BFTG - Blackburn

[John Madejski's Wallet]

[Kitsondinho]

We were just beyond dreadful in the first half....apart from the obvious moment of quality from Swift. Aluko was the worst performer in that half for me. He was decent at Wednesday on Saturday, but backto his awful, disinterested worst today.

2nd half we improved massively.....mainly due to Meite’s drive and direct running. He reminds me so much of Andy Hughes. Not exactly the most gifted player in the squad, but is somehow strangely vital to the team. Yes he missed two brilliant chances......but he did change our performance. As for Nelson, well.,,he is gonna Nelson.

[Millsy]

I thought Eja was poor, always running side ways and backwards, Kelly was equally poor but at least gets at people at wins tackles which I can't recall Eja doing.

Hehe I literally saw the opposite.

We were all mentioning the number of time Eja won the ball in the middle and that Kelly was useless

I especially didn't mention Eja for this reason. This lad will split Reading opinion.

As I said before "everywhere and nowhere". Some great stuff, some shit stuff. I'll just get my popcorn!

Kelly was generally very poor and I was one of the few calling for him to come in I think I counted 3 forward passes by him and everything else was sidewards if he wasn't losing the ball.

[genome]

Even Club 1871 were good tonight

[Brain Traysers]

Kelly was generally very poor and I was one of the few calling for him to come in I think I counted 3 forward passes by him and everything else was sidewards if he wasn't losing the ball.

Harsh to pick on one poster in particular, but in the interest of avoiding fake news, I feel obliged to point out that according to the TLS football app, Kelly made 12 forward passes*, more than any other midfielder (Swift and Ejaria next on 9 each), as part of his 49 overall passes (Swift second highest midfielder on 47). He completed 43 of them, for a completion rate of 88% (Swift completed 40 - 85%).

He also won the ball in the defensive third 6 times (Yiadom won it there 7 times, but no other midfielder won it more than 3), and 3 more times in the middle third (Swift 4, and Ejaria 5). He therefore won the ball 9 times in total, level with Yiadom (9), and ahead of Ejaria (8), Blackett (7), Moore (6), Swift (5), Richards (3) and Aluko/Miazga (2 each).

He only lost possession 8 times (Swift 15, Ejaria 11, Richards 8, Aluko 7)

*-there is a valid counterpoint on sideways vs forward pass, and I don't have the definition. And you all are perfectly obliged to feel he played badly in spite of the above stats.

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Thank you, I will

[Zip]

Oliveira’s goal the best moment of the season by a garden mile. It’s been a long long time since we scored a late winner. Good atmosphere in the second half. We were dreadful in the first period losing all the 50/50 challenges and sloppy in possession. Painfully slow going forward. The second half was much better.
Where did the match balls disappear to in the South stand in the last few minutes?

Martinez. 7 Perhaps could have done better with the goal but some smart handling
Yiadom. 7 Struggled defensively at times but a crucial assist
Blackett 5 Plenty of mistakes in an error strewn performance
Moore. 6 I thought he was solid but too slow in possession
Miazga. 7 No nonsense defending. Solid
Kelly. 5 Dreadful first half but improved after the break
Swift. 7 Took his goal well and great assist for the second
Ejaria. 6 Awful pass gifted Blackburn a chance but great through ball for Meite
Aluko. 5 Worked hard but ineffective
Richards. 6 Did ok but one awful clearance was nearly costly
Oliveira 9 A cut above, Very classy and what a goal

Meite. 7 Decent header that went wide and missed a sitter but a real handful
Baker 6 Thought he was ok
Bodvarsson 6 Limited time on pitch but worked hard

[Zip]

And last but not least for me: Martinez. Possibly the best keeper I've seen play for Reading. For me even better than USA.

JOSE GOMES' BARMY ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Martinez looks class at shotstopping and claiming crosses, but fukk me I don't buy into this 'can play football' stuff. He's just as appalling at playing our defenders into trouble as every one of our recent keepers who have tried in this passing style. And then when he does hoof it, they are rubbish scuffs.

But he makes me feel really relaxed when he's there. Really happy to have him.

The Lino missed one of the most clear cut corners you will ever see when their defender slid the ball out of play.

