by Top Flight »
12 Sep 2016 09:59
I have to say that i am very impressed with the work that Jaap Stam is doing at the moment. Considering the very short time that he has been in charge you could say that he has already moved mountains and fundamentally changed the footballing ethos at Reading FC.
The progress made up to this point is fantastic. There is no doubt that you need the right personnel to play the way that Stam wants us to play and it will take several transfer windows to get the blend right.
You really do need the right type of players with a certain skill set to make this style of football work. You just have to see Pep Guardiola's attention to detail at Man City. A good keeper in Hart is getting moved out because it's more important to have a keeper than can play a bit as well.
For me, John Swift is our Lionel Messi at the moment. He is the one that can bind things together and pull the strings. In the first half against Ipswich when the tractor boys sat back we were able to move in to forward areas without Swifty. But when Mick changed tact in the second half and pressed us all over the pitch, that is when you need a Messi who can play under pressure and keep the ball moving. Whether by dribbling past someone or picking out great passes to move defense into attack. Swift did that for us when he came on against Ipswich and we improved at that stage of the game when Ipswich were pressing us. It also helped when Obita came on for Blackett. Those changes made the difference.
We want teams to press us high up the pitch and try and close us down as Ipswich did in the second half. That is the benefit of the system to draw your opponent out of their half and open the space right across the pitch. That gives us the room to attack and take apart the opposition. But you need players with the skills, the ability on the ball, the dribbling and the passing to really make it work well.
Swift was a great signing and exactly the right player we need for this style of play. We have to give Stam the time and support to make it work. Early signs are great and very encouraging. As long as he can keep us out of the bottom 3, he needs the time to do his work, we will get better and better. We have to support this man. He is a top coach. Great manager.
Stam is certainly punching above my expectations. I was expecting a massive struggle this season and I will be delighted with any manager that can keep us in the championship going in to next season. Stam is doing the job as far as I can see and the style of football is going to keep improving. These are very exciting times for Reading Football Club and for the players that we have. What a great place to play your football. A team that plays like Barcelona and is managed by a legend in world football. I wouldn't want to play my football any where else.
Big mistake from Norwood and Tish to leave. Great decisions by Blackett, Moore, Swift, Beerens etc. to join the Stam revolution. If I were a player there is no other club in the championship that I would rather be at right now.
