QPR boss Mark Hughes is under-pressure after his sides poor start to the season
QPR suffered another Premier League defeat last night as they went down 2-1 at home to London rivals West Ham at Loftus Road.
Their first half display will have concerned boss Mark Hughes and their fans. They were truly awful in the first period of the game.
Awful
The Hoops first half display just had no inspiration, fight or rhythm. I wouldn’t say West Ham did anything spectacular in the first period. However, they did fight for every ball and did the simple things right.
QPR on the other hand were careless with the ball and produced very little in the first half. It took Mark Hughes to give them a rollicking at half-time to get them to even try and play.
Mercurial
They didn’t really get back into the game until the introduction of the mercurial Adel Taarabt. Often brilliant, often invisible Taarabt is a big enigma.
The Moroccan international struck a fantastic effort about 70 seconds after he came off the bench. He also looked to create things and Rangers looked far more of a threat to the West Ham backline when Taarabt was on the pitch.
Taarabt may be infuriatingly inconsistent but he is the sort of player a team needs sometimes to act as an inspiration. The former-Spurs player has struggled to gain a regular first team place under Mark Hughes, but I think he now deserves a chance to start in the Hoops next game.
Strangers
QPR brought in 12 new players this summer. It’s only six games into the season and they will need time to gel as a team. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any signs of that happening at the moment.
The only one of Rangers new signings that impressed me last night was midfielder Esteban Granero. That’s not really a surprise considering he came from Spanish goliaths Real Madrid. Goalkeeper Julio Cesar might have done better with the second Hammers goal, but apart from that looked decent enough.
Former-Manchester United player Park Ji-Sung just never got into the match at all. He’s a very experienced player and I’m sure his form will pick up. From what I’ve heard about the lad he isn’t vocal enough to be the captain though.
The South Korean international will have more influence on the team in the future, but sometimes players struggle to find their best form in a team looking for an identity.
Liability
QPR brought Mali midfielder Samba Diakite off the bench with Taarabt. However, he was dismissed for two bookable offences, after less than 20 minutes on the pitch. Whenever I have seen the midfielder play he seems a liability to his team, although he seems to have all the attributes to be a really good midfield player.
He is still only 23, but is far to rash in the tackle. If he learns to be less reckless in his tackling then he could be a big asset to his team, but last night he may have cost his team a point.
Pressure
QPR boss Mark Hughes is now under-pressure. I read a ridiculous article this morning that claimed that Mark Hughes had spent close to £200million this summer. Hughes may not have spent that much this summer, but he has been backed by his board.
Hughes now looks to have his work cut out to turn this group of individuals into a team. The Welshman has always produced decent teams, but he has never struck me as a boss from the top tier and that’s starting to show at QPR.
Struggle
QPR are in for a season of struggle if they carry on playing like they did last night. At the end of last season QPR boss Mark Hughes claimed that his side would never be in the same position under him (in a relegation battle).
Unfortunately for Hughes Rangers are playing even worse than last season. If performances don’t improve I very much doubt that Hughes will be in charge at Loftus Road for much longer.
QPR are currently playing like a group of individuals and not a team. That doesn’t say much about their boss’s managerial skills. I have feeling that QPR fans could be in for a very long season.
Will QPR be the shock team to be relegated this season?
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
