Back four - as per throughout. First Half - ………..Parker….Tunnicliffe….. ..Fofana………McCormack……Kaca.. …………….Hugo…………. Second Half - ……………Tunnicliffe………. ………Fofana…….Parker… …………….Kaca (Ruiz)……….. ………..Hugo (Woodrow)…… ……………..McCormack… On the face of it we had more width in the first half. In reality it didn’t work that way. We were slow on the ball - frequently passing the ball in a midfield triangle before putting it out to the wing when it could/should have gone there with the first pass anyway. And giving Reading all the time in the world to cover up. Consequently we were stuck in our own half most of the time. In the second half, that formation allowed us to push higher up and importantly put pressure on their No 8 (I think that was his number) who was ‘sweeper’ in front of their back four. Also instead of standing waiting on a pass we had players now running at diagonals onto passes. It’s kind of hard to describe but basically the formation forced us to pass the ball forward and we were much more fluid. Not only the No 8 but their full backs consequently had less time on the ball.
Oh, and something else that comes to mind Captain. Bryan doesn’t do half times. He came out yesterday a couple of minutes before the re-start and did a jog or two across the pitch
Looking ahead to the next week for us, what is everyone seeing as the most important game, or to put it another way, the game you'd most like to see us win? The league game against Forest or the cup game at Sunderland? Ideally we'd win both but given the choice I'd love to get another 3 points on the board, let's get as big a gap as possible between us and relegation, save any late sweats come April-May time. We all love a cup run but not at the expense of the loss of league form.
League for me, the play offs has to be our target, we're not out it yet and on paper have a strong squad. We've got 20 games to catch up 13 points. Hopefully we can find a balanced formation, we were fortunate Reading didn't get more from the wing play. Staf and Grimmer are overlapping to provide the width as the other forward players are moving to the wings from a central position. It left us a bit exposed to counters with there not always being someone to sweep in behind. I'd like to see us sacrifice the 10 for an anchor and have two wingers and a striker with one of the midfield three given freedom but not completely absolved of defensive duties. It would be a nice way for Bryan to leave after a last minute winner. He had to do quite a bit to get it in, it would have been very easy to head it over the way the ball was behind him. The fact Woodrow was the one most ran to, Bryan left on the floor momentarily, shows he's probably as out of place in the team as he is the league and English football generally.
He seems to have made a decision not to celebrate his goals this season. He did exactly the same after he equalised late on at Wigan. I'm not sure what to read into it really. I don't know whether he's making a point to those fans who've given him stick pretty much since he made his inauspicious debut against Blackburn, or if he's got a gripe against the club for not letting him leave in the Summer. Maybe a bit of both.
It was one of the few times that Bryan did what he is supposed to be doing. Run in the box... and he scored. Other than that we were fortunate to win this game but games like this build character for the team. I want a win against Forrest and a decent run against Sunderland. Play-offs are not far off and still 60 points to play for.
To be fair I don't think he's sworn at the Hammersmith End yet! I don't think Bobby v Sunderland will ever be surpassed. please log in to view this image
