BFTG - Huddersfield (H)

[yappy]

Do have to say aswell Jake Taylor didn't really do anything tonight. Really like the lad and you can see he's Reading through & through, but looks a little out of his depth. That said he's out of position, so may well benefit with some game time in his preferred role.

[DaveBanana]

Mixed feelings really - we controlled the game fantastically first half, its the way you'd love to play with a 2 goal cushion; unfortunately, we were two goals behind. Good practice for the future though! Daft mistakes, but... every team makes them, we're playing with a very inexperienced side, so the positive is that they didnt let it shake them. However, I imagine Huddersfield would have thought "let 'em pass it round their half all day, do they know theyre losing?" so... we just lack a killer ball, would make all the difference. Once we suddenly went mental at the end it was fantastic, barely one (well, as far as I counted, literally just one) crappy ball and the rest was like a clockwork attacking exercise and we could have ended up winning.

The crowd briefly turned on them which was a shame to see given the youth aspect, but quickly got behind them again. The difference being in the East Stand instead of the West like last week was incredible, far more positive, vocal, and the such.

All subs were fantastic, and I have to put a bit of positivity on Akpan who, despite being no world-beater, I dont think was nearly as poor as some seem to be saying. Racists. Huddersfield were really well organised first half, but once we started pressuring them toward the last 15, you could see the panic, time wasting and feigned injuries becoming more and more frequent, Cox goal made all the better by the Huddersfield lad rolling on the floor for five minutes, then quickly getting up so they could kick back off.

[Esteban]

Having Federici and Hector in the team has definitely helped us with playing the ball around the back and I think that will benefit us in the long run. Midfield is the obvious cause for concern. Akpan is not adventurous enough for me, always plays the simple pass, whereas we really need someone who isn't scared to make a pass or take a risk. Obita, as alluded above, I don't think is a central midfielder. It's an annoying one as we do have the personnel just unfortunately our first three choice midfielders are all injured! I really think McCleary and Williams in today's team would've made a big difference.

A lot of credit to Aaron Kuhl, thought he was excellent. Although I think it's a little harsh on Cummings, I would start Obita at left back against Forest and start Kuhl. Tanner I also thought was good, although I wouldn't have taken off Blackman as I thought he looked fairly dangerous.

Some pleasing passages of play tonight, just have to be a bit patient for new signings, players returning from injury and the youngsters coming through and hopefully we can have a good season.

Maybe being a little harsh but wasn't too impressed by Coxy tonight. A lot of battle and energy, but seems a bit slow and wasn't creating enough for my liking. Did take his goal well though.

+1 to this. Bunn had Gunter in all sorts of trouble, but had McLeary played, he would have had a lot more defensive work to do. I thought Bunn was quality though, best player on the pitch.

Cox was having an average game until he went out to the left. The last 15 or 20 minutes he did well and he allowed Obita to get forward more. I hope he starts out there on Saturday, with Obita at left back.

Not sure about the love for Hector tonight though. He was ok, but his inexperience showed at times. He and Akpan were both at fault for the first goal. The second goal was a joke, I don't really know what happened without seeing it again, but we just seemed to stop.

[chilipepper91]

Christ, Hector MOTM, really?

Hospital pass to Akpan for the goal, nearly gave away a pen in the first half with a late slide, turned by Wells constantly but especially late on in the corner who went down looking for a pen instead of going for the shot.

If we're in the process of fanboy-ing Academy products, I'll give MOTM to Kuhl, who actually didn't put a foot wrong.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Christ, Hector MOTM, really?

Hospital pass to Akpan for the goal, nearly gave away a pen in the first half with a late slide, turned by Wells constantly but especially late on in the corner who went down looking for a pen instead of going for the shot.

If we're in the process of fanboy-ing Academy products, I'll give MOTM to Kuhl, who actually didn't put a foot wrong.

Totally agree on the error for the goal but thought he was immense tonight. So confident on the ball & not afraid to pick a pass. I really think that kid could be the best CB we've ever had. He was involved in the game a lot more than Pearce.

Lets be honest he isn't going to come up against many players better than Wells this season. Give the boy some credit. Agree on the Kuhl love though. Would have probably got MOTM if he'd done the full 90.

I thought Tanner did ok as well actually.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

My starting 11 for Forest:

Fed

Gunter Hector Pearce Cummings

Blackman Kuhl Akpan Obita

Cox

Pog

Would stick Mackie in for Obita after Forest & push Obita back to LB.

