MATCHWATCH : Nottingham Forest (a) sponsored by things can only get better

[Hound]

fair summary that ^^

[Sutekh]

As I said in the BFTG thread, a lot of our (self created) problems in the 2nd half stemmed from Aluko drifting further and further in field. In the 1st half him, Barrow, Gunter and Richards provided plenty of width. This pegged Forest back and allowed us to control the game tempo. Barrow didn’t need to track back as much because we were pushing forward on a regular basis. 2nd half, Aluko drifts inside and constantly gives the ball away in dangerous areas. Gunter does repeated impressions of a dying swan. Barrow floats around on the wing amd doesn’t help Richards. Martin becomes more and more isolated and his flick ons go nowhere. Their goal had been coming for 40 mins. I was happy with a point because it could have been 0. However on balance 1-1 was a fair result over the course of the whole game.

Aluko, pound for pound, must rank as one of the worst signings ever made by Reading. Don't get me wrong he has talent, he can beat players and I shall support him every time he's on the pitch but overall his end product is at best inconsistent and there is this continual tendency to always drift and/or cut inside making what he does do very predictable to the opposition and, as expressed above, depriving the side of width and an easier outlet.

Said at the time I couldn't believe Reading would waste a not inconsiderable sum on Aluko when a similar sum in the summer might have tempted Bristol City to sell Bobby Reid. But what do I know, I was only going by what I saw from both players over the course of last season.

[Hound]

As I said in the BFTG thread, a lot of our (self created) problems in the 2nd half stemmed from Aluko drifting further and further in field. In the 1st half him, Barrow, Gunter and Richards provided plenty of width. This pegged Forest back and allowed us to control the game tempo. Barrow didn’t need to track back as much because we were pushing forward on a regular basis. 2nd half, Aluko drifts inside and constantly gives the ball away in dangerous areas. Gunter does repeated impressions of a dying swan. Barrow floats around on the wing amd doesn’t help Richards. Martin becomes more and more isolated and his flick ons go nowhere. Their goal had been coming for 40 mins. I was happy with a point because it could have been 0. However on balance 1-1 was a fair result over the course of the whole game.

Aluko, pound for pound, must rank as one of the worst signings ever made by Reading. Don't get me wrong he has talent, he can beat players and I shall support him every time he's on the pitch but overall his end product is at best inconsistent and there is this continual tendency to always drift and/or cut inside making what he does do very predictable to the opposition and, as expressed above, depriving the side of width and an easier outlet.

Said at the time I couldn't believe Reading would waste a not inconsiderable sum on Aluko when a similar sum in the summer might have tempted Bristol City to sell Bobby Reid. But what do I know, I was only going by what I saw from both players over the course of last season.

why would we have wanted to spend that sort of money on Bobby Reid? According to wikipedia, so possibly complete bollocks, but he had scored about 10 career goals before this season.

He has played well this year, but he'd have been useless in our side I suspect

[Denver Royal]

As I said in the BFTG thread, a lot of our (self created) problems in the 2nd half stemmed from Aluko drifting further and further in field. In the 1st half him, Barrow, Gunter and Richards provided plenty of width. This pegged Forest back and allowed us to control the game tempo. Barrow didn’t need to track back as much because we were pushing forward on a regular basis. 2nd half, Aluko drifts inside and constantly gives the ball away in dangerous areas. Gunter does repeated impressions of a dying swan. Barrow floats around on the wing amd doesn’t help Richards. Martin becomes more and more isolated and his flick ons go nowhere. Their goal had been coming for 40 mins. I was happy with a point because it could have been 0. However on balance 1-1 was a fair result over the course of the whole game.

Aluko, pound for pound, must rank as one of the worst signings ever made by Reading.

Said at the time I couldn't believe Reading would waste a not inconsiderable sum on Aluko when a similar sum in the summer might have tempted Bristol City to sell Bobby Reid.

I have no idea what Bristol may or may not have been tempted by, or even whether we'd have wanted Reid. (He stayed at Bristol, so maybe not too many other clubs wanted him badly enough at the time, either). Anyway, what's done is done last Summer, and we move on.

Aluko isn't even thru his first season here yet. The results haven't been encouraging so far, but with a full off-season here, its possible he could improve next season. Sometimes after a move it can take a player a season or so. It happens.

