Back from the Watford game...

[Ian Royal]

Under certain circumstances that's correct Brendy, defending corners and freekicks near our area. In normal play, it's utter bollocks.

Or he wouldn't have spent a fair amount of time infront of me in the first half, (Y25) sometimes challenging for the ball and sometimes doing sweet FA to help the defence.

[bcubed]

Under certain circumstances that's correct Brendy, defending corners and freekicks near our area. In normal play, it's utter bollocks.

Or he wouldn't have spent a fair amount of time infront of me in the first half, (Y25) sometimes challenging for the ball and sometimes doing sweet FA to help the defence.

I think you are being generous here IR
I watched out for him the whole game and saw someone who can't face the thought of a tackle and avoided them at all costs
I like him and think he adds loads to the team but he leaves us short in midfield beacuse of his lack of tackling

[Ian Royal]

Under certain circumstances that's correct Brendy, defending corners and freekicks near our area. In normal play, it's utter bollocks.

Or he wouldn't have spent a fair amount of time infront of me in the first half, (Y25) sometimes challenging for the ball and sometimes doing sweet FA to help the defence.

I think you are being generous here IR
I watched out for him the whole game and saw someone who can't face the thought of a tackle and avoided them at all costs
I like him and think he adds loads to the team but he leaves us short in midfield beacuse of his lack of tackling

It was bizarre, there was one bit inparticular I can recall. The ball was blocked in our box and came out towards him. he was favourite to reach it, but a Watford player was coming in from both sides and close, he basically stepped back out of teh way. The ball went back in the box he charged in and went in solidly putting the ball out for a corner iirc.

One second everyone was shouting in frustration because he hadn't put his foot in, next second he'd just removed the danger. He did that sort of thing all through the first half.

[JC]

We won easily despite never getting out of 1st gear in the first half, and never out of 2nd gear in the 2nd half.

Watford - in common with so many teams in this Division - play pretty passing football with zero cutting edge. They also looked leggy in the last half hour - a result of having the majority of their first team play for 90 mins against Scunthorpe last week possibly? Interesting to note that NHunt commented after the game how much he needed the rest he got last week, whilst SHunt seemed to have more energy than recently as well....

At the end of the season this weekend might be looked at as being significant; we have pulled away from the team in third (who have another game to re-arrange) and are putting pressure on Wolves, who themselves have at least 1 more game to play before they play us (and whose defence look very susceptible to crosses played into their penalty area!). We have the momentum and I think Coppell knows what his starting 11 will be from now till the end of the season barring injuries/suspensions, which means that the central midfield debate is over, with Coppell favouring the Harps/Cisse partnership.

46 points and 43 goals in 19 games - is the 100/100 possible I wonder!

Don't forget that Wolves play Brum in the cup on Tuesday this week as well.

[eleventh earl of mar]

We won easily despite never getting out of 1st gear in the first half, and never out of 2nd gear in the 2nd half.

Watford - in common with so many teams in this Division - play pretty passing football with zero cutting edge. They also looked leggy in the last half hour - a result of having the majority of their first team play for 90 mins against Scunthorpe last week possibly? Interesting to note that NHunt commented after the game how much he needed the rest he got last week, whilst SHunt seemed to have more energy than recently as well....

At the end of the season this weekend might be looked at as being significant; we have pulled away from the team in third (who have another game to re-arrange) and are putting pressure on Wolves, who themselves have at least 1 more game to play before they play us (and whose defence look very susceptible to crosses played into their penalty area!). We have the momentum and I think Coppell knows what his starting 11 will be from now till the end of the season barring injuries/suspensions, which means that the central midfield debate is over, with Coppell favouring the Harps/Cisse partnership.

46 points and 43 goals in 19 games - is the 100/100 possible I wonder!

Don't forget that Wolves play Brum in the cup on Tuesday this week as well.

Possibly not the first teams though.

