking players can take advantage of. So you hold onto the ball until you feel that enough space has been opened up that you can release the ball into it and start an attack. That is what Ale is always looking to do. That is why stats can reflect quality and quantity. Obviously, as I said, if you don't think Tom Carroll is an intelligent footballer and just wants to look good to the numbers people, you probably would think stats are irrelevant most of the time.

[QPR Richard]

Nas, stats don't give you the full picture like your eyes do. What's more important, a player who can make 50 sideways passes per game in his own half, or someone who makes 3 defence-splitting passes? The stats will tell you the former is more successful, but the latter creates more goal-scoring opportunities.

[West Acton]

Nas, stats don't give you the full picture like your eyes do. What's more important, a player who can make 50 sideways passes per game in his own half, or someone who makes 3 defence-splitting passes? The stats will tell you the former is more successful, but the latter creates more goal-scoring opportunities.

Exactly. For me Faurlin has dropped into the bracket of plays alot of safe nothing passes so he keeps the ball but how many of the passes are forward positive ones which create opportunities?? And that's part of the problem with the current team.

So much chatter about lack of creativity but is that not supposed to be Faurlins job in the team???? Accept not his alone and others need to contribute but in the middle of park he should be dictating tempo of our play and controling our gameplay but he don't

Loved by Rangers for what he's done in the past I get that but sentiment aside Is he pulling his weight??

Faurlin probably deserves thread of his own

[James1979]

Exactly. For me Faurlin has dropped into the bracket of plays alot of safe nothing passes so he keeps the ball but how many of the passes are forward positive ones which create opportunities?? And that's part of the problem with current team.

So much chatter about lack of creativity but is that not supposed to be Faurlin job in the team???? Accept not his alone and others need to contribute but in the middle of part he should be dictating tempo of our play and control our gameplay but he don't

Loved by Rangers for what he's done in the past I get that but sentiment aside I'd he pulling his weight??

Faurlin probably deserves thread of his own

Completely agree with all of this. He's normally the better of our 2 central midfielders but we are really poor in this area. I thought our midfield was overpowered and I don't recall Faurlin playing a pass that influenced the game positively.

[MYU]

Nail on head West, we need to work on getting the ball forwards quickly and take a shot. Most of the time we wait and lose the ball, shoot and you never know?

Ali, he's only just come back himself from an injury, he needs a bit more time to get that sharpness back.

The only problem is we no longer have this luxury of time.

[maidstone_hoop]

Nas, stats don't give you the full picture like your eyes do. What's more important, a player who can make 50 sideways passes per game in his own half, or someone who makes 3 defence-splitting passes? The stats will tell you the former is more successful, but the latter creates more goal-scoring opportunities.

[maidstone_hoop]

I think faurlins been poorly managed.

He's been one of our better players since coming back and when next to Sandro they look pretty decent. Yesterday's performance was one of a player who's played to much over the last few weeks imo.

The injuries he's suffered and the period of time he was out will take their toll at times.

Bad game yesterday 100% but still one of our strongest players and will come back stronger.

[Jimmy Floyd Rabbit]

Stats stats stats

If JFH won his first game then resigned would he be QPR's most successful manager then, as he'd STATISTICALLY be our most successful manager with a 100% win ratio?!!!

Stats mean fuuuuuuk all. Your eyes & brain will give you the answers you need. Poxy fuuukin stats yawn

[MYU]

I'll give him a chance to bring in his own players.