Royals Dominate Possession But Fail To Score

My first game of the season. It was pretty absorbing for a nil nil until about the 75th minute when Brum sat back and took the point.
I think we have two problems. Lack of movement up front/killer instinct and that we are very close to a costly mistake at the back. Otherwise, in contrast to last season, I was pleased. We had an identity that we sorely lacked last year and I'm pleased to see that.
Thought McCleary was good and Williams was poor. Decent point.

A massive yawn from me. Wake me up when we score.
Not sure why we played Evans as CB, McShane and Moore as full backs, and Obita and Gunts as wingers.
Either way Brum came for a draw and got it. Our attacking threat was pretty non existant, we still look dodgy in defence and liable to gift a goal.

Thought McShane was going to have his hands full after the Brum striker (Che) absolutely skinned him in the opening minutes. But we completely nullified their attack this evening.
We do look much harder to beat this season; we kill the opponents momentum by taking back and keeping possession; which is great, but my god moving forward attacking is predictable. Evans dropping deep worked well, but Williams and lesser so Quinn, were really not wanting to get involved and ask for the ball tonight. They were up for the 50/50 balls, but when we play out of defence they need to put in more of a shift to open up some options for the defence.
Overall a decent point. Lucky they missed a sitter from 12yds. No other real action to report on.
Beerens is going to become a legend and Jordan did V well on his return to the side.

Sounds like same problems persisting.

Odd game in some ways. Loads of oldies around me (Upper West tonight) were creaming themselves about our "brilliant" play,

and walking from the ground all I could hear was moans and people saying "It'll have to change..."
Al-Habsi. Made a good double save from his own spill. OK

Gunter OK, first half making runs, loads of space, hardly ever got the ball

McShane Solid, came forward more, one run as far as their penalty area.

Moore Solid, also came forward a bit more so the possession was better

Obita Better than solid, seemed more comfortable than Blackett. Good game
Evans. Looked more like the central CB of three most of the game (3-5-2) composed, very solid

Quinn. Thought he was excellent throughout, always available

Williams. Though he did OK in parts, lost possession WAY too often. Should be a sub
Beerens OK but not as good as I've seen him

Kermogant. Won almost everything in the air, good lay-offs, good link play. Noel Hunt would have loved to play with him

McCleary as Beerens. Not a lot of sparkle from the wings tonight
Swift. IMO he should have replaced Williams, not Quinn. Played well but he was very deep so no goal threat

Harriot. Didn't have enough time
Overall, even though Birmingham had chances, I thought we played well without a clear cutting edge. With a striker in form we'd be pushing the automatics ATM. That's not to say Kermie isn't playing well, he is. But ATM he's the workhorse. The Long-Hunt duo in front of this team would be having a field day.
It's hard to imagine this team very scoring a bagful without some sort of change, but I'm very happy with this start. A new side with a new style and we are 10th, 1 point outside the play-offs and we've played 4 sides who are currently above us. I think Stam is going to turn out to be a very decent manager and if someone can start scoring goals we'll be close to the POs
I wonder how we'll fare against sides who score early. Barnsley looks like a tricky one. A good test.

Even thought it was two points fewer I thought this was an improvement on the Ipswich game. There were only 2 or 3 passes back to AAH and we tried to get the ball forward quicker. Still a work in progress though final third was a bit dire despite lots effort.
McCleary did really well at times to get into great positions only for his final ball to disappoint. The best cross of the game from Obita saw only Kermie in the box and nobody making a run to the far post.
Thought some of Swifts passing was sublime, he needs to start.
Overall a decent 0-0.
On thier result tonight Barnsley will be a test of our unbeaten run.

