OB1 said:
You can see in the prematch thread the team that I would have picked and it was today's but with Zab and Milner in for Sagna and Navas. However, I also said there that the side picked should have been able to beat that QPR and it should have been but it obviously required players to perform at the right sort of level but too many were too far off their best. So it was not good enough and I agree that we lacked some real leadership but I don't think Navas and Sagna were our big problems today.
I wasn't really around pre-match, but sounds like your team would have been mine.
I still think the line up tonight was piss poor, with a break to come Zab should play because Vinny is out.
Nasri should never play in front Clichy, Navas ditto Sagna.
I wouldn't play Sagna, as I think he's poor defensively, and offers nothing further forward.
We knew a battle was likely, so who would you pick in a battle Nasri or Milner ?
QPR have been playing 10 behind the ball, virtually every game, yet tonight have been on the attack, why ? Because they knew that through our middle we are soft, even with an extra player there, when Mangala, and Fernando are so far short of ready for the PL especially in difficult games away from home.
I'm not singling out any of those players for a slagging, just pointing out that all of them collectively are weak at the moment, and when missing 2 of our key players in Kompany and Silva, we need stronger minds all across the pitch.
Poor management tonight for me, easy for me to say in hindsight, but as soon as I saw the line up at 5:25pm I was very worried we'd get beat, the positive I'll take is that we did manage to get the point, thanks to Joe, the referee, Yaya and Sergio.