Awful tonight. Didn't look like scoring really. The away from is the same as last season but vs even weaker sides.

Truth is we've had a poor start to the season. We've lost every game except Cheltenham to an OG and against 10 man Stevenage. We've lost the rest. I am not Dellor's biggest fan but he has a point about it not being a good start.

Onto the game:

1) Button was solid
2) Hutchinson was good and love the guy but him and Savage can't play together, it has to change and Selles needs to do it.
3) Kelvin made us look better when he came on. We looked poor otherwise.
4) The rest of the team were poor
5) Michael Morrison won't have an easier game all season

Abbey was Motm.

No threat until Ehibhatiomhan came on.

Poor management.

Femi Azeez is woeful.

Cambridge are a woeful team yet still had enough to beat us.

Hearing Jobi on TV reminded me of when we used to play with width and pace. Things that have been lacking for years.

Even allowing for the well documented problems we have that was a brainless performance. Pumping long balls up to a small lad who should be playing in the under 18s up against two experienced lumps. Great idea.

Our best attacking thread benched for what reason? He looked fine when he came on.

Most shocking thing was that Cambridge looked to have more energy and zest. That is one thing you might expect from our young team. They played like a load of dead-legged 35-year olds after five pints and a curry the previous night.

Button played well, Nelson Abbey obvious quality, Hutch did what he does, Mbengue occasionally did something right, the rest need to calm down a bit and reassess their qualities and understand or realise how they can best utilise them. That’s down to the manager in large part as well.

Thoroughly embarrassing.

Lots of "a better team would have scored 3 or 4" comments on Twitter. We're in L1. There are 2 or 3 teams at most who are a step up from what we've faced so far. Our performances don't have to improve much to get results.

Mostly unthreatened and then a shit breakaway goal. Nearly equalised. Ehib came close another time.

Selles - 4 poor team selection. Poor set up. Its like he thought a Reading side that haven't looked like winning away for what feels like years were on to a cert so rested Ehib and gave Azeez another go for confidence. No idea why hetook Elliott off. Either wrong players or wrong shape. oxf*rd around with the fullback subs too. Brought on a RB/CM at RW. God we're shit at playing out. I hate it. I HATE IT. I FUCKING HATE IT!

Button - 7 swept well, kicking at times poor
Mbengue - 6 ok, not a fullback
Carson - 4 sorry, very bad. Needs a break and more development.
Dean - 6 looked not great on the goal. Not in Binden's league.
Abbey - 7 but one of his weaker games. Unless it wasn’t him that fartarsed around with it and gifted a break.
Hutch - 6 obligatory professional foul. Screened defence.
Savage - 5 poor set pieces. Don't see what he brings alongside Hutch. Not creativity or set pieces for sure
Knibbs - 5 not involved enough
Elliott - 7 needed him on the ball more. One of two who looked like they might create. Don’t know why he was subbed. Feel he should have Savage's place.
Vickers - 6 when we played to his strengths he was 6/7 sadly we mostly didn’t and he was more 5.
Azeez - 5 good player. Until he has to do something important. Not meeting expectations


Yiadom - 6 Yiadomed.
Ehib - 7 currently the only goal threat in the squad. No idea why he didn’t start.
Mola - 5 poor
Craig - 6 has something, but too little too late
Rushesha 6 - seemed a sub just to play for added time so we could take longer to leave having not scored.

Ref - 3 shit homer.

Punting long balls at Morrison and Bennett with a front two of Azeez and Vickers was beyond stupid.
Vickers was the only player I saw run at anyone tonight, everything else was trying (and mostly failing) to pass the ball around them (10%) or sideways/backwards (90%).
Credit to Button again. No chance with the goal, but quite enjoyed his sweeper keeper antics.
Every single one of those professional fouls were necessary, that's how easily we were getting torn apart.