Looked solid enough, bar a few dodgy mistakes (mostly from Williams), with ZERO attacking threat
One man up front, ball always played to him with his back to goal, and no swift to push on from midfield. Swift needs to come in for Williams. Or at least that should have been the first sub..... taking off Quinn instead of Williams just meant Swift was the deep midfielder. Pointless
McCleary had a decent enough game, but he always picks the wrong cross. Rarely playing it across goal and instead cutting it behind our striker. Also, his corned are DOGSH*T. Just chipped weakly diagonally back across goal.
Thought Evans had a really good game, but one of our 3 centre backs really needing to keep pushing up into the middle to help us go forward. Instead all 3 usually stayed back and we were essentially attacking whilst permanently outnumbered.
Had a good 10 min spell in the middle of the second half that made Brum sit back for the rest of the game, so there are some flashes there

Williams infuriates me at the best of times, but tonight was on another level, suppose it's the result of an accumulation of frustrating performances from him
He just has no ball control whatsoever. The ball bounces off him for his first touch, and when dribbling he never once looks like he knows what he's doing or where he's going.
It was his passing tonight though that was driving me mad, lost count the amount of times we lost momentum because Williams played a simple pass poorly, usually behind Gunter or Obita stopping us from going forward. He literally has no excuse, an international footballer should know which side of a teammate to kick the ball to and be able to execute the simple pass, I cannot believe he gets it wrong nearly every time. Like I said, the player has to either slow down, or check back because the pass from Williams has prevented them running onto it or with it.
'Yeah but he brings energy' - so? Energy literally adds nothing to our team. Someone like Kante brings energy, but he uses it to win tackles and interceptions and drive his team forward. When does Williams ever make a tackle or break up the play? Come on Jaap, get Swift in so I can start finding another scapegoat.
As for the game, just incredibly boring I'm afraid. Lots of people on Twitter asking if there were any boos tonight (there weren't), but this is the thing, it's alright for you sat at home on Twitter, but a lot of us made a big commitment tonight to go the match, and ultimately it was an evening wasted. Personally, I had a few options for this Tuesday evening but I turned them down so I could go the game and having sat through 90 minutes of literally nothing happening, I really regret my decision. If games like this become a regular occurrence, I'm not sure I really want to commit to spending afternoons or evenings watching 75% possession with no excitement whatsoever. It's a lot of time and money (I have very little of either) to get to Reading for a game, so I could quickly lose patience with the team if we continue this 'transition season'.
Back to the pitch, thought formation was a bit strange, seemed Evans took my comments from the Ipswich game about not being a passing option literally and spent the whole game with the centre-backs. Meant we had McShane and Moore almost bombing down the flanks for a lot of the game.
Kermorgant was decent for 60 minutes, then got injured, but for some reason didn't come off? Meant he spent the last half hour hobbling around slowly, not really jumping for anything in the air, and as a result our attack completely fizzled out. Also felt the subs took too long, 10 minutes for Harriott and 5 for Mendes is a bit pointless really, and shame Swift only got 20.
McCleary was very bad unfortunately, crossing was completely awful. The slow drifted corner to the edge of the penalty area didn't work the first few times, so not sure why he kept at it. 12 corners with a decent set-piece taker might have led to something, but with Garath we never threatened. McShane had a header where he had no one within 5 yards of him, yet was never going to score because of where he was and the speed the ball came to him. Get Swift in the team and get him on corners.
Yes Birmingham results-wise are a decent team and had won 3 on the bounce, but if you have near 75% possession, you should be winning matches, or at least creating chances and scoring goals. I'm not sure how much of a miss Joey was, but hopefully he'll be back for the weekend and we can test ourselves against the league's top scorers on Saturday

Sorry, what? :lol:
Just further compounding the notion that you are in fact mental.

Good write up. Agree re Williams. Don't want him as a starter.

Oh for the days of Blakey, it comes to something when Gunter put in some of the better crosses of the night. Glad to see us play the passing game higher up the pitch rather than deep and boxing ourselves in by constantly going back to Al Habsi, that's what people are against not the passing. Better decisions and movement in the final third are needed if we're going to get anywhere, can't rely on the Referee giving us penalties every game.
Still, the manager won't care about the lack of goals he will just be pleased that we had more possession.
MotM - Obita

If this game was still happening it would still be 0-0.

Not in terms of clear cut chances, but it was IMO certainly less tedious, less depressin and more encouraging than what we had to deal with last year. I thought it was a decent 0-0er as 0-0ers go. We just need to be a bit quicker when in the final third and make runs. Our off the ball movement was lacking which left no options.

