<div><figure class="image"></figure></div>
Last season, Queens Park Rangers’ mid-table finish was a tough pill to swallow. Having started the 2021 campaign undefeated in its first four games, Rangers were consistently in the playoff spots for most of the season. For a brief moment, <a href="https:\/\/www.qpr.co.uk/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">QPR</a> even looked good enough to challenge for automatic promotion. But all those hopes came crashing down after a poor January transfer window brought in little reinforcement while the rest of the teams around them improved.
With no extra help, and Mark Warburton’s apparent tactical stubbornness, Rangers couldn’t keep up with their competition as the other teams appeared to have figured out Warburton’s strategies through the second half of the season. The final blow came once stand-out playmaker and goalscorer Chris Willock went down injured for the remainder of the season. Just like that, hopes of a playoff push for the first time since 2014 didn’t materialize.
As the <a href="https:\/\/worldsoccertalk-wp.futbolsites.dev/championship-tv-schedule/">English Championship</a> is one of the most competitive leagues from top to bottom in all of soccer, QPR slipped from fourth place to mid-table in a matter of weeks. Ultimately, QPR ended in a modest 11th. Despite this, there was still a lot of positives to show for it. The duo of Willock and Ilias Chair were a standout that at times looked too good for second tier competition, and Seny Dieng is far and away one of the best goalkeepers in the league. The prospects were good, so it was unexpected when the club decided to part ways with Warburton soon after the conclusion of the season.
<h2>Signs of improvement under QPR’s Michael Beale</h2>
While some of Warburton’s tactical decisions were questionable, he brought a consistency to Rangers that had been lacking since they had returned to the Championship in 2015. He implemented a style of play that focused on possession at the back. While holding the ball in their own half felt nervy at times, it forced Ranger’s opponents to push forward which often created openings for attackers to quickly strike. This required a deep lying midfielder in the form of Stefan Johansen as well as center backs with decent ball control willing to move forward into space. The entire squad had been curated to fit Warburton’s style, which meant bringing in a new face jeopardized the consistency and cohesion he had instilled.
The club promised their search for a manager prioritized someone who could continue the team in the mold of what Warburton had built while pushing QPR further towards their goal of finishing in the top six. In came Michael Beale who had been the number two at Aston Villa behind Steven Gerrard, someone without the managerial experience one would’ve expected given the circumstances. Despite high praise for his tactical mind, this pick was a huge gamble.
Undoubtedly, Warburton’s biggest weakness was his inability to adjust his tactical plan for each match. You rarely saw game to game changes let alone in-game changes in tactics. If Rangers were down and his plan wasn’t working, his last-ditch effort was to throw on another striker and hope the goals came. To his credit, there were several occasions where this worked, but these comebacks felt more like they were carved out with the sheer force of will from the Rangers’ players as opposed to Warburton outmaneuvering whatever plan the opposing manager had put forth.
In contrast, Michael Beale has shown another level of tactical acumen that seemed beyond Warburton’s reach. The best example of this is Rangers’ most recent matchup against Bristol City. For most of the last two seasons under Warburton, Queens Park Rangers set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation with wingbacks that would play high up the pitch when attacking. While Beale started with a similar formation early on, he’s since been more willing to switch things up. Part of this is due to him looking for his best team, but the other part is adjusting to how the opponent plays.
Against Bristol, we saw a 4-3-3 that allowed Willock, Chair and Tyler Roberts to overwhelm City’s three center backs when their two wingbacks were pushed high in the attack. This led to Rangers cutting through their back line on quick counterattacks and scoring two early goals. It was a well thought out and executed strategy that should’ve resulted in at least two more goals in the first half. This is the kind of tactical creativity we never saw from Warburton who almost seemed pigheaded at times about playing the same lineup and tactics every match.
<div class="ck-twitter"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🎶 𝘼 𝙒𝙄𝙉 𝘼𝙒𝘼𝙔 🎶<a href="https:\/\/twitter.com/hashtag/QPR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#QPR</a> | <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com/hashtag/BRCQPR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BRCQPR</a> <a href="https:\/\/t.co/rrOIrXHMiF">pic.twitter.com/rrOIrXHMiF</a>
— QPR FC (@QPR) <a href="https:\/\/twitter.com/QPR/status/1576256181995065344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 1, 2022</a></blockquote></div>
<script async="" src="https:\/\/platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
With his wealth of managerial experience, Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson did a good job of adjusting at the half. While Bristol had conceded the second most goals so far with 16, they are also tied for most goals scored at 19. On came Antoine Semenyo, and you could feel the improved physicality from Bristol as they pushed for a goal, so it wasn’t a surprise when former Rangers’ striker Nahki Wells found the ball in a favorable position in the QPR box, and put it away in the 63rd minute.
Beale again showed his tactical ability by making some decent substitutions in midfield to bring on fresh legs. And then he brought on Lyndon Dykes to create some good holdup play and served as an extra defender to close out the game with a 2-1 away victory to the Rs.
	QPR are currently sitting in fifth place in the Championship and have taken points from some stiff competitions. Likewise, they have dropped points to teams that felt beatable.
The gamble to put him in the driver’s seat appears to be paying off. Still, the hard truth is that no matter how well QPR have looked lately, as it stands, they are not a Premier League-quality side, but there is plenty of potential there.
Photo credit: IMAGO / PA Images

QPR manager Michael Beale is showing signs of improvement compared to Mark Warburton, with the R's showing more tactical alternatives.

