by marlowuk »
23 Jan 2016 20:25
I thought it was an entertaining game which, in the end, we should have won. The first 25 minutes were reminiscent of the first 25 against Huddersfield. We looked slow and lethargic and Wednesday played well and were winning virtually all the loose balls. Their goal originated from a disastrous Cooper pass direct to one of their players but they just seemed to walk through our defence to score. It was nothing more than they deserved though as they had already hit the post earlier.
The penalty (soft I thought) provided us a life-line that Vydra spurned. Let's hope that miss hasn't eroded his recently acquired confidence! Thereafter Reading played themselves back into the game and it was a pretty even game by the time HT came. Brian had elected to start with Evans who looked somewhat lost and I think he may have been expecting more movement up-front. He looked comfortable on the ball and he certainly has potential but it wasn't a very auspicious start to his Reading career. It was good to have Obita back and he had a good game.
Kermorgant replaced Piazon, who was pretty ineffective, for the second half and Reading gradually took over the game. When John replaced Evans and Williams moved to a central role it was all Reading! In fact Williams was so influential in that second half that he was my MOTM. HRK also played well particularly when he moved to the right and linked with Gunter. He also played better on the right against Huddersfield although, predictably, cut inside too often.
Cooper redeemed himself by scoring the equaliser from a corner, no less!! Norwood had a quiet game by his standards; Vydra worked hard and was constantly fouled. The defence looked languid and slow when we were crying out for a quick break but I think they will be OK once McShane is back to inject some urgency into them. Gunter played well in attack today but he is guilty of slowing things down in defence. So is Ferdinand but that is his style and he is a pretty solid and reassuring figure at the back.
Fermorgant missed an easy header (from where I was sitting) to win us all 3 points but I thought he did OK. He could be a near perfect partner for Vydra and if the two 'click' it could work very well for us. Some of the extreme criticism of Brian, I think, is premature. He is still tinkering with the line-up and getting to know the players and their strengths and weaknesses. I wasn't a great supporter of his return but I'd back him to get it right soon!