Team for Barnsley (A)

[CountryRoyal]

Al Habsi

Gunter
McShane
Moore
Blackett

Quinn
VDB
Swift

McCleary
Kermorgant
Beerens

[George_]

Jaakkola

Gunter----McShane----Moore----Obita

-------Evans-------

Swift--------Quinn

McCleary----Yann----Beerens

[Ian Royal]

Al Habsi

Gunter
McShane
Moore
Blackett

Quinn
VDB
Swift

McCleary
Kermorgant
Beerens

That'd be my first XI, but I expect to see Williams over Swift now and it'd be harsh to drop Obita again after one game.

[CountryRoyal]

Al Habsi

Gunter
McShane
Moore
Blackett

Quinn
VDB
Swift

McCleary
Kermorgant
Beerens

That'd be my first XI, but I expect to see Williams over Swift now and it'd be harsh to drop Obita again after one game.

Harsh, maybe, but against the league's highest goal scorers I just think we need that extra bit of defensive solidity that he brings over Obita (yes yes I know we kept a clean sheet last time out and conceded with Blackett)

I also don't want to see Williams anywhere near the starting 11 ever again. Fully fed up with his "contributions". I think we'd be a much better team without him in it. Perfect player to bring on against a tiring defence and really grab the game by the scruff of its neck, just don't see what he brings when he starts.

[Nameless]

I think we'll see Blackett selected where we need defensive strength and height at set pieces and Obita when we want the full backs pushing forward. So Blackett this time.
Swift should start, possibly with JVDB and Evans behind him.

[Einstein agogo]

Al Habsi

Gunter
McShane
Moore
Blackett

Quinn
VDB
Swift

McCleary
Kermorgant
Beerens

That'd be my first XI, but I expect to see Williams over Swift now and it'd be harsh to drop Obita again after one game.

Harsh, maybe, but against the league's highest goal scorers I just think we need that extra bit of defensive solidity that he brings over Obita (yes yes I know we kept a clean sheet last time out and conceded with Blackett)

I also don't want to see Williams anywhere near the starting 11 ever again. Fully fed up with his "contributions". I think we'd be a much better team without him in it. Perfect player to bring on against a tiring defence and really grab the game by the scruff of its neck, just don't see what he brings when he starts.

This will be the team that starts, Swift is fit for 65-70 mins

[Sutekh]

Berg will not be risked according to the Chronic. Still suffering with a hamstring issue.

Actually expecting a team of

Habsi

Gunter
McShane
Moore
Obita

Evans
Swift
Williams

McCleary
Beerens
Cormorant

[Nameless]

Berg will not be risked according to the Chronic. Still suffering with a hamstring issue. Therefore I imagine it may well be an unchanged team from Tuesday.

Although we played a formation specifically designed to counter Birmingham. Will we go with three centre backs again ?
If we do then Clearly Obita plays rather than Blackett.
But I would definitely want Swift playing.

[russyb]

Is Dominic Samuals injured? just wondering why he isn't even on the Bench.
I like him over Mendes, i don't think Mendes has impressed

[Sutekh]

Is Dominic Samuals injured? just wondering why he isn't even on the Bench.
I like him over Mendes, i don't think Mendes has impressed

Samuel has been less than impressive in the few games he has played for the U23s and in the CheckOutaLowCrowd Trophy so it is unsurprising that he is not even making the bench.

[Vision]

I did find it slightly odd that when Joey pulled out late on Tuesday that Blackett wasn't the natural choice as the left sided central defender in a back 3. I can only assume Stam intended top rest him anyway or decided that distribution wise Evans was a more like for like replacement.

[Nameless]

I did find it slightly odd that when Joey pulled out late on Tuesday that Blackett wasn't the natural choice as the left sided central defender in a back 3. I can only assume Stam intended top rest him anyway.

But Evans was the best option as the central one, which is where Joey would have played and where Evans did play. We weren't short of a left sided player and Evans is a much better footballer than Blackett. With Evans there it would also have been easy to swap formations by pushing him forward into a more conventional midfield position.

[russyb]

Is Dominic Samuals injured? just wondering why he isn't even on the Bench.
I like him over Mendes, i don't think Mendes has impressed

Samuel has been less than impressive in the few games he has played for the U23s and in the CheckOutaLowCrowd Trophy so it is unsurprising that he is not even making the bench.

Ok fair enough, although , albeit pre-season he did look pretty impressive in the games i saw him in. I guess we are just desperate for decent striking options.
Kermie does a great job, holds the ball and wins the headers but without any support he often gets crowded out, those midfielders really need to learn to run into the box to assist better in my opinion. The amount of crosses we get in there should be 3-4 people trying to pile in there to get on the end of them. (anyway this is another conversation not on the team for Barnsley thread). fwiw i think we should stick to the same team if VDB not available.

[maffff]

The whoscored statistical preview:


Reading will dominate possession
Reading will be shown a high number of cards
Barnsley will score as a result of individual skill
Barnsley will create many scoring chances
Barnsley will score from a setpiece situation
Barnsley will score from a direct freekick

[Vision]

I did find it slightly odd that when Joey pulled out late on Tuesday that Blackett wasn't the natural choice as the left sided central defender in a back 3. I can only assume Stam intended top rest him anyway.

But Evans was the best option as the central one, which is where Joey would have played and where Evans did play. We weren't short of a left sided player and Evans is a much better footballer than Blackett. With Evans there it would also have been easy to swap formations by pushing him forward into a more conventional midfield position.

As I said a more "like for like" replacement however I wouldn't say McShane or Moore are left sided so for balance Blackett would certainly have been a consideration for me but I do think Stam had intended to rest him anyway.

Agree about Evans being more flexible if the formation didn't work out.

[CountryRoyal]

The whoscored statistical preview:


Reading will dominate possession
Reading will be shown a high number of cards
Barnsley will score as a result of individual skill
Barnsley will create many scoring chances
Barnsley will score from a setpiece situation
Barnsley will score from a direct freekick

Am I the only one that thinks there is a repeated glaring omission of the world "probably".

[Nameless]

I did find it slightly odd that when Joey pulled out late on Tuesday that Blackett wasn't the natural choice as the left sided central defender in a back 3. I can only assume Stam intended top rest him anyway.

But Evans was the best option as the central one, which is where Joey would have played and where Evans did play. We weren't short of a left sided player and Evans is a much better footballer than Blackett. With Evans there it would also have been easy to swap formations by pushing him forward into a more conventional midfield position.

As I said a more "like for like" replacement however I wouldn't say McShane or Moore are left sided so for balance Blackett would certainly have been a consideration for me but I do think Stam had intended to rest him anyway.

Agree about Evans being more flexible if the formation didn't work out.

I guess it depends how you look at it. Our normal back 2 is Moore on the left, McShane on the right. Joey would have played between them so the like for like was Evans in the same position. That seems like the least change that could have been made, otherwise you have Blackett in a new role, Moore in a new role. From his appearances so far I'd have concerns about Blackett position ally and in terms of concentration and giving him an unfamiliar role at 30 minutes notice would have been a huge risk. I think we would have had to go back to a back 4, although with Obita in the team already that wouldn't have worked either !!!!

[Hitchytwo]

--------------------Al Habsi-------------------

Gunter--Mcshane--Moore--Blackett

---------------------Evans---------------------

--------Williams----------Swift-------------

Mcleary--------Kermit---------Beerens

[Muskrat]

Barnsley 3 Reading 0.