Oh man - Back From The Game

[One8Seven1]

Overall a terrible performance from Reading. First half we mostly passed along the back four, occasionally seeing Karacan and Williams pick up possession before deciding nothing was on, then giving the ball back to the back four, who then looked to Karacan and Williams, who the decided nothing was on, and passed it back to the back four, who...

We had a couple of chances, and all seemed to come through Drenthe cutting in from the right. He's only one in our first-team who seems capable of causing sides any problems!

Second half Obita was the star man. He has pace, tricky feet, and a good cross on him. Oman may not exactly be a top international side, but they played some good stuff today and would more than match a top half Championship side on that performance, and Obita beat two and three men on more than a couple of occasions, and caused them plenty of problems. On that performance he deserves a place on the bench, and should certainly be ahead of Jobi, and Blackman also if you were to put him out wide.

Having mentioned Blackman, he was his usual hapless self second half. His first touch is shocking, he doesn't seem to do anything right, nor does he appear to boast any strong traits. He doesn't run into space, nor does he create any, or read the game. In possession he looks confident, rather than panics, but is just awful with it. Pogrebnyak did naff all better it has to be said, but at least he has some strengths - if we play to them; whereas Blackman doesn't, currently. Uqwu when he came on did more than both strikers put together. One decent effort on goal that he was unlucky not to have scored, and held the ball up very well. A few nerves, but solid and a monster of a frame.

Aaron Tshibola also did well second half. He did as well as Karacan had to be fair to him. Always wanting the ball, pushed forward as well and some decent passes.

Bringing Tshiboa, Obita and Ugwu on, suddenly we had movement in the middle of the park, something we clearly lacked in the first-half, and every other week. These kids are raw, but Obita most certainly could come in and would slot in well. Tshibola and Ugwu could also do a job if called upon. They might not take us forward yet, but they wouldn't take us backwards! Aquably, Obita may take us forward on the left. His willingness to take his man on and get that ball in the box is something we are missing.

The first-team should be very disappointed, the youngsters should be very proud of their contributions tonight.

[ns1981]

Overall a terrible performance from Reading. First half we mostly passed along the back four, occasionally seeing Karacan and Williams pick up possession before deciding nothing was on, then giving the ball back to the back four, who then looked to Karacan and Williams, who the decided nothing was on, and passed it back to the back four, who...

We had a couple of chances, and all seemed to come through Drenthe cutting in from the right. He's only one in our first-team who seems capable of causing sides any problems!

Second half Obita was the star man. He has pace, tricky feet, and a good cross on him. Oman may not exactly be a top international side, but they played some good stuff today and would more than match a top half Championship side on that performance, and Obita beat two and three men on more than a couple of occasions, and caused them plenty of problems. On that performance he deserves a place on the bench, and should certainly be ahead of Jobi, and Blackman also if you were to put him out wide.

Having mentioned Blackman, he was his usual hapless self second half. His first touch is shocking, he doesn't seem to do anything right, nor does he appear to boast any strong traits. He doesn't run into space, nor does he create any, or read the game. In possession he looks confident, rather than panics, but is just awful with it. Pogrebnyak did naff all better it has to be said, but at least he has some strengths - if we play to them; whereas Blackman doesn't, currently. Uqwu when he came on did more than both strikers put together. One decent effort on goal that he was unlucky not to have scored, and held the ball up very well. A few nerves, but solid and a monster of a frame.

Aaron Tshibola also did well second half. He did as well as Karacan had to be fair to him. Always wanting the ball, pushed forward as well and some decent passes.

Bringing Tshiboa, Obita and Ugwu on, suddenly we had movement in the middle of the park, something we clearly lacked in the first-half, and every other week. These kids are raw, but Obita most certainly could come in and would slot in well. Tshibola and Ugwu could also do a job if called upon. They might not take us forward yet, but they wouldn't take us backwards! Aquably, Obita may take us forward on the left. His willingness to take his man on and get that ball in the box is something we are missing.

The first-team should be very disappointed, the youngsters should be very proud of their contributions tonight.

Well written. What a complete sack of shit, once again. Absolutely disgraceful performance. And all from a club thinking it'll gain promotion?! Ha ha, I don't think so! Far better and more ambitious clubs in the Championship than us.

[ManchesterRoyals]

Do we actually look like scoring?

[winchester_royal]

What a load of reactionary crap. It was a dcent game bewteen two decent sides with decent players.

I like Tshibola a lot, so greed on that.

[ns1981]

Do we actually look like scoring?

Rarely, I'm sad to say.

[kwik-silva]

Apparently we're going to do a Wolves because we lost a friendly game to an international side. Gotta love Facebook, it occasionally makes twitter look sane.

[P!ssed Off]

If this 2-0 loss has brought us a step closer to Ugwu and Obita replacing Blackman and Pogrebynak in the first team then it has been a productive day.

[ns1981]

If this 2-0 loss has brought us a step closer to Ugwu and Obita replacing Blackman and Pogrebynak in the first team then it has been a productive day.

1000% agree with you! Top comment!

[P!ssed Off]

What a load of reactionary crap. It was a dcent game bewteen two decent sides with decent players.

