BFTG - Cardiff

[Victor Meldrew]

At last.
Best performance for 5 or 6 years.
Ejaria outstanding (with the rest very good) and he set the tempo of the game-finally we had players passing AND MOVING whereas for so long we have had to put up with our players passing and standing still.
The spine of the team was solid, which is the sign of a good team.

I thought when we signed both Morrison and Miazga that we would go with 3 at the back especially as the 2 starting full-backs aren't great defensively but have pace and , particularly in the case of Richards, good control.
I think the manager will stay with this system.

I am not one to ever get carried away with just the one performance but this felt different somehow and what a pleasant surprise.

[Victor Meldrew]

Michael Morrison had a touch of Kaspars Gorkšs about him today. In looks and style. That pleases me.

Very much so. Looks the spit of him.

He reminds me more of ex-Liverpool and Wimbledon centre-back John Scales.

[Nameless]

I thought Puscas showed many similarities to Shane Long today.

I hope not. Good player for many reasons I suppose but he was hardly prolific.

He reminds me of Forster.

The guy took the ball from OUR HALF got his head down and just ran towards goal like a goal hungry maniac and scored. It was bloody amazing. I can't think of a Reading player other than Forster who had that determination for goal.

If other aspects of his play remind you of Long, who had many other good attributes then that's amazing.

Do we actually have a striker with the determination and goal scoring ability of Forster, the finishing of Curo, the creativity of Long?

Early days but I literally can't think of a player who has excited us as much as this guy.

He's not meant for the Championship.

That doesn’t do the goal justice
He didn’t just sprint forward, he showed change of pace. He drifted wide then beat his man with power and determination. He then finished from a difficult angle with (I think) his weaker foot.
May as well award Goal of the Season now, there won’t be better.

[alfie9]

It feels like an eternity since we deconstructed a team like that. WOW

I think we just found our best 11 for the moment, the only thing ambiguous is whether Rino or Pele should be partnering Ejaria. Rino deserves to be starting but I understand Jose's tactical inclination if Pele is providing better defensive cover. We might have a selection headache in midfield now that 5 at the back is looking like the way forward and Swift + Ejaria were unplayable.

One of the underrated players from today is Rafael, who was superb. Good communication, confident claiming of the ball, lots of underrated saves. I feel like that redirected Cardiff shot would've gone through ever keeper we've had since Al-Habsi. What an incredible turnaround in the transfer window, I used to be nervous every time the opposition got near our box and now we've got a keeper who inspires confidence out of nowhere.

Another one that came out of nowhere is Richards, who has been decent but really shone in the 5-3-2. Last year it was looking like he just wasn't good enough for the Champ, but in this more attacking role he was superb. Has to be first choice now, but needs to work on his crossing!

God bless whoever pushed the Ejaria deal over the line on deadline day. He put in probably the best performance of his senior career today. A real talent.

We've got exciting young talent, we've got a manager who wants to play attacking football, we've got genuine playmakers, capable strikers and competent defenders. Exciting times

[topfuller]

At last.
Best performance for 5 or 6 years.
Ejaria outstanding (with the rest very good) and he set the tempo of the game-finally we had players passing AND MOVING whereas for so long we have had to put up with our players passing and standing still.
The spine of the team was solid, which is the sign of a good team.

I thought when we signed both Morrison and Miazga that we would go with 3 at the back especially as the 2 starting full-backs aren't great defensively but have pace and , particularly in the case of Richards, good control.
I think the manager will stay with this system.

I am not one to ever get carried away with just the one performance but this felt different somehow and what a pleasant surprise.

Agreed...

[NewCorkSeth]

Shape worked well. I criticised it before the game but it really did work well.

Rafael - 7 - Teo good saves, confident on the ball and commanding. His long distribution is poor. Wasnt tested a lot.

Yiadom - 8 - 2 assists and as solid as he usually is.

Miazga, Morrison, Moore - 7 - All solid enough but as stated above, didnt have to do too much. Won some good aerial duels between them.

Richards - 8 - Another strong performance! He is really showing up our expectations of him. Go back 2 weeks and many on here were calling him our biggest problem, now hes one of our brightest sparks.

Pele - 7 - Did his job. That's about it. Good performance.

Swift - 9 - Wow. What a performance. He looked so good. So oxf*rd good. Eat that doubters.

Ejaria - 8 - Such and exciting player to watch. His turning on the ball is so good it's hard for spectators to keep track of him. Cant imagine how difficult opposition players find it.

Joao - 7 - His hold up ability is phenomenal. He doesnt look it but hes so strong. Clearly has plenty of talent. Didnt shoot well though.

PUŞCAŞ!!!!!!!!!! - 9 - An almost perfect performance. What a man. What a beauty. What a strike! Shame he missed that final chance.