[Woodcote Royal]

I thought that was a pretty typical Reading performance tbh.

We attacked hard and fast down the wings and created a shed full of chances and half chances, but the other team had the majority of possession. I couldn't understand people getting frustrated in the second half when we were 3-0 up and Watford had the ball in our half. They were never getting anywhere with it. We defend in numbers around our box and wait for the other team to cock up. It works pretty well. When we tend to conceed it's when we're hit quickly and the midfield haven't had time to join in the siege defence.

I thought that was a very exciting and inspiring game personally. And 4-0 didn't flatter us in the least. Watford are a team in trouble, and once we get our nose ahead against a team like that our entire style of play is such that we'll punish them. And punish them hard.

Federici:- 7 Not a lot to do, covered his posts well whenever Watford shot wide and his distribution was great, best for any Reading 'keeper I've ever seen. He came and claimed well at crosses and corners to. We've got a player with great potential there IMO.

Rosenior:- 7 Did everything he had to closing down crosses, tackling and going forward. Had Kebe not been so calmost totally incapable of producing a final ball, or releasing the ball before he ran into a defender I think he'd have done even better.

Armstrong:- 7 Solid, did everything you could ask and scored.

Ingimarsson:- 7 Again, solid. Had a nice shot at some point in the second half as well.

Duberry:- 7 A few mistakes here and there, but like a brick wall in general. These two aren't right for against a counter-attacking team with pace, but Watford despite their individual speed, seemed incapable of attacking quickly enough to cause problems.

Harper:- 7 Very good game. Whenever a defender stepped up to make a challenge, or was caught out of position, we still had a back 4, because Harper had read the danger early and dropped seamlessly back into their place. Awful tackle in the second half, but keep the ball moving well when we had it, and made several good attacking passes, including the assist for Lita.

Cisse:- 7 Didn't see as much of Cisse as I did of Harper, but then I always enjoying looking out for Harps. Tackled fairly well, and bar some occasionally awful passing did fairly well. Borke forward and had a decent shot at one point too.

Kebe:- 6 Player with great potential, but almost incapable of TRYING to play a final ball, let alone succeeding. Got an assist for NHunt, but that was only really a case of penalty area pinball, and the defender got almost as much on it as Kebe, from the replay. Causes problems, but needs to stop trying to "beat man repeatedly" and just get the ball in the box.

SHunt:- 8 Worked hard and created a lot, was all over the pitch. How anyone would be happy to see him go is beyond me. Crossed for both Doyle's goal and NHunt's. Could have had at least one himself as well. Did everything you could possibly ask of him.

NHunt:- 6 Did ok. Nothing spectacular, but didn't need to. Was a little anonymous, but scored a well taken goal. 6 is probably a little harsh.

Doyle:- 10 One hell of a striker. Works unbelievable hard, can bring the ball down and control it better than any Reading striker I've ever seen, and in very little space. Tireless and is massively important to our team. Terrifys defenders and rightly so.

Long:- 6 but not far from a 5. Didn't do a lot, except be petulant and run fast.

Lita:- 6 Did nothing apart from lose the ball, and give away nothing freekicks (probably more to do with the ref). That is apart from miss with a header when noone was within at least 5 yards of him. AWFUL. Made up for it with a well taken goal. I'll give him my full support during a game. But unless that goal spurs some sort of change in him. I'm not happy he's at the club.

Gunnarsson: - 6 Came on, kept the game from changing. Did well, nothing spectacular.

Very very pleased.

Oh and well done to the Watford fans for their support. Ours was pretty poor. But frankly, I don't give a damn.

Totally agree.

Steve Coppell clearly cares far more about how effective we are when we have possession than having more of the ball than the opposition. It seems to me that having less than 50% is the norm for us and was also the case in 2005-6.

Only Reading fans could pick serious holes in a 4-0 victory, especially on a dire surface that made close control very hit and miss and led to many misplaced passes and several miss-kicks from both sides.