QPR showing signs of progress under Michael Beale - World Soccer Talk

QPR showing signs of progress under Michael Beale

<figure class="image"><img loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-102292" title="qpr-shirts-2014-15-season" src="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/qpr-shirts-2014-15-season.jpg" alt="" width="599" height="337" srcset="https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/05/17054633/qpr-shirts-2014-15-season.jpg 599w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/05/17054633/qpr-shirts-2014-15-season-150x84.jpg 150w, https://images.futbolsites.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2014/05/17054633/qpr-shirts-2014-15-season-300x168.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 599px) 100vw, 599px"></figure>
Over the past few seasons Queens Park Rangers has become somewhat of a spectacle, drawing media attention mostly for the wrong reasons. But after a successful Championship run and a Cinderella-like playoff run that culminated in one of the most thrilling games played last season, QPR is finally on the right track to compete in the Premier League.
QPR hasn’t been as busy in the transfer window as the other promoted clubs, but the club has been smart. Many of the dead weight and high-wage earners have been moved on, namely Stephan M’Bia and Estaban Granero — who represented the last of the expensive flops bought by Mark Hughes in Rangers last disastrous Premier League campaign.
As expected, since the transfer window opened, QPR has been linked with every big name who’s been available, but owner Tony Fernandes adamantly stated he had learned from past mistakes and intended to only bring in players that were the right fit and desired to play for the club.&nbsp; Right away though it seemed QPR had returned to their bad habits.&nbsp; Thirty-five year old centerback Rio Ferdinand was brought to the club after being released by Manchester United and, at first glance, it seemed like the same old transfer policy of signing big names past their prime would continue. But with the addition of Steven Caulker from Cardiff City shortly thereafter on a four year deal, the acquisition of Ferdinand has turned into quite an intelligent move.&nbsp; Caulker is considered one of England’s brightest prospects and pairing him with a legend like Ferdinand at the back shows that Rangers is thinking of long term development as he will learn a great deal from the former England captain.&nbsp; Likewise, Jordon Mutch, Cardiff’s top scorer last season, was brought in to help strengthen the midfield and hopefully add some much needed firepower.
This pre-season has shown that Harry Redknapp is determined to line up in a 3-5-2 formation.&nbsp; Harry has been smart about acquiring the right pieces that will fit this new formation and found a way to use QPR’s current players more effectively within the system.&nbsp; Mauricio Isla was brought on loan from Juventus, whose wide role in the Chilean National team’s World Cup run was crucial, and Redknapp has found the perfect position for now veteran QPR wide man Armand Traore as a wingback.&nbsp; While Ranger’s pre-season tours in both Germany and Ireland have answered a few questions about how the team might fare this season, it has yet to put supporters in a position of complete comfort about their chances in the upcoming season.&nbsp; The biggest positives in these games have been the play of Charlie Austin and Junior Hoilett.&nbsp; While Austin has yet to prove himself at the Premier League level, he has been prolific at every other level of English football so far and has looked dangerous this pre-season having scored four times.&nbsp; Hoilett looks to have adapted to the new system especially well and may have revealed himself as the R’s true number ten, supplying three goals and finding himself in dangerous positions and at the heart of most plays.&nbsp; Likewise Joey Barton and Alejandro Faurlin look to be the best midfield pairing QPR has had since their return to the Premier League in 2011.&nbsp; Both are excellent passers of the ball and have looked solid together playing slightly deeper positions, and Barton’s newfound role of initiating attacks has seemed very Andrea Pirlo-esque.
Overall though, QPR’s pre-season has been somewhat average with three wins, two draws and two losses in — all except one — matches against lower level opponents.&nbsp; It is questionable whether or not their success over weaker teams in pre-season will translate into success in the Premier League.&nbsp; Strikers are still in short supply and Charlie Austin and thirty-three year old Bobby Zamora are so far all the club has committed to playing up front.&nbsp; What might actually be the most important piece of transfer business for Rangers so far has been the failure of Loic Remy to successfully pass a medical with Liverpool.&nbsp; Redknapp has made it clear that he wants Remy to stay and for a good reason. His fourteen goals for Newcastle last season have proven him to be a solid top flight scorer, something the club lacked in their past two Premier League seasons, but with rumors of offers for the France international still coming in, anything could happen between now and deadline day.
The last big question mark hanging over Queens Park Rangers is the fate of Adel Taarabt.&nbsp; Harry so far has seemed willing to bring him back into the fold if he is willing to bite the bullet and play another year with a less prestigious club, but Rangers’ fans should know better than to hold their breath when it comes to the mercurial Moroccan.&nbsp; Recently it has been rumored that AC Milan is considering a bid to bring him back after his successful loan spell, but his high wages and attitude are always a sticking point.&nbsp; While it might be best for the club and the player to part ways, sometimes what’s best never follows through.&nbsp; It will be interesting if he stays with QPR, but won’t surprise anyone if he is left so far at the end of the bench he’s forgotten.
Predictions this early are always hard to make but the Super Hoops look to have made the right moves in the offseason.&nbsp; Judging by their pre-season showings, the passing has been there, but the final third is still lacking.&nbsp; It wouldn’t be surprising if Rangers start slow to the season as they continue to adjust to the 3-5-2, yet finish out strong as the squad acclimates to the new players and formation.&nbsp; A few more additions are still needed to add depth to the squad, especially another striker or two, but if QPR can fine-tune this new system and avoid any major injuries they have a decent chance of survival.&nbsp; Considering their last two opening games in the Premier League ended 4-0 and 5-0, a draw on Saturday against Hull City, who have already begun European play, would been a decent result.
Strongest line up: Green, Onuoha, Ferdinand, Caulker, Traore, Faurlin, Barton, Isla, Hoilett, Remy, Austin
Final Prediction: 17th

Queens Park Rangers 2014/15 Season Preview

Queens Park Rangers 2014/15 Season Preview - World Soccer Talk

Queens Park Rangers supporter from Indianapolis Indiana

experience

latest articles by

NEWS

QPR showing signs of progress under Michael Beale

News

Queens Park Rangers 2014/15 Season Preview