(not yet) BFTG: Watford (H)

[Lalala Rougier]

This is the first game i've been to this season and i have to say the first half display was one of the best performances i've seen from us in a number of years. Even the last Championship season where we went up, i don't remember too many games where we put in a really convincing performance like this. It's a shame we let it slip in the 2nd half but already i think we are seeing a huge improvement in our play under Adkins. Play like this every game and i really can't see too many teams beating us.

[Lalala Rougier]

Watford had more possession, more attempts on target, more attempts off target and more corners. Suggests to me Reading were lucky with a draw.

Relying your opinion so heavily on stats suggests to me that you are a massive office working bell end

[No Fixed Abode]

Watford had more possession, more attempts on target, more attempts off target and more corners. Suggests to me Reading were lucky with a draw.

Relying your opinion so heavily on stats suggests to me that you are a massive office working bell end

[Z175]

I'm intrigued by the midfield performance. It was a fantastic first half performance from Guthrie, Jobi and Karacan, brilliant hustling and closing down and great outlets in Alfie, Drenthe and Blackman.

However second half Watford got a lot cuter with their play. They passed triangles very quickly and we had no answwer. Guthrie could easily have been sent off after countless lunges missing the ball, and Karacan didn't get close enough to win many tackles second half either. I had hoped Williams would solve this but it was too late when he came on at 2-1 as the momentum had already shifted and we did in fact conceed twice with him on the field.

So while we were a bit unlucky, they did have a lot of attacking play. Not a lot of clearcut opportunities but half chance after half chance. We did reassert control at 3-1 and were unlucky to conceed the pen when on top, but at 2-0, 2-1 and 3-2 it was a Watford knife through Reading butter. And as above, both centre backs had decent games, yet we conceeded three times.

So is huff and puff enough in central midfield and can it last 90 mins? Or do we need a tackler and ball winner to protect the back four? Obviously Leigertwood is injured but in any case who would you drop?

I think we just go for it and try win every game 4-3!

[Cureton's Volley]

However second half Watford got a lot cuter with their play. They passed triangles very quickly and we had no answwer.

Was very interesting to see how ineffective our 2nd half 4-5-1 formation was against Watford's 3-4-3

Great tactical decisions by Zola, a lesson in how to chase a game...

[Agent Balti]

I think Gunter needed much better support especially in the second half. Their winger, Anya, was getting on the ball a lot, yet with our narrow midfield three they weren't supporting Gunter very well UNTIL the guy was pretty much in the box.

That and it all went to cock when we started to make substitutions. All the subs were offensive changes and not really designed to help out the defensive side of play. Neither HRK or McCleary did anything to help this. Williams was fantastic going forward, but neither he or the other subs did much to shore up the gaps. Something we definitely have to learn from, though we won't play many teams who'll play such a high tempo game as Italy B.

Oh and Blackman just isn't up to it. He's a watered-down version of the striker we really need. Not quick enough, not clever enough, not commanding enough. I can see why we're playing him ahead of the Pog if his future isn't here, but still doesn't mean he's worth a place.

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

TBF if Pog had played all three games and scored five goals someone might have come in for him. WHich in a way would be a positive.

Is Blackman another to the list that McD signed for decentish money that fails, we all hope not.

[Mr Angry]

Interesting to see Watford's style - in the first half their #4 played like a 1980's Italian sweeper with the ball being played out from the back via him as the pivot, and trying to hit long diagonals to the #21 to try and isolate Gunter and force him to not make his forward runs...their possession stats are misleading because they had the ball for long periods where they dimply didn't hurt us, whereas when we had the ball, and went through the middle or down the right, we looked a constant threat.

Fair play to Zola, he changed formation and that, combined with a worrying lack of the tempo we had in the first half gave the initiative back to Watford; the #20 coming on changed the focus of their attacks and even at 3-1, we looked vulnerable. I wouldn't be surprised to see Zola managing a Premier League side by the start of next season; maybe Watford, maybe not....

A draw was a fair result between 2 pretty good teams; we are clearly a work in progress and will only get better, and obviously we have to be more consistent over the 90 minutes rather than play well in spells and then look gash for other spells.

A few other observations. The Watford #6 should have been booked for persistent foul play; indeed, his agricultural hacking down of Drenthe after 24 seconds should have had the ref waving the yellow.

Secondly, we have been given a stiff beginning to the season, and yet despite the lack of clean sheets remain unbeaten. We are also playing much, much better football than last season and whilst I wouldn't so far as to say we will definitely get promoted this season, I do think we will be competitive and pushing for a top 6 spot.

Finally, I'm not too sure that the situation of multiple club ownerships by a single entity is healthy for the game; it effectively means that the owners of Watford/Udinese/Granada have a massive pool of players that they can move around almost at will, and can circumvent FFP. As with Maxwell in the late 1970's, there is clearly potential for conflict of interest which UEFA and FIFA should be looking at.

[LoyalRoyal22]

I have been to all 3 games this season and IMO Gunter has been tidy.

[Agent Balti]

I have been to all 3 games this season and IMO Gunter has been tidy.

Absolutely, I'm not saying he had a bad game, he just needed more help. Also he put himself in some very good positions going forward, but the ball didn't make it to him at times. I see no reason to drop him for Kelly at this point.

[madstadblues]

I make this Adkins 11th game since Arsenal (excluding Friendlies), in my my view that's a pretty impressive change of style in a relatively short space of time.

