Spurs back from the Game/sofa

[Simon's Church]

The sooner Carrico is fit and can come in for Leigertwood the better. No digging at him, but we need someone who can win the ball, keep the ball, and play a pass. Leigertwood doesn't give us that.

Completed more passes than anyone else in the team today and had the highest pass accuracy %. Also made 8 interceptions with Karacan and Guthrie making 3 between them.

Really? I hope that's true. Link please. Cheers.

http://epl.squawka.com/spurs-vs-reading ... ue/matches

[The Beardy Man]

Actually thought Legs was one of our better performers today.

As a team we were disciplined and worked hard defensively. Real lack of quality when we are in possession, but a couple of decent signings might make the world of difference to that.

Thought we made Spurs work hard for it, mostly shooting from outside the area.

Harte had a difficult game against Lennon, but stuck at it. Certainly wasn't awful.

HRK presumably put his boots on the wrong feet today....think his every touch went to a spurs player when he came on, but sometimes that can happen.

Overall wasn't too upset with that. Agree with earlier posters that McDermott made what seemed sensible tactical choices today that just didn't work out. You need the breaks to go your way against superior opposition and that didn't happen today. Still feeling more positive since the formation switch though, we just look so much harder to beat.

[Millsy]

Harte has got to go. Makes zero sense having him come in for Shorey. .

An Absolute no brainer. Harte is dead wood and must go asap.

I'm a bit consoled by Brian's revelation that shorey had a virus which is why he didn't play. Tat should at least shut the Harte lovers up I.e. even Brian doesn't rate him.

Why the **** we have two slow ageing left backs is beyond me. Shorey is at least half decent but Harte has NOTHING AT ALL going for him as a defender.

Yes he put in a good free kick but.. Really? We want to use up an exceptionally important slot at left back for the sake of the occasional free kick??? It works in the champ but play in the Prem you play anything other than a million men behind the ball and exactly as I predicted you'll get found out with someone like Harte at LB. we got away with it against lowly Swansea, and against Wet Sham, although vaz te was left free by Harte and should've scored. But against any team that's got a half decent right winger and has done 2 seconds of homework we will be gangraped.

Shorey is.. Ok. A good backup. Harte is deadwood at this level and must go. We desperately need a fast left back if we're to have any chance of staying up. We can NOT be using kebe to cover for a totally slow and inept Harte. What happened today there is simply UNACCEPTABLE.

[CayeneMatt]

Feel happy after that.

Disappointed with our comparative atheleticism, with some of our passing and with the equaliser conceeded so quickly. But we made a far superior Spurs side really work for it. Troubled them again when they eased the throttle back and tbh, while Spurs deserved the win and were dominant for most of the match, I thought that scoreline flatters them a little and does us a disservice.

As long as McDermott focuses on the positives to take from that then we can maybe continue to ride the wave of slightly renewed confidence and get something against West Brom and Sunderland in the next few games.

Federici - 9 MotM similar to West Ham, but better saves and slightly more bad kicking.
Gunter - 7 worked very hard and kept Spurs out for most the game
Harte - 7 beaten for pace a couple of times when left exposed, but I thought he played fairly well. Didn't misstime his jumps (thanks Ian) and took a couple of cracking set pieces.
Pearce - 8 very solid, although beaten by Adebayor for their second. Against a far superior attack and midfield to West Ham he kept them out similarly. Organises the back 4 (7) so well
Mariappa - 7.5 looks a different player with Pearce next to him.
Kebe - 7 excellent second right back, didn't trouble spurs too much, but they were mostly as quick as him and all stronger.
McAnuff - 7 couple of flashes going forward but defended really well with Harte.
Karacan - 7 worked his socks off
Guthrie - 7 some loose passing but worked really hard and kept midfield stiff, if overmatched
Leigertwood - 6.5 passing poor, but better than recently. Solid defensively. He still lost the ball too much and couldn't hold it when he won it, but it was improved from him against a super Spurs midfield.
Pogrebnyak - 8 worked really hard, fed off scraps. Scored and could have had a second.

ALF - 6 on, not a lot shown.
HRK - 4 terrible decision making, don't recall him beating his man, poor crossing and poor passing. Shame, just wasn't up to Spurs speed
Hunt - 6 didn't have much time basically defended.

McDermott - 7 nice try.

Webb - 8 mostly a really good display. Played advantage really well. Great ref. Not so sure about the male lino. I'm suspicious of several of his decisions.

Would agree with most of that Ian (no I'm not taking the piss).

I think you're slightly generous with Guthrie. I thought he was terrible today, picking out the wrong pass and wasting chances to press.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

On the train home. Did pretty well all things considered. If we don't find a decent defensive midfielder to replace Mikele then we are definitely down.

[Ian Royal]

Completed more passes than anyone else in the team today and had the highest pass accuracy %. Also made 8 interceptions with Karacan and Guthrie making 3 between them.

