by SCIAG » 04 Aug 2019 09:22
by sandman » 04 Aug 2019 09:25
by Maneki Neko » 04 Aug 2019 09:42
Jack Celliers It was OK. Moore's mistake was a bit of a surprise, but we came back with a nice equaliser, then gave away another soft goal.
I thought we would get an equaliser, but then Adam came on, and that was it really. It must have been soul-destroying for the rest of the team who had been so careful with the ball - Swift especially - to see him come on and spray hollywood balls into touch.
by Snowflake Royal » 04 Aug 2019 10:33
Zip Youmi’s comments concern me. Surely our players are match fit? Why are they looking knackered well before full time? The one thing we know about the Championship is that teams need to be fit.
Part of the problem seems to be we do not know the best position for certain players. Is Meite best playing on the wing? What is Loader’s best position? I have no idea. Was Swift really playing in a CDM role for the first half? Surely not.
We had a very young side playing yesterday. It must have been one of the youngest sides we have played at this level. I’m not sure that’s wise. I don’t see how we can leave someone capable of captaining a team that finished higher up the table on the bench? It seems odd we bought Morrison when we were clearly looking to bring in Miazga too and have McIntyre playing really well.
Early days but this lot must be as fit as other teams otherwise we will see a repeat of Stam’s second season and lots of late goals conceded.
by leon » 04 Aug 2019 11:09
URZZZZleonURZZZZ
Sorry but you're deluded if you think Adam was better than Swift. Swift was by far our best player and that's coming from someone who doesn't really rate him (funny how Swift has had very little credit for his pass to Yiadom for the handball shot btw). Richards and Virginia aside, the other 8 starters ranged from shocking to poor
What did Swift actually do? Ok he played one ball to Yiadom. And? He didn’t affect the midfield at all, we we were overrun and we didn’t create anything from the midfield.
Adam played some actual passes to players that meant we were in an attacking position.
What did Swift actually do?
The impetus is always on the midfield to create. But for a midfielder to create, you need the attackers to move. Of the four attackers, Meite was the only one to move. Loader and Barrett just stood still and I have no idea what Barrow was doing. Swift made the best of a bad situation
But him and Rino aren’t the solution to the two holding midfielders. That’s obvious. That and a striker is an absolute must before Thursday
by 3points » 04 Aug 2019 11:12
Snowflake RoyalSCIAG The benefits of being a pessimist are that you can lose 3-1 and not be disappointed.
The uncontrollable out the way first: Wednesday handled the ball on the line without the referee seeing it. Should really have been a goal if they hadn't cheated, as they did cheat then it should have been a red and a penalty. Also thought the referee let the tactical fouling go unpunished a bit too long.
In terms of structure, I don't think the 4-2-2-2 really worked. Would prefer a 4-3-3... but then, we don't have enough midfielders. Barrett had a reasonable game but we didn't offer enough of an attacking threat, we didn't get behind them very often and we didn't put dangerous balls into the box. We had "fluidity" in the sense that nobody knew where they were playing, but not in the sense of being difficult to mark or using space intelligently. Yiadom and Richards pushed very high in order to give us some width, which left us exposed a few times and contributed to the second goal. Thought Richards had a good game though. We look very reliant on Meite, nobody else was going to put the ball in the net.
Player ratings:
Virginia 5.5 - impressed by how commanding he was in the box, but could have dealt better with some of the shots. Definitely not ruling him out but he'll be disappointed by that debut.
Yiadom 5 - ineffective going forward and a defensive liability which Wednesday exploited.
Miazga 6 - one really good block
Moore 5 - probably his worst game for us, some really significant errors.
Richards 6 - not great going forward but didn't get exposed defensively, which was a real possibility given he had Barrett and Swift in front of him. One excellent tackle harshly given as a foul.
Rinomhota 6.5 - drew a lot of fouls through his good ball carrying, but misplaced a pass before the first goal.
Swift 6.5 - adapted quite well to the new role. Protected the ball very well in a couple of tight spaces and put in one very good tackle. Played some clever passes but nothing particularly significant.
Loader 4.5 - not at all comfortable on the right wing. Slowed down our counter attacks and didn't offer any attacking threat.
