Back From The Game: Liverpool

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Per a previous post, I wonder just how much we miss Wally Downes in that respect.

Since Wally left we've not conceded 6 or 7 in a game !

True but we are talking Prem v Champ tbf. My point was simply that WD was able to organise 4 players into one of the most cohesive back 4's i've seen over many years whilst the current Reading one is one of the most uncohesive ones i've seen.
Sadly, Sonko completely lost his way in the 2nd prem season and was finally dropped 5 months too late. The knee injury probably having lost him a yard of pace and the subsequent loss of form resulting in him hardly playing any football since leaving Reading.
You could say WD should have recognised this much earler than he did (or maybe it was the SC loyalty factor ?) and criticise accordingly but would you really say that he didn't do a good job as a defensive coach whilst here ?

[Mad Dog's Ghost]

Ollie, fair point about the cover Cisse and Jem provided from midfield. What a difference from first 45 against Swansea when Britton had the freedom of Berkshire. Thought that Karacan provided a very good creative outlet too. Lots of positives to take from this ... not least the crucial revenue the replay will give us.

So, Sir John, please, please make sure we keep our good players this month. And a proper right back and centre forward (yeah, I know we've got Ivar's perma injured cousin on his way) coming in would probably give us enough to stay up. The consequences of doing nothing in the next 4 weeks could screw us for a very long time.

Oh Royal Blue, ignore mate. That guy just talks down to everyone.

[loyalroyal4life]

think we need a new cb with mills or play cisse there, ivar is past it and showed that once again today!!!

karacan's performance was one of the best this season, if he can try and imagine playing against gerrard every week then he will walk the championship

[Victor Meldrew]

Having reflected a bit more on last night,regardless of individual performances it was a pleasure to watch a game where we were allowed to play........and I think that is our problem,not being allowed to play.

All the closing down was done by our players and it gave the likes of Gylfi and Jobi the chance to show what they can do when they are allowed to play.
In our league it is different-most teams play as we did last night with midfielders giving the opposition no chance to settle and think of the number of games when afterwards people have complained on here about our midfield being outnumbered and outfought by the opposition.

Rasiak won almost everything in the air because he was coming deep and challenged by Lucas rather than by Carragher or Skirtel-unfortunately that caused Church to be crowded out by the two central defenders and whereas Church runs about a lot he doesn't (yet)seem able to read where the flick-ons go.In league games Rasiak plays further forward and is marked by no-nonsense Championship central defenders and doesn't get such an easy ride.

So come Saturday and the Forest game to follow I think we will see our players with less time to play with the likes of Nolan and Smith(or Butt) for Newcastle and McKenna for Forest snapping away for the full 90 minutes-we just have to match them for commitment.

On the broader issue of the manager,as others have said elsewhere this game surely didn't need any geeing up for the players so whatever motivational and tactical skills he has will be fully tested over the next couple of league games when he and we will be hoping for more commitment than shown just 6 days ago at lowly Plymouth.

After last night I can't wait for Saturday.

[PEARCEY]

Terminal. Normally agree with a lot of what you say, but do you not think the defence was far better than normal today. Bertrand had his best game for a long time and Mills and Ingi seemed to hit it off as a defensive pairing. We probably should have had more shots .. but when you have such limited options up front you can't really expect more. Maybe the extra dosh from a replay might help us in that respect.

Agree with that. Thought Bertrand had a fantastic game both defensively and pushing forward. I really am stunned that so many of our supporters are so critical of the player's performances and/or are scoring them so low for yesterday. We are two years on from when we were a decent Premier League team and able to expect to get something against a team like Liverpool. Yesterday saw a team who are struggling in the lower section of the Championship up against a team 7th in the PL and oozing quality players. In that context the performances and result were brilliant.

I also thought Bertrand had a terrific game and pushed Karacan as my MoTM

[rg6royal]

It may sound silly but you are able to play more in the Premiership. It's just the difference in the final third which shows the difference between levels.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

I'd have Wally Downes back as a defensive coach. He did a great job here.

[Maguire]

Well played Reading - now do it in the league that you're paid you, you bunch of preening dandies.

Some good performances all over the pitch; deserved the draw, nothing more nothing less.

[Royal_Delight]

Team really played better than Liverpool. Could have won it really.

Feds - 6 - Shaky. Made some rash decisions and if Torres was quicker, we would have been fcuked.

Gunnar - 6 - Bad distribution. Kudos on been able to handle Aurelio. Great in the air poor on the ground.

Ingi - 6 - Handled Torres and Ngog but leaves them too much space to shoot. Slow as hell.

