BFTG QPR

[AthleticoSpizz]

Blackett was actually receiving CA’s passes and exchanging them with Ejaria (against a Derby at least) and not “passing them out”....regardless of that throw-away non fact.......do we change a winning team?

Rem Coppell

[sandman]

It’s surprising how many people, including J Low, failed to spot what led to the row between Gunter and Rafael (and of course the obsessive Gunter haters were only too quick to point the finger directly at him!).

Rafael came very close to gifting QPR an equaliser by taking a quick and very poor kick downfield. ThT led directly to the shot that crashed off the bar.

After the game Bowen said that he had been about to rip a strip off Rafael for his stupidity and lack of game management but that Gunter beat him to it. He made it clear that he thought Rafael was the main offender in then incident albeit he then produced a great save from the follow up effort.

I'm not sure you can call being hit straight in the face before you can react a great save.

So you'd prefer he got no where near the ball and didn't get hit in the face?

Doesn't matter what part of his body he stopped it going in with. He made himself big and was in the right position to make the save.

[Franchise FC]

It’s surprising how many people, including J Low, failed to spot what led to the row between Gunter and Rafael (and of course the obsessive Gunter haters were only too quick to point the finger directly at him!).

Rafael came very close to gifting QPR an equaliser by taking a quick and very poor kick downfield. ThT led directly to the shot that crashed off the bar.

After the game Bowen said that he had been about to rip a strip off Rafael for his stupidity and lack of game management but that Gunter beat him to it. He made it clear that he thought Rafael was the main offender in then incident albeit he then produced a great save from the follow up effort.

I'm not sure you can call being hit straight in the face before you can react a great save.

Wrong save - the face saver was much later in the game and from a cross from the right

[Millsy]

It's not like Rafa was looking in the opposite direction picking his nose and the ball happened to hit him on the arse.

He got into position made himself big to block a shot and that's what happened = save.

Great save? Nah, but he read it well and it was great in terms of the period of the game and the 2 points saved.

He's quite humble about it in the interview and praises the team.

What I'm loving is how Swifty deflects attention from himself and praises Rafa for the win and he likewise praises Swifty and his defence. Everyone is praising everyone else rather than taking individual credit. Great stuff.

[Vision]

Interesting views as always. For me

Eze is currently ahead of Ejaria. Eze wasn't playing against Pele or Gunter last night he was playing wherever the space was. He is excellent at drifting into space between the lines and then attacking the back four if he gets the ball in the right area. He is also prepared to knock the ball off first time if he's not in the right area in order to retain possession and then find the space in the next phase.
Ejaria has enormous potential but he doesn't yet have the balance in his game that Eze does. He rarely lays the ball off quickly to then look for the space in the next phase. He is inclined to dribble wherever he is on the pitch and doesn't find himself in the spaces that Eze does often enough. If and when he does he will be a hell of a player.

Gunter is what he is. He had a decent game last night but he is a passive, risk averse footballer. When the shot hit the bar he turned around and looked to see if someone else was going to deal with it instead of having the over my dead body approach of clearing the ball. That sums him up to a large degree. In truth there isn't much between him and Yiadom but I'd want Yiadom in my side over Gunter every day of the week because he always wants to be on the front foot in everything he does.

P.S - My two lads are of the opinion that they wouldn't give a toss about winning the game if they were as good Ejaria. They'd just want to nutmeg as many people as possible. It is an entertainment business after all.....

Interesting views on Eze vs Ejaria

Personally think Ejaria is a better all rounded player but Eze is more productive. Now which one of the two you’d prefer is up to you...

Eze is literally "ahead of Ejaria" because he plays in a more attacking role. OK is right to point out that Eze drifts into space really well but that's because his team is shaped that way. He has zero defensive responsibilities so he absolutely needs to produce the goods. Ejaria's role is slightly different (especially when he plays to the left) . He has to track back at times and his ability to buy time and space in tight areas for us is often underestimated.

Eze is supremely talented , no doubt, but against us aside from the wonderful piece of skill in the penalty area which led to a weak shot cleared off the line, where was the "end product" that people are talking about? Ejaria had his own goal bound shot saved , twice got in behind himself and have crosses blocked at the last minute, slipped Blackett into great positions twice as well as his customary 2 pieces of bamboozling skill. Aside from a couple of nice runs which came to very little Eze's main "end product" was a pair of shite free kicks and bang average corners. Which is the other point people need to consider when making "stat comparisons". He takes free-kicks, corners and I believe penalties too in a team that is effectively built to make the most of his talents.

