QPR 2:1 Colchester United
Two marvellous goals from Akos Buzsaky secured a much needed three points in an action packed Christmas period.
I keep going on and on about Rowan Vine, and guess what, I’m going to go on and on again! He was outstanding in the first half and showed his versatility and intelligence, producing a performance that massively exceeded anything Scott Sinclair had achieved in his entire loan spell with the club.
Vine picked up some superb positions just inside of the left wing and terrorised the Colchester backline with his ability to pick up the ball and run at them. That wasn’t all though, because not only did he put in some great crosses and passes, he also worked backwards and was excellent for the most part defensively. He made one bad back pass in the second half in our penalty box, of which he yelled at someone else for but the reality is they’re not smart enough to play that cleverly and Rowan needs to keep that in mind for some of them.
As for Akos, wow, what a superb brace! He looked lively from the start and as if he was really up for the game as did one or two others. I was pleased to see him pressing players and closing them down high up the pitch, but he did tire in the second half, as did many of the players. It’s not surprising given the hectic Christmas schedule but we need to make sure we’re making use of the squad properly and making intelligent substitutions. That of course is hard to do when you need the points.
I still think Buzsaky’s got a lot more in him in terms of fitness and up until now he’s either been great or lukewarm in games. I hope it’s not a consistency issue and just a case of sharpness, but time will tell and perhaps it’s a little of both.
Adam Bolder had a mixed game. Me and Sam both felt that he was rushing himself too much in the first half and that’s something we’ve noticed of him in recent games this season. In the second period he played better though, particularly when we went down to 10 men, which I thought were his best moments throughout the match. He covered well and took care of some situations that could have been dangerous for us.
I wasn’t too pleased with Bob Malcolm’s or Chris Barker’s performances. Malcolm’s distribution on the day was really poor and he cost us possession several times with badly placed passes when it was actually easier for us to hold onto the ball. I also got the feeling that there was an instruction to give him extra protection and Gareth Ainsworth often was nearby to help him out. Perhaps this was the reason Ainsworth was so deep, especially in the second half.
Barker on the other hand just doesn’t look comfortable out there. For some reason, one or twice, he just seemed to stare at what was happening around him without actually getting involved or doing anything. His reaction or lack of reaction to certain situations scares me and I always feel like I know when he’s going to struggle in the air or on the deck. You can just sense it in his body language by the way he stands or angles his body when challenging.
I didn’t think Zesh Rehman was at fault for Colchester’s goal. He slipped, but the ball actually bounced of Bolder’s knee which caused the problem. It was a little dozy and unfortunate, but those kind of things can happen and you just have to try and make sure you do everything possible so that it doesn’t or that you react quick enough to recover.
Rehman on the whole had another decent game, although I think his main problem is he’s still finding the level of concentration and sharpness required. He reads the game fairly well but his execution when meeting the ball is still a little bit mistimed.
What I mean by saying that is sometimes he’s making a challenge before the actual challenge has taken place or the ball has reached him. So, occasionally he’s already on the floor and sliding before the ball or man is near enough, which often means he does meet the ball but can’t get the distance or a proper clean connection on his tackle and clearance.
He did that once or twice in this game and has done it once or twice in other games too. There was also an instance where he cleared a cross well for a corner. He actually performed the clearance long before the ball reached him and had he just taken a little more composure, he could have controlled the ball and waltzed out of the box and cleared it up field. Still, he’s building some momentum and I’m really pleased to see that because he’s had a rough time from us as fans.
Mikele Leigertwood had one of his quieter performances, but I think that’s down to playing with another player alongside him in the middle. Bolder seems to cramp his space and now that we’ve got Akos as the main attacking threat, Leigertwood seems a little more reserved as a result, perhaps under instruction to be as well. I also think that he may be feeling the effects of the busy schedule because he’s covered some distance across the pitch in a lot of these matches.
Dexter Blackstock isn’t quite there yet, but I think he realises that himself. He just needs a goal to boost him and take him to the next level. His work-rate needs to improve a little bit and he’s got to make sure he doesn’t start feeling sorry for himself if he doesn’t get the ball where he wants it. He’s good enough to make things happen for himself, but as he’s been in and out of the side for much of the season he’s also got to just get minutes under his belt to build up his rhythm. Lovely pass to assist Buzsaky’s second though.
As for the second half on the whole, after we went 2-0 up we made life a little bit difficult for ourselves. They scored a goal which we gifted them, but we were ragged anyway and we lost our shape up the top end of the pitch more than anywhere else. Buzsaky and Ainsworth were the main culprits, as they often got confused who should close down who or left the man to have time on the ball to deliver.
There may have been some method to that madness though, because we looked like we were trying to block crosses coming in from the wide areas and allowing them to pump from a more central position. I’ve said all along this season that we’re terrible defensively from wide crosses but we deal with them relatively well when they’re straight on. Maybe that was part of the plan, but if it was, we didn’t look like we were being too smart about how we went about it.
The result though was the most important thing and I’m delighted we got through this one. I’d have been just as happy had we played terribly and scraped an undeserved win, and although Lee Camp had to make an outstanding save, we did deserve the points in the end regardless.
Oh and one final thing before I go, what an achievement by Teddy Sheringham to wrack up 900 appearances. I was probably one of the few to applaud him as he went off because he did get away with a naughty kick on Bob Malcolm, but overall the guy is still a class footballer and he showed that on the day with the way he trapped the ball and played delicate little passes to feet.
