Kuhl in, Akpan OUT

[melonhead]

taking akpan out and putting kuhl makes an already lightweight midfield utterly powderpuff

[melonhead]

Not sure what you think Akpan did wrong today. Better than most of the team. He also improved massively when Kuhl came on and he could play alongside/in front of a proper midfielder

Besides costing us the game with their first goal you mean?

HospitaLOL pass

[melonhead]

I'm not a huge fan of Akpan, but his limitations are all to do with decision making, positioning, etc. Put someone next to him who can do that for him and he's ok. Obita could easily have been the one caught in possession tonight, he was pretty poor in midfield too.

.

Obita got on my nerves coming right back into defence to collect the ball every single time. just get in space in the middle and be ready to recieve it.
if you keep coming back to get it, when you turn around to pass the ball, you will be passing to Akpan on his own, in the middle of their 5 man midfield

[Esteban]

By far our biggest problem last night was that neither Akpan nor Obita could organise themselves in midfield. Someone on the match thread posted a really good graphic showing our passes in the first half. Almost all of them were deep in our own half and either backwards or sideways and we got nowhere fast. Adkins spent most of his time in the first half trying to get Akpan and Obita to push up.

Kuhl's introduction at half time changed all of that. Aside from his undoubted quality on the ball (which he has in abundace), I thought the most impressive thing about him was how he took responsibility for the midfield and dictated the game from there. Akpan benefitted from being told what to do and where to play his game. Kuhl sat the deeper of the two, Akpan pushed on a little and with a natural left footer at left back, we looked much more balanced. I heard a little bit of Kevin Dillon on the radio on my way back to the car and he said that Huddersfield were content to sit deep second half. There was definitely an element of that, but I think Kuhl's ability to lead from midfield gave us shape and that in turn pushed them back. I'd like to see the same graphic I mentioned earlier for the second half, I think it would tell a very interesting story.

Taking the cirumstances of the game into account, it was one of the most impressive debuts I think I've seen from a Reading player. Kuhl really was that good. He wasn't faultless and other teams will kick him out of the game, so he needs to be played in the right games at the right time as others have mnentioned. He's not an automatic starter just yet. But in my very humble opinion, he will develop into the best academy product since Sigurdsson.

[PieEater]

Not sure what you think Akpan did wrong today. Better than most of the team. He also improved massively when Kuhl came on and he could play alongside/in front of a proper midfielder

Exactly this. It was Obita who looked the real lost sheep in the centre of midfield, kept dropping way to deep and getting in Akpan's way. Once Obita was put in his proper position of left back, Kuhl came on and pushed forwards, Akpan looked much better (not that he had been that bad before).

I really can't understand Adkins' thinking in playing two players - Obita and Cummings out of position. We need a proper left back and, at present, Obita is the only one we have got. Furthermore, he is pretty ineffective in the centre of midfield (last night Blackman seemed to move inside to perform the role Obita should have been fulfilling). If Adkins doesn't want to play Kuhl from the start of games, I would prefer to see Obita at left back and Cummings central midfield. I don't think Cummings would do any worse than Obita in that position and at least one of the two players would then be playing in a position they are more suited to.

Akpan did well tonight - definitely NOT his fault for the goal

+1.

Adkins should never play Obita in central midfield again.

Esteban, part of the reason for the sideways passing in the first half was that there were no options with Huddersfield sitting deep, marking tight and closing down any pass. You need to pass it around the back to draw their midfield out and create space. It wasn't helped by playing Cummings in that formation that relies on defenders getting forward, he's on the wrong side and never had the confidence to take a player on.

[SCIAG]

The "sideways" passing by the half way line actually worked really well, we kept possession, weren't threatened by Huddersfield and could work the ball forwards once we'd found a gap in their line up. I remember in particular some people complained when Cummings, Pearce and Obita exchanged a few passes, only for it to be worked to Blackman and we won a corner a little later.

The issue with both goals was that we made silly mistakes in our third; the reason we didn't create enough chances was poor movement from the attacking midfielders. Obita and Akpan were doing more or less everything right.

If you don't like possession based football then you're not going to like our football for the foreseeable future. If you thought the first half yesterday was mostly good aside from a couple of fatal errors, then the future is exciting.

[Esteban]

Not sure what you think Akpan did wrong today. Better than most of the team. He also improved massively when Kuhl came on and he could play alongside/in front of a proper midfielder

Exactly this. It was Obita who looked the real lost sheep in the centre of midfield, kept dropping way to deep and getting in Akpan's way. Once Obita was put in his proper position of left back, Kuhl came on and pushed forwards, Akpan looked much better (not that he had been that bad before).

I really can't understand Adkins' thinking in playing two players - Obita and Cummings out of position. We need a proper left back and, at present, Obita is the only one we have got. Furthermore, he is pretty ineffective in the centre of midfield (last night Blackman seemed to move inside to perform the role Obita should have been fulfilling). If Adkins doesn't want to play Kuhl from the start of games, I would prefer to see Obita at left back and Cummings central midfield. I don't think Cummings would do any worse than Obita in that position and at least one of the two players would then be playing in a position they are more suited to.

Akpan did well tonight - definitely NOT his fault for the goal

+1.

Adkins should never play Obita in central midfield again.

Esteban, part of the reason for the sideways passing in the first half was that there were no options with Huddersfield sitting deep, marking tight and closing down any pass. You need to pass it around the back to draw their midfield out and create space. It wasn't helped by playing Cummings in that formation that relies on defenders getting forward, he's on the wrong side and never had the confidence to take a player on.

I completely agree with you. That's the point I was trying to make.

