Match Day Thread Reading Away

I cant help it. It's like a drug...it just takes over...I've tried to stop...but its no good...as soon as the next games come...

 

They site I was on had named team and subs and Atsu nowhere to be seen, Turns out they had Yedlin down as a sub instead. Mystery solved.

 

That was bobbins. Too reliant on Shelvey who was knackered. Draw fair result. Problem is we are set up for counter ATTACK. So when your opponent just sits back with the ball it gets really cagey.

 

Were you at the game?

 

7 from 9 from that run of games is brilliant.

 

Let's be honest - I think most of us would have been really happy with 7 points from the last three games.

Need to kick on against Fulham now to make the most of it

Brighton at home to Derby on Fri night and Huddersfield away at Brentford Saturday

 

Watched the beam back at St James. A steaming pile of ****e, but 7 points from 9. Iwould have taken that last week.

 

Aye

 

Never got to the game as Obi ordered lunch and the airlift took a bit.

 

Nothing wrong with a draw, remember we'll be getting beat quite a lot next season

 

It's still 0-0.

I'll let you know if anyone scores

 

You really do have a flux capacitor

 

What time is kick off please?

 

It's hard to see what we're going to be able to do next season. We can't just stand off and let the majority of PL clubs play as they please, because a) we don't defend resolutely enough (Reading could have scored twice) and b) we don't offer enough on the counter.

Some thoughts from the live match:

Dummett again has proven, at this level, to be solid and dependable. Some very good covering and defending, unlucky on occasion to not get the ball when he got into some promising advanced positions. Clark is very solid and knows positioning well. Lascelles, however, seems lack some basic discipline. Hard to describe and the regulars at SJP will know better but he's a little scatterbrained and can pop up in some odd positions. Gamez was like a less-dynamic Dummett. Solid graft, but there were a good few times when we needed an outlet on the right and it just didn't happen. Both regular RB's had niggles, so can't blame Rafa.

Gouffran is a trier. He runs himself around, chases and harries but just isn't creative, or a finisher. Managers love the endeavour, but fans get frustrated at unreliable end product. Colback was ok, but was again guilty of sloppiness and didn't create anything. Shelvey had one of his poorer games, but he really suffered from a lack of movement or options. Ritchie probably best player again, constantly trying, works hard for the team and unlucky not to score. Perez also showed nice touches but not enough movement. Probably should have replaced him with Gayle earlier, as Murphy was giving his all and doing some good things, but was too isolated.

All in all a dull affair, but three trips in a week is a big ask so the lads can be spared any criticism. Reading were a pain in the ass to play against, happy playing keep ball across their back three for long periods and constantly sitting deep even when attacking, so the counter attack was nullified. Home support was embarrassing.

 

tbh I'm happy we got anything from the match with frickin Gamez on the pitch!!

Anita looked excellent against Hudderfield, the only reason I can imagine he was excluded was that Rafa was being careful with him after he's just come back from injury. We weirdly seemed to miss Diame a bit, we need that blundering ox to dominate midfield.

Onwards and upwards, great return from the last 3 games, give them today off to recover and let's get a proper team vs Fulham and smash it!

 

I think that is another good point. Away form is ridiculous. You can't really moan about it. You have to factor in the number of games. We've already nearly played a full PL season and it's early march.

I don't have any problem setting up to counter attack away, or slowing the game to upset the opposition. At any time in the last 10 years we had tried to do such a thing, we would have made a calamity of it. Benitez is a defensive coach. He has a great record of getting his teams to defend well.

If he can sort out our home form with some subtle tweaks, then buy well in the summer, who knows.

 

Well said

 

In terms of player assessments, I'd say that's pretty spot on. Thought Clark, Dummy and Murphy had solid games and each won pretty much everything thrown their way. And Ritchie was everyehere.

As gor the set up, I don't abouf next season, but Rafa is doing what he needs to right now - and that is keeping us on course for promotion. It might not always be pretty to watch, but we are top of the league.

 

It really is a good point. We're no great shakes, in the nicest possible way, and Reading set out well. Jaap's going to go far, I reckon, Man U manager in waiting.

Reason it's a good point is because it's a game we could, arguably should, have lost. Draw fair result, but we could easily have lost so this is the kind of draw Rafa was talking about we haven't done enough of. Forest, Blackburn, Wolves, games we should have been able to get a draw from.

Think in fairness it was difficult to anticipate Reading's set up. Yes, they like possession football (which is bizarre, considering their pitch). But when that possession mainly amounts to the three CB's passing it across the back with more or less NO forward movement, it's hard to see what we can do. The CB's simply did NOT venture outside their half. If we even could counter-attack they'd always have at least 3 behind the ball. Perez, for me, wasn't reading the game well enough as he maintained his position up top, losing out to long balls. For the first time in a while, dropping deeper would have worked better. Diame would have been the best choice for this match, or for at least the whole second half.

You know who we seemed to resemble? Leicester. Deep 4-4-2. One of the Chron reporters claimed it was "fluid", when it was anything but. Ritchie put in a shift, but when we didn't have the ball it was a very rigid two-lines-of-four set up. Issue with that was Reading playing these very static 3 at the back, and the fact we had Murph rather than a Vardy type, meant the channel ball was relying on longer runs from Gouff/Perez/Ritchie.

Bit of a frustrating game. If it hadn't been the third in a week, I suspect we'd have taken the game to Reading more and won. We're a much better team overall.

 

Hope you enjoyed the match regardless!