Will Messi be able to save this QPR team from relegation? Probably not. Then again, it is Messi and he can do just about anything. But i distract from the main point. QPR has been dreadful this season and given the personnel available to Mark Hughes, the level of performances is unacceptable.
Once again, QPR looks like a disjointed team that is incapable of playing for each other. This was most obvious in defence, where they could not deal with any kind ball into the box, be it low or high. The first and third Southampton goals came directly from crosses. The first one was a truly scrappy affair, with QPR having the chance to clear the ball numerous times. The main concern I have of them is s to why Bosingwa was standing on the goal line even after the ball had been cleared initially. If he and the rest of the team had pushed up after the ball had been cleared from the set piece, the Southampton players would be offside and Lambert would not be able to score the header that he did. The third goal was another defensive calamity. Anton Ferdinand sliced a low cross into his own goal. What was striking was that there was no call from Julio Cesar to ask Ferdinand to leave the ball even though Cesar was right behind him and could easily claim it. The lack of communications is certainly troubling and will cause them to concede many more vital goals. Of course, there is not much they could do about Puncheon's accurate shot into the bottom left corner of the net though they could have snuffed it out in the build up by preventing Nathaniel Clyne from getting the ball.
QPR's attack was also troublingly lacking. In the whole first half, there was only one occasion where there was more than a player in the penalty box. Generally, it was a lone Cisse in the box who was unable to get to the ball amongst the crowd of Southampton defenders. The situation improved in the second half when Hughes put on an extra striker in the form of Mackie and it paid dividends in the 48th minute, when the box had 3 QPR players and Junior Hoilett rose to head the ball into the goal. Some blame must be reserved for Southampton's goalkeeper Gazzaniga, who had been shaky on crosses all day long and completely missed this cross. Other than that, the only other option they had was of Taarabt's solo runs, which he managed quite a few times but was unable to cause trouble with his final ball. When Hughes tried to change the game, he sent Shaun Derry on for Diakite, a move that baffled me. If he was looking to improve the attack, I don't think that Derry can provide more energy and skills than Diakite and he still had Wright Phillips and Dyer on the bench to choose from. And it cannot be that he was preventing Diakite from getting sent off as he had not even received a yellow card to that point. Another puzzling decision of his was to play Granero high up the field. With his passing range and style of play, it would be more wise to place him in a more reserved role where he can influence the play more.
That is in complete contrast to Southampton, which played some pretty one-touch football, with every player knowing where each other will run to. They also had clear direction as to what they wanted to do with the ball, such as clearing to the ball high up to the middle as they knew Lambert and Ramirez would be there to challenge for it and they are good at headers. Their interplay was the most impressive though, with the snippy play between Llalana and Ramirez in the 6th minute being particularly pleasing to the eye. One player that I feel was instrumental to the victory was Jack Cork. His performance might not be eye catching but he was important in keeping the ball for Southampton and showed his composure despite his age. Additionally, playing in that holding passer role, he was very defensively capable and broke up quite a few of QPR's attacks, including tackling Taarabt when no one else seemed capable of doing so. Chelsea must really regret letting him go as he would be a really good addition to the kind of style they are trying to cultivate.
If Southampton consistently produces such performances, they will no doubt stay up this year. They do need to look at their goalkeeping situation though as being young is not an excuse and more ruthless teams will certainly put them to the sword and punish the mistakes. QPR needs a major revamp and a change of manager looks set to be on the cards as the team has no idea what they are doing at all.
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