Skills, Pace And Effortless Grace

EZE, Eze, Eze? Not against Leeds, it wasn’t. QPR’s gifted talisman had arguably his toughest game of the season at Elland Road two weeks ago.

- Chris Dunlavy

For that, his team must carry a portion of the blame. In his post-match press conference, Hoops boss Mark Warburton was asked about his plan to counter Leeds’ vaunted high press. “You can go round it,” he said. “You can go over it. Or you can play through it.”

Unfortunately, QPR failed to implement any of those strategies consistently. Penned in and unable to hold it up, they mustered just one shot on goal and were beaten 2-0.

All of which meant Eze, the Londoners’ link man and creative heartbeat, was dragged too deep to wreak the sort of havoc that has piqued the interest of Tottenham Hotspur and hung a £30m price tag around the 21-year-old’s neck.

Talent

After last year’s promising breakthrough, Eze’s displays since August have proved what Millwall failed to realize when they released him as a teenager in 2016. Neil Harris, the Lions’ boss, believed the midfielder’s languid demeanour wouldn’t play well at The Den and was unwilling to adjust his 4-4-2 system to accommodate a roving No.10.