[winchester_royal]

First half we were awful. Utterly woeful. 73% but with only 1 shot on goal tells it's own story. No adventure in midfield whatsoever, so nobody bothered to put their foot on the ball and look for the forward pass except for Hector. We were poor. Cummings in particular at left back kept slowing the game down to come back in on his right. He was okay defensively tbf, but his limitations going forward mean he shouldn't play there again this season unless it's an emergency. But tbf to Adkins he acknowledged we weren't moving the ball into spaces quick enough and made the necessary changes. Kuhl was excellent, especially when you consider it was his first competitive game of football. And with Obita out on the left bringing it forward we looked like a proper football team. We were the better team second half by quite a considerable distance, but damage was done and Huddersfield could play the way they chose to in the second 45. Learn your lessons Nigel, Kuhl (or Norwood if signed in time) must play on Saturday.

Thought Mackie looked very useful in his little cameo, likewise Tanner.

Gunter was continually rinsed by Bunn, and Taylor was anonymous yet again. Akpan was decent in the second half, but shocking in the first.

The boo boys can take a running jump off of a very high bridge.

[JordCot]

Feds - 5 very few actual saves to make, couldn't do much with the 1st but from where I was the 2nd should never have got past him
Gunter- 5 Got forward well but final product just lacking, turn inside out by their winger a couple times but did pretty well on other occasions
Big Hec - 7 At fault for the 1st goal, recovered well though and had a decent game. Wells sussed him out after half time and just rolled him every time he dived
Pearcy - 7 As someone with little pace his reading of the game has to be very good and I thought it was, 2nd half especially judged his tackled and swept up long balls well
Cummings - 5 solid defensively but contributed nothing in attack and barely passed forward
Obita - 6 Not a CM for me, great range of passing but just doesn't fit there. Poor positionally. You can see what we have been missing when he went to LB
Akpan - 6 Better than Saturday, missed the volley but that's not what he is in the team for, broke up play pretty well and most of the time found his man with passes. Looked much more comfortable when Kuhl came on as he no longer played as the deeper of the two. Should have had a pen
Blackman - 7 the only payer in the starting XI willing to run at the defence, didn't quite come off all the time and still missing final ball or shot but looks dangerous
Cox - 7 fairly anonymous in behind the striker but looked decent on the left. good goal
Taylor - 5 Consistently ignored when he drifted into space which frustrated me all day as he is decent on the ball. Took his man on and beat him once and should do this more.
Pog - 7 Standard Pog performance. held the ball up well, neat lay-offs, no chances, no goals

Subs:
Kuhl - 7 - why are buying a young, potentially inconsistent playmaking CM when we have one at the club?? bossed the game and will surely have a big role to play this season
Tanner - 6 took his man on every time and with a better touch in the box might have scored.
Mackie - 5 lots of energy and talkative, did very little when moved up front

Weird game, on another day I think we could have won comfortably. Gave Huddersfield a goal and they grew in confidence and got second so fair play to them.

I like Cummings, so far this season he has done nothing wrong and a fair bit right but he is not a LB, its not his fault he is right footed but it just doesn't work with him and Taylor down that wing. I think Taylor makes some excellent little runs and drifts into space between the lines but he is never passed to when there. I think with Obita overlapping Taylor could thrive in the that LW spot.

Ref was shit. For both sides

Even though we lost I can't help but think with Karacan, Guth, Williams and McCleary back in that squad we could have a very strong team

[urz13]

Akpan didn't need to shield it. He stood still waiting for it, and he should've been aware if Butterfield and moved towards the ball and played it back to Federici or Hector first time. It's the fact that he takes so long to control a ball and isn't aware of what's around him that was what caused it. Hector partially at fault, but mainly Akpan.

[handbags_harris]

From the whole second half performance I thought we deserved at least a draw, but we never seemed to get the rub of the green with ref. He seemed to have different standards for ref kicks we conceded or got.

Without going into too much detail on the game or Huddersfield, no more blatant inconsistent decision making than to not award a free kick to Gunter for the foul (it was a foul) in the buildup to their second, then award a free kick to Pog for exactly the same thing less than a minute later. Ultimately Stuart Attwell had no bearing on the result, but that's not to say he's not a oxf*rd piss poor referee. The worst in the league. Some basic, basic stuff missed in every game.

urz13, Akpan is far from standing still you moron, he's moving towards the ball to show himself. Hector should never bave played the ball to him. Hector's the main culprit for that first.

[yappy]

Personally I think the 1st goal is Hector's fault, however I do accept a better player may have sensed the danger and not caught like Akpan did.

[sandman]

Akpan didn't need to shield it. He stood still waiting for it, and he should've been aware if Butterfield and moved towards the ball and played it back to Federici or Hector first time. It's the fact that he takes so long to control a ball and isn't aware of what's around him that was what caused it. Hector partially at fault, but mainly Akpan.

No Hector was at fault. It was his fault! I hope nobody behind the scenes are making excuses for the lad because otherwise he won't learn.

[Mr.Swainey]

The quicker Federici and Akpan are dropped, the better.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

The quicker Federici and Akpan are dropped, the better.

I'd rather see McCarthy in but don't agree on Akpan. Given what is available he has to start in CM. More effective than Taylor or Obita being in there. Him & Kuhl in the middle did quite well 2nd half I thought.