Barrett 6 - really good pass for the goal and tracked back quite well. Needs to offer a little bit more of a threat.
Barrow 5 - did well for the red card but otherwise didn't offer enough. Down the left please.
Meite 6.5 - took his goal well and should have had another but for the cheating. Also missed a few headed chances.
Olise 6 - clearly has vision and class. More please.
Adam 6 - could have been much worse. Some good passes although needs to calibrate a bit better.
Nova - no time
This here highlights the exact problem we have. Two people went to the game and watched the match. SCIAG thinks Loader was supposed to be playing right wing. I think he was supposed to be playing No. 10. Three of our front four were actually playing 'oxf*rd knows' where.
by 3points » 04 Aug 2019 11:15
SCIAG Starting line up for me was a Brazil-style 4-2-2-2 with Barrett as the left AM and Loader as the right AM. I definitely got the impression that Loader was defensively supposed to cover that area.
At the start of the second half we tried swapping them with the notional strikers but I don't think that lasted very long.
So, yeah, some limits to the use of fixed positions to describe that front four, and Loader wasn't playing as a traditional winger, but of the four he was playing furthest right most of the time.
by Platypuss » 04 Aug 2019 11:25
by Snowflake Royal » 04 Aug 2019 11:32
3pointsSCIAG Starting line up for me was a Brazil-style 4-2-2-2 with Barrett as the left AM and Loader as the right AM. I definitely got the impression that Loader was defensively supposed to cover that area.
At the start of the second half we tried swapping them with the notional strikers but I don't think that lasted very long.
So, yeah, some limits to the use of fixed positions to describe that front four, and Loader wasn't playing as a traditional winger, but of the four he was playing furthest right most of the time.
Exactly how I saw it
by stealthpapes » 04 Aug 2019 11:48
by BR0B0T » 04 Aug 2019 12:22
Snowflake Royal3pointsSCIAG Starting line up for me was a Brazil-style 4-2-2-2 with Barrett as the left AM and Loader as the right AM. I definitely got the impression that Loader was defensively supposed to cover that area.
At the start of the second half we tried swapping them with the notional strikers but I don't think that lasted very long.
So, yeah, some limits to the use of fixed positions to describe that front four, and Loader wasn't playing as a traditional winger, but of the four he was playing furthest right most of the time.
Exactly how I saw it
Fair enough, first half defensive duties were the wrong end for me and it mostly looked like a total shambles on our right side.
Whatever we played the front four were all over the place and we basically didn't have a striker.
by Snowflake Royal » 04 Aug 2019 12:46
BR0B0TSnowflake Royal3points Exactly how I saw it
Fair enough, first half defensive duties were the wrong end for me and it mostly looked like a total shambles on our right side.
Whatever we played the front four were all over the place and we basically didn't have a striker.
Hang on...you lads stay sober when watching Reading??????!?!?!?!?!
by Danny Nedelko » 04 Aug 2019 13:28
by leon » 04 Aug 2019 13:36
Platypuss Barrow just so weak when receiving the ball with his back to goal. Did he manage to shield the ball even once?
by Reading4eva » 04 Aug 2019 13:40
by Ascotexgunner » 04 Aug 2019 13:43
URZZZZRoyalBlueMuskrat
No I don't believe he did improve us to any significant degree last season. We were 21st when he took over and finished 20th, so only the most marginal of improvements and I think Clement would have done at least as well. As for this season it goes without saying that it's far too early to judge and here's hoping at the end of September we're up around mid table and, importantly, can also see some tangible footballing style and ethos developing.
Clueless Clement would've done just as well?!!!![]()
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You mean clueless Clement who kept us up the season before and Swansea (in the Premier League) up the season before that. You talking about that Clement, right?
by Victor Meldrew » 04 Aug 2019 13:47
by Hound » 04 Aug 2019 14:16
by Ascotexgunner » 04 Aug 2019 14:32
by SCIAG » 04 Aug 2019 15:39
BR0B0TSnowflake Royal3points Exactly how I saw it
Fair enough, first half defensive duties were the wrong end for me and it mostly looked like a total shambles on our right side.
Whatever we played the front four were all over the place and we basically didn't have a striker.
Hang on...you lads stay sober when watching Reading??????!?!?!?!?!
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