QPR 0 – 0 Man City – PLAYER RATINGS
30 Jan
Hart - Made one vital save from Taarabt in the first half from a rare QPR attack but was otherwise untroubled as City controlled possession - 6.5
Zabaleta – Went ever so close to breaking the deadlock when his header crashed against the bar, but failed to offer a consistent threat down the right. We desperately craved width and quality last night but whilst Zabaleta was sound defensively, he didn’t quite bring that spark in attack - 6
Garcia – Slotted in alongside Lescott at the back and looked assured. Wasn’t tested a great deal but produced one terrific block to deny Taarabt late in the game. Could have injected more tempo into his passing as we looked ponderous with the ball in defence - 6
Lescott – The senior defender with so many absent at the moment and he was a calm and composed head at the back. Strong in the air and made a number of clearances - 6
Clichy – His usual bundle of energy but was troubled more than he often is down the left. Struggled to provide a decent cross into the box and didn’t have the positive effect he normally brings - 6
Barry – Without Garcia alongside him, he was forced to sit that bit deeper throughout the match and although he did OK in protecting the defence, he needed more intensity to his passing. Neat enough but without too much purpose - 6
Milner - Moved into his favoured central midfield position but didn’t have the impact he would have desired. Tried too many long, crossfield passes bearing in mind the conditions and lacked that thrust when joining attacks - 6
Nasri - A complete passenger. It’s not that he did anything wrong, it’s just that he did nothing. And for someone of his incontestable ability, that’s lamentable. All too often in games of this sort, he’s on the fringes, passively involved but never taking initiative - 4
Silva – His form over the past couple of months has been terrific but he wasn’t anywhere near his best last night, stifled by QPR’s ten men behind the ball who limited the space in which he operated. Tried his hardest but couldn’t find that defence-splitting pass - 6
Tévez - Not his finest evening’s work. As we expect from him, there was plenty of energy but he looks drained of confidence when in possession. Going through one of those spells where he doesn’t look like scoring - 5
Aguero - Our brightest attacking outlet, someone willing to drop deep and try to run at, and commit, QPR’s defenders. It didn’t always pay off but he had that passion and hunger others seemed to lack. Snatched at one effort late on - 6.5
Subs
Dzeko – Introduced early in the second half and gave us the option to hoof the ball long, one which we were all too eager to exploit. Sadly, Dzeko was beaten in the air regularly by QPR’s centre-backs and he only looked a threat when drifting out wide to the left - 6
Rodwell – A couple of neat touches in midfield but we needed dynamism from the centre, a presence bursting forward and he’s just not that type of player - 6
Sinclair – In a game that was crying out for pace and a threat out wide, it was baffling it took Mancini so long to introduce Sinclair. The manager clearly doesn’t trust the winger to change games but we saw what impact the former Swansea man had. Prepared to attack his man, he nearly won a penalty and looked lively. Deserves longer than five minutes to make an impression - No time to mark
Im not one to be too pedantic over marks but im not sure the decription of Lescott matches up with 6. Other than that cant argue too much, I felt Sinclair made a difference when he came on and can only say in hind sight that maybe he should have come on earlier.
Overall I dont think we played as bad as some others make out, with the same performance and a 1-0 victory which i think we were worthy of, all these marks would be 1 higher.
Quoting BB:
Overall I dont think we played as bad as some others make out, with the same performance and a 1-0 victory which i think we were worthy of, all these marks would be 1 higher. (Ends)
I agree.
In writing what follows I am not being critical in a negative way, VfaB calls it as he sees it and I don’t disagree over much with anything he has scribed either here or on the ‘Thoughts’ page. What I would point out is that we were playing with a makeshift CH pairing and a DMF which is not the managers preferred pairing by some way.
So two forced changes, why should that matter? Let’s start with the comments re Zaba;
Quoting VfaB – We desperately craved width and quality last night but whilst Zabaleta was sound defensively, he didn’t quite bring that spark in attack – 6 (ends)
He was playing RB to a CH who is a DMF in real life, so how do we think that changed his game? Do we think the Manager might have instructed him in a different manner than when he plays alongside Vince or Kolo?
Quoting VfaB – [Garcia] Could have injected more tempo into his passing as we looked ponderous with the ball in defence – 6 (ends)
So we should expect the makeshift CH to dictate the tempo? I thought Garcia had an exceptional game in the circumstances and gained my nod for MoM
Quoting VfaB – Without Garcia alongside him, he [Barry] was forced to sit that bit deeper throughout the match – 6 (ends)
Yes he was, and despite the fans who big up James Milner for a midfield Yaya role, this speaks volumes. I like and admire Jimmy for his professional diligence and wholehearted commitment, but he doesn’t do the sort of job that Garcia or Rodwell are equipped to do much better in DMF. Neither does he doesn’t give us the passing game of Yaya or the attacking threat through the middle. What he does well is what he has done for the last few games, playing on the right of an attacking three including Tevez and Silva. The following quote from VfaB says it all:
Milner – Moved into his favoured central midfield position but didn’t have the impact he would have desired. Tried too many long, crossfield passes bearing in mind the conditions and lacked that thrust when joining attacks – 6 (ends)
Absolutely, he so desperately wants to play that role and hasn’t the right skillset for it.
What should our expectations be from a player who is coming back from injury after injury as has Rodwell? Well I’d hazard a guess that you won’t get dynamism. He is a player in the Barry mold and either he or Garcia may well be the inheritor of the incomparable Gareth’s position in a season or so if they lift their game to his consistently high level.
Finally, our problem is really evident to all. We defend very well these days, we have an excellent range of midfield players and some superb creativity. There are 3 strikers that any PL club would be glad to have but we are failing to convert the many, many chances. Avergae sides have worked us out, they come with little ambition other than to sit, to frustrate, to cancel out, keep a clean sheet and maybe grab a goal. We can’t mock them, sometimes it works, after all Sibneft FC won became European Champions doing the self same thing.
Hopefully this will change, someone like RvP would probably have changed it, it must frustrate the socks of Roberto!
Disagree about Milner. Still think he’s a great passer and CM is his best position. Two games with some poor balls isn’t gonna change my opinion
I agree about Nasri, I am really disappointed with most of his performances. I don’t see what he brings to the table. Garcia is a man transformed, after his first few games I thought we had bought a dud. He is and will be a great asset to the team. Finally It doesn’t look like we are doing any business in this window, I can understand why, but in my opinion we are crying out for another striker someone like Benteke. Whilst Mario helped win the title last year especially in the assist for the vital goal, I fear his antics may cost us this season.