Button 7 as above
Mbengue 5 the WBs were so high in the first half that they weren't even outlets for Button or the CBs. Mbengue managed this better than Carson, but without passes it all just felt like a pointless excuse for them to get caught upfield repeatedly.
Dean 5 I don't know what Bindon does differently to Dean, but I feel a hell of a lot more comfortable with him in there. Probably should have scored that header tbh
Abbey 7 clear motm. genuinely the best CB we've had for many a year. Sincerely hope he kicks on and keeps developing as he is. Also, we're at the stage where he can stop giving the armband to Yiadom.
Carson 3 Worryingly bad compared to other performances so far this season. Off the pace and run ragged repeatedly, though he got little help from Knibbs and Savage.
Savage 5 Long balls went over him, set pieces were average, didn't track back well enough. Game passed him by a bit
Hutchinson 4 Can only pass backwards. Earned his yellow card and for once it was useful. Wing can't come back soon enough.
Elliot 6.5 Best attacking player on night along with WiFi. Strange decision to take him off unless he'd taken a knock.
Knibbs 5 Feel like the crowd got to him, and Liam Bennett had him on toast. Totally neutered by the occasion and no idea how he missed that chance at the death.
Azeez 4 Fast becoming one of the most frustrating players we've had for a long time. Good positioning, terrible at picking a pass and just can't create space. Telegraphs his every move to defenders.
Vickers 6.5 Lively, and actually ran at defenders and took them on.

Subs:
Andy Yiadom 5.5
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan 6.5
Clinton Mola 3.5
Michael Craig 4
Tivonge Rushesha 4

Staying in Christ's so back nice and early. Good day, under-rated train line through West to east, through Rutland and then down through the fens. Nice afternoon strolling around Cambridge.

Then, the football ....

The difference between two sides was grit and energy, basically. First to loose balls, forcing errors, keeping us from building any real momentum.

That said...

Our midfield isn't working, especially as we seem to want to pass ball out from back.
When that fails, don't hoof it to Vickers. There was a spell when he got the ball down and we looked dangerous.
Button kept it respectable.

Their goal seemed inevitable when it came, just an extra yard throughout the move.

I want to see that chance at the end though, I was quite well placed and thought it possibly over the line.

Think Camara is a bit of an unsung hero in this modern 4-2-2-2 style. Picks up pockets of space well higher up the pitch. Coincidence or not, our record stands at 3-0-0 when he’s started and 0-1-4 when not. Elliott does the job fairly well but really struggling with what Knibbs is supposed to be offering us. Not enough movement, not enough involvement and persistently leaves his fullback exposed. Think he’s been really poor personally with Azeez not being much better. With the likes of Smith, Wing and Ballard to come in, those two really have to buck up their ideas and quick.

That being said, just not a fan of the formation. I don’t like how we so often leave our fullbacks isolated (both offensively and defensively). Three of our four defeats have come from a result of crosses into our box and yet we seem more content to try and play intricately through the middle in spaces that just aren’t apparent. Personally think it’s moronic to let all your width come from the respective fullbacks when they can’t deliver but that “tactic” seemed to work so well under Paunovic, Ince and Gomes so there you go

Some really good analysis above. I wanted a team full of young hungry dynamic players, but we didn’t have the same energy levels as Cambridge last night. Tbf, we have a bit more experience to come back into the team, but maybe we should have got a couple more tried and trusted League One players.

It’s like we froze mentally at the beginning of the game and ran around like headless chickens. I thought we got a bit better towards the end of the first half, but it all looked more in hope and we lacked composure.

I am just glad of the international break and I really hope that Selles can use the time well and that players can recover from injuries. Also, It’s all very early days and tbh this is what I was expecting, but the reality of it isn’t great.

Do we ever have a BFTG post by people who actually go to the game?

1st time I’ve seen this lot play and I was happy with what I saw.

Looks like a decent team in the making.

Many of the comments above smack of entitlement.

I'm not seeing that at all.

There's very little 'should be beating Cambridge'.

Just frustration at leaving out our top scorer, tactics of high balls to Vickers against Bennett and Morrison and a lack of creativity.

I've seen all our league games and I'd say bar second half against Vale, that was our worst performance.

It's a very young team that will improve, but at the moment the balance is wrong.

We look like conceding any time the game opens up and there's a break where someone can run at us and cross. At least without Binden.

For exactly the same reason as I wasn’t going overboard about a few wins, so we shouldn’t be on the point of depression over the other games.

We knew, with this group of mostly young players, we’d get some poor performances.

We have to give it time

I very much doubt it was any tactic to hoof it up to Vickers - it was forced on us due to some good pressing and the midfield not being on top of their game and keeping possession

It’s a frustrating result. Another 1 goal defeat in a game we could easily have won. Cambridge couldn’t have complained if we’d scored late and won 1-0 either really tbh, was all pretty even as shown by the stats. And again an inch away from a decent enough result and performance at the end.