Really? I hope that's true. Link please. Cheers.

http://epl.squawka.com/spurs-vs-reading ... ue/matches

78% to Guthrie's 76%. But attempted many more (40+ total). Karacan attempted 14 passes according to that.

I'd like to show those stats to our defenders. Because pretty much 80% of their failed passes were long puts into the channels.

[SPARTA]

Jem Karacan - Total:14 Completed:10

What was Jem doing all game?

[Libertine]

Jem Karacan - Total:14 Completed:10

What was Jem doing all game?

Chasing shadows...

[CayeneMatt]

Harte has got to go. Makes zero sense having him come in for Shorey. .

An Absolute no brainer. Harte is dead wood and must go asap.

I'm a bit consoled by Brian's revelation that shorey had a virus which is why he didn't play. Tat should at least shut the Harte lovers up I.e. even Brian doesn't rate him.

Why the **** we have two slow ageing left backs is beyond me. Shorey is at least half decent but Harte has NOTHING AT ALL going for him as a defender.

Yes he put in a good free kick but.. Really? We want to use up an exceptionally important slot at left back for the sake of the occasional free kick??? It works in the champ but play in the Prem you play anything other than a million men behind the ball and exactly as I predicted you'll get found out with someone like Harte at LB. we got away with it against lowly Swansea, and against Wet Sham, although vaz te was left free by Harte and should've scored. But against any team that's got a half decent right winger and has done 2 seconds of homework we will be gangraped.

Shorey is.. Ok. A good backup. Harte is deadwood at this level and must go. We desperately need a fast left back if we're to have any chance of staying up. We can NOT be using kebe to cover for a totally slow and inept Harte. What happened today there is simply UNACCEPTABLE.

You really are a mongtard. I've thought it for a while, but that post confirms it.

Harte did OK today, and probably better than expected. Would Shorey have been better? On his 4 performances before BM dropped him, not necessarily.

Though I do agree we need a new faster LB.

[Big Ern]

Top 3 side beats bottom 3 side..no shocks there.

Having watched the game from the comfort of my sofa it was clear to all but the deaf and blind the difference in class between the sides. Spurs would generally find their man in the last third we we struggled to do that. We are very reliant on set plays and we will never score enough goals to give us a chance of staying up doing that. We did look more resilient, as we have over the past few weeks, and by adding a bit more quality , especially in the final third, could give us a chance, however slim.

Thought Feds improved after a nervous first 20 mins and every player did the best they could. Gunter looked more solid and Ledge was better than usual, however any midfield containing Ledge will struggle at this level. We really need to learn to stop passing the ball into dead ends and then resorting to hoofing up the pitch which is bread and butter to opposing defenders and will almost always result in losing possession and then pressure on our defense as they attack.

All in all, I am not dissapointed as I didn't expect anything from the game, but WBA is a must win as we really have no margin for error now.

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

Top 3 side beats bottom 3 side..no shocks there.

Having watched the game from the comfort of my sofa it was clear to all but the deaf and blind the difference in class between the sides. Spurs would generally find their man in the last third we we struggled to do that. We are very reliant on set plays and we will never score enough goals to give us a chance of staying up doing that. We did look more resilient, as we have over the past few weeks, and by adding a bit more quality , especially in the final third, could give us a chance, however slim.

Thought Feds improved after a nervous first 20 mins and every player did the best they could. Gunter looked more solid and Ledge was better than usual, however any midfield containing Ledge will struggle at this level. We really need to learn to stop passing the ball into dead ends and then resorting to hoofing up the pitch which is bread and butter to opposing defenders and will almost always result in losing possession and then pressure on our defense as they attack.

All in all, I am not dissapointed as I didn't expect anything from the game, but WBA is a must win as we really have no margin for error now.

oh dear lord what is the world coming to, im agreeing with big ern.

[winchester_royal]

Thought we sat far too deep after scoring. Looked much better in the last 30 mins when we pushed the wingers forward.

Decent effort but the difference in quality of the 2 teams was staggering.

[bobby1413]

Not at all phased by the result. I predicted 3-1 loss and never believed we would win that game. I think there at far bettt games out there for Reading to win, and still believe (naively?) that we have a chance.

My next game is Newcastle away, another tough one!

[Royalclapper]

Fairly predictable game really. Spurs got themselves in front and created enough chances to have killed us off earlier. Pleased with the way we fought back given the talent mismatch, had our chances at 2-1 and didn't take them.

Best game I've seen Gunter have for RFC and Mariappa is now looking decent. Passing still needs to be crisper but there just isn't enough ball playing quality for the side to be too intricate. The lack of ball retention just means it's constant attack v defence for large parts of the game. HRK was terrible when he came on, poor passing in potentially good positions.

[CayeneMatt]

Thought we sat far too deep after scoring. Looked much better in the last 30 mins when we pushed the wingers forward.

Decent effort but the difference in quality of the 2 teams was staggering.

Agree, it wasn't a surprise. Their superior quality when they came to us was frightening.

