One of the many talking points to come out of QPR’s draw with Aston Villa was the poor execution of free-kicks from just outside the penalty area.
Adel Taarabt had a go first before being pushed to one side for the remainder of the match, which to be fair to him, he didn’t sulk about. The Moroccan is a lot of things but free-kick specialist he isn’t.
With his poor strike rate from free-kicks it’s not surprising that some of the new signings want to have a go at taking over dead-ball duties.
Joey Barton showed during his time at Newcastle that his delivery from set-pieces is excellent but like Jay Bothroyd, DJ Campbell and Alejandro Faurlin, who all had a go against Villa, he missed the target on Sunday.
QPR’s attempts would have gone down a lot better at the Rugby World Cup currently being played in New Zealand.
It might just have been one of those days. But I think the best man for free-kicks at QPR was sitting on the bench against Alex McLeish’s side.
“A dead-ball specialist is vital in the Premier League. In some matches they decide the result.”
Akos Buzsaky is a fine footballer. He can pass and shoot with either foot, will get about the pitch and make tackles, conjure up chances out of nothing and he also possesses the ability to take a very decent free-kick.
During his time with Plymouth he scored some outstanding goals from dead-ball situations and since joining QPR in 2007 he has scored some wonderful free-kicks, with the one against Reading at Loftus Road in 2009 in particular sticking in the memory.
He was instrumental in QPR’s excellent 1-0 win against Everton in August, setting up Tommy’s Smith’s winning goal and kept his place in the starting XI against Wigan but has since found himself back on the bench.
He hasn’t spat his dummy out but did state in an interview with Nemzeti Sportthat he wants to be more than just a squad player at Loftus Road.
And having scored twice for the reserves in a 5-2 win against Brighton, the 29-year-old is doing everything he can to win over Neil Warnock, who never seems to talk about Buzsaky’s talent.
Injuries limited Buzsaky to just 16 appearances last season and his agent, Vladan Filipovic, has admitted that Italian side Leece were very interested in signing the player.
QPR decided against letting him go with Filipovic suggesting that Buzsaky was one of former owner Flavio Briatore’s favourite players.
I didn’t agree with much that Briatore did or said during his time in W12, but I’m with him on Buzsaky.
A dead-ball specialist is vital in the Premier League. In some matches they decide the result and as long as Buzsaky sits on the bench QPR’s chances of winning tight games are reduced considerably.
I don’t believe that Warnock will start Buzsaky ahead of Taarabt but if the latter continues to fade in matches after impressive starts, then I’d urge Warnock to let Buzsaky have a go in his favoured position behind the main striker.
He doesn’t wear the number 10 shirt anymore, but he still has magic in his feet.
This post was last modified on 30/09/2011