For all of Ejaria's mercurial dribbles and at times holding onto the ball too long , he still plays within the framework of our team. He's an outstanding player and I genuinely wouldn't swap him for anyone else in this Division.

[royalp-we]

Nail on the head there Vision, we also didn’t sign Ejaria (and others) till very late in the window. Coupled with a change of manager 11 games in, can’t help but think he will only get better too.

[Snowflake Royal]

Charlie Adam's passing ability is wasted when he's pinging balls out wide to Gunter to turn and pass the ball back, or Blacket to pass the ball out of play. Once Yiadom and Obita are fit we'll start rolling teams over

Based on what evidence? How many good crosses does Yiadom manage during a game?

0.4

But on the other hand Yiadom has 3 assists and manages the second most key passes a game in the team. So it's not like he doesn't contribute to creating chances.

[Snowflake Royal]

It’s surprising how many people, including J Low, failed to spot what led to the row between Gunter and Rafael (and of course the obsessive Gunter haters were only too quick to point the finger directly at him!).

Rafael came very close to gifting QPR an equaliser by taking a quick and very poor kick downfield. ThT led directly to the shot that crashed off the bar.

After the game Bowen said that he had been about to rip a strip off Rafael for his stupidity and lack of game management but that Gunter beat him to it. He made it clear that he thought Rafael was the main offender in then incident albeit he then produced a great save from the follow up effort.

I'm not sure you can call being hit straight in the face before you can react a great save.

So you'd prefer he got no where near the ball and didn't get hit in the face?

Doesn't matter what part of his body he stopped it going in with. He made himself big and was in the right position to make the save.

yeah, because of course that's what I said and meant.

Yeah, his positioning was good, but you can't call anything unintentional a great save. The striker blasted it straight at him and Rafael knew nothing about it. A few inches difference and it would have been rippling the net before he moved.

[Snowflake Royal]

It’s surprising how many people, including J Low, failed to spot what led to the row between Gunter and Rafael (and of course the obsessive Gunter haters were only too quick to point the finger directly at him!).

Rafael came very close to gifting QPR an equaliser by taking a quick and very poor kick downfield. ThT led directly to the shot that crashed off the bar.

After the game Bowen said that he had been about to rip a strip off Rafael for his stupidity and lack of game management but that Gunter beat him to it. He made it clear that he thought Rafael was the main offender in then incident albeit he then produced a great save from the follow up effort.

I'm not sure you can call being hit straight in the face before you can react a great save.

Wrong save - the face saver was much later in the game and from a cross from the right

Fair enough if I've confused two different ones

[NewCorkSeth]

I'm not sure you can call being hit straight in the face before you can react a great save.

So you'd prefer he got no where near the ball and didn't get hit in the face?

Doesn't matter what part of his body he stopped it going in with. He made himself big and was in the right position to make the save.

yeah, because of course that's what I said and meant.

Yeah, his positioning was good, but you can't call anything unintentional a great save. The striker blasted it straight at him and Rafael knew nothing about it. A few inches difference and it would have been rippling the net before he moved.

I agree with Ian. A goalkeeper getting the positioning correct does not equal a great save.

[NewCorkSeth]

Nail on the head there Vision, we also didn’t sign Ejaria (and others) till very late in the window. Coupled with a change of manager 11 games in, can’t help but think he will only get better too.

+1

[WestYorksRoyal]

Nail on the head there Vision, we also didn’t sign Ejaria (and others) till very late in the window. Coupled with a change of manager 11 games in, can’t help but think he will only get better too.

+1

Mostly agree. I'd like to see us utilize Ejaria as effectively as QPR do with Eze. I don't think we can purely build the team around him as we have Swift too, but Ejaria really should be in the middle of the pitch where he can influence the game better. Blackett is not a natural attacking left back who will overlap, so we lack width when Ejaria drifts inside.

We need more wide options in January so we can go back to Swift and Ejaria in the middle. Or we start playing Boye (not that great) or Baldock (not a natural winger).

