FA Cup Defeat a Bigger Concern for Harry Redknapp and QPR Than Just the Result

If you're a Premier League side, losing to a League One team in the FA Cup is, to say the least, not ideal. However, Queens Park Rangers' incredibly limp 3-0 defeat to Sheffield United on Sunday is perhaps not their most worrying result of recent weeks.

One could explain away the defeat as a classic case of priorities coming to the fore. The FA Cup is not boss Harry Redknapp's first concern, as he told the official QPR website before the game, and he made seven changes from the side that drew with Swansea City in their previous league fixture, but even so the team included the likes of Charlie Austin, the Premier League's top-scoring Englishman, Rio Ferdinand, Leroy Fer, Steven Caulker and the underrated Jordon Mutch.

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In short, it should have been enough to beat a Sheffield United side whose inconsistency in the league this term has been infuriating.

"QPR, in reality, did not put up much of a fight," wrote James Riach in the Guardian of the cup exit. "There was no late barrage or list of squandered chances, as Harry Redknapp’s men limped to a terribly disappointing exit."

Indeed, QPR owner Tony Fernandes didn't seem too concerned about the result, tweeting after the game that his concerns are understandably elsewhere (with the victims of the missing AirAsia plane, a company Fernandes owns) but making very clear where the club's priorities lie.

However, the defeat was indicative of a wider concern at Loftus Road, and one that should cause Redknapp and Fernandes more worries about their Premier League survival.

QPR's away form in the league is famously calamitous. They have played nine, lost nine on the road, scoring just four goals and conceding 22, making them the only team in the top four English leagues and top five European leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy and France) not to collect a single point on their travels.

Redknapp said in December, as quoted by Sky Sports:

"

Our home form has been excellent and that's the key. We've had some real crunch games, real six pointers, beating Aston Villa, Leicester and Burnley at home.

We're in good form at home and I couldn't be more pleased with how we're playing. The key now is improving our away form, although there has been a big improvement in performances. Now we need to turn that improvement into points.

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That home form is only reason they are not firmly in the relegation zone—at Loftus Road they have only lost twice, winning five and drawing four. However, should this rate of performance continue, with eight fixtures at home remaining and no points gained on the road, they will end up on something like 33 points for the season, which probably won't be enough for survival.

So even if they maintain their home form, their record on the road isn't sustainable, which is why the last few weeks have been so troubling for Redknapp and his team. As well as the Sheffield United defeat, they have failed to beat fellow strugglers Crystal Palace, and couldn't hold onto a 1-0 lead over Swansea. So if their home form disappears, with results on the road showing few signs of improvement, they could be in some serious trouble.

What's more, they have some fearsomely tough visitors to Loftus Road on the horizon. Manchester United are in town in a couple of weeks, then Southampton, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

QPR's results at home have been the only thing keeping their heads above water. Any more performances like that against Sheffield United and both Redknapp and the club will see themselves in some very serious trouble.