BFT Watford

[Millsy]

Aluko was incredible.

Why does everyone keep saying this, stop it.

Aluko wasn't playing today.

Who was that little chap though?

[Bristol Paul]

Ok, we mean business. DO YOU BELIEVE NOW???

Cardiff will be the test, people said.

Watford will be the test, people said.

Playing without Joao will be the test, people said.

We didn't just beat this ex-PL side, we absolutely thoroughly dominated them and deserved this win. Ok they hit the crossbar, but it should have been 4-1 to us.

And Aluko playing brilliantly!? WTAF?

EVERY player fighting for EVERY ball ALL the time. 1-0 wasn't enough, right till the end we were upset not to get 2.

WTF guys!>??

Rafael - 6. Solid but nothing to do.
Moore - 7. A rock in defence
Morrison - 7. A rock in defence.
RIchards - 7 Played v well.
Holmes -6. I was going to give a 5 because i'm sorry but they clearly did their homework and were launching attack efetr attack down that side and we didn't look strong at all. In the first 10 3 very scary attacks down that side. But his attacking work was very good. An intelligent and physically strong player, will only get better. 7 for that, so an overall 6 from me
Rino - 7. Solid
Laurent - 7 Solid enough
Olise - 6. Talented player we all love, but I counted at least 3 times he lost the ball.
Little guy in midfield - 9. Not sure who the hell this was. Clueless Dellor kept calling him Aluko, but it definitely wasn't Aluko.
Meite - 8. Just a brilliant performance. Real thorn in their side.
Puscas - 8. Just what we wanted. Great Joao-esque goal, and holding up well, defending well, just brilliant.

SUBS

McIntyre - 7 Did very well, we looked much tougher when he came on, and did well going forwards too. Has he put on some muscle recently too? Looking much less scrawny.
Tetek - can't say really.

Pauno - 10. Sorry but there is no way this guy is NOT getting credit for this. The players are fighting like I've never seen before. They are positive like I've never seen before. They're trying out moves I've never seen before clearly from the training ground, which are looking very dangerous. The starting lineup clearly worked AGAIN. The sub raised an eyebrow or 2 but ultimately we ended up totally bossing the game and toughening things up when McIntyre came on.

This is the beginning of something special.

And what... without JOAO, SWIFT, and my boyfriend EJARIA. Really??

What's going on?

Please delete this.

No.

Thoroughly dominated them? I don’t think so........you must be one of those loose 2 games, we are doomed, win 2 games, we are going are going to be champions. Jesus. I’ll have a read of your posts when we loose a few...

[Jagermesiter1871]

Is the Laurent-Rinomhota partnership what we've been missing?

This definitely. Just solid which is all you need to be in the championship. Saying that the manager has clearly got this bunch of softies from the last few years 'fighting like warriors'. Aluko was class today - Olise had a mare but will let him off. Such a solid performance I haven't seen from a Reading side in probably approaching 5 years.

[Jagermesiter1871]

Please delete this.

No.

Thoroughly dominated them? I don’t think so........you must be one of those loose 2 games, we are doomed, win 2 games, we are going are going to be champions. Jesus. I’ll have a read of your posts when we loose a few...

In fairness I never felt threatened by Watford.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Hardcore Pauno

[NewCorkSeth]

So is Pauno just some incredible motivator then? He seems to have reinvigorated the fire in so many players. Moore looks back to his best.

[Millsy]

Please delete this.

No.

Thoroughly dominated them? I don’t think so........you must be one of those loose 2 games, we are doomed, win 2 games, we are going are going to be champions. Jesus. I’ll have a read of your posts when we loose a few...

When the flying f**k did I say that? Dominating this game doesn't mean we're going to be champions. Good as it may be it's still only early days sadly.

But you must have been one of those goalpost movers who called the first 3 games meaningless because they were allegedly crap teams.