Let's be positive. A point gained against certainly the toughest opponents we have faced at the Mad Stad so far this season. Last season we lost this fixture and had no answer to Brum's organisation, tactics and quality. Stam is making improvements and that is the most important thing at the moment.
These are early days and it's clear that we need to improve significantly to be a truly effective team, but they are going about it in the right way and Stam will get us there eventually.
At the moment either we don't have the players to play the way Stam wants or we do have the players but they need a lot of work on the training ground to become a good side. We're not a particularly good side at the moment. We take a long time to get forward into areas where we can cross. Plenty of balls did come into the box tonight, but we take so long getting into crossing positions that the Brum have everyone back and there is no way through. A lot of the debate on the radio was that we need strikers but we could have had Lukaku up front for us today and we wouldn't have scored. We're not getting forward quick enough and not getting service and support to the strikers at the moment.
There doesn't seem to be enough movement in midfield and we're not good enough on the ball really. This is going to take time and more transfer windows. Stam has my full support. This is the birth of a new Reading FC. Let's enjoy the Stam revolution as he puts it all together.
There is nothing wrong with the way that we play, but we need to add more tempo, speed and movement.

Not in terms of clear cut chances, but it was IMO certainly less tedious, less depressin and more encouraging than what we had to deal with last year. I thought it was a decent 0-0er as 0-0ers go. We just need to be a bit quicker when in the final third and make runs. Our off the ball movement was lacking which left no options.

We certainly moved the ball a bit quicker second half, and racked up a lot of corners and crosses into the box, so yes there was sustained pressure.
But there literally wasn't a single opportunity or shot of note, it doesn't matter who you're playing, at home that's not really good enough

Weren't you comparing us to Barcelona and Man City?

Not enough bodies in the box all evening. Thought Beerens was very poor tonight. I'd start Harriott on Saturday. Gunter looks so much better when his first movement is forwards rather than stop and go backwards or sideways. Perhaps we should consider playing McCleary down the middle instead of Kermogant. We'd have better movement and more pace to stretch defences.

Weren't you comparing us to Barcelona and Man City?

Only the style of football that we are trying to play. I didn't say we play as well as those teams. We are sh*te in comparison.

That was a frustration all evening for me. The full backs seemed to gather the ball in decent areas and instead of pushing forward, they went sideways or backwards which killed any momentum when the opportunity looked there to stretch them. Obita was particularly culpable. The centre backs were pushed wide enough that they could cover.

What I really liked tonight was the tackling especially when Brum were trying to break. Stopped them dead almost every time.

Dull game
I have literally never seen the guys in front of me sit down. They always stand all game every game. But at half time this evening they stayed seated and never got up. It was that sort of game.
Agree with Saamm (short version) you have to ask if it's all worth the effort. Sure it's a work in progress but my god it's dull

I thought overall that this was a decent point as Birmingham recently have been our bogey side in the Championship. Gary Rowett doing a great job there when you take into consideration their financial situation over the last few years or so.
Nice to see the crowd not booing and getting behind the team and Jaap's philosophy, though there are still elements of our style that need to be improved but this will come in time.
Whilst I thought we were a little more direct in our build up play then we have been usually, I felt that there were too many incidents where we were cheaply giving away possession. Williams being the main culprit and architect of the majority of Birmingham's attacks on our goal. He seemed to take an age in making a decision tonight and I felt that he should have been substituted instead of Quinn.
Overall, very solid and never really looked like conceding although I can tell the situation with our choice in the striking department is fast going to be become a frustrating one. Yann winning everything in the air again although I feel he doesn't do enough in terms of movement and with the ball at his feet. I can understand why Mendes hasn't been played too much as yet as he needs to adapt to the game over here and I would view it as a bit of a gamble to go with him from the very start.
It is imperative that Mendes gets a game under his belt next Tuesday at Brighton. Having said that, I would also view it as an opportunity to get Yann a goal or two and really get his confidence going in front of goal if he doesn't bag any at Oakwell this Saturday. Can't do it all at 34 years of age at this level though.

Sorry, what? :lol:
Just further compounding the notion that you are in fact mental.

Or, that he has a brain and you don't.
Enjoyed tonight and was going to offer some of my own thoughts but I think I'll leave it there.................

Sorry, what? :lol:
Just further compounding the notion that you are in fact mental.

Or, that he has a brain and you don't.
Enjoyed tonight and was going to offer some of my own thoughts but I think I'll leave it there.................

