by ladida_gunner_graham »
20 Apr 2015 11:30
Apologies for trespassing on Snowball's turf, this is going to be a somewhat anal post, but necessary to clear up HRK's performance. No one is even suggesting the first half was good for him, so I ignored that. As others have claimed the second half was "great" or "excellent" I've looked at that as objectively as possible using the full game, not highlights. I assessed every touch he had and gave them a '+1' for a positive contribution, a '0' for something neutral/not significant and a '-1' when detrimental to Reading. I saw no off the ball play that can be included - some basic closing down only. So, to summarise:-
- 1 significant pass (to Pog for set up for goal)
- 2 meaningful passes (played Obita in down left to cross & plays ball to Pog's feet on edge of box)
- 5 successful but low impact passes
- 3 crosses, 1 out for goal kick, two blocked at source (albeit one could have been given handball, but still too close to defender)
- 3 fouls conceded, 1 in problem area
- conceded possession 9 times
- two "runs", both times into space, shepherded, but does not beat anyone (in fact, did not beat a single player all half)
Every one of his positive contributions happened in a 7 minute spell, between the 53rd and 60th minute. There was nothing that I'd count as positive outside those times. Minute in red.
Score Action
0 50 Foul on Ozil (not threatening position)
0 52 5 yard unchallenged, sideways pass to Williams
-1 52 Crossed behind goal (Murphy described it as "very poor")
0 53 Through ball to Mackie (who was 2 yards offside)
0 53 Receives ball, tackled, Reading throw
+1 53 Rec. ball, slides pass to Pog (GOAL)
+1 56 Rec. ball, 20 yard run into space, lays off to Mackie
+1 56 Plays in Obita down line to cross
0 & +1 57 Rec. ball, mis-controls, foot up to win back the ball, fouls Mertesacker (leading to him going off - got to be a +1)
+1 60 1-2 with Chalobah, 30 yard run into space, plays ball to Pog on edge of box
-1 63 Receives ball, loses possession
0 64 Under challenge, heads ball out of play,
-1 64 Receives ball, tried to cross twice, hits player in front of him, loses possession
-1 69 Rec. ball, mis-controls, tries to win it back, concedes foul
-1 71 Foul on Ramsey - dangerous position, Arsenal nearly score
-1 74 Rec. ball from throw, fails to control, concedes possession
0 77 Rec. ball, loses possession but was probably fouled, not given
-1 79 Rec. ball, plays long ball down field under no pressure, no Reading player within 20 yards
-1 85 Rec. ball, plays pass straight out of play, 10 yards from any Reading player, Arsenal throw
So, blinkers off everyone.....is this the summary of an excellent half? Nothing of consequence outside a 7 minute spell?