They did well in the first 10-15, exploited our right back situation, hit the crossbar, and scuffed a shot, ok. But after that for most of the game they couldn't get the ball off us. We won most 2nd balls, we passed triangles around them, we scored, we had several dangerous chances (Puscas' shot skimming past the post, Meite to Olise steaming and shooting just over the bar, countless balls in looking like we were about to score. We were a constant threat and looked more likely to get a second than they did getting an equaliser even looking for the second deep in stoppage time. If that isn't dominating I don't know what is. We dominated Watford and were good for the win.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

That was Bowen’s team really

[Snowball]

Ok, we mean business. DO YOU BELIEVE NOW???

Cardiff will be the test, people said.

Watford will be the test, people said.

Playing without Joao will be the test, people said.

We didn't just beat this ex-PL side, we absolutely thoroughly dominated them and deserved this win. Ok they hit the crossbar, but it should have been 4-1 to us.

And Aluko playing brilliantly!? WTAF?

EVERY player fighting for EVERY ball ALL the time. 1-0 wasn't enough, right till the end we were upset not to get 2.

WTF guys!>??

Rafael - 6. Solid but nothing to do.
Moore - 7. A rock in defence
Morrison - 7. A rock in defence.
RIchards - 7 Played v well.
Holmes -6. I was going to give a 5 because i'm sorry but they clearly did their homework and were launching attack efetr attack down that side and we didn't look strong at all. In the first 10 3 very scary attacks down that side. But his attacking work was very good. An intelligent and physically strong player, will only get better. 7 for that, so an overall 6 from me
Rino - 7. Solid
Laurent - 7 Solid enough
Olise - 6. Talented player we all love, but I counted at least 3 times he lost the ball.
Little guy in midfield - 9. Not sure who the hell this was. Clueless Dellor kept calling him Aluko, but it definitely wasn't Aluko.
Meite - 8. Just a brilliant performance. Real thorn in their side.
Puscas - 8. Just what we wanted. Great Joao-esque goal, and holding up well, defending well, just brilliant.

SUBS

McIntyre - 7 Did very well, we looked much tougher when he came on, and did well going forwards too. Has he put on some muscle recently too? Looking much less scrawny.
Tetek - can't say really.

Pauno - 10. Sorry but there is no way this guy is NOT getting credit for this. The players are fighting like I've never seen before. They are positive like I've never seen before. They're trying out moves I've never seen before clearly from the training ground, which are looking very dangerous. The starting lineup clearly worked AGAIN. The sub raised an eyebrow or 2 but ultimately we ended up totally bossing the game and toughening things up when McIntyre came on.

This is the beginning of something special.

And what... without JOAO, SWIFT, and my boyfriend EJARIA. Really??

What's going on?

Please delete this.

No.

well said

[One Beer is never enough.]

Best performance I've seen from a Reading side in years.

Off for a oxf*rd now.

[Snowflake Royal]

Is the Laurent-Rinomhota partnership what we've been missing?

Basically yes. I think they are both cracking players and a great partnership

Totally.

Look back on last season and think about Swift quarterbacking, or Pele sitting. Think about how lightweight Ejaria / Swift / Olise looked when playing together. Remember how slowly we transitioned forward. How easily exposed the backline got.

With Rino and Laurent, you have two tough tackling energetic players who can win the fight in midfield. They screen the defence and one of them can drift over to support the fullback when we're being attacked down the flank, or replace them if we've been caught out with them too high. And it still leaves one in place to screen the defence. Previously, we had one player sitting and if they supported a fullback it left a big hole in front of the middle of the defence to exploit.

Not only that, but both have the stamina, pace and ability to drive forward and quickly transition us from defence to attack. They're also both comfortable passing around our third to create some space and hold onto possession.

And finally, both play smart and they play simple. They don't try anything flash. There's no tricks, no awesome range of passing. Just intelligent, straightforward and effective football. That frees up the players ahead of them to be a bit more extravagant and showy.

The best thing about them is that if bizzaro world continues and we get promoted, we're playing in a way that would work in the PL IMO, unlike the very spoiler and direct way we played under McDermott.

