Chris Ramsey's Naive Team Selection Dooms QPR in 3-1 Loss to Crystal Palace

SELHURST PARK — Queens Park Rangers were destroyed by Crystal Palace on Saturday. The 3-1 scoreline did nothing to flatter a far superior Eagles side that smelled blood early and went for the throat.

Yannick Bolasie, Wilfried Zaha, Glenn Murray and Jason Puncheon all put in stunning performances, and the goals from Zaha, James McArthur and Joel Ward came as a by-product of their dominance in key areas.

But as impressive as Palace's wing wonders were—and the Zaha-Bolasie combination caused the R's defence problems throughout—QPR manager Chris Ramsey's team selection crippled his side from the off.

It was a surprise to see Shaun Wright-Phillips and Adel Taarabt start a game—let alone at the same time. The placing of the former on the right wing in a 4-4-2 flagged up some obvious concerns: Would he offer the appropriate amount of protection to rookie right-back Darnell Furlong, fresh off a pasting from Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez?

Of course not—and it immediately proved troublesome.

Furlong was withdrawn at half-time following a 45-minute manhandling by Bolasie, who was found early on the flank by Puncheon's sweeping passes and allowed to run one against one on the left. Furlong has pace but gifted the DR Congo international too much space (due to fear of being beaten) and allowed him to play his own game.

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The first and second goals were carbon copies. Bolasie got the ball down the left, turned Furlong inside out, sent in a low cross and saw it touched home. Zaha's determination saw him notch the first, while McArthur's opportunism sealed the second.

Ramsey's withdrawal of Furlong at half-time—bringing Clint Hill into the centre and pushing Nedum Onuoha out to right-back—was the obvious move to make, but at 3-0 down in a must-win clash, the ship hadn't simply already set sail; it was miles out to sea.

Following the switch, QPR unsurprisingly found some stability in defence and stopped the relative tidal wave of vicious attacks on Rob Green's goal, but the damage had already been done. Tempering the hosts' offensive front was also helped by injuries to Puncheon and Zaha that saw both substituted.

Football games aren't often won solely through individual battles or in one area, but Furlong cut the figure of a large white flag in the first half. Ramsey will perhaps be praised for fielding the youngster and showing faith in the academy, but it was a naive selection and his team paid the price.

"All we can do is keep fighting," Ramsey defiantly told reporters after the game. "[We were] very disappointed [with the first half]. We had a spell when we couldn't stop the flow, stop the tide.

"There's nothing to explain, apart from we're in this position because of those key moments. We really need to do better in those situations."

This was a particularly damaging defeat for QPR. It's their fourth in a row and fifth in six games. They face the prospect of slipping deeper into the relegation zone if the teams above them take advantage.

With nine games left in the league and the team playing as they are, do QPR have enough about them to keep their chins above water? If they are to succeed, they can't throw any more games away with questionable personnel decisions.

All quotes obtained first-hand.

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