I suppose we might as well try something different, even if it is something we’ve seen before.
The way the team have been leaking goals in recent weeks, it might sound a little bit desperate, but you never know, it might just work.
With Yoann Barbet now in the final stages of his comeback from injuries, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens when QPR boss Mark Warburton comes to making his team selection. Will he swap Barbet in for the promising prospect that is Conor Masterson? Will Barbet be forced to sit on the bench and wait his turn?
Well, there could be a way for both players to get into the team without having to displace captain Grant Hall in the side either, and that’s by playing all of them in either a 5-3-2 or a 3-5-2 formation like we did earlier in the campaign.
If you take a look at QPR’s results earlier in the season, you’ll see that there was some level of success when it came to playing with three centre-backs. Granted that not all the results were ideal, like when we played Leeds United for instance, but at the same time since switching back, the results haven’t exactly been ideal either.
That way you get the best of both worlds when it comes to Masterson’s development, something Warburton has been keen to talk about in recent weeks. Not only does Masterson get the ability to play on a regular basis, but he gets to do so when playing next to two more experienced centre-backs who can teach him the ropes as he’s going along.
And with an extra defender, we can push Ryan Manning a little further up the field by utilising him as a wing-back rather than a left-back, something I’ve pointed out before has been holding QPR back when it comes to their attacking prowess.
Who would you rather have in the team?
Barbet
Masterson
This is just one solution, but it’s something that Warburton should seriously consider as an option to try and plug the leaky defence.
