by Snowflake Royal »
05 Jan 2019 18:52
Good effort against a lacklustre Utd who never got out of 2nd gear. Everyone upped their game as you'd expect.
Utd pressed us highish without the necessary intensity for the first 5ish minutes and we coped well, but they soon realised we were no threat and let us play our distinctive version of toothless error prone possession so they could comfortably pick us off on the break. Which they did just about adequately.
Jaakkola 7 not at fault for any goals, the odd save and coped with possession ok
Yiadom 7 did ok, particularly moving to CB! And even had probably our best shot.
Richards 6 played ok but dived in for the penalty and never gives huge confidence in defence.
Moore 6 fine, usual couple of blocks and saving tackles. I feel he could have done more to cover the goal behind Jaakkola fot Lukaku's
Ilori 6 oozes quality for most the game and then tries to stopover a ball never going to reach his keeper then kick it at him. Also step up half an hour too late to let Lukaku go 1on1.
Rino 8 MotM same as ever from Rino, simple,combative, effective
Kelly 7 Busy, kept the ball moving showed for it more than anyone on the pitch, got stuck in too
Swift 6 The epitome of style over substance, best game of the season, but still produced more end product for Utd than Reading
Harriott 6 He's really positive but didn't have enough quality
McCleary 6 can't find that end product
Loader 6 tried hard but out of his depth. Needs to go for it and be less timid
Aluko 7 surprisingly good, no. 10 suits him much better than winger
Barrow 6 higher tempo than usual but didn't get much of a sniff
Meite 6 little chance to make an impact.
Gomes 7 good set up and team choice, but always way too much to do.
Thought Kelly and Rino worked really well together. Think Eza probably better choice than Kelly still, but that could be a quality midfield with the right team around them.
Fair result, but I see nothing to suggest improved results in the league. Champ teams won't give us as much time and space. We were still full of errors and we were still toothless.
Maybe with more players back and some signings.