Skip to main content

Reading 1-2 Derby

All day I was dreaming of stopping Frank Lampard's Derby from getting off to a winning start, but alas it wasn't to be.

We started off surprisingly well - pressing Derby high and winning the ball back from their defence multiple times before racing through on goal. Had Bodvarsson managed to find Swift when he was through it would have been harder to miss; or when Barrow put in the best ball I've seen him produce Swift was, again, within a whisker of getting on the end of it.

Even Aluko had his moments; seemingly given a little bit more freedom to cut inside. With the impressive Andy Yiadom overlapping we still had the width on that side that potentially would have been lost had Gunter been in the side.

The other new addition to start, David Meyler, really showed what we'd been missing last season. Someone who, calmly, breaks play up and lays it off. As much as I loved JVDB his persistent fouling always put us on the back foot. I saw someone from Hull saying he had a knack of always being in the right place to break up an attack, and I think we saw that last night.

The only thing that there really was to worry about in the first half was that, in true Reading style, we almost let them back into the game in stoppage time. Meyler, potentially trying to be too clever and play the ball off the Derby player for a corner, ended up cutting it back to the edge of the box. Then we gave away a free kick that thankfully sailed over the bar.

I also had some slight concerns that Ilori and McShane seemed to always be attracted to the high ball, meaning that if Nugent had ever actually managed to win a flick on we would have been in more trouble. Or if Derby had managed to actually play around McShane's occasional rush, but to be fair they were imperious in the first half.

Derby changed in the second period, and came out with a much higher tempo which caused us problems. Bodvarsson's goal, in the end, was against the run of play. Again, an absolutely beautiful ball from Barrow - which, lest we forget, was a problem last year - right onto the head of Bodvarsson. A beautiful goal.

Then everything starts going wrong. Mannone was not good enough for the first goal. A simple shot from outside the box spurned into the corner. Their first shot on target completely deflated Reading. The poor shot stopping must be the reason that Walker's been brought in, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get an opportunity soon. It was a problem last year, and one game in it's cost us points this year.

The final goal wasn't his fault, mind you. An absolutely beautiful ball from Mason Bennett found the head of Tom Lawrence, who managed to flick it into the far corner. If the Bodvarsson's header was good, this was unreal. A goal worthy of winning the game. Omar Richards, while promising, was muscled off the ball too much, and if anyone was at fault for the goal then you have to highlight him.

We were pinned back in the second half, and it seems to be where Paul Clement's system or style struggles. Every single time we laid foot on the ball it was to clear it up the pitch to absolutely no-one. I was particularly disappointed by Liam Kelly who had a few opportunities to quell pressure by playing out but instead decided to absolutely lump it forward.

Though when Yak came on, and we started to win some headers, it did seem to relieve some pressure. I did think it was a little weird that he was flicking onto Baldock, who failed to hold up the ball on most occasions, rather than knocking it down in front of him for Baldock to run onto.

Before play I would have taken the first half performance, and a 2-1 loss is not too bad against a team expected to be much higher in the table than us. The problem for us is that next weekend at Forest is much the same story.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

If Anything, Reading's Win In Wales Is Just More Of The Same

Paunovic has been under increasing pressure in recent weeks. Last Tuesday he received criticism from all quarters after a dire midweek defeat to Sheffield United, where he changed the shape of the team to nullify the opposition threat. Although there were some interesting takes by those who didn't seem to fully appreciate the formation, it was clear that it wasn't just the opposition's attacking threat that the manager put the mockers on. And yet, one win seems to redeem all. My personal view on The Gaffer is that, given the injuries in the squad, he's doing as well as could reasonably be expected. Obviously he's made errors, but he's also been handicapped by off field matters. The six-point deduction has made the gap to relegation closer than it ought to be, but the team are clearly good enough to comfortably pull clear over the course of the season and, indeed, have been achieving if Reading had started on minus 6.  So my issue isn't with him, but with th

Starting the Year Renew

Ah, 2023. A new year. A time to take stock of what you have, and look forward to the twelve months ahead. The first thing on Paul Ince's plate is to renew Andy Carroll and Amadou Mbengue's contracts - something he's been very vocal about wanting to do. Mbengue is a difficult one. Yes, he is undoubtedly an exciting prospect but this is a club with six other senior centre backs. He'd be useful cover elsewhere, namely at right back, but Kelvin Abrefa has also showed some promise in that position in his, albeit small, cameos so far. Ince has already said his preferred back three is Yiadom, Holmes, and Sarr. Mbengue could be first-choice backup on the right side of that three, but given Yiadom is captain and played more minutes than anyone outside of Ince and Hendrick, realistically he won't get much of a look in. Likewise TMc is probably ahead of him for Sarr's spot. Shifting Moore and Dann in the summer still leaves him in the same position - and that's before

Summer 2024: Left Back

Finally, the summer. As ever, the first question on everyone's lips are - "who are we going to sign?". For Reading there is a glaring requirement to bring in players all down the left hand side, and so we'll first look at who could fit in at left back. So, what do our current left back options give us? Reading have, largely, used three different left backs. Starting the season with Matty Carson, before moving to Clinton Mola and Jeriel Dorsett. Let's start by examining what it was that caused Carson to be dropped. The main reason he simply did not do enough work defensively. Of left backs that have played over 500 minutes this season, Carson ranks lowest in successful defensive actions per 90 with just 7.17. Mola and Dorsett are both around 11. Even in the U21's game against Sunderland in the Premier League 2 Play-Off Semi Final (a mouthful) his side was targeted. There's all sorts of defensive frailties in his game that are unnecessary to go into, but eff