For Those Who Could Not Attend

30th November 2019

Derby vs QPR

Derby: Hamer, Wisdom, Davies, Forsyth, Bogle, Malone, Evans, Holmes, Lawrence, Waghorn, Marriott. Subs Roos, Lowe, Dowell, Knight, Martin, Whittaker, Paterson

Ref: David Webb
Weather: Perishing but dry.

This was a desperately poor game of football. Prior to the match Sir Wayne of Rooney was introduced to the crowd and gave a smile and a wave. We then learned that Kristian Bielik had injured himself in the warm-up to be replaced by George Evans.

The selection left fans wondering whether Cocu had decided to play three centre halves and so it proved initially, with Bogle and Malone as wing backs. This did not last long however: after a turgid opening the formation returned to a standard back four, Wisdom moving to right back and Bogle into a more advanced position in what appeared to be a 4-2-3-1, though it wasn’t easy to tell and Bogle in particular looked like a fish out of water.

The play, such as it was, was awful. There was no urgency and there were countless misplaced passes. Out of nowhere came the single moment of quality in the game, half way through the first half. From a free-kick 25 yards out Waghorn expertly curled the ball in Messiesque fashion into the top corner. Derby then resumed their dire football and the game plodded towards half time as our thoughts turned lovingly to the contents of our flasks. On the stroke of the interval, a clumsy challenge by Waghorn gave QPR a penalty, converted by the impressive Eze who stuttered in his run-up, just legally according to the referee though Derby thought otherwise. I thought it was OK.

Second half was no better. There was no quality and very little huff or even puff. Whittaker came on for Bogle and looked keen and athletic with a few glimpses of promise. Martin and Knight replaced Waghorn and Marriott and for the last fifteen minutes or so there was a little more drive but no improvement in the standard of play. The final whistle brought merciful relief to what seasoned observers termed a debacle of a performance. Mr Rooney may be wondering what he has let himself in for.

Hamer made two good saves and was uncertain in the air. It might have been Roos in goal. This position is a real concern. Wisdom was forceful and did well. Davies was very poor on the ball. Evans was a poor replacement for Bielik, not enough presence defensively and sluggish with his use of the ball. Holmes buzzed around and created a bit of threat in the second half with his running with the ball. His man of the match (for us, Eze was a class apart) was warranted. Lawrence, Marriott and Waghorn (excluding his goal) were entirely ineffective and Bogle was completely at sea in his altered position.

Maybe the new formation might have worked with Bielik, maybe not, but his absence was not an excuse for the overall level of performance. All three subs made a bit of a difference, Martin with a hint of quality and Knight with some much-needed energy, but the match left us considering many issues: the goalkeeping position, the inability of Davies to conform to Cocu’s preferred style of playing from the back, the lack of a leader on the pitch to drive on the play, the lack of cohesion in midfield in the absence of Bielik, Shinnie and continued absence of Huddlestone, the anonymity of the strikers. In recent weeks there had been an upturn in performance but this was as poor as we have seen this season. There is much for Cocu and his new friend to ponder.

The ref, and his own two friends, were also crap.