Positives:
Abbey
Button
Ehibhatiomhan is the boss
Carson’s crossing
Azeez had quite a good game
Vickers, Eliot, Savage all had their moments

Negatives
This formation. I know Selles is wedded to it but I’m struggling with it. Asks too much of the full backs who are getting knackered and exposed (hence their goal)
We’re weak physically up front without smith and Ehib
Injuries disrupting us again already
Midfield 4 were off the pace and didn’t really work as a unit

There are good signs and it’ll be interesting to see what Selles does if Smith, Wing and co are fit after the break. Imo we have gone a bit too far with the youth thing and would like to see Smith and Wing asap, and potentially Mukairo and Ejaria as well in the mix

As said in the other thread the likes of Savage, Eliot, Craig, Carson, Mbengue, Ehib, Vickers all look excellent players but they’ve barely a season in men’s football between them. They are on long contracts mainly (or if not they should be extended asap) and their time will come

Would be interested in what exactly made you happy-genuine question.
From what I saw Abbey once again looked generally very capable,
Button likewise and big Kelvin looked a threat.
Otherwise it seemed to me like a load of players without any structure to their game once again creating so few chances.
Hopefully the 2 free weeks ahead will allow the manager to work on a team that is clear on what they are meant to be doing- he did sound very downbeat after the game.

We created enough chances to have scored at least one. Dean’s header, the first half scramble, Knibbs shot at the end plus plenty of decent balls in the box, Kelvs shot. We need to be putting them away really

Would say that’s 3 very good chances and 2-3 half chances. That’s not too bad away from home

Thought Abbey and Button were solid and Kelvin E caused some issues when he came on, the rest were subpar-poor. Not really sure what Azeez or Knibbs are giving us at the moment either.

Brophy I thought had a good game for Cambridge, as did Bennett the full back, but Brophy last night is exactly what I was hoping Knibbs and Azeez would be like. Brophy caused all the LB's that played there last night (Carson, Yiadom and Mola) problems throughout by being quick and direct and no surprise he turned provider for the winner.

There just seems to be quite a few things not working at the moment and understandably probably many reasons as to why, but we can't keep using these as excuses for as long as the season progresses.

I don't really know how we fit our best players into a shape that works, although the obvious answer is if they don’t fit you don't play them as TEAM > individuals.

We spend a lot of time passing between keeper, CB and fullback. And midfielder if he's in a CB position. But there is no shape for a pathway through and we either end up hoofing without having set up for it, or going up the wing and coming back.

I'd rather we just kicked long intelligently from the off, set up for it and tried to win scraps off the second ball.

The fullbacks are too high, the 'wingers' are too high and not supporting them. The CBs split. And so do the CMs. Yesterday there were so many times when Savage or Hutchinson were in yards of space surrounded by four Cambridge players but with no quick pass on other than back if they received it, and they were always closed quickly. Either that or just stood on the shoulder of their marker offering no option.

If we're going to pass out we need options for forward passing, midfielders who will show and who can pull off a threaded pass or roll a presser to turn into space. But there's none.

Agree about bringing in more experience if fit. I think Selles can see it - I can understand the Ehibhatiomhan decision last night but it was frustrating that all our alternative options were out. But it suggests he know to rest and rotate youngsters.

I'd like to see Wing, Smith and Ejaria when fit. I also think there could be room for Yiadom to return too. Would also like to see Elliott deeper. His control and ability to carry the ball is a class above this level - you can see it immediately. But we barely got him in the game yesterday. Not sure it's the best position for him.

Agreed that the long ball to Vickers was a reaction to their pressing and us being off the pace. Would definitely not have been our gameplan.

And it still rankles that this utterly gormless club let Morrison go in favour of keeping a clapped out walking injury. He should have been retained and this club may well have had him alongside Abbey last night.

And it still rankles that this utterly gormless club let Morrison go in favour of keeping a clapped out walking injury. He should have been retained and this club may well have had him alongside Abbey last night.

If we're going to pass out we need options for forward passing, midfielders who will show and who can pull off a threaded pass or roll a presser to turn into space. But there's none.
Wing when fit. Try Elliott deeper too.

We spend a lot of time passing between keeper, CB and fullback. And midfielder if he's in a CB position. But there is no shape for a pathway through and we either end up hoofing without having set up for it, or going up the wing and coming back.

I'd rather we just kicked long intelligently from the off, set up for it and tried to win scraps off the second ball.

I'm not saying I disagree, although what I would add is that it's not always a bad thing to just keep hold of possession at the back and just stem the flow of the game a bit, it does help us try to establish some control. It doesn't always have to be back to front and at a 100 miles an hour all the time and I think that would have probably suited them more than us last night anyway.

