Attacking trio provide potential blueprint for Stephan’s QPR

Julien Stephan’s first game in charge of QPR ended with Rangers failing to win their opening league fixture for a fifth consecutive season, but the 1-1 draw with Preston did offer a few hints as to the type of football the Frenchman wants his side to play.

The trio of attacking players behind striker Zan Celar combined elements of both the old and the new, flickering with early-season promise in what was for the most part an even contest with few clear-cut chances at either end.

While Kader Dembele arrived in west London last summer and Ilias Chair has been around for considerably longer, they were both used in different positions to their regular roles from last season.

Chair started in a central role, and it was from there that he linked most of Rangers’ best play together in a strong first half display.

The 27-year-old’s influence was shown in him registering the fifth most touches of any player on the pitch, while he also created three chances for team-mates that included a particularly good early cross that Kwame Poku steered wide of goal.

Dembele produced Rangers’ standout moment in the game in what was surely his best performance since suffering a knee injury in October last year.

Starting on the left of the attack initially seemed unnatural to a player that so often cuts infield when stationed on the other flank, but Dembele looked more than comfortable when skipping away from Jordan Storey and then holding off Thierry Small in the build-up to his cross finding the net via two deflections.

Dembele’s change of position meant Poku made his debut in his favoured role, on the right, and although he missed that early chance, he too showed enough in flashes to create excitement for what could be ahead.

Poku completed more successful dribbles than any other player on the pitch, showing a level of dexterity in doing so that suggests he could trouble plenty of Championship full-backs this season.

There will be concerns that both Dembele and Poku had to be substituted in the second half, having received on-field treatment, but Stephan was enthused by what he saw from the trio.

“I liked the way in the last third they created one-against-one [situations],” he said.

“I want them to feel free to do that, because when you have creative players they need to feel free in their head to create danger.

“They are all creative players and we need to put them in the best condition on the pitch to create danger.

“If we can play in the opposition’s half, it’s better for them because they can create danger each time they have the ball at their feet. They will be very important for us this season.

“I like this kind of player because they are different. It is so hard to find spaces in the last third. When you have players that are able to do that, you need to enjoy [them].”

It will take plenty more matches to start being definitive about Stephan’s QPR, but Dembele, Chair and Poku appear destined to play a significant role for him.