We could, of course, have not played at all thanks to a frozen pitch/lost 1-3 at home and now be worrying about a fixture pile up compounded by still being involved in the FA Cup

This was a great weekend for RFC and further proof, if any was needed, of just how well this club is run.

[Hoop Blah]

Only Reading fans could pick serious holes in a 4-0 victory, especially on a dire surface that made close control very hit and miss and led to many misplaced passes and several miss-kicks from both sides.

Only Reading fans AND the Manager by the sounds of his comments since the game!

[Hoop Blah]

I thought the performance pretty much summed up our whole season so far.

We started badly and Watford looked the better side for long periods whilst we huffed and puffed a bit and created a couple of half chances.

We scored a good goal after some sustained pressure having pushed on the fullbacks a bit as the result of the opposition playing 4-5-1 and by not giving up on lost causes we scored a well taken goal, possibly against the run of play.

Throughout the game our two centre backs and central midfielders worked well and restricted Watford to very few chances whilst our wide players went from the sublime to the ridiculous. Kebe showed why he is such a frustrating player with that great first touch from Federici’s kick, only to waste it by yet again just running in a straight line at the defender and not getting any ‘end product’ from his efforts. Meanwhile Hunt put in some lovely crosses and worked extremely hard but as ever showed some pretty poor touches along the way (a better performance from him than recently though).

The 4-0 result flattered us as we yet again took a high percentage of the clear cut chances we created and we saw yet another opposition fold after going two nil down.

As with a lot of this season we’ve won a game without really playing very well.

[Nick Shorey my Lord!]

I'm surprised by the "we didn't deserve to win 4-0" comments because I thought we did. The second half performance was a good throw back to the 05/06 days where we bossed it. Our pass and move play, especially down the wings was much improved. Cisse did a great job in the middle and made up for Harpers usual non-existance.

I really like NHunt, he never stops running and has some great hold up play. I thought he took his goal well.

A big LOL @ Lita, it's the only time I've booed (in my head) when one of our players scored. The chest banging, I mean come on. Give it a break and oxf*rd off. His miss about five minutes before his goal was top draw; open goal, no challenge, easy header, puts it well wide.

That's nice.

It is isn't it? He's an idiot.

[winchester_royal]

Watford looked the better side for long periods whilst we huffed and puffed a bit and created a couple of half chances.

I can only assume that you are basing this on the pretty passing football that Watford were playing. At the end of the day they played 5 in midfield therefore they should expect the majority of the possession, but they created feck all, and that seems to be a pattern in this division.

[Royal Rother]

Indeed - even though we were not playing well we still created 3 or 4 decent chances in the first half hour - Watford barely had a shot in that time.

[loyalroyal4life]

Watford looked the better side for long periods whilst we huffed and puffed a bit and created a couple of half chances.

I can only assume that you are basing this on the pretty passing football that Watford were playing. At the end of the day they played 5 in midfield therefore they should expect the majority of the possession, but they created feck all, and that seems to be a pattern in this division.

Dont now why people seem to think that because an away side puts numbers behind the ball and pass it about up to the halfway line they suddenly look the better side for long periods. This season certainly isnt the same as 05-06 where WE had majority of possession and WE walked 90% of games. Now it is a case of having to be more patient before breaking through to score and change a game. Certainly very noticeable at home games compared to 05-06.

I for one couldn't really give a toss how are possesion bodes against other teams as long as we end up with the 3 points each and every game.

[Hoop Blah]

At the time I was actually very surprised at how adventerous Watford were. Their 4-5-1 was actually a lot more like 4-3-3 in that first half hour or so and both Smith and McAnuff spent a lot more time attacking us than they did trying to stifle our wide men and midfield.

Fair play to them for coming and having a go.