[RoyalTank]

Akpan is in the team to win the ball back and be a general nuisance - Kuhl is in the team to disribute and to get the game flowing. THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLAYERS! In the first half the problem lied with Obita, he is simply not good enough at distributing to play there - he looked a different player when he went back in to defence. Akpan also looked a lot better when Kuhl came on as he had an outlet to give the ball to.

It was the same with Legs, he got unnecessary abuse because he was in the team to do the ugly side of the game. Every team has to have a ballwinner.

As for blaming Akpan for the first goal - it was a terrible pass by Hec that stiched him up.

[RoyalBlue]

The "sideways" passing by the half way line actually worked really well, we kept possession, weren't threatened by Huddersfield and could work the ball forwards once we'd found a gap in their line up. I remember in particular some people complained when Cummings, Pearce and Obita exchanged a few passes, only for it to be worked to Blackman and we won a corner a little later.

The issue with both goals was that we made silly mistakes in our third; the reason we didn't create enough chances was poor movement from the attacking midfielders. Obita and Akpan were doing more or less everything right.

If you don't like possession based football then you're not going to like our football for the foreseeable future. If you thought the first half yesterday was mostly good aside from a couple of fatal errors, then the future is exciting.

BBCRB interviewed the guy who scored the second goal last night. He commented on how tired all of the Huddersfield players were in the latter stages of the game because Reading had kept possession so well and Huddersfield had had to work really hard to track the ball. That is surely one of the main reasons why Adkins wants his teams to play that way.

[SCIAG]

Akpan is in the team to win the ball back and be a general nuisance - Kuhl is in the team to disribute and to get the game flowing. THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PLAYERS!

I'm actually not entirely sure that is true. Stylistically I think Akpan is in the Lampard/Rodwell mould, he's a box to box player who is better at attacking than defending. He isn't a great tackler, his best asset is his movement in the final third (well, his strength and build probably would be but he doesn't really use them).

Kuhl is mostly there for his passing, but he's a very strong tackler too. He might be small, but he's just as tenacious as Jem and he'll screen the defence really well. I think his instinct is more defensive than Akpan, and I think if you compared their average positions in the second half then Kuhl would probably be much deeper.

[Vision]

Graphic of Kuhl's pass map on the official site. Pass completion 94%

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... 45387.aspx

[leww_rfc]

This thread should be Kuhl appreciation rather than the current title, this kid is gonna be big.

[WestRoyal]

Not sure what you think Akpan did wrong today. Better than most of the team. He also improved massively when Kuhl came on and he could play alongside/in front of a proper midfielder

Exactly JMW.

Some people just see want they want to see.

[Z175]

I find it odd Akpan's poor first half is getting blamed on the equally poor Obita, pointing out that he improved once he had Kuhl alongside him organising him and telling him what to do.

Obita is 20, Kuhl is 18. Akpan at 23 and with PL experience should be organising them, not the other way round!

Personally I think that Akpan had a better second half because he was further forward. Kuhl got back and covered very well, whereas in the first half Akpan sat much deeper, where the opposition seem to effortlessly glide past him.

Kuhl was brilliant though, I disagree that his size is an issue defensively, he won the ball more than anyone for me, and with his passing I can't see the opposition having the ball much.

[WestRoyal]

I find it odd Akpan's poor first half is getting blamed on the equally poor Obita, pointing out that he improved once he had Kuhl alongside him organising him and telling him what to do.

Obita is 20, Kuhl is 18. Akpan at 23 and with PL experience should be organising them, not the other way round!

Personally I think that Akpan had a better second half because he was further forward. Kuhl got back and covered very well, whereas in the first half Akpan sat much deeper, where the opposition seem to effortlessly glide past him.

Kuhl was brilliant though, I disagree that his size is an issue defensively, he won the ball more than anyone for me, and with his passing I can't see the opposition having the ball much.

You would think so but it doesn't always work like that.
Its not just about organising either, ones players natural game works better with a particular player so they can play their natural game and do what they are best at. That's what happened 2nd half.
Obita is best on the flank

[Ian Royal]

On that showing Kuhl in, Cummings (unluckily) out. Obita is far better at left back and we simply can't afford to ignore an entire quadrant of the pitch by having not a single left sided player starting out there.

'Greed. Obita at left back last night gave us much better balance, and the half time sub was definitely the right move from Adkins. The left side of midfield has been the weakest part of the team in the four games thus far, but looked much, much better after the substitutions at Wigan (in particular) and last night when we got Obita out of the middle and onto the left.

Actually, I'd be just as happy with Cummings staying left back and Kuhl coming in for Taylor, pushing Obita to left wing. Now I think about it some more. Cummings has probably been playing better than Taylor, so it's a bit fairer. Taylor would make a decent replacement for Cox off the bench.

[kwik-silva]

A comparison from Whoscored:

Key Passes

Obita: 1
Akpan: 2

Dribbles

Obita: 1
Akpan: 3

Turnovers

Obita: 0
Akpan: 2

Tackles

Obita: 1
Akpan: 3

It has Akpan down as a 'defensive mistake' for the goal but other than that, he comes out above Obita in a whole bunch of ways. In my view Obita needs to drop to LB with Kuhl coming in for Cummings. This is where having Ledge would have been a massive help, he seemed to free up Akpan a bit, and those two looked great together on the one occasion they had.

[maffff]

A comparison from Whoscored:

Turnovers

Obita: 0
Akpan: 2

Greedy bastard.

[kwik-silva]

I know, I know but I don't know the exact definition they use behind it - whether they just mean interceptions or tackles as well so I decided to leave it...

[urz13]

http://youtu.be/gv-GTYPOXYw

Not sure where else Hector is supposed to pass. Clearly Akpans fault, he's barely moving at walking pace towards the ball, if he was aware he could've easily popped it back to Federici or Pearce first time.