[Esteban]

I have been to all 3 games this season and IMO Gunter has been tidy.

Absolutely, I'm not saying he had a bad game, he just needed more help. Also he put himself in some very good positions going forward, but the ball didn't make it to him at times. I see no reason to drop him for Kelly at this point.

I can see the technical areas pretty well from my seat in the lower west. Adkins spent a lot of time encouraging Gunter to get forward in to space, especially in the second half, then getting angry when the ball went the other way.

He was also shouting at Pearce and Morrison a lot, trying to get them to push up in the second half, but they just got deeper and deeper. This caused him to have a little melt down about 10 minutes from the end.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Reading were superb in the 1st half and Watford (one of the best sides in this division) were made to look third class but in the 2nd they just stopped doing all they had been doing and seemed to be unsure whether to just go for a third goal or try and keep possession. Even after going 3-1 up, when it was plainly obvious we should be getting the ball and keeping it and frustrating Watford, they seemed unsure and perhaps replacing Karacan with McLeary was a mistake in that respect. Even then the Watford equaliser was about as flukey as you could get

[Agent Balti]

I can see the technical areas pretty well from my seat in the lower west. Adkins spent a lot of time encouraging Gunter to get forward in to space, especially in the second half, then getting angry when the ball went the other way.

He was also shouting at Pearce and Morrison a lot, trying to get them to push up in the second half, but they just got deeper and deeper. This caused him to have a little melt down about 10 minutes from the end.

Agreed with the reasons for the meltdown, we were so, so deep that we struggled to get bodies forward and hold the ball up. We got very compressed, but still Watford found their targets. I'm pretty confident we'll learn from that and control a lead better in the future.

[Ian Royal]

Frustratingly it did just about look a pen. Disappointing and uncharcteristic left foot skew from alf from a difficult dropping ball.

Morro with the only kick off the line I saw.

[melonhead]

I have been to all 3 games this season and IMO Gunter has been tidy.

Absolutely, I'm not saying he had a bad game, he just needed more help. Also he put himself in some very good positions going forward, but the ball didn't make it to him at times. I see no reason to drop him for Kelly at this point.

For me he had mire help than anyone.karacan AND macanyff spent mist of the game covering and helping him out. And I'd also say that the need for clean sheets means we should play the best defender,which is Kelly by some way.

[Rollerbob]

IMO I thought Kanu looks like our weakest player so far. Vastly overrated.

No impact whatsoever on Sat, and looked even worse against Ipswich.

[Caversham Royal]

An entertaining game Sat with two teams looking to play the right way. With that in mind, I thought Watford looked much more the finished article whilst Reading are still a work in progress. When things were clicking for Reading, they looked a side that could prove to be a real force in the Championship and were more than a match for their opponents. But where Watford looked more the finished article was that they were able to keep up the standard of their style of play more consistently throughout the 90mins. One thing that struck me relating to this was that Watford were (particularly in the 2nd half when Reading were failing to press them as they'd done in the first) able to consistently play the ball out from the back with quick accurate passing and purpose, where Reading by contrast sometimes looked unsure what to do in similar positions, often dawdling with the ball & allowing themselves to be closed down or playing the ball sideways or backwards for the full backs or McCarthy to eventually hit long. Whether the players we have can develop enough in time to be more comfortable playing in that way or whether the club will have to invest in players more suited to our new style remains to be seen.
The defence still needs work. Although there was more than a bit of good fortune to the 2nd & 3rd Watford goals, there were times (as others on the thread have said I think!) that the opposition looked like they could cut through us like the preverbial knife through butter. Yes, it's true Watford are a very good side who stepped it up considerabley in the 2nd half, but the deficienceis were still there and I've yet to be convinced at all by Morrison & Pearce as a partnnership.
The midfield though is a big improvement on last season, certainly in an attacking sense anyway. Guthrie & Karacan look rejuvinated & the new additions Drenthe & Williams look promising. And it now seems to be a midfield capable of weighing in with it's fair share of goals too.
This leads me to Le Fondre. With the system we have now of playing mainly with just one out-and-out striker, it strikes me there could be too much responsibility on his shoulders. A new striker would still be a must for me so that we have a decent alternative/support to Le Fondre should he become injured or have a poor run of from. Whilst he's had a pretty solid start to the season, he was culpable of missing 2 decent chances on Sat that you might have expected someone of his ability to bury (and that was after scoring the most difficult one!) & it could be argued that had he taken the one in the 2nd half in particlular that Watford's heads may have drooped sufficiently that seeing the game out may have been a lot easier. So if we're relying more & more on just him up front he's going to need to be playing at the very top of his game all the time. Blackman doesn't seem to be the answer at the moment. He's improved a lot, with some decent touches, surging runs & good link up play on Sat but as the 2nd half wore on (maybe due to his inexperience) he began to give the ball away more cheaply & get caught in possession when we needed to keep the ball to take the sting out of what Watford were trying to do. Hopefully, he can continue to develop the positives if given the chance though!
All in all, it was ultimately disappionting at the end, especially as we'd been 2 goals to the good on 2 occasions. But playing how we did against a team who will be there or there abouts this season for certain was a big positive and shows Reading are still moving in the right direction. Keep it up!

[Sport Economist]

a view from Watford blog BHaPPY:

http://bhappy.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/reading-3-watford-3-17082013/

[melonhead]

actually a really good analysis, and comment

like it alot

even though he hates us