by RoyalBlue »
28 Feb 2018 19:09
As was the case with most of our players last night JvDB had a poor game. However, some of the criticism of him is OTT and, I believe, based on the fact that he is Dutch and therefore Stam's friend, meaning he gets played when he shouldn't.
People have asked whether our players care about the result and he clearly does. He (stupidly) risked getting sent off by trying to 'sort out' Billy Sharp on every possible occasion after he scored their third in controversial circumstances. He wouldn't do that if he didn't care about getting beaten.
Yes, he is a yellow card waiting to happen, but often this is because he is desperately trying to retrieve a bad situation, many of which are not of his direct making.
I have had quite a few non Reading supporting friends (poor barstewards!) watch games this season and they have all commented on what a tidy player he is. Most of the time he has a great first touch, can keep the ball and play some lovely passes of all ranges. We also know he can fire in a good shot (not many moaning about him that day against Barnsley!).