I get what you're saying and yes, probably would have been better for us than what we saw last night, although thought it's just worth adding that it's not always a bad thing to just keep hold of possession for spells.

Agree about bringing in more experience if fit. I think Selles can see it - I can understand the Ehibhatiomhan decision last night but it was frustrating that all our alternative options were out. But it suggests he know to rest and rotate youngsters.

I'd like to see Wing, Smith and Ejaria when fit. I also think there could be room for Yiadom to return too. Would also like to see Elliott deeper. His control and ability to carry the ball is a class above this level - you can see it immediately. But we barely got him in the game yesterday. Not sure it's the best position for him.

Agreed that the long ball to Vickers was a reaction to their pressing and us being off the pace. Would definitely not have been our gameplan.

Then the management was to blame rather than the palyers, Selles should have had the nous to give himself the necessary options to change things, he must have had reports on the way Cambridge play and therefore known what to expect.

If we're going to pass out we need options for forward passing, midfielders who will show and who can pull off a threaded pass or roll a presser to turn into space. But there's none.
Wing when fit. Try Elliott deeper too.
I definitely think Elliott should be in central midfield, exactly the sort of player who can wriggle through.

I'm leaning toward alongside Savage, but Wing is an option for sure. Savage can't play the creative role it seems, but his workrate could cover the defensive one. And he obviously knows how to take a yellow for the team.

We spend a lot of time passing between keeper, CB and fullback. And midfielder if he's in a CB position. But there is no shape for a pathway through and we either end up hoofing without having set up for it, or going up the wing and coming back.

I'd rather we just kicked long intelligently from the off, set up for it and tried to win scraps off the second ball.

I'm not saying I disagree, although what I would add is that it's not always a bad thing to just keep hold of possession at the back and just stem the flow of the game a bit, it does help us try to establish some control. It doesn't always have to be back to front and at a 100 miles an hour all the time and I think that would have probably suited them more than us last night anyway.

I get what you're saying and yes, probably would have been better for us than what we saw last night, although thought it's just worth adding that it's not always a bad thing to just keep hold of possession for spells.
Slowing the game down needs to be a conscious choice. Not a default position through lack of options. And we still ended up frantic last night.

So yeah, agree there's a place for it at the right time, but that's not the situation.

LOL

Agree about bringing in more experience if fit. I think Selles can see it - I can understand the Ehibhatiomhan decision last night but it was frustrating that all our alternative options were out. But it suggests he know to rest and rotate youngsters.

I'd like to see Wing, Smith and Ejaria when fit. I also think there could be room for Yiadom to return too. Would also like to see Elliott deeper. His control and ability to carry the ball is a class above this level - you can see it immediately. But we barely got him in the game yesterday. Not sure it's the best position for him.

Agreed that the long ball to Vickers was a reaction to their pressing and us being off the pace. Would definitely not have been our gameplan.

God help us if we have to scrape that low.

Such a frustrating display, but like previous games it’s difficult to vent frustration given most of them out there are academy boys playing their first season on senior football.

FWIW -
- Azeez and Vickers up top, Cambridge centre halves must have been delighted to see that on the team sheet, won’t have an easier game all season than against those two
- Elliott is clearly very talented and can pick a pass, swivel on the ball, what was he doing on the wing, has to be in the centre
- Hutch, coming in for unfair criticism and for me is probably our most important player on the pitch with Button. Experience, tough tackler, without him we are weak as pi** in the middle of the park
- Carson looks like he needs a break, clearly not ready yet (although Mola had a debut to forget)
- A lot of hype with Knibbs and Savage, yet to see anything to buy into the hype
- Abbey looks more than at home in our team, another solid display
- Kelvin, has come on leaps and bounds since his display against Posh on opening day, know he had a knock but we were such a better team with him on
- Button has been brilliant since we’ve signed him

In summary, good to see a sense of realism creeping in to Reading fans now. The two games we won were -
Cheltenham - scraped past them with a bobbler and they haven’t won a game all season, worst in the league
Stevenage - had 10 men. Would be amazed if we can get this team mid table.

Positives are we aren’t being walloped by anyone, losing by one goal, have injured players returning. I just hope the hierarchy haven’t underestimated the division with the lack of experience and know-how in the team…

And it still rankles that this utterly gormless club let Morrison go in favour of keeping a clapped out walking injury. He should have been retained and this club may well have had him alongside Abbey last night.

Like everyone else I love Morro but he’d come off a poor season. I also though Kelv had him on toast and had he started/been fully fit it’d been a different game

Abbey was the best CB on display yesterday by a distance