[URZZZZ]

Nail on the head there Vision, we also didn’t sign Ejaria (and others) till very late in the window. Coupled with a change of manager 11 games in, can’t help but think he will only get better too.

+1

Mostly agree. I'd like to see us utilize Ejaria as effectively as QPR do with Eze. I don't think we can purely build the team around him as we have Swift too, but Ejaria really should be in the middle of the pitch where he can influence the game better. Blackett is not a natural attacking left back who will overlap, so we lack width when Ejaria drifts inside.

We need more wide options in January so we can go back to Swift and Ejaria in the middle. Or we start playing Boye (not that great) or Baldock (not a natural winger).

I reckon a 4-1-4-1 could work with Pele as the holding midfielder and then Swift and Ejaria ahead

Meite right, Baldock left, Joao up top. Or similarly a 4-2-2-2 with Swift and Ejaria as the CAM’s but there’s a real lack of width

What was the formation we played against QPR? Was it a 4-2-3-1 with Adam and Pele holding and Swift ahead or was it Pele holding by himself with Swift and Adam ahead? Couldn’t really work it out

[Victor Meldrew]

Interesting views as always. For me

Eze is currently ahead of Ejaria. Eze wasn't playing against Pele or Gunter last night he was playing wherever the space was. He is excellent at drifting into space between the lines and then attacking the back four if he gets the ball in the right area. He is also prepared to knock the ball off first time if he's not in the right area in order to retain possession and then find the space in the next phase.
Ejaria has enormous potential but he doesn't yet have the balance in his game that Eze does. He rarely lays the ball off quickly to then look for the space in the next phase. He is inclined to dribble wherever he is on the pitch and doesn't find himself in the spaces that Eze does often enough. If and when he does he will be a hell of a player.

Gunter is what he is. He had a decent game last night but he is a passive, risk averse footballer. When the shot hit the bar he turned around and looked to see if someone else was going to deal with it instead of having the over my dead body approach of clearing the ball. That sums him up to a large degree. In truth there isn't much between him and Yiadom but I'd want Yiadom in my side over Gunter every day of the week because he always wants to be on the front foot in everything he does.

P.S - My two lads are of the opinion that they wouldn't give a toss about winning the game if they were as good Ejaria. They'd just want to nutmeg as many people as possible. It is an entertainment business after all.....

Interesting views on Eze vs Ejaria

Personally think Ejaria is a better all rounded player but Eze is more productive. Now which one of the two you’d prefer is up to you...

Eze is literally "ahead of Ejaria" because he plays in a more attacking role. OK is right to point out that Eze drifts into space really well but that's because his team is shaped that way. He has zero defensive responsibilities so he absolutely needs to produce the goods. Ejaria's role is slightly different (especially when he plays to the left) . He has to track back at times and his ability to buy time and space in tight areas for us is often underestimated.

Eze is supremely talented , no doubt, but against us aside from the wonderful piece of skill in the penalty area which led to a weak shot cleared off the line, where was the "end product" that people are talking about? Ejaria had his own goal bound shot saved , twice got in behind himself and have crosses blocked at the last minute, slipped Blackett into great positions twice as well as his customary 2 pieces of bamboozling skill. Aside from a couple of nice runs which came to very little Eze's main "end product" was a pair of shite free kicks and bang average corners. Which is the other point people need to consider when making "stat comparisons". He takes free-kicks, corners and I believe penalties too in a team that is effectively built to make the most of his talents.

For all of Ejaria's mercurial dribbles and at times holding onto the ball too long , he still plays within the framework of our team. He's an outstanding player and I genuinely wouldn't swap him for anyone else in this Division.

I'm with you on Ejaria, my favourite Reading player for some time.

On Eze however he is a very impressive young player and, as you say, Rangers set up to make the best of his talents which is good management.
I think his stats of 9 goals and 4 assists fully justifies Warburton building his team around him and although he may not have had a great impact on this game there will be many others when he has and I suspect will in the future.

There are some good all round midfielders in this division, Bannan at Wednesday, Pearson at Preston and Dwayne Holmes who was outstanding in a losing Derby team last week plus the best attacking one perhaps in Hernandes at Leeds.
In Ejaria, Swift and Rhino or Pele I think we have a very good group that we need to keep together-it is the other areas of the team that need to be upgraded before we can make a challenge again.

