The “Harry Redknapp” factor will probably loom large in this game. In terms of motivation, he will probably be telling his players that they are every bit as good as any player on the Liverpool team. We can expect QPR to be very-well motivated to play with pace and movement. The thing that might go in our favour is how BR deals with the Stoke game, psychologically – does he tear the players a new arse in preparation for the QPR game and gave them chomping at the bit to prove to everyone that they weren’t as bad as they might have looked at the Britannia? Or will he let the players work it out for themselves and hope that they turn up to work hard against QPR? This factor alone might be more important than any tactical planning involved in the game itself.
QPR’s System – What we know about Redknapp’s teams is that he likes them to get the ball down and play. This might feed into our hands as we are capable of playing, even by default, against opposition who want to pass the ball. Against direct or counter-attacking teams, though, we have problems. I don’t think that QPR will sit and look to hit us on the break. They’ll try to play football against us, and take the game to us as much on their terms as ours. What we would need to be wary of is that Redknapp and his staff will be aware of our vulnerability down the middle, and if we play our back four as usual, they might go a bit more direct to Cisse (if he plays) with Wright-Phillips supporting at speed and Taarabt and Mackie breaking beyond him when possible. It might almost be a hybrid of the Stoke and Fulham games, tactically, for the opposition team - a playmaker feeding a speedy and strong forward. I wouldn’t discount Cisse’s desire to score against his old club either.
Tactically, they are likely to set up in a 4-2-3-1, with Mackie, Taarabt and SWP playing behind Cisse, although if Redknapp looks at the Villa and Stoke games, it’s possible that he might play Cisse and Mackie together in a 4-4-2, with SWP and Taarabt on the wings. I think, though, that Taarabt could do some damage with the space behind Lucas and between Agger and Skrtel. There would be no issue with us playing a 4-3-3, but BR has to be conscious of changing to a 5-3-2 if we start to concede space in the central channel with any ease. In terms of the league campaign and the overall plan, losing this game wouldn’t be hugely hurtful to eventual points total, as we’re clearly in a rebuilding process, whether we like it or not. In terms of confidence, momentum, psychology and fan support and patience, though, a good result is required, and there is probably no wiggle room for BR in terms of using a game to develop the system. Against a Chelsea or a United or an Arsenal, this room to manouevre is possible. Against relegation candidates, though, the result is more important than the principles of play, and BR must surely keep this in mind, both in his selections and his in-game management. Some players need rest, while others need to be dropped (for technical reasons). QPR’s back four will be organized, so it is important that the Liverpool front three make life difficult for them. For this reason, we could see the return of Sterling, Downing keeping his position on the right, and Allen returning in midfield for Shelvey. Although Gerrard is probably best played deeper, if he plays at all, it might be an idea to detail him to press M’bia and allow him no space to play in. Just like Stoke did to us, we have to congest their midfield and not allow them to play their passing game. A team low on points and confidence who are trying to play a passing game and are disrupted will find it hard to play their way into the game. Does that sound familiar?
Liverpool’s System – It will surely be 4-3-3 to start, with Lucas and Allen at the base of central midfield, and Gerrard in front. It could possibly (and should) be Sterling-Suarez-Downing up front, with the usual back four. The problem is that with this formation, BR backs himself into a corner if he does need to move to a back three. There is no real logical player to take off on paper, but it would probably be Sterling, as he’s the youngest. But Downing and Suarez up front doesn’t exactly make the Earth move as an attacking option, so BR might essentially make a rod for his own back by starting a 4-3-3. This would be compounded by conceding any early goals through the middle, and then making the wrong substitution choice if a change is made, or even not changing at all. It is important more than ever this season, I think, that BR gets the starting line-up and system right first, and it might be a better decision to sit down and work out the probabilities of how QPR might play, and set up defensively for that, and let the attacking principles do their job. It’s clear to me that, for whatever reason, there is no definite work on the defending principles being done to any great degree on the training ground, and in light of this, the best thing to do to cope with what the other team might do is to fill the spaces they might want to attack. So - back on my soapbox - it would be better start with either the instruction to Agger and Skrtel to play close together and let Johnson and Enrique drop back to collect the ball and start the attacking phase from defensive rather than midfield positions – or else bite the tactical bullet and start with a back three, and if it feels unnecessary, a positive rather than negative change can be made in the middle of the game. But as flexible as BR seemed to be in the first 10 games, I think we can look at this game as more of the same, and 4-3-3 will be the formation played.
Set-Pieces –QPR under Redknapp and Jordan will almost certainly have spent some time on attacking set-pieces, and we definitely need to defend better with these than we did against Stoke. Their pattern is simple, but effective: five in the box in a 3-2 arrangement, and on the trigger, the near post runner sprints towards the ball to clear space, the back post player steps to the keeper, and the three runners make near and back post runs, and one run to the middle. One player stays outside the box to pick up clearances, but is usually ball-side, probably to pick up headed balls from the first defender. Unlike how we defender against Stoke, we need players on the posts for QPR corners, and if we don’t get them, one of their runners might get some clean headers at the near-post. No doubt Redknapp will have seen how we defended and will have some instructions for his players in terms of corner kick delivery and attacking the ball across the goal. If we can’t defend the zones and pick up our men and stick with them until the ball is regained, then QPR might do to us what Stoke were able to do twice yesterday.
Overall, these Christmas period games are delivering a real stern test of the team, and it’s clear we’re not at the full potential of BR’s vision, and might be further away than we would have expected. But if we can fix some basic things, cause QPR some problems in terms of disrupting their preparation, and play with more verve than we did against Stoke, the result could be a foregone conclusion. If BR makes the same gaffes as against Stoke, he’ll put himself under more pressure than he needs to at this stage of the season.