[Zip]

A number of Blackburn fans saying we were the worst team they have played against this season. On the first half performance that’s fair enough but I thought we played well in the second period.

[marlowuk]

It's a win; it's three points and we needed that badly.

However, we were very poor in the first half and, to be honest, not much better in the second half.
- too many passes going astray
- losing the ball too easily and too often
- there's a lack of urgency and energy in our play

Swift, for example, lost the ball in our own half and Blackburn were able to set up an attack. Instead of busting a gut to atone for his error, Swift walked nonchalantly towards our own goal with no urgency to help out the defence. OK, he scored and he assisted for the other goal but he is a shadow of the player that he was when he first came to us.

Kelly has been given a lot of stick. He certainly made a couple of wayward passes and lost the ball on a few occasions but most of his work was busy and tidy. My complaint about him is that he is too 'safe' in his work. There is no ability to spot the defence-splitting pass or to try anything different.

Thank goodness for Martinez and Oliveira and, for bringing more energy to our play, for Meite!

Apart from the three points, I hope this result has given the side more confidence upon which they can build. They certainly showed a lot of joy (relief?) when the final whistle blew today. It's just a pity that we have to visit Sheffield United next!

[Hound]

Much improved second half, and An enjoyable if tense watch

Martinez: 7 very good, but question mark in the goal?
Yiadom: 7 Solid, good assist
Blackett: 6 usual stuff, look completely untroubled mixed with many brain farts
Miazga: 9 Think this lad’s performance seriously under rated. Calm, won everything and some nice passing. Sign him up etc...
Moore: 8 very good
Kelly: 5 Poor. Stats don’t show how often his passes were slow, safe or put someone straight under pressure
Swift: 7 Overall poor, but 2 game changing moments, which is what he is paid for. Improved 2nd half
Aluko: 4 Rubbish along with the rest of the midfield first half
Ejaria 5: He is Swift mk2. Better 2nd half
Richards 5: Anonymous and couple of missed chances. Don’t mind him in that position though - he’ll improve there
Oliveira: 9 incredible performance considering the injury. Brave, strong, great goal. Has that X factor. Must stay fit and we’ll stay up

Meite: 6 much improved and a big reason we played better 2nd half. Those missed chances though
Baker: 6 one sloppy moment but otherwise did well.
Bod: 7 Did what we needed him to do

[3points]

A number of Blackburn fans saying we were the worst team they have played against this season. On the first half performance that’s fair enough but I thought we played well in the second period.

I thought they were all show asa team with little by way of end product. Trying to play a similar way to us. Ok on the ball but pretty toothless in the final third. Most of their chances came after we’d sloppily given away possession in dangerous parts of the pitch

[Pepe the Horseman]

I knew we were getting a good goal scorer in Oliveira, but I didn't realise what an all round great player he is. Works his socks off, his touch is superb, quick, great vision, and quality finishing. Shame that audacious lob in the first half didn't drop in.

Moore I thought was excellent in the second half, came out at half time with a purpose and really drove us forward. As mentioned Martinez and Miazga both class as well.

Great goal and assist for Swift.

Really not a fan of Ejaria. Slow, plays himself into trouble, and really doesn't seem to offer that much.

Blackett. Jesus wept. He's been so much better this season, but this was probably his worst performance for us, which is saying something. His decision making is so poor. At one point in the first half, we'd finally put Blackburn under a bit of pressure and forced their CB to slice it out for a throw. Instead of taking a quick throw and building up some momentum, Blackett slows it right down, throws it back to Moore and we end up under a load of pressure.

Anyways. Great result. Getting pegged back and still getting the win should give them an extra bit of confidence. Anything we can get on Saturday will be a bonus, and wouldn't be surprised if we sneak a draw.

[sandman]

A number of Blackburn fans saying we were the worst team they have played against this season. On the first half performance that’s fair enough but I thought we played well in the second period.

Bit harsh considering we outplayed them at their place and they only got away with a draw because of McShane.

[Old Man Andrews]

A number of Blackburn fans saying we were the worst team they have played against this season. On the first half performance that’s fair enough but I thought we played well in the second period.

Screw the Blackburn fans. 2-1.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Kelly was generally very poor and I was one of the few calling for him to come in I think I counted 3 forward passes by him and everything else was sidewards if he wasn't losing the ball.