[Hound]

Gomes impressed me more today than any other game so far

Bloody ruthless - dropping arguably our 2 best players from last year (also fan favourites) despite doing little wrong

This on top of ditching other popular players like GMac and Bod

Seems very single minded but seemingly still able to keep a good team spirit

[Royal Ginger]

Michael Morrison had a touch of Kaspars Gorkšs about him today. In looks and style. That pleases me.

Very much so. Looks the spit of him.

He reminds me more of ex-Liverpool and Wimbledon centre-back John Scales.

In a sort of Shatner-esque, Vaseline on the lens way.

[Jagermesiter1871]

Surprised Sweet Caroline wasn’t played at all today.o

The best part of today for me. Without a doubt.

[Jagermesiter1871]

I've had a grin on all day for no particular reason. I've forgotten what this feels like and I don't care if I'm getting carried away

[bcubed]

Haven't felt as excited about a performance since Steve Clarke's early days.

Tactics spot on
Midfield worked together so well. Ejaria outstanding.

And I've not been a fan of Swift but that has to be his best ever game for us. Running all game. Some great passes and one touches and a goal. But most shocking was the number of tackles he made. Probably more than his current career total!

Front two looked great. Shame Meite missed the pen. He looks pissed off.

And great work from the crowd. Club 1871 sounded load, all game.

Top top game

[Maguire]

Swift was outstanding. Always had the ability but looked fit and strong with it. MOTM for me.

I think Puscas will get even better as he gets sharper and used to this league.

Ejaria just glides, he's great to watch. Holds onto the ball a little too long sometimes IMHO but a great performance.

[Millsy]

I thought Puscas showed many similarities to Shane Long today.

I hope not. Good player for many reasons I suppose but he was hardly prolific.

He reminds me of Forster.

The guy took the ball from OUR HALF got his head down and just ran towards goal like a goal hungry maniac and scored. It was bloody amazing. I can't think of a Reading player other than Forster who had that determination for goal.

If other aspects of his play remind you of Long, who had many other good attributes then that's amazing.

Do we actually have a striker with the determination and goal scoring ability of Forster, the finishing of Curo, the creativity of Long?

Early days but I literally can't think of a player who has excited us as much as this guy.

He's not meant for the Championship.

That doesn’t do the goal justice
He didn’t just sprint forward, he showed change of pace. He drifted wide then beat his man with power and determination. He then finished from a difficult angle with (I think) his weaker foot.
May as well award Goal of the Season now, there won’t be better.

Yeah I realised as I was typing that my description was a massive injustice as it could apply to someone just picking a ball up on a counter with no one between the keeper and him. He basically had a full defence between him and the goal and just carried on like their team didn't exist. You're right, surely goal of the season contender.

[NewCorkSeth]

Swift was outstanding. Always had the ability but looked fit and strong with it. MOTM for me.

I think Puscas will get even better as he gets sharper and used to this league.

Ejaria just glides, he's great to watch. Holds onto the ball a little too long sometimes IMHO but a great performance.

Big yup to all of that. I know I'm getting carried away here but if Puşcaş is as good as he seems we have no right to a player like that. Looked pure sauce.

[From Despair To Where?]

For too long we've been frail and the back and toothless in attack and whilst I don't want to go overboard on one performance, for once we looked solid at the back and blessed with an abundance of creativity and flairh going forward.

This 3-5-2 formation looks promising; a solid defensive core of CB and DM, bags of creativity in attack and 2 wing backs able to play to their strengths and bomb up and down the pitch without us over committing. A definite go to home formation in the making.

[Snowflake Royal]

Anyone else seen the replays of the pen? Looked a total dive from Yiadom, not what I want to see really. Spose there could have been a fraction of contact but Morrison certainly looked peeved.

[NewCorkSeth]

Anyone else seen the replays of the pen? Looked a total dive from Yiadom, not what I want to see really. Spose there could have been a fraction of contact but Morrison certainly looked peeved.

Live they showed different angles and one showed Morrison clearly knocking his knee out. Did Yiadoms flop after the contact to ensure winning a penalty? Yes. But it was a penalty.

Just a shame the modern game calls for "over emphasising" fouls. It's not good to see.

[Royal Rother]

Wow.

Best performance for many years. Ejaria! I thought he dogshite initially but he looked like a £30m player in the making.

Everything was great.

Loving my 66/1 now.

[URZZZZ]

@ the usual moaners, sharpening their knives on pages 4 & 5 of the match thread.

We're very inconsistent, but it was pleasing to see some ability and desire on show for 90 minutes today.

I think it’s a natural instinct to question why our POTS was dropped after one poor game. This, after all is a discussion forum

It’s easy to say comments like yours after an event has taken place but most people are mature enough to admit they were wrong to question the manager on this occasion. Gomes has certainly proven me wrong today

[biff]

https://youtu.be/N6CnkD_YiWU?t=71

Cardiff Vlogger filmed all the good bits and is very fair in his comments to boot.