Two Parallels: Malaga and QPR

When I see these two clubs, I find it intriguing to see how these two clubs have moved in two different directions of what was expected after their take overs. While one has ridden that wave brilliantly, the other has capitulated in the face of pressure. Both have followed a similar approach of scouting for promising youngsters or discards from the big teams on loan. Also, they have managed to get some of the past stars to play for them in the twilight of their careers. I would attribute their performances in the current season to their management.

QPR, for long, depended on Mark Hughes to turn their season around and to me, they should have sacked him earlier than they did. The manager who succeeded him though has been more successful, but he was always battling the inevitable Relegation. Harry Redknapp was always a man manager but not the master tactician, which is the need of the hour for QPR even now, given the quality of players that he inherited. The fact that they managed to bag players like Granero, Zamora, Green, etc was more due to their money power than footballing prowess. Add to that CL winners like Bosingwa, Cesar, Park, etc, everyone expected them to at least finish in the top half if not in the European places.

Malaga, on the other hand, had to start off on the back foot after they were sanctioned by UEFA due to non payment of salaries to players. Due to their financial problems, Malaga were forced to sell their performers of last season, namely Cazorla, Randon and later Monreal at their base prices. They were even tempted to cash in on their star performer Isco, but luckily footballing logic prevailed over economics and he ended up staying there for at least an year. In hindsight, the one thing they had was belief in their manager Manuel Pellegrini and his decisions regarding team composition.They went in for discards from other teams like Saviola, Roque Santa Cruz, Piazon, Morales, Antunes, Lugano, etc. It was also his ability to get the best out of players like Toulalan, Demichelis, Baptista, etc and fit them into a system which stands apart. Hence, we see such a team perform above expectations and defeat teams like Real Madrid, Porto and AC Milan.

The general aspect of the game which has gone missing, I would say, is the character of the person. In QPR, as the reports would say, too many players assumed they were bigger than the team and hence were not ready to play second fiddle to other players. Also, due to the sudden inflow of cash at the club, the players who were already there at the club and being on smaller contracts could not take the new players earning more than them even though both of them play the same role in the team game. Hence, it was the mistake of the QPR board to trust Mark Hughes even after what happened with Manchester City a season earlier. Their indecision seems to be working against them now as Harry has not been able to get the required number of games for survival as he did with Pompey. Even after pumping more money, the Rangers Premier League future looks bleak. Hopefully, it does not cause a chain reaction where the highly paid stars look for the next window to get out of the club at the earliest, thereby causing huge losses to the club.

Meanwhile, Malaga seem to be going from strength and very much in contention for another European adventure via a league finish. Who knows what’s in store for them in the Champions League as well. They will believe they can go all the way at Wembley if they pull it off against Dortmund in the Quarters. What will also be interesting is what happens to these loan stars the next year. Do they acknowledge the stage provided by Malaga and stay with them next year as well or do they look elsewhere for their future? At the end of the day, Pellegrini seemed to have put a system in place for them to sustain for the time being in the top flight of Spanish football.

Here’s hoping that their success story keeps continuing and they do finally get to compete in Europe after a successful appeal over the sanction.