MATCHWATCH : Derby County (h)

[Snowflake Royal]

What disappointed me so much was how easy Derby found it to get the ball out wide deep into our half in the second half. We sat so deep inviting the pressure.

Hal did a lot of closing down in their half, but early on Ashcroft frequently looked horribly exposed. Not sure how much Hoilett helped Rahman deep in our half either.

[Zip]

What disappointed me so much was how easy Derby found it to get the ball out wide deep into our half in the second half. We sat so deep inviting the pressure.

Hal did a lot of closing down in their half, but early on Ashcroft frequently looked horribly exposed. Not sure how much Hoilett helped Rahman deep in our half either.

Hoilett seriously faded out of the game in the final twenty. Swift was very poor. He really spent the entire afternoon jogging around and made no attempt to track back when they countered.

[Snowflake Royal]

What disappointed me so much was how easy Derby found it to get the ball out wide deep into our half in the second half. We sat so deep inviting the pressure.

Hal did a lot of closing down in their half, but early on Ashcroft frequently looked horribly exposed. Not sure how much Hoilett helped Rahman deep in our half either.

Hoilett seriously faded out of the game in the final twenty. Swift was very poor. He really spent the entire afternoon jogging around and made no attempt to track back when they countered.

Swift's always been a bit like that. Soft challenges, watching people run by him...

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Luxury player is Swift. Joao is similar as well, appear to be going through the motions. Fair enough if that's not their style but it sticks out like a sore thumb in some games.

[Hound]

Luxury player is Swift. Joao is similar as well, appear to be going through the motions. Fair enough if that's not their style but it sticks out like a sore thumb in some games.

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Luxury player is Swift. Joao is similar as well, appear to be going through the motions. Fair enough if that's not their style but it sticks out like a sore thumb in some games.

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

[Stranded]

Luxury player is Swift. Joao is similar as well, appear to be going through the motions. Fair enough if that's not their style but it sticks out like a sore thumb in some games.

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

Given that he was pulling in fairly unsustainable stats for a midfielder, it's hardly a surprise he's tailed off from those levels but outside of Derby his performances have still been decent.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

Given that he was pulling in fairly unsustainable stats for a midfielder, it's hardly a surprise he's tailed off from those levels but outside of Derby his performances have still been decent.

I meant just purely performance rather than just a direct contribution to goals & assists. Although obviously both are linked, his general performance levels outside of his goal contributions haven't been to the same level in my opinion, just a bit disappointing for me.

[URZZZZ]

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

Given that he was pulling in fairly unsustainable stats for a midfielder, it's hardly a surprise he's tailed off from those levels but outside of Derby his performances have still been decent.

I meant just purely performance rather than just a direct contribution to goals & assists. Although obviously both are linked, his general performance levels outside of his goal contributions haven't been to the same level in my opinion, just a bit disappointing for me.

Swift’s always been like that, pretty much from the first season he joined where he was our best player the first few months before some really disappointing performances in the second half of the season

Do think overall though that Swift will be unlucky not to get a chance to play in the Prem when you consider some of the players that do get the chance. And fully expecting it to happen in one of the next two windows

[Hound]

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

Given that he was pulling in fairly unsustainable stats for a midfielder, it's hardly a surprise he's tailed off from those levels but outside of Derby his performances have still been decent.

I think his performances have generally dropped. he was playing ok, but even without the stats, he wasn't running games like he was early season. Not a major concern, and as Urzz says, he has always been a bit up and down.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Yeah I'd agree with, his form would usually fluctuate because he'd end up picking up injuries throughout the season, incredibly he hasn't done too bad this season when you consider our injury list.

He does deserve a chance in the PL, he's definitely got the ability to test himself at that level. Would do well for a Bournemouth/Fulham providing both go up next season.

[Snowflake Royal]

Luxury player is Swift. Joao is similar as well, appear to be going through the motions. Fair enough if that's not their style but it sticks out like a sore thumb in some games.

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

Like a lot of flair players Swift can chase a lot and put in a tackle, but I don’t think he does it very consistently, and the deeper he is the less it is.

But when you have his current goal and assist record, that's entirely acceptable.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Don't think thats true. Maybe at times early in his Reading career, but he works as hard as anyone most games, and doesn't shirk a challenge

He was definitely well off against Derby though - for whatever reason didn't seem to fancy it. I genuinely think he wasn't fit/unwell. Not seen him look so lacking in energy for a long time. Though his recent form hasn't been great either.

Probably is a bit harsh in truth and he doesn't shirk a challenge but I don't think he will be top of the statistic charts for distance run, but again, that's probably not really his role or his strengths either.

He's been pretty poor since about November time, maybe the middle of. That doesn't say too much though seen as we only played 2 games in December, but he was decent against Hull. I think it's just overall since mid-November he's been a little disappointing when comparing to what he has been like throughout the season up until now.

Like a lot of flair players Swift can chase a lot and put in a tackle, but I don’t think he does it very consistently, and the deeper he is the less it is.

But when you have his current goal and assist record, that's entirely acceptable.

Oh yeah of course it's swings and roundabouts in way. Would I rather him run around more and exert more energy without the ball potentially at the expense of his creativity and ability to get on the ball or would I rather him as he is now and have 17 goals involvements in 22(?) games this season. It's a no brainer it's the latter.

As I say it's not his strength to do that so I'd rather him play like he does. I'd much rather play in a way that gets the best out of our best players which in truth, by and large, I think we do.

[Hound]

I think I actually rather him a little deeper than the no.10 position he has played recently. Not going to try to quantify why, but just a nagging feeling he is more effective further back

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I think this was something that both Gomes and Bowen were trying to do. Obviously Gomes' 3-5-2 would see him and Ejaria in central areas go from deep and I saw Swift play almost as the deepest midfielder under Bowen, getting on the ball and dictating the game. It's not unthinkable and was arguably successful in parts during their reigns until the former went wrong.

I suppose you can say this system suits him far better now given his contributions and how effective he has been in more advanced areas.

[Snowflake Royal]

I think I actually rather him a little deeper than the no.10 position he has played recently. Not going to try to quantify why, but just a nagging feeling he is more effective further back

Once his goals dry up as they have
there's definitely an argument for him doing the deep play maker role.