Skip to main content

Reading 1-1 Nottingham Forest

A game that should have ended 0-0 somehow ended up at 1-1, and sets up a rather tasty match in the reverse fixture next Wednesday.

Both sides had some decent chances. A John Swift cross early on only needed a touch that never arrived, Meite drew a save from a tight angle, and Blackett hit the post. At the other end Grabban lacked his normal goalscoring touch (although, possibly usual for the Madejski) as he volleyed over from the penalty spot, and then Rafael managed to push him wide enough when clean through on goal to stop any real chance.

Charlie Adam has been an important cog in Reading's machine recently, but pushing him into the ten role did somewhat hamper us. A couple of times he went for a shot when he could have picked someone in a better position, we failed to switch play as regularly, and Swift struggled in the deeper role. In the first half that was mainly because Forest pressed high, Pelé was caught a couple of times too. I would hope that the press was why Adam was further up the field, to save him from that pressure, and it's not like he did nothing. Just when you have a player the calibre of Swift it's disappointing to not fully utilise him.

With Joao out we need to decide which striker can fit into this new system, but I'm not sure that's Baldock. He works hard, but he's too lightweight. Puscas replaced him with half an hour left, and looked a better option. In most games this season he's played off the shoulder of the last defender, but this time he played a deeper role linking with the midfield. By no means a perfect replacement - he still seems unable to have both feet leave the ground at the same time - but better. I'd at least like to see him from the start, as long as he's up to it, at Millwall.

Meite was frustrating. Again, without Joao we need someone with an aerial presence to focus our long balls, because of that Meite won more aerial duels than any player on the pitch, and his ability to buy a foul is useful to get Swift and Adam on the ball in dangerous abilities. But his technical ability is lacking, and too often he makes the wrong decision. Too many shots from poor positions, and at one point he let the ball run out of play before he'd even controlled it. He's still only 23, and his workrate is excellent, but you're always left wanting more. Right now I'd keep him in the side, but if we can get Joao fit it may be different.

Forest's goal may have been from a corner that wasn't, after going out of play, and a handball, but to leave Ben Watson completely unmarked - especially when there are ten Reading players in the box - deserved to be punished. With the Forest players celebrating like they'd just won the league, Reading regrouped and, somehow, equalised. I actually thought that the ref was going to blow while we were busy passing the ball around the back, but eventually (quite quickly) the ball was with Obita on the left. His pinpoint cross showed the benefit of having... wingers? Putting it right onto the foot of Tobias Figueiredo, who deflected the ball into his own net. I'm still hoping that Obita can show something that justifies offering him a new contract. He's a great option at LB, but we already have a lot of cover there.

It's a solid result against fourth in the league, and it says a lot that we dominated many aspects of the game. Whether it will be the same at The City Ground is hard to tell. They'll no doubt be incredibly up for it given how this game finished, and they'll come into it off the back of a game with Luton, while we have a difficult trip to Millwall first.

Comments

Post a Comment

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

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 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

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...
Post a Comment
Read more