[windermereROYAL]

Amazing what sticking to a set formation and essentially the same team can achieve instead of the bloody tinkermen we`ve had in charge in previous seasons.

[WoodleyRoyal]

https://twitter.com/rfclatest/status/13 ... 57344?s=24

This is the sort of shit I want to see. The team spirit seems sky high. All down to pauno. Celebrating a home win against Watford as if we’ve won the league. Great stuff

[Needle]

Was that 4 starts and 2 subs from the academy?

[Zip]

https://twitter.com/rfclatest/status/1312433574080057344?s=24

This is the sort of shit I want to see. The team spirit seems sky high. All down to pauno. Celebrating a home win against Watford as if we’ve won the league. Great stuff

Yeah that’s good to see.

[RoyalBlue]

What a performance. Start was a bit of a worry as first 10 minutes Watford really used the width well and targeted Holmes. Make no mistake Watford were a good side. Played good football with quality players. But we were well worth that win.

Cabral - 7 I hesitate to say it, but didn't really have much to do?
Holmes - 8 grew into the game well. Doesn't look a genuine RB to me, but he's filling in well and you can't argue with setting up the winning goal
Richards - 7 some more wobbly moments than recently, couple of daft fouls. But he's good
Moore - 8 managed the game really well
Morrison - 8 same
Rinomhota - 9 great as usual
Laurent - 9 really really mature performance from someone still stepping up to the Championship, what a fantastic signing
Aluko - 9 barely put a foot wrong, unbelievable performance given how shocking a signing he's been, earlier in the season he was doing ok without really adding a huge amount but no one could complain about that performance. Let it not be said that I don't acknowledge quality where it exists, even if I can't stand the player.
Meite - 8 decent performance, didn't help out Holmes quite enough early on, and was running consistently offside a fair amount when central, but I love him anyway.
Olise - 7 first half was mostly really good, but second half started to give the ball away a bit too much when we were under the kosh, taking too many risks
Puscas - 9 absolutely incredible improvement from him as a lone striker today.

McIntyre - 8 really good showing as a defensive No 10. Once he came on we really got back into the game
Tetek - 7 very enthusiastic and pulled his weight.


That's the first sign for me that Paunovic really is a quality manager. It's inarguable that he's got more from Aluko than any previous manager there, and Puscas has also come on leap and bounds. The squad is pretty much the same as last year, and we just beat a very good side without Joao, or a genuine RB and playing someone who has been binned by four previous managers.

And the work rate and belief in the team is looking special. Like McDermott / Coppell special.


Wow.

Rafael raced out of his box to produce a critical interception/clearance when Moore slipped over leaving their forward chasing onto a loose ball in a central position. Good save when I think a shot spun off Morrison and bounced awkwardly. Commanded his box when the high balls came in. So whilst not overly busy, always dependable when called upon.

[Millsy]

https://twitter.com/rfclatest/status/1312433574080057344?s=24

This is the sort of shit I want to see. The team spirit seems sky high. All down to pauno. Celebrating a home win against Watford as if we’ve won the league. Great stuff

Bloody brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

What is that they're singing I can't make it out.

[RoyalBlue]

Thing I liked best is it wasn’t backs to the wall defending as it would have been under Bowen. We continued to look to play and score and at a guess probably had as many attempts on goal as Watford in the 2nd half

I liked the fact Watford had 21 crosses but only 5 found a Watford player. Shows how well we are defending.

Yes the defensive stats shown on iFollow were incredible. Wish I could remember them but we had way more tackles, interceptions and particularly headed clearances.

[Lower West]

Is the Laurent-Rinomhota partnership what we've been missing?

Basically yes. I think they are both cracking players and a great partnership

Most certainly yes. Laurent was a bargain as a free transfer.

[RoyalBlue]

Please delete this.

No.

Thoroughly dominated them? I don’t think so........you must be one of those loose 2 games, we are doomed, win 2 games, we are going are going to be champions. Jesus. I’ll have a read of your posts when we loose a few...

Might not have dominated them but pretty much kept them completely under control once we settled down after the first 15 minutes or so.