When I say better side, I meant they played better football and looked like the side more likely to produce a scoring chance through their own endevour whereas we looked like a side who would work hard and try and force a mistake out of the opposition. I know it worked and we created the clearer early chances but I still think Watford had the more pressure and played the better football (by better football I don't just mean keeping possession and passing infront of our back four as I don't think that's what they did for the first half hour and more).

[papereyes]

This season certainly isnt the same as 05-06 where WE had majority of possession and WE walked 90% of games.

I remember at the start of that season, a lot of clubs complained because they tended to have a lot of possession in games and were cut to ribbons on the break by us. Towards the end, we dominated both, but even in the last game, our first goal came from a quick attack down the wing and a cross.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

The more useful stat would be possession in the final third of the pitch. The way we play means that a high proportion of our possession is in the opposition final third. The way many visitors (including Watford) play means that they have very little.
4-5-1 will win the possession stats but it won't win many football matches.

[Negative_Jeff]

The more useful stat would be possession in the final third of the pitch. The way we play means that a high proportion of our possession is in the opposition final third. The way many visitors (including Watford) play means that they have very little.
4-5-1 will win the possession stats but it won't win many football matches.

Pardew managed to win lots of games with 4-5-1 in 2003 so it can be done. I have rarely seen a front player influence the strategy of the entire team in the way Forster did that season. The injury at Molineux in the play offs killed us.

[Hoop Blah]

The more useful stat would be possession in the final third of the pitch. The way we play means that a high proportion of our possession is in the opposition final third. The way many visitors (including Watford) play means that they have very little.
4-5-1 will win the possession stats but it won't win many football matches.

Pardew managed to win lots of games with 4-5-1 in 2003 so it can be done. I have rarely seen a front player influence the strategy of the entire team in the way Forster did that season. The injury at Molineux in the play offs killed us.

It was also the galring weakness in the centre of the park that made Pardew adopt the system, although it was Forster and Hughes that really made it work.

I seem to remember Chelsea and Liverpool doing pretty well with 4-5-1 as well.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

To clarify my previous post. I'm talking about this season in our league. Most sides have come to the Mad Stad and played 4-5-1 and they do so first and foremost as a defensive measure i.e to stop our wide men influencing the game. In addition, they don't have enough quality in either wide areas or the lone striker to hurt us with such a system.
Two exceptions have been Southampton and Norwich. Norwich is a good example per above comments in that Croft played very well wide right and they should have been 2-0 up within the first 20 minutes as a result. If we concede first against a 4-5-1 then it will be difficult to win the game. If we score first then 4-5-1 will eventually change to 4-4-2 in most cases and we'll hammer sides late on. Exactly what Watford did in the 65th minute on Friday night.
I agree that the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool can make it work but your talking about world class players in the key roles. Not many of those about in our league
Interestingly, we play the best exponents of 4-5-1 in the league on Saturday.

[Maguire]

A well-deserved and solid win IMHO.

Re: Kebe though - I am a fan but he had a poor game and unfortunately he's also a coward. Anybody praising his "assist" fro Hunt's goal should really be asking themselves why he didn't attack the ball and score. Half-hearted jump and he ducked into it with his eyes shut. Dreadful. It was a great cross, he had the leap on the defender, should've hit the target.

Dont' remember much else about the game but I was chuffed Armstrong scored - whoever said he's a weak link is an idiot. Totally committed footballer who's been a lot better than I imagined a resevre choice Sheff Utd left-back would be.

[Woodcote Royal]

The more useful stat would be possession in the final third of the pitch. The way we play means that a high proportion of our possession is in the opposition final third. The way many visitors (including Watford) play means that they have very little.
4-5-1 will win the possession stats but it won't win many football matches.

Pardew managed to win lots of games with 4-5-1 in 2003 so it can be done. I have rarely seen a front player influence the strategy of the entire team in the way Forster did that season. The injury at Molineux in the play offs killed us.

Which says everything about what makes Coppell a far better manager than Pardew and why he still has a job and his friend does not.