[Longhorn1970]

As I said in the BFTG thread, a lot of our (self created) problems in the 2nd half stemmed from Aluko drifting further and further in field. In the 1st half him, Barrow, Gunter and Richards provided plenty of width. This pegged Forest back and allowed us to control the game tempo. Barrow didn’t need to track back as much because we were pushing forward on a regular basis. 2nd half, Aluko drifts inside and constantly gives the ball away in dangerous areas. Gunter does repeated impressions of a dying swan. Barrow floats around on the wing amd doesn’t help Richards. Martin becomes more and more isolated and his flick ons go nowhere. Their goal had been coming for 40 mins. I was happy with a point because it could have been 0. However on balance 1-1 was a fair result over the course of the whole game.

Aluko, pound for pound, must rank as one of the worst signings ever made by Reading. Don't get me wrong he has talent, he can beat players and I shall support him every time he's on the pitch but overall his end product is at best inconsistent and there is this continual tendency to always drift and/or cut inside making what he does do very predictable to the opposition and, as expressed above, depriving the side of width and an easier outlet.

Said at the time I couldn't believe Reading would waste a not inconsiderable sum on Aluko when a similar sum in the summer might have tempted Bristol City to sell Bobby Reid. But what do I know, I was only going by what I saw from both players over the course of last season.

How much did Aluko cost ? Agree he looks out of his depth at this level ..

[Hound]

which is particularly odd considering he has spent the last 6 years of his career either in the Champ or the Prem league

[Longhorn1970]

which is particularly odd considering he has spent the last 6 years of his career either in the Champ or the Prem league

peaked early then ..

[Kitsondinho]

As I said in the BFTG thread, a lot of our (self created) problems in the 2nd half stemmed from Aluko drifting further and further in field. In the 1st half him, Barrow, Gunter and Richards provided plenty of width. This pegged Forest back and allowed us to control the game tempo. Barrow didn’t need to track back as much because we were pushing forward on a regular basis. 2nd half, Aluko drifts inside and constantly gives the ball away in dangerous areas. Gunter does repeated impressions of a dying swan. Barrow floats around on the wing amd doesn’t help Richards. Martin becomes more and more isolated and his flick ons go nowhere. Their goal had been coming for 40 mins. I was happy with a point because it could have been 0. However on balance 1-1 was a fair result over the course of the whole game.

Aluko, pound for pound, must rank as one of the worst signings ever made by Reading. Don't get me wrong he has talent, he can beat players and I shall support him every time he's on the pitch but overall his end product is at best inconsistent and there is this continual tendency to always drift and/or cut inside making what he does do very predictable to the opposition and, as expressed above, depriving the side of width and an easier outlet.

Said at the time I couldn't believe Reading would waste a not inconsiderable sum on Aluko when a similar sum in the summer might have tempted Bristol City to sell Bobby Reid. But what do I know, I was only going by what I saw from both players over the course of last season.

How much did Aluko cost ? Agree he looks out of his depth at this level ..

Out of position is very different to out of his depth......1st half last night he was decent. Certainly didn’t look a waste of money at that point. Obviously that was only 45 mins of one game, I know that.....however it showed when used properly he can be an asset to the team. He just isn’t a CM. Either Stam needs to tell him to stop drifting inside or stop picking him as a CM, as we’ll never know if it is Aluko or Stam making that decision.

[Denver Royal]

Out of position is very different to out of his depth......1st half last night he was decent. Certainly didn’t look a waste of money at that point. Obviously that was only 45 mins of one game, I know that.....however it showed when used properly he can be an asset to the team. He just isn’t a CM. Either Stam needs to tell him to stop drifting inside or stop picking him as a CM, as we’ll never know if it is Aluko or Stam making that decision.

Yeah. good points as usual, Kitson. Aluko only signed for us on Aug 30, which is very late. We'd already played 6 games by then. It also meant he had missed all the off-season with us, all the pre-season training, games, tours, etc. I think some underestimate the importance of all that. He didn't play his first game for us til Sep.

Footy has changed in this respect, imo. Years ago, you could sign a player on a Friday, he'd start the game the next day, and he'd score for you on that Sat. Of course, there are exceptions to everything, but footy is evolving from that, I think.

If you look at some of the bigger clubs like Arsenal, Spurs, etc, if they sign a player very late in the summer window, it can sometimes happen where that first season for the player is almost a write off. They don't really sweat it, they take a longer term view, and they target the following season.

We're obviously not at that level as a club, but Aluko signed a 4 year deal here, so I'm trying to be patient. He's showing some signs in recent weeks. We might see a different player next season.

