by winchester_royal »
18 Jan 2014 20:05
P!ssed Off MmmMonsterMunch Just got back after some celebratory bevvies.
All you Adkins haters...........suck my hairy balls
Although Bolton were fcuking awful
All those that doubted that Adkins could get Reading playing entertaining possession based, passing football look silly now don't they?
Oh wait...
Possession: 48%
Pass Success: 65%
No. of short passes: Less than the team we beat
7-1.
The last 2 games have been great victories for Reading, and great victories for Adkins.
But victories for all those that championed Reading's transition to a possession based, slow temp, tippy-tappy team? I don't think so.
Yeah, absolute LOL at all those that said Reading's tactics for the first 24 games of the season were boring and ineffective.
Fair play to Adkins for realising that his preferred style of play did not suit the players at his disposal. But I'm not sure how you can gloat at the people who have been saying exactly this all season.
Tbh, I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that Adkins wanted us to play 'slow temp, tippy-tappy football'. It's not what Southampton played under him, it's not what Scunny played under him, and it's not what we've played in our best performances under NA. Just because he wants the defenders to be comfortable with the ball, and for us to have a balance to our play, that doesn't make him a Guardiola wannabe. He's often criticised the players this season for not playing the forward ball quickly enough and letting the opportunities pass. There isn't always the option of playing the forward ball quickly and accurately, so some times it is necessary to work it around the back to wait for another opening. It's that transition phase we haven't got right this season, but that doesn't mean the intention isn't there. It just requires time and patience.
Performances like today don't come out of nowhere. It's what we've been working towards for a while, it's not like Adkins thought to himself a couple of weeks ago 'y'know what, fcuk this passing shit'.. He doesn't advocate possession for possession's sake, he just believes it's better to retain the ball than aimlessly lump it long if a forward ball isn't on. Obviously we had plenty of options that were available in the final third today, so we played the forward ball more often. And the fact that we've produced some insipid displays this season doesn't change the fact that this is how NA wants us to play.
It's what the pro-Adkins brigade have been saying for a while. Give it time and we will find that balance more often.