Mills - 7 - Defended well. Only bad point was in the 89 min he allowed Torres to have the header.

Bertrand - 8 - Great on the wing and provided ample support for Sigurdsson. Great cross for Rasiak to provide the Church goal.

McAnuff - 8 - Tortured Insua throughout the whole match. Rediscovered his form after Rogers departure

Karacan - 9 - Handled Gerrard well and extremely great defensively.

Cisse - 6.5 - Poor passing great in the air. Enough said.

Siggy - 8 - Gave Darby a spanking and popped in many dangerous crosses. Had a great shot saved from Reina.

Rasiak - 7 - Once again, won every thing in the air. Great cross for the first goal.

Church - 7 - Maybe he was at the right place at the right time for the first goal but ran like hell and did not give up and gave it his all.

Subs

Hamer - 6 - Cannot blame him for the 2 mistakes. Only played 2 games this season.

Howard - 6 - Did nothing to change the game.

Long - 6 - Same as above.
_____________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to the Newcastle game. Reckon we can give it to them after this perfomance

[Royalee]

Played well, Karacan and McAnuff were superb although Liverpool didn't turn up. Draw was a fair result but the FA Cup can often motivate players to perform at a far higher level than usual. The real test will be the next 4 league games.

[facaldaqui]

Maybe I was blinded by the intensity and delirious joy of seeing Reading so competitive, but, unlike some people, I did not come out of that game wanting to criticise. It wasn't till I came on here that I found out that Gunnarsson and Ingimarsson had a bad game. To get a draw against Liverpool is a wonderful result. It's a team game, and the whole team deserves credit, those two included.

[Royal_Delight]

Played well, Karacan and McAnuff were superb although Liverpool didn't turn up. Draw was a fair result but the FA Cup can often motivate players to perform at a far higher level than usual. The real test will be the next 4 league games.

Hey! If Dowie gets the job within the next 4 games then this Draw can go down the drain IMHO

[RoyalBlue]

Maybe I was blinded by the intensity and delirious joy of seeing Reading so competitive, but, unlike some people, I did not come out of that game wanting to criticise. It wasn't till I came on here that I found out that Gunnarsson and Ingimarsson had a bad game. To get a draw against Liverpool is a wonderful result. It's a team game, and the whole team deserves credit, those two included.

My feelings exactly. I'd forgotten what it was like to see real passion and a good performance from the team, to remain excited throughout the game and to come away feeling really proud of 'my team'.

All of the players deserve praise for their performances yesterday. In my view, all played at or close to the best of their abilities (albeit recognising that some may be of limited ability compared to our heros of the recent past) and to criticise any is unfair.

[Maguire]

Maybe I was blinded by the intensity and delirious joy of seeing Reading so competitive, but, unlike some people, I did not come out of that game wanting to criticise. It wasn't till I came on here that I found out that Gunnarsson and Ingimarsson had a bad game. To get a draw against Liverpool is a wonderful result. It's a team game, and the whole team deserves credit, those two included.

Agreed. I haven't read this thread but I wouldn't have a pop at any of our players after that performance.

[rhroyal]

Team really played better than Liverpool. Could have won it really.

Feds - 6 - Shaky. Made some rash decisions and if Torres was quicker, we would have been fcuked.

Gunnar - 6 - Bad distribution. Kudos on been able to handle Aurelio. Great in the air poor on the ground.

Ingi - 6 - Handled Torres and Ngog but leaves them too much space to shoot. Slow as hell.

Mills - 7 - Defended well. Only bad point was in the 89 min he allowed Torres to have the header.

Bertrand - 8 - Great on the wing and provided ample support for Sigurdsson. Great cross for Rasiak to provide the Church goal.

McAnuff - 8 - Tortured Insua throughout the whole match. Rediscovered his form after Rogers departure

Karacan - 9 - Handled Gerrard well and extremely great defensively.

Cisse - 6.5 - Poor passing great in the air. Enough said.

Siggy - 8 - Gave Darby a spanking and popped in many dangerous crosses. Had a great shot saved from Reina.

Rasiak - 7 - Once again, won every thing in the air. Great cross for the first goal.

Church - 7 - Maybe he was at the right place at the right time for the first goal but ran like hell and did not give up and gave it his all.

Subs

Hamer - 6 - Cannot blame him for the 2 mistakes. Only played 2 games this season.

Howard - 6 - Did nothing to change the game.