[Zip]

As I said in the BFTG thread, a lot of our (self created) problems in the 2nd half stemmed from Aluko drifting further and further in field. In the 1st half him, Barrow, Gunter and Richards provided plenty of width. This pegged Forest back and allowed us to control the game tempo. Barrow didn’t need to track back as much because we were pushing forward on a regular basis. 2nd half, Aluko drifts inside and constantly gives the ball away in dangerous areas. Gunter does repeated impressions of a dying swan. Barrow floats around on the wing amd doesn’t help Richards. Martin becomes more and more isolated and his flick ons go nowhere. Their goal had been coming for 40 mins. I was happy with a point because it could have been 0. However on balance 1-1 was a fair result over the course of the whole game.

Yep good post. I don’t understand why Aluko keeps drifting into the middle. It never works. Is this at Stam’s instruction or of his own doing? When we have played well this season Barrow and Aluko have played wide. Once Aluko goes inside we lose shape. It’s been happening throughout the season.

[Hound]

It’s a weird one - everyone sees him do it, nobody likes him doing it and it ruins the whole shape of the team quite clearly, and yet it continues to happen

[Kitsondinho]

It’s a weird one - everyone sees him do it, nobody likes him doing it and it ruins the whole shape of the team quite clearly, and yet it continues to happen

Indeed. That is why I’d love to know if Stam is encouraging it or if Aluko wants to play there more himself. I was at the FA Cup Final in 2014, when he was playing for Hull. He came on as a support striker and terrorised the Arsenal defence (including nearly making it 3-3 very late on). So if he is going to play in the middle, it needs to be much further forward....rather than doing Cruyff turns on the edge of his own box and losing the ball (as happened last night!)

[TiagoIlori]

Easy to point fingers at players, but has anyone really played that well this season? Only Barrow has consistently played well

[AthleticoSpizz]

Tin hats on

Mannone?

Gunter?

(not) Moore?


admittedly, P.O.T.S is going to be a real bollock scratcher this season

[facaldaqui]

Aluko, pound for pound, must rank as one of the worst signings ever made by Reading. Don't get me wrong he has talent, he can beat players and I shall support him every time he's on the pitch but overall his end product is at best inconsistent and there is this continual tendency to always drift and/or cut inside making what he does do very predictable to the opposition and, as expressed above, depriving the side of width and an easier outlet.

Said at the time I couldn't believe Reading would waste a not inconsiderable sum on Aluko when a similar sum in the summer might have tempted Bristol City to sell Bobby Reid. But what do I know, I was only going by what I saw from both players over the course of last season.

How much did Aluko cost ? Agree he looks out of his depth at this level ..

Out of position is very different to out of his depth......1st half last night he was decent. Certainly didn’t look a waste of money at that point. Obviously that was only 45 mins of one game, I know that.....however it showed when used properly he can be an asset to the team. He just isn’t a CM. Either Stam needs to tell him to stop drifting inside or stop picking him as a CM, as we’ll never know if it is Aluko or Stam making that decision.

I agree. Aluko was good last night.

[TiagoIlori]

Tin hats on

Mannone?

Gunter?

(not) Moore?


admittedly, P.O.T.S is going to be a real bollock scratcher this season

Mannone hasn’t been great, I keep seeing people say “Mannone should have done better” after we concede, not that he’s been terrible, but average
Gunter has been a huge improvement and I will tolerate that suggestion, but he is ultimately part of that shambolic defence
Moore has been very underwhelming this season, especially as of late. I don’t think he’s been good

[facaldaqui]

I know how you feel about Gunter, and I've defended him in the past, but not tonite. With 5 mins left in a game like that, you keep everything in front of you, and you make them beat you. 1-0 up, away, you know your team has conceded a lot of late goals. He's a veteran pro, yet it was a school boy error. He was nervy in 2nd half, prolly because he let some of their fans and players get in his head and he lost his focus. (And from what I saw, he foolishly enticed some of that by diving, which isn't really his forte).

I thought Gunter started well but he then had an appalling clash of heads quite close to where we were, and it looked to me as if he never fully recovered.

[AthleticoSpizz]

(Tiago)

a lot of our “shambolic defence” has been through the middle tbf to Guntz

[Hound]

Gunter’s has a decent season. Barrow. Moore’s been ok

That’s be my 3 at the moment with Barrow #1

[TiagoIlori]

(Tiago)

a lot of our “shambolic defence” has been through the middle tbf to Guntz

Good point