I have noticed on here how many posters want to deride any "name" player from the opposition-why can't they just enjoy the skills that these players bring especially if we win!!

[st george]

So you'd prefer he got no where near the ball and didn't get hit in the face?

Doesn't matter what part of his body he stopped it going in with. He made himself big and was in the right position to make the save.

yeah, because of course that's what I said and meant.

Yeah, his positioning was good, but you can't call anything unintentional a great save. The striker blasted it straight at him and Rafael knew nothing about it. A few inches difference and it would have been rippling the net before he moved.

I agree with Ian. A goalkeeper getting the positioning correct does not equal a great save.

Then that would make you both incorrect. I presume neither of you have ever played in goal. How many defenders have you seen turn theirs backs to block a shot? A fair few I would imagine. A goalkeeper makes himself big and throws his body in front of the ball and it hits him in the face. If it hits him in the chest it is a good save ? Why is it lucky to hit him in the face? His positioning and technique were excellent.

[Hound]

So you'd prefer he got no where near the ball and didn't get hit in the face?

Doesn't matter what part of his body he stopped it going in with. He made himself big and was in the right position to make the save.

yeah, because of course that's what I said and meant.

Yeah, his positioning was good, but you can't call anything unintentional a great save. The striker blasted it straight at him and Rafael knew nothing about it. A few inches difference and it would have been rippling the net before he moved.

I agree with Ian. A goalkeeper getting the positioning correct does not equal a great save.

It’s great goalkeeping either way. Whether that’s a great save or great positioning is pretty moot really

[Snowball]

It is well known that stats-keeping goalkeepers refuse to count “saves” made with head or face.

In fact, the best keepers subtract a goal where accidentally they have failed to dodge the ball, it has struck their face, and unfairly prevented a goal

[3points]

+1

Mostly agree. I'd like to see us utilize Ejaria as effectively as QPR do with Eze. I don't think we can purely build the team around him as we have Swift too, but Ejaria really should be in the middle of the pitch where he can influence the game better. Blackett is not a natural attacking left back who will overlap, so we lack width when Ejaria drifts inside.

We need more wide options in January so we can go back to Swift and Ejaria in the middle. Or we start playing Boye (not that great) or Baldock (not a natural winger).

I reckon a 4-1-4-1 could work with Pele as the holding midfielder and then Swift and Ejaria ahead

Meite right, Baldock left, Joao up top. Or similarly a 4-2-2-2 with Swift and Ejaria as the CAM’s but there’s a real lack of width

What was the formation we played against QPR? Was it a 4-2-3-1 with Adam and Pele holding and Swift ahead or was it Pele holding by himself with Swift and Adam ahead? Couldn’t really work it out

I think we should consider playing Obita on the left hand side of midfield, with Blackett behind him.

[st george]

It is well known that stats-keeping goalkeepers refuse to count “saves” made with head or face.

In fact, the best keepers subtract a goal where accidentally they have failed to dodge the ball, it has struck their face, and unfairly prevented a goal

[NewCorkSeth]

yeah, because of course that's what I said and meant.

Yeah, his positioning was good, but you can't call anything unintentional a great save. The striker blasted it straight at him and Rafael knew nothing about it. A few inches difference and it would have been rippling the net before he moved.

I agree with Ian. A goalkeeper getting the positioning correct does not equal a great save.

Then that would make you both incorrect. I presume neither of you have ever played in goal. How many defenders have you seen turn theirs backs to block a shot? A fair few I would imagine. A goalkeeper makes himself big and throws his body in front of the ball and it hits him in the face. If it hits him in the chest it is a good save ? Why is it lucky to hit him in the face? His positioning and technique were excellent.

The reason I agree with Ian is the use of the word great. There is nothing great about it. Call it a decent save. Or an important save. Fine.

He got the positioning right. That's the minimum you should expect from a goalkeeper. Jesus, the ones who dont get the positioning right dont play where possible. Praising Rafael for "being in the right position" is like praising a winger for a perfect cross into the box when nobody is actually in the box.

If a striker is fed a perfect head height cross, they make all the correct runs to meet it but instead of actually heading it, it bounces off their chin and goes in that is not a great goal. The fact he got everything else right doesnt elevate it.