Harsh to pick on one poster in particular, but in the interest of avoiding fake news, I feel obliged to point out that according to the TLS football app, Kelly made 12 forward passes*, more than any other midfielder (Swift and Ejaria next on 9 each), as part of his 49 overall passes (Swift second highest midfielder on 47). He completed 43 of them, for a completion rate of 88% (Swift completed 40 - 85%).

He also won the ball in the defensive third 6 times (Yiadom won it there 7 times, but no other midfielder won it more than 3), and 3 more times in the middle third (Swift 4, and Ejaria 5). He therefore won the ball 9 times in total, level with Yiadom (9), and ahead of Ejaria (8), Blackett (7), Moore (6), Swift (5), Richards (3) and Aluko/Miazga (2 each).

He only lost possession 8 times (Swift 15, Ejaria 11, Richards 8, Aluko 7)

*-there is a valid counterpoint on sideways vs forward pass, and I don't have the definition. And you all are perfectly obliged to feel he played badly in spite of the above stats.

I admire the fact that you lift your football statistics from the Times Literary Supplement. I didn't even know they had a football app. Respect.

[From Despair To Where?]

If we stay up, we have got to sign Oliviera and get Miazga on a season loan. Wouldn't mind getting Martinez as well.

[SCIAG]

Ejara was miles better than Kelly, especially in the the second half. Mark off for Meite who should've put away one if not both his chances.

Ejaria was sloppy, gave it away far too much and was too casual. Couple of lovely passes too but I thought Kelly was a bit more solid.

This was how I saw it too. Think Kelly has to play when Eza isn't available, just offers us a base to build upon.

Ejaria is too sloppy to play in a deep role. I'm really not convinced by him all round but his best quality seems to be his close control, which, er, isn't all that useful on its own but is probably most dangerous around the area. Honestly not sure what we should be doing with this guy. Basically doesn't look up to standard.

Richards on the wing - he's not good enough but last night that didn't matter, his movement helped create space for Oliviera. Hopefully more talented players look at that enthusiasm and take it into their games.

Yiadom MOTM for me - seemed to be behind everything good we did.

[Old Man Andrews]

If we stay up, we have got to sign Oliviera and get Miazga on a season loan. Wouldn't mind getting Martinez as well.

Never going to happen. All 3 can do better than us financially and in terms of standard of football. Oliveira is out of contract and could get a move to a big club in Europe, Miazga would go to a Premier League team on loan next time around imo and Martinez will in theory be Arsenal's number 2 keeper.

[RoyalBlue]

Christ that was an atrocious first half. Worst since the very worst of second season Stamball.
Fair play to Gomez for changing things at HT even though we were 1up.

Kelly, Aluko and Swift is woeful and was always going to be. But even knowing that I was shocked at the poor decisions. Blackett kept making blind balls back into the middle, Aluko making blind turns, Kelly always just playing it to the feet of the nearest man regardless of whether the pass was on. Just painful

Meite is really not very good, but made all the difference today. He brought effort, strength and drive and it lifted the fans and the team


The magic 3M's look great as our defensive backbone, even if the keeper is fukking atrocious at playing defenders into trouble

He did it just once last night and even then Blackett was out wide on the left so lower risk. Most of the game it was the reverse with defenders playing passes back that potentially put him under pressure - on each occasion he dealt with the situation with no problem. He is several levels above the keepers we have had to put up with over the past couple of seasons and, like Oliveira, demonstrates just what we have been missing in both positions. Lacking real quality in goal and up front was what put us in this shyte!

And last but not least for me: Martinez. Possibly the best keeper I've seen play for Reading. For me even better than USA.

JOSE GOMES' BARMY ARMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Martinez looks class at shotstopping and claiming crosses, but fukk me I don't buy into this 'can play football' stuff. He's just as appalling at playing our defenders into trouble as every one of our recent keepers who have tried in this passing style. And then when he does hoof it, they are rubbish scuffs.

But he makes me feel really relaxed when he's there. Really happy to have him.

I really just do not get how anyone can see any of Martinez's performances since he joined us that way. Try running back through game footage and producing evidence to support those claims. I'm pretty sure I can guess what our defenders would say as well. Rubbish scuffs when he hoofs it?