You think that we are ONE player away from being a top 2 side?
Ok then.... :|

In just a handful of games and one low-budget transfer window Stam seems to have largely sorted out the defensive issues (bar set pieces) and has got the possession side of the game nailed.
Now, he just needs to sort out the attacking side, which I'm sure he'll manage over time.
Can't agree re: Williams however. Yes he was shocking tonight, but he's still an essential part of our team. He's the one midfielder who almost always looks to go forward with the ball - whether that is a pass or a driving run. It means he takes a fair few risks in his play which can lead to errors but his contributions (usually) far outweigh that. You don't see Quinn or Evans bursting forward into the box and taking shots, which is why we need Williams so badly.

Or, that he has a brain and you don't.
Enjoyed tonight and was going to offer some of my own thoughts but I think I'll leave it there.................

You think that we are ONE player away from being a top 2 side?
Ok then.... :|
How can it be "mental" to suggest that we could challenge the top 2 with a decent striker having got to 10th with very little threat in the final third?
Brum were coming off a 3 game winning streak including Saturday's victory at 2nd placed Fulham :|

You think that we are ONE player away from being a top 2 side?
Ok then.... :|
How can it be "mental" to suggest that we could challenge the top 2 with a decent striker having got to 10th with very little threat in the final third?
Brum were coming off a 3 game winning streak including Saturday's victory at 2nd placed Fulham :|

:lol: Stop throwing about table positions like a serious indicator of teams ability at the moment. Villa are 18th and have a strike force consisting of McCormack, Kodija and Gestede ffs.
But yeah... Let's just pretend the reason why we're not scoring more goals is because we have a bad a striker... It's obviously got nothing to do with other players or the style of play in the attacking third. How many chances did we create today? Or against Ipswich or any other game this season.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Kermorgant is all that nor am I his biggest fan. No one was more disappointed than me that we didn't bring in someone before deadline day and I'll admit that it's part of the reason why we struggle to score, but only part. It's dillusional to think that a good inform striker would be the answer to our lack of creativity and that with one this team could realistically push for automatic promotion come the end of the season, but if you want to think that fill your boots m8.
Oh and btw. Birmingham were on a two game winning streak, not three. Get your facts right before you try and use them to cement whatever point you're trying to make.

None of which justifies your opinion that Snowball's assertion is mental. I heard Deller say they had one won their last 3 games and took him at his word. It remains a fact that our opponents tonight challenged a top 2 side to the point of beating them at home 3 days ago.
It should also be as plain as night following day that if, as, and when our team finds a goal threat (and that might require just one player or, possibly, none at all :| ) that it will be more than capable of challenging the best this division has to offer. That could be next week, next season or next muck spreading Thursday.
It should be painfully obvious to me after all these years that engaging with the real mental twats here is a waste of life itself......................thanks for the reminder.
Goodnight.

Just a tip - taking Dellor on his word for anything automatically loses you credibility.

I did not find tonight boring or a dreadful performance. In fact I was encouraged by it - with some big reservations!
We did not pass the ball back to AAH anything like as many times as in previous games. We are learning to be more positive with the possession game. Now we need to get forward with more speed but Stam knows that (see his post-match interview) and will be working on that with the players.
We also need more movement from the midfield so that the back four have more options with their passes.
Both Williams and McShane were very poor in the first half of the first half but both settled after that. I don't understand the hate directed towards Williams - he is a positive player. I only question him berating team-mates during a match. Nor can I understand the unrequited love for Swift. I like him but, when he came, on the fans were applauding virtually every simple pass he made!!
Birmingham never looked like scoring. Before the game I would have settled for a point but, having seen them in action, I am disappointed not to get all 3 points. But we look toothless up front. A top striker would not make a difference if we cannot create chances for him and we created little during this game!
McCleary had a good game I thought but we need to be more imaginative with our corners. Gunter was in space and wanting the ball but seldom received it. He had a good game as did Obita (probably MOTM for me). Moore looked solid at the back and Kermy wins most things in the air and there were signs that others were looking to get onto his flick-ons.
When we move with pace from the wings we look good. But too often we slow the pace of the game to look for other passes. That allows the opposition to re-group their defences.
But some promising signs and no booing!!!