It's tempo that seems to be the main issue for me. We are so much better when we up the tempo.... far too lacklustre & slow 1st half.

[Maguire]

No way was Akpan not partly at fault for the first, No idea who was around him, hesitant, should've just bumped the ball back first time. Still a poor decision from Hector to pass to Akpan at all, let alone when under pressure.

Overall the first half was dire. Second half we had a go as Huddersfield were content to play on the break but there's not a lot of quality in that Reading side.

Blackman unlucky to be subbed.
Taylor totally anonymous again, drop him.
Cox was poor, don't let the goal gloss over that.
Gunter rinsed by Bunn all night.

Last word reserved for Kuhl. Did very well and clearly knows how to play football. I would worry starting him due to his lack of physicality but it would mean getting Obita over on the left to give balance.

[blueroyals]

Federici - 6, felt he could have done a little better for both goals, not his fault though ultimately. Made poor distribution decisions in lumping it to Pog countless times (see below)
Gunter - 5.5, embarassed by Bunn (who was absolutely quality, although a bit of a c*nt)
Hector - 7, despite the mistake he was the only player for the majority of the game who wasn't afraid to pick up the ball, run it forward, head up and pick out a forward pass
Pearce - 7, solid game tbf
Cummings - 6.5, quiet but out of position

Blackman - 6, for those slating Taylor take a look at Blackman. No goals to show so far for all those skillz and "attacking threats"
Akpan - 5, same story as previous games, unaware of most things, passenger, poor in possession, poor passing, passing into peoples chests from 5 yards away under no pressure (wtf?)
Obita - 6, quiet but what can you expect being played out of position with Akpan next to him?
Taylor - 6.5, intelligent movement (nobody picked him out tho) got in behind a fair number of times

Cox - 7, good finish
Pog - 6, feel for him. Not his fault for the performance today. If you just hit 60 yard balls at his face for 90 minutes there isn't going to be a lot he can do.

Ref - 0, extremely poor for both teams. Didn't punish diving, didn't punish timewasting, didn't punish poor tackles, missed a pen, something happened at the end with their sub where he refused the sub to come on, then changed his mind, then stood there for 10 minutes whilst nothing happened before he realised nobody was going off. Another time where he booked their goalkeeper for timewasting, walked 30 yards to give the card, walked back, looked at his watch, made the previous substitution fcuk up and booked our player, utter c*nt

Way too much long ball. Pog is an all to easy target when you're not playing well 'i'll just lump it to Pog'. his face, his chest, his legs, over his head, for large parts of the game. Why Adkins doesn't mitigate this by taking him off I don't know. This was one thing I hoped he sorted out for this season. When we play sh*t it's usually because we're against a physical team, the solution isn't to lump the ball for 90 minutes. Why leave Pog on to facilitate that?

Numerous times Feds kicked long, 9/10 Pog wouldn't win it and we'd given possession away, but even if he did win it we'd pass the ball back to the defenders so we're in exactly the same position as if Fed's had just thrown it short. FFS

[paultheroyal]

Akpan didn't need to shield it. He stood still waiting for it, and he should've been aware if Butterfield and moved towards the ball and played it back to Federici or Hector first time. It's the fact that he takes so long to control a ball and isn't aware of what's around him that was what caused it. Hector partially at fault, but mainly Akpan.

You are wrong. HTH.

[Mr.Swainey]

Federici - 6, felt he could have done a little better for both goals, not his fault though ultimately. Made poor distribution decisions in lumping it to Pog countless times (see below)

Federici's time should have ended when McDermott left, culpable for the second goal, far too easy to let that one go in.

[paultheroyal]

No way was Akpan not partly at fault for the first, No idea who was around him, hesitant, should've just bumped the ball back first time. Still a poor decision from Hector to pass to Akpan at all, let alone when under pressure.

Overall the first half was dire. Second half we had a go as Huddersfield were content to play on the break but there's not a lot of quality in that Reading side.

Blackman unlucky to be subbed.
Taylor totally anonymous again, drop him.
Cox was poor, don't let the goal gloss over that.
Gunter rinsed by Bunn all night.

Last word reserved for Kuhl. Did very well and clearly knows how to play football. I would worry starting him due to his lack of physicality but it would mean getting Obita over on the left to give balance.

[RG7Fan]

Christ, Hector MOTM, really?

Hospital pass to Akpan for the goal, nearly gave away a pen in the first half with a late slide, turned by Wells constantly but especially late on in the corner who went down looking for a pen instead of going for the shot.

If we're in the process of fanboy-ing Academy products, I'll give MOTM to Kuhl, who actually didn't put a foot wrong.

Kuhl should get MOTM for that lovely 1-2 / triangle down the right and the beautiful chip in that sadly couldn't be converted by Cox. Quality. Remember he is only 18 years old.