Roy Wegerle puts QPR 1-0 up at Anfield before Ian Rush and a John Barnes penalty secures Liverpool's 18th league title
Anyone remember this goal from Wegerle: YouTube
QPR - Bottom of the League
QPR are bottom of the league with 25 points, 3 behind Reading. Under the stewardship of Hughes, QPR won 4 points in 12 games with Redknapp winning 21 points in 25 games. However, if the league 'began' from the time Redknapp took over, QPR would still be in the relegation zone at 2nd last, just 2pts ahead of Reading. The other team in the relegation zone if the league started in November - that's Fulham with West Ham only just outside on goal difference.
When Redknapp came in at the start, he did some good work with the defence. Following the 3-0 defeat by Liverpool, they kept 4 clean sheets in the next 5 games. They kept a clean sheet at Stamford Bridge when they beat Chelsea and then got 0-0 draws against Spurs and Man City whilst also drawing 0-0 with Norwich and a 1-1 draw with West Ham. Given the lack of goals at either end and games running out to pick up points, they really began to open up when they signed Townsend & Remy. In the next 6 games, they won 2 and lost 4 scoring 10 and conceding 14 with 2 of those games being 3-2 defeats to Villa and Fulham.
Style of Play
Given the type of players that QPR, its not surprising that QPR are very much a counter-attacking team. Their back-line lacks any sort of pace and therefore plays relatively deep, which, combined with their general approach usually sees the better teams dominate possession. When they win it back, their focus is less on ball-retention and more on finding their attack minded players which is where their strenght is in the team. However, in general play, they like to bring their full-backs into play alot. In the 3 of the 4 graphics/games below, the player that touched the ball most was the full back (Bosingwa twice and Traore once), in the other game vs Arsenal, Ben Haim at right back was 2nd only to Jenas. In that game, Ben Haim & Townsend saw alot of the ball down the right. This is largely borne out in the stats;
- Below average possession away from home (43.3%),
- Relatively high ratio of shots-to-possession showing that low possession doesn't hinder their efforts in the final third. However, they are not very clinical with the 4th lowest amount of goals on the road and lowest amount of goals overall this season in the league,
- Caught offside the 2nd most in away games which is reflective of how Remy & Zamora like to play on the shoulder of defences looking for quick, 1st time passes,
- They have the 3rd highest amount of dribbles per game away from home with Townsend, Taarabt and Hoillett leading this stat for QPR unsurprisingly.
Team selection
There has been no consistency to QPR's team selection or tactics in recent weeks as they tried everything to avoid the drop. The only consistent players to figure over the recent 8 games are; Hill (8), Mbia (7), Jenas (7), Remy (8), Bosingwa (7), Townsend (7)
Green
Bosingwa [Samba/Onouha] Hill Traore
Mbia Jenas
Townsend Taarabt Hoillet
Remy
Below are examples of changes in tactical set-up over recent weeks
Above vs Arsenal - lost 1-0 at home
QPR in Stats
QPR have scored the fewest goals in the Premier League with just 30 from 37 games. They have also failed to score in 15 games this season, joint most with (surprisingly) Swansea and (not so surprisingly) Stoke.
Away from home against the Top 10 teams, QPR's record is W1 D1 L7.
They have the unenviable record of having the longest run without a win in the league which ultimately cost Mark Hughes his job when they drew 7 and lost 9 of their first 16 games. Their first win came on 15th December when they beat Fulham 2-1. Their next win was the surprise of the seaosn, winning 0-1 at Stamford Bridge in January.
Going 16 games without a win is the worst run in the league by a team since the 2007/08 season. That year, Derby County beat Newcastle 1-0 in September and failed to win another game all season. They went 32 games without a win and were relegated with 11pts - W1 D8 L29.
Liverpool
If Liverpool avoid defeat they will be unbeaten in 8 league games and match the run we went on earlier in the season. That run comprised off 3 wins and 5 draws. This run is similar as the last 7 games have been 3 wins and 4 draws. If we win, it will also be our best points return from an 8 game spell by returning 16pts from a possible 24. Essentially, 2 from every 3.
Our form has improved since the turn of the year given the players & management have a better understanding of what is expected combined with the addition of some new players that have integrated fairly well. For the optimists, if this form is extrapolated over a season, it would yield 76pts. However, only 1 of those 8 games was against a Top 4 team (Chelsea at home). However, we did yield 14pts from an 8 game spell that took in Utd, Arsenal and City all away from home. Extrapolating that form over a season would see us yield 67pts which would push us close to the Champions League spots based on the points total of this seasons 4th place team.
For this game, Liverpool are likely to dominate possession, however, perhaps not to the extent as we would if Gerrard was available. At the back, QPR have been plagued by individual mistakes and bad decision making. When Sturridge plays upfront, his tendancy to drift wide usually sees him pick the right. This could work well against QPR as it would pitch him up against Clint Hill and the space between him and Traore which is possibly weaker than the channel between Bosingwa and Onouha/Samba. With Coutinho coming from a central/left-of-central position, Sturridge could play on Hill's shoulder. Given Coutinho's eye for a pass and Hill's lack of pace, there is scope to play in Sturridge - though the natural mitigant for QPR is to drop deep. By playing on Hill's shoulder, it could see him drop deeper a yard deeper than the back line and cause the defence a problem in trying to keep a cohesive backline.
If we are looking to employ a different kind of formation, a 4-2-2-2 set up similar to what the likes of Brazil, Man City and PSG have employed at times over recent years might be interesting.
Ahead of the back four would be Lucas and Henderson in central midfield. Ahead of them would be Coutinho (left) and Suso (right). They'd never be touchline wide, yet never central, rather operating in the inside channels. They are 2 players that have the potential to be on the same wavelenght and looking to thread through attacking passes. Its the kind of supply that Sturridge would love and the type of play that QPR will not enjoy defending against.
The front pairing would be Borini and Sturridge with Borini given licence to float a bit more and even come deep at times with Sturridge staying central. This would be similar to how Aguero or Tevez play off Dzeko or how Lavezzi plays off Ibrahimovic.
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