QPR 1:0 Charlton Athletic
I am really pleased. We’re continuing to make progress and developing a steel and resilience that will stand us in good stead for next season and we’ll need it.
But let’s not beat around the bush. It wasn’t a fantastic spectacle and the game lacked any sort of real rhythm and flow. That was because of the way Charlton played and more their doing than ours! We can learn many lessons from their performance, which I thought was fascinating for many different reasons.
I was surprised at the naivety of their tactics and I couldn’t stop thinking about it during the match. They played as if they were facing a Premiership team and they did that at The Valley earlier in the season against us too. I’ve also seen them a couple of times on television and it’s a simple case of them not adapting to the brand of football needed to get out of the Championship.
They’ve certainly got the player’s, so what were they doing wrong? The main issue was their decision not to press the play. They didn’t close down at all. Not in units or packs. Not in dribs or drabs. Not even any individuals. Nothing.
They allowed our defensive unit to have the ball and play and they got punished for that. How many times did you see Martin Rowlands go and pick up the ball from our defenders and control the game from there with such ease? How often have you seen Lee Camp able to just roll the ball out to any defender and for them to have so much time on the ball?
You know, it wasn’t because Charlton were scared or nervous either and it’s easy to assume there was tension there, because they needed to win. It was because they were playing with a style suited to Premiership football. They gave us far too much time and respect and we took advantage.
It’s easy to get confused by this. On one hand, such an approach is reminiscent of a struggling team at the foot of the table. We saw it earlier this season when Scunthorpe came to Loftus Road, stuck one man up top and packed the midfield. Everybody then was working hard behind the ball to lessen the space. Here however, Charlton were playing with a 4-4-2 and set out their stall as if they were a weaker Premiership team facing superior opposition.
At Premiership level, the defenders are much much better on the ball than in the Championship, so sometimes pressing them is inadvertently dangerous. It can lead to angles and space opening up and it only takes one quality player to do serious damage… hence, the caution not to over commit and ensure you keep good shape.
They did that, but the problem is, Championship football is a lot more direct. As a result, playing that way made their backline look nervous and jittery. If that happens and you allow the other team to have the ball and pile on the pressure with direct balls over the top, you’re eventually going to come unstuck.
It becomes a lottery. The result hinges on moments of either sheer brilliance, skill, a mistake or brute honesty in 50-50 challenges. Ours was a combination of a mistake and brute honesty, because we struggled to penetrate or really get behind them because of the way they stayed in shape and didn’t gamble.
At this level, certain strikers can make use of their physical presence to bully defences and we saw that in this game. Dexter Blackstock looked like he had the beating of Paddy McCarthy every time and once or twice before our goal, McCarthy was unsettled by Blackstock’s pressure. In the end, Dexter out hustled him and deservedly scored with a cool and composed finish.
The writing was on the wall for Charlton. They made it easy for us, lacked any fight or bite throughout their team and were unable to adapt their style. If we had a fit Akos Buzsaky orchestrating things with the time and space they allowed our players, or a powerful Patrick Agyemang up top, this may well have been a much more damaging performance.
As for us, well, we didn’t create too many clear cut opportunities, but neither did we ever look like we would concede. Lee Camp barely had a shot to save and the defence put in a solid shift to ensure we took the three points.
There wasn’t any one outstanding performance from anybody but there were a lot of very good ones out there or pleasing aspects to certain player’s games.
Gavin Mahon wasn’t brilliant, but not only did he get in plenty of good recovery tackles, he got in loads of headers too! The amount of defensive headers he made, including little steals around the corner of player’s because he read the bounce better, or clearances from corners, was simply sensational. He really led by example in that sense.
Damien Delaney was nice and solid as usual. He took quite a heavy bang near the end and was carrying a knock but he just got on with it. I like that about him. He just does the job and does it well. Matthew Connolly showed good versatility and a little bit of leadership out there once Fitz Hall went off injured.
I’m annoyed about Fitz. Why are the club continuing to risk his groin? I just don’t get it. Let’s get him fighting fit for next season because if he develops a chronic problem we’ll be cursing ourselves because it was avoidable.
Damion Stewart played really well. Some people wouldn’t have noticed him because usually he comes to your attention when he’s made a mistake, but he was a tower of strength in this game and that’s not easy when you’re up against a strong nippy forward like Leroy Lita. I felt sorry for Lita though because the service he got all day was dire, though I think he’s also not great technically and that meant he couldn’t fashion out a piece of brilliance for himself either.
Funnily Charlton did a bit better once they brought on Chris Iwelumo for Andy Gray. He was able to win a couple of headers and the ball dropped in more dangerous positions, but we dealt with them well enough.
Hogan Ephraim lacked a little bit of end product throughout the match, but he still got plenty of good touches of the ball and showed some nice footwork. Gareth Ainsworth put in an improved shift from his cameo against Preston and Rowlands played well again in the middle.
I was pleased Angelo Balanta got a full 90 minutes. He inevitably tired and presumably that’s why he moved wide left towards the end, but it will have been a superb experience. He showed some lovely little touches and technique, and expressed good vision on the counter attack when he broke from a corner and fed in Ainsworth with a sweeping cross field pass.
Last but not least, Dexter. I’m just so pleased for him. He deserved his goal and he took it very well. He’s still not there yet but sometimes you must understand that you’ve just got to play, play, play and get it out of your system. He’s doing that and I feel he’s over the worst of it and he can be very pleased with his return rate over the past couple of weeks. Luigi De Canio needs to work on a few things with him over the summer, mainly his first touch and his timing and technique when going for headers from ball that are pumped up to him from the back, but there’s no reason he can’t improve.
As for Charlton, sadly Matt Holland’s performance summed it up for them. I’ve always liked Matt, but he let himself and his team down. In the 67th minute he gave away a free-kick in the centre of the pitch and let the ball run out of play.
I was astounded he decided not to retrieve the ball and his lack of urgency was amazing. It’s his job to inspire his team-mates, but he didn’t have the belief that they could find a way and that carried through to the rest of his team. There will be big changes there in the summer, but, something tells me we may have already derailed their promotion hopes next season too.