Just out of interest, have you ever been disappointed by a Reading performance?
Didn't go today, but you do seem easily pleased by just about anything.

[One8Seven1]

Do we actually look like scoring?

We had a couple of good efforts, but no. Best chances came from a great run down the left by Obita, beat three then cut in and curled his effort to the top left corner only for the suspect handling keeper to get his mitts to it and palm it away. The other was Ugwu who had a great shot low to the keepers rights saved that was sneaking into the corner. Other we were pretty anonymous in the final third.

Ironically it was when Obita, Tishibola and Ugwu were on that we started to create space and exploit it. You saw none of that in the first half, although credit to Drenthe and Pog who made space but weren't seen.

[ManchesterRoyals]

Do we actually look like scoring?

We had a couple of good efforts, but no. Best chances came from a great run down the left by Obita, beat three then cut in and curled his effort to the top left corner only for the suspect handling keeper to get his mitts to it and palm it away. The other was Ugwu who had a great shot low to the keepers rights saved that was sneaking into the corner. Other we were pretty anonymous in the final third.

Ironically it was when Obita, Tishibola and Ugwu were on that we started to create space and exploit it. You saw none of that in the first half, although credit to Drenthe and Pog who made space but weren't seen.

Thxs

Doesn't look good for the season ahead then.

[winchester_royal]

What a load of reactionary crap. It was a dcent game bewteen two decent sides with decent players.

Just out of interest, have you ever been disappointed by a Reading performance?
Didn't go today, but you do seem easily pleased by just about anything.

Yes, plenty of times, but not by friendly performances.

It was a nice event today, Oman play some very pretty, technical football, and we played some decent stuff too. 2-0 didn't reflect the balance of play but fair play to them, today meant a lot to them and I like the fact we're supporting grass roots football out there.

Anyone getting worked up by what they saw on the pitch today has some serious issues.

P.S. Blackman was no worse than anyone else on the pitch today. Stop being a bunch of cnuts.

[paultheroyal]

Attendance?

[LoyalRoyalFan]

@ actually going to this.

[Scutterbucketz]

It was a friendly. More fool anyone who went.

[SPARTA]

Attendance?

Other than that we had a half full lower west, everything else was closed off... 2500 was what the ticket office expected, it looked more like 1800.

[Optimist]

Taylor - 3: Had two shots to deal with all match, let both in. 1st was a shambLOLes.
Griffin - 7: First time I'd seen him, was impressed. Bright start, fizzled out a little, but a very good prospect.
Pearce - 3: All he did was pass along the back. Wasted a glorious headed chance.
Morrison - 5: 5/10 just for his amazing run in the first half, so high up he got a nosebleed.
Kelly - 4: Rather ineffective.
Karacan - 5: Got stuck in as always.
Guthrie - 3: Anonymous.
Williams - 6: Looked the most likely to create something, but final ball was always the issue.
Drenthe - 5: Does what he always does in terms of creating chances, but final ball...
Le Fondre - 4: A couple of poor finishes, nothing else to report.
Pogrebnyak - 4: NA seems to have taught him to jump, looked interested but nothing to show for it.

Blackman - 1: Penalty at Bolton still the only thing he's done in a Reading shirt.
Akpan - 3: One shot and one great tackle having tracked back a mile.
Obita - 7: MOM. Very unlucky not to score, had the beating of their defenders, lively. Should look to pass more often, though.
Tshibola - 5: First time I'd seen him. Really got involved, another great prospect.
Ugwu - 3: Didn't really get the chance to show what he can do.

[Optimist]

Attendance?

Other than that we had a half full lower west, everything else was closed off... 2500 was what the ticket office expected, it looked more like 1800.

Judging by the photo I must have been sat very close to you.

[royaltxd]

Just got in....

First half wasn't so great as a few have already said. There was a distinct lack of ideas going forward. Drenthe caused an occasional stir but once again on a number of occasions he tried to do a bit too much with the ball and lost possession.

Pogrebnyak's performance was one of a disinterested striker. Body language was awful. Lost the ball most if the time and had no desire to track back. Although he did win a header at some point!

Second half was a lot better with the gradual introduction of the youngsters who showed a bit of desire. Tshibola and Obita were particularly good, the latter I would love to see in the first team to see what he could do at a higher level.

Credit to Oman though, they looked competent on the ball and passed it around very nicely. Most notably when they scored their second in the counter attack. Fair play to them.

[Royal Ginger]

Nice chance to see the youngsters play, friendly atmosphere, not bad for a tenner.

I actually think Tishibola was pretty poor, lost the ball a fair few times and was almost trying too hard to do something amazing.

Griffin was ok, could have been a lot better if he wasn't so scared of losing the ball, lacking confidence.

Obita was excellent again, played as a winger rather than a wide striker (which is what we started with).

The players were fine, the problem was the system. There's a gaping hole behind our striker and in front of our midfield that we never make a challenge in, and nobody moves into looking for a pass. We weren't playing with wingers (until Obita came on) and were expecting too much from our full backs. They were too deep to be effective forward and too high up to be effective defensively.

The rest of the players were ok, Morrison was strong other than his trademark clanger that nearly lead to a goal, Guthrie was the best player on the pitch, Blackman and Pogrebnyak (normally a fan of his) were crap.