[USA_Loyal_Royal]

Fairly predictable game really. Spurs got themselves in front and created enough chances to have killed us off earlier. Pleased with the way we fought back given the talent mismatch, had our chances at 2-1 and didn't take them.

Best game I've seen Gunter have for RFC and Mariappa is now looking decent. Passing still needs to be crisper but there just isn't enough ball playing quality for the side to be too intricate. The lack of ball retention just means it's constant attack v defence for large parts of the game. HRK was terrible when he came on, poor passing in potentially good positions.

to be fair i have rated him since he came to us. he has been performing fairly well, i can only think of one or two goals that were his fault in all the games he has played for us. and both of them were basically scored from a brilliant piece of work from the forward, not really too much of mariappa's fault.

[No Fixed Abode]

Top 3 side beats bottom 3 side..no shocks there.

Having watched the game from the comfort of my sofa it was clear to all but the deaf and blind the difference in class between the sides. Spurs would generally find their man in the last third we we struggled to do that. We are very reliant on set plays and we will never score enough goals to give us a chance of staying up doing that. We did look more resilient, as we have over the past few weeks, and by adding a bit more quality , especially in the final third, could give us a chance, however slim.

Thought Feds improved after a nervous first 20 mins and every player did the best they could. Gunter looked more solid and Ledge was better than usual, however any midfield containing Ledge will struggle at this level. We really need to learn to stop passing the ball into dead ends and then resorting to hoofing up the pitch which is bread and butter to opposing defenders and will almost always result in losing possession and then pressure on our defense as they attack.

All in all, I am not dissapointed as I didn't expect anything from the game, but WBA is a must win as we really have no margin for error now.

Spurs didn't finish 3rd last season. or weren't3rd at the start of the day.

[Upper West Ginger]

I think I must have been to a different game to some of the previous posters.

Leigertwood was so poor it was embarrassing, both for him and for us. Spurs noticed this too, as they seemed happy to leave him unmarked to receive the ball in midfield, knowing full well that he would give away possession almost immediately. His skill levels and fitness were both lacking. Time after time he made poor decisions about when to pass, who to pass to, and how to pass. Clearly he was utterly exhausted by the end of the match, and finally collapsed to his knees after about 85 minutes.

I find it astonishing that Brian continues to pick him. He is so clearly out of his depth in this league / past his sell-by date / insert your own cliche here.

If I never saw him wearing a Reading shirt again, it wouldn't trouble me one little bit.

[Cypry]

Harte has got to go. Makes zero sense having him come in for Shorey. .

An Absolute no brainer. Harte is dead wood and must go asap.

I'm a bit consoled by Brian's revelation that shorey had a virus which is why he didn't play. Tat should at least shut the Harte lovers up I.e. even Brian doesn't rate him.

Why the **** we have two slow ageing left backs is beyond me. Shorey is at least half decent but Harte has NOTHING AT ALL going for him as a defender.

Yes he put in a good free kick but.. Really? We want to use up an exceptionally important slot at left back for the sake of the occasional free kick??? It works in the champ but play in the Prem you play anything other than a million men behind the ball and exactly as I predicted you'll get found out with someone like Harte at LB. we got away with it against lowly Swansea, and against Wet Sham, although vaz te was left free by Harte and should've scored. But against any team that's got a half decent right winger and has done 2 seconds of homework we will be gangraped.

Shorey is.. Ok. A good backup. Harte is deadwood at this level and must go. We desperately need a fast left back if we're to have any chance of staying up. We can NOT be using kebe to cover for a totally slow and inept Harte. What happened today there is simply UNACCEPTABLE.

Sorry, don't get that at all - Harte has started the last four games, and has had clean sheets in three of them (the City goal was after he was subbed off for Shorey)...
Yes, he got done by Lennon for their second goal, so you could say he's been done once in four games....not really all that bad for a bottom 3 side playing two of the top four in those games....

Same goes for last year - I cannot remember any goals which we conceded for which Harte (and specifically his lack of pace) could be held to account - I think there was one where he misplaced a pass and that resulted in a goal, but if you can point out any others then fair enough...OK, so he had a hard time today against Lennon, but then there are a hell of a lot of younger (and faster) fullbacks who have/will put in much worse performances against Lennon this year....

I can only assume that you still haven't forgiven Harte for his poor performance in the playoff final 18 months ago....

[Tony Le Mesmer]

lol at slagging Leigertwood for todays performance. Hes been crap of late but he was easily the best of the 3CM today, which isnt saying a lot admittedly. Guthrie and Karacan were exceptionally poor today, but in Karacans case he has put 3 huge shifts in on the back of long injury lay off(s) and did look very jaded. Im still waiting for Guthrie to have a decent game for us.

We huffed and puffed today but if wed conceeded 5 or 6 we'd have had no complaints. Spurs were just way too good for us.

Apart from the last 10 mins when we were chasing the game, Harte had a good game today and was probably our best player. The fact that Shorey is also a good LB but on the bench is hardly his fault. Still some of you have to knock him.

Of all the positions we need strengthening in, LB is near the bottom of the list.