You’ve got to love being a Bristol City fan. Just when you start to get that buzz and excitement about what could be, they bring you back down to earth with a bump. They like to keep you grounded.
Sadly, we just had too many players off their game on Saturday against a well-organised, well-coached and decent Queens Park Rangers side.
City actually started brightly and looked the more likely to open the scoring in the first 15 minutes. Early on, Kal Naismith pulled out a Cruyff turn just inside our half and sent a ball out wide which Mark Sykes failed to make anything of.
Alex Scott had a shot that flashed wide and then Zak Vyner arguably should have scored but could only place his header at Rangers keeper Seny Dieng, following a brilliant dead ball delivery from Naismith.
If Vyner heads it almost anywhere else on goal he probably scores and the defender knew it, beating the ground in frustration. Perhaps I’m being a tad unkind saying he should have scored as he had to arch his back and neck to get the connection.
For 10 minutes after that chance, City somewhat capitulated. First a ball over the top beat the City back line and Dan Bentley had to make a smart save from llias Chair. City didn’t take heed of the warning and two minutes later the Hoops took the lead.
Andi Weimann inexplicably lost the ball in his own half, playing the ball to Rangers front man Tyler Roberts who fed Chris Willock. Willock’s shot from the edge of the area took a slight deflection which Bentley did well to save and divert onto the post.
Unfortunately for Bents the ball rebounded onto the back of his head and into the path of the onrushing Stefan Johansen who had the simple task of firing into the net. Had the Championship had VAR it may very well have ruled Johansen offside, but the assistant referee didn’t, and the goal was given.
It was poor from Weimann, but QPR still had work to do, and we switched off, Sykes allowing Johansen past him and ball watching with Johansen and Roberts the quickest to react, anticipating that the ball may come back off Bents, where was the City defence?
It went from bad to worse just three minutes later. Sykes was outmuscled with another ball over the top. Willock fed Chair who played a good ball across the six-yard box which Roberts just had to control his side foot into the net. Sykes was culpable but Rob Atkinson didn’t cut the cross out and Jay Dasilva had switched off not picking up Roberts run.
City were all at sea, Sykes was having a torrid afternoon with Vyner having to cover a lot of ground behind him. It could have been worse still with Atkinson failing to deal with another long ball and then Naismith sloppily losing the ball. Vyner having to make two saving tackles and we could so easily have been three or four down.
Confidence just seemed to drain from the side. QPR had obviously picked up on the way that City like to play and immediately closed Naismith down when ever he was on the ball. Kal struggled in the first half and over hit a number of balls and the back three were constantly caught out.
I really like Kal, but it would be remiss not to point out that he is making two or three costly mistakes in most games this season. I just feel that he is taking too many touches at times and is a little slow with his distribution. At the moment with Timm Klose and Tomas Kalas out injured, we have very little option to change things at the back. It’s difficult as this is how Naismith plays, but he needs to get back to basics and play it simple.
The midfield couldn’t find a pass and while I have been critical of Matty James, his absence made you realise what we miss when he doesn’t play. Joe Williams had a poor afternoon and now that his injury worries appear to be behind him, he really needs to step up and influence games.
With Scott picking up another silly booking and suspended for the Coventry City game on Tuesday night, can Williams play two games in quick succession. Potentially, Andy King and Han-Noah Massengo will come into reckoning for the Coventry game, but I worry about us getting overrun.
Tommy Conway had a chance to pull a goal back after a through ball from Weimann but saw his shot blocked. In hindsight Nahki Wells appeared to be open but it’s difficult to be overly critical with Conway in fine goal scoring form. If roles were reversed, I am sure that Wells would have gone for goal.
Nigel Pearson made a change at the break with Conway withdrawn with what looked to be an ankle problem, replaced by Antoine Semenyo. City forced a couple of decent openings and Semenyo’ s power and paces was having an impact.
Just past the hour City were back in the game, a good move involving Semenyo and Weimann, saw the Austrian send a cross into the box which the QPR defence failed to deal with and Wells against his former employers forced the ball in. The dubious goals panel may have a look at that one as I’m not convinced Nahki’ s shot was on target but City continued their impressive run of scoring in every game.
Nige switched to a back four withdrawing Atkinson for Chris Martin, but this seemed to force Semenyo wide, and we lost some of that attacking intent. I questioned the Managers triple change on 73 minutes, just when we seemed to be on top. Off came Sykes, Weimann and Williams for Kane Wilson, Massengo and King. It’s possibly the first time we have seen a triple substitution from Nige, and it did seem to disrupt us a little. We did create a couple of chances but never really applied the pressure on Dieng.
This defeat felt like a real body blow. That’s three defeats in a row now and this was probably our poorest performance of the season. Pearson has some decisions to make for Tuesday’s game. Does Wilson come in for Sykes? Who comes in for the suspended Scott? Who starts up front? Do we stick with the 3-4-1-2 or switch to 4-4-2 or 4-3-3?
It’s a big game as we don’t want the early season optimism eroded. Let’s cut out these stupid, needless individual mistakes (I know easier said than done) and do the basics well. Defenders defend, mark your men, follow runners. Midfielders find your pass and support the front men.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Bonus show ratings were: Daniel Bentley 6, Mark Sykes 5, Jay Dasilva 5, Kal Naismith 4, Rob Atkinson 4, Zak Vyner 5, Alex Scott 6, Joe Williams 4, Andrea Weimann 4, *Nahki Wells 6 MoTM, Tommy Conway 5 and sub Antoine Semenyo 6. A game average of 5.00 and a season average of 6.43.
For Nigel it’s a 5, maybe harsh as I’m not sure what the Manager can do about individuals giving the ball away. I’m not sure the subs worked, and I would certainly expect a few changes on Tuesday.
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