Overall, a huge relief to get our first win, and to put to bed some of the ghosts which arose at Turf Moor on the opening day of the season against Burnley where we went from 2-0 up and didnât end up winning the game. It was a poor game from a neutralâs perspective with chances few and far between, as both Watford and Reading had very organised and well-drilled defences that were tough to break down. The only difference between the two sides was that Reading seemed to lack any real cutting edge and seriously missed Shane Long. It would be silly to expect Adam Le Fondre to replace him straight away having moved up two divisions, but he seemed a little out of his depth on his debut. His partner, Manset, was a big lump who was good in the air but with ball in feet he had very little to offer. In such a tight game it was necessary to take the few chances that came our away, and thanks to a rather debatable free kick and slack marking from Reading early in the second half, we did just that as opposed to our earlier games. What some of our players lack in quality a lot of them make up for in passion and a desire to work 100%, and to that I look at players like Dickinson, Yeates and particularly Weimann, who never stopped running and at the end of the game looked absolutely shattered. Such determination will no doubt win you points across a season. But it was in defence where we were superb. Doyley struggled a bit in the first half against MacAnuff but when Reading went to 4-3-3 with Robson-Kanu replacing MacAnuff on the wing, Doyley came into his own and constantly broke up Reading attacks and made crucial interceptions when the pressure was starting to build. Another who stood out at the back was certainly Mariappa, whose positioning this season has been excellent and together with Martin Taylor they seemed to have put together one of the best centre-back pairings in the division in my opinion. You can see his confidence (in that he never gives the ball away when in possession), and you can see why Swansea were interested in him on transfer deadline day. So a good performance all round, though there was a sour note in that Marvin Sordellâs performance left a lot to be desired, especially after how he had been playing for the England U21âs this week. Constantly offside, didnât offer much in attack, and generally he seemed one step behind play. I wouldnât suggested his international exploits in any way distracted him, just that he had a poor game. However, we have the opening win under our belts, which is a huge relief, and the most important thing. Dyche has built a good squad, hopefully we can push on, starting with Barnsley away!
Counldn't agree more about Lloydino. And as I said on the match thread Mari impressed me today. i still believe people are being a little harsh on Mr Sordell. He didn't have a great game but he received and held the ball even with 2 defenders on him - but just my opinion. Yeah we are going to be ok And I loved the plonker trying to stir up the reading crowd at the start of each half - talk about on a hiding to nothing
Norway there was also a silence among the royals and we asked them to sing a song. They replied with a few choruses of "f*** off Watford. So we asked them to sing another one they didn't, guess they have a very small repertoire. Yup the choir were in fine form. Don't get me wrong it wasn't like Brendon's farewell party but really added to the atmosphere.
KC I`m sure it spurred the lads on all reprts state the travelling support was loud and proud ! brings tears to my eyes !
It is nice to be able to read that we were the fans who were ripping the others!! It feels good!!! Its nice to see that 12/13 players had great games. I can fully understand that Marv had an off colour day, he is only young and has played out of his skin the last 2 weeks. A rest will do him good.
Seems that Marv was double marked which would make it hard for him , though it would create space for others to exploit!
Emiatss - (or anyone else that was there) - what was your opinion of Hogg? Is he our Roy Keane type player - box to box, tough tackler but creative? I suspect he could be our key signing this year. Loved his comments from yesterday about Eustace - does a lot of 'sitting' I believe he meant in front of the back 4.
Pretty spot on summary. Yes, Marvin was definately double marked and was actually the only player that the Reading players seemed to close down quickly. Hogg had a solid enough game but was quite funny seeing him try to run onto a Sordell pass. He could have been clean through but lets just say he won't panic anyone with his pace! Yeates was certainly improved as well but I still worry about his sharpness, seemed to be a step behind anticipating movement of opposition when tracking back. There are signs of mixing up our play a little more and maybe that balance can improve should the teams confidence and familiarity with each other get better as the season goes. Still a little too much long stuff.
How did Watford stop Reading having shots on goal? To me the locals have a duty to attack the visitors, only eigth misses as well is awful.
Chris perhaps it was because we were attacking the far end in the second half but I thought he got stuck in and improved the more time went on. He didn't stand out to me as a Roy Keane I must say but I guess given time
We were well organised, we communicated well, we didn't over commit. And when in the second half tackles were needed Lloydino and Mari for me did enough each time. Down their left wing they were a handful and got two or three nice crosses (or shots??) that just needed a touch. To be fair Reading were poor and a little disorganized once they went two down. They let us play too much also in the first half for that matter. But I wouldn't start reserving hotels for next season prem. But it was very very encouraging. And as I mentioned before I liked the enthusiasm and energy that Sean shows. I was concerned at first when he was appointed but I think he may be the right guy for us. To be honest our worst player was between the posts. Talk about lazy he did almost nothing all afternoon
Hi all - just got back! Some additional thoughts to those already excellently expressed above. Firstly a great day out with huge passion both on and off the pitch - our fans were absolute quality yesterday, great singing, great banter - well done to all those who could make it, makes you proud. A big thanks in particular to the guy sitting behind us, he has us in stitches all through the game - he even got invited by the back rowers to sing another song - pure quality! On the pitch a great team performance and just a couple of points not already capture. John E was awesome, every time their attack broke down he was there to pick the ball up and bring it away, they moved Jobi into the centre far too late to counter that. I did feel for Marvin, after a tough game in mid-week, he ran his heart out yesterday - his interaction with Andy W is improving and will take a few more games to refine and they will be a very strong partnership.
Its nice to see praise for Mapps and Lloydinio. Our defence definitely seems to have grown in confidence. I am about to go on twitter and slate Mr Loach!! No player should have an easy game and they should all look like they have done 90mins work!! All he did was stand still!!