Long - 6 - Same as above.
_____________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to the Newcastle game. Reckon we can give it to them after this perfomance

I have concerns that we can't replicate this passion filled performance in most league games. However, Newcastle are top of the league. There will be 4000 Geordies or so, the game should sell out. If there was a Championship match where we could replicate that performance, surely it's Newcastle?

[Royal_Delight]

Team really played better than Liverpool. Could have won it really.

Feds - 6 - Shaky. Made some rash decisions and if Torres was quicker, we would have been fcuked.

Gunnar - 6 - Bad distribution. Kudos on been able to handle Aurelio. Great in the air poor on the ground.

Ingi - 6 - Handled Torres and Ngog but leaves them too much space to shoot. Slow as hell.

Mills - 7 - Defended well. Only bad point was in the 89 min he allowed Torres to have the header.

Bertrand - 8 - Great on the wing and provided ample support for Sigurdsson. Great cross for Rasiak to provide the Church goal.

McAnuff - 8 - Tortured Insua throughout the whole match. Rediscovered his form after Rogers departure

Karacan - 9 - Handled Gerrard well and extremely great defensively.

Cisse - 6.5 - Poor passing great in the air. Enough said.

Siggy - 8 - Gave Darby a spanking and popped in many dangerous crosses. Had a great shot saved from Reina.

Rasiak - 7 - Once again, won every thing in the air. Great cross for the first goal.

Church - 7 - Maybe he was at the right place at the right time for the first goal but ran like hell and did not give up and gave it his all.

Subs

Hamer - 6 - Cannot blame him for the 2 mistakes. Only played 2 games this season.

Howard - 6 - Did nothing to change the game.

Long - 6 - Same as above.
_____________________________________________________________________

Looking forward to the Newcastle game. Reckon we can give it to them after this perfomance

I have concerns that we can't replicate this passion filled performance in most league games. However, Newcastle are top of the league. There will be 4000 Geordies or so, the game should sell out. If there was a Championship match where we could replicate that performance, surely it's Newcastle?

I bloody hope so! I wouldn't mind how we win it! What we need now is a motivator, a fella who can not only gain respect from the dressing room, but also can make the players go on no matter how tired or off form they are on the pitch. If they can recreate the playing style they had on Saturday, npt only would we survive relegation, we may just make the play-offs!( has watching too much rogers interviews made me talk like him? )

[rhroyal]

Even if our league form can pick up and guide us to safety, it is too much to ask for any team at this level to play like that every week. If we do for the rest of the season, yes the play-offs are in reach. For an inexperienced squad, I can't see it. However we can play sufficiently well enough to move up the table without hitting yesterday's performance.

[facaldaqui]

What the players should have learned yesterday is that if you close down for ninety minutes you will constantly break up the opponents' game. It's a truism of football that shouldn't, in my opinion, depend on something as volatile as passion.

McDermott said after Plymouth that if you don't win the individual battles, you will lose the match, and I bet he drummed that into the players this week. To get out of relegation danger, the players have to bustle like terriers for the whole game. I don't think the likes of Matejovsky and Kebe have that in them, but the likes of Church, Sigurdsson, Karacan, Tabb, and Gunnarsson (yes, I think he's the man for a relegation fight) do. It's a matter of attitude. Just by letting the man with the ball know you're there, you can hurry him into a weak pass. That happened repeatedly yesterday.

[rhroyal]

I wonder if we may see more fight following Plymouth. Ivar wrote in the programme yesterday that we're in a relegation battle now. Maybe as the reality dawns, we will fight more. I remember saying that in 07/08 mind you.

[Ian Royal]

What the players should have learned yesterday is that if you close down for ninety minutes you will constantly break up the opponents' game. It's a truism of football that shouldn't, in my opinion, depend on something as volatile as passion.

McDermott said after Plymouth that if you don't win the individual battles, you will lose the match, and I bet he drummed that into the players this week. To get out of relegation danger, the players have to bustle like terriers for the whole game. I don't think the likes of Matejovsky and Kebe have that in them, but the likes of Church, Sigurdsson, Karacan, Tabb, and Gunnarsson (yes, I think he's the man for a relegation fight) do. It's a matter of attitude. Just by letting the man with the ball know you're there, you can hurry him into a weak pass. That happened repeatedly yesterday.

Harper was excellent at this. Yes he rarely made a good tackle, but hastling and closing down is IMO more important than good tackling, because as many changes in possession these days are caused by loose passes as by tackles.

There is a time to committ to a challenge and a time to stand off slightly and make the player pick a pass. It's crucial to be on someone before they have the ball under control and are moving forward, but that doesn't mean committing yourself to a challenge where you can easily be turned.