BFTG - Cardiff

[John Madejski's Wallet]

Well that was fun

3 at the back gave us a great shape. Kept it tight for the first 20, Yiadom (and especially) Richards gave us proper width, oh the joy of two proper strikers up front

Ejaria and Richards were my MOTM, but it's hard to find anyone who didn't do a great job. Gomez only weak point early on, but got better as the game progressed.

Shame for Meite with the pen and LOL at Puscas for the hat trick

Oh and about out to Raphael who looks a rock!

[Scutterbucketz]

Well that was fun

3 at the back gave us a great shape. Kept it tight for the first 20, Yiadom (and especially) Richards gave us proper width, oh the joy of two proper strikers up front

Ejaria and Richards were my MOTM, but it's hard to find anyone who didn't do a great job. Gomez only weak point early on, but got better as the game progressed.

Shame for Meite with the pen and LOL at Puscas for the hat trick

Oh and about out to Raphael who looks a rock!

Raphael does look great.

[URZZZZ]

Simply outstanding from minute 1

Rafael 9 - looks composed on the ball and made a great save at 2 down

Yiadom 8 - won his dual and was an engine on the pitch. Needed to stay wider at times but very good
Miazga 8 - rock solid
Morrison 9 - a promotion team sort of signing, so impressed
Moore 8 - looks a lot better with the ball, threw himself at everything
Richards 9 - bullied Mendez Laing (made me shut up) and offered natural width. Very well done

Pele 8 - unsung hero. Often the hallmark of a good CDM is you don’t notice him that much. Moved the ball effectively
Swift 9 - looks so much better
Ejaria 9 - Don’t rate him as much as the majority on here but he was superb today

Joao 8 - very good holdup play. Tired out but I don’t like him throwing himself to the floor
Puscas 9 - very clever movement. Shocker of a miss but I think we’ll let him off

Subs did well, Meite is a useful player to have off the bench and Boye looks lively. Meite needs to grow up though, he was happy when it was all about him, disappointed to see him storm off the pitch

For me, the biggest difference is the attitude of the players. Players like Bacuna, Barrow are exactly what’s gone wrong these last two seasons. Bacuna is an absolute disgrace of a player, and seeing genuine pros like Morrison play today really highlights the difference

Cardiff - it’s easy to say they were awful which made us look good but that’s harsh on us. Granted they weren’t great but that was more down to our strengths IMO of nullifying their long ball tactics. Bacuna and Vaulks were truly dreadful for them, Mendez Laing was bullied and as for their sub Nelson, he may well be the worst Championship player I’ve ever seen. Morrison was probably their standout

Ref and linesman were poor, especially the one on the North side. Missed so many blatant fouls on Joao

In a way, this feels similar to Ipswich in 2015 with the 5-1 win. It was our first proper game after the window, and we battered them. Let’s hope this season is a different outcome!

[Hound]

As good as I’ve seen us for a very long time. All over Cardiff who resorted to constant fouling and throwing long high balls into the box

Gomes got it just right. I know there was understandable noise about going 3-5-2 and dropping Rino but it was spot on. Pele, Ejaria and Swift absolutely ran the show, and Cardiff were non existent up front

Rafael 8: looked very solid, didn’t put a foot wrong. Couple of nice saves
Yiadom 8: Excellent. Got forward and defended well
Richards 8: As above. No reason to drop him - he looks massively improved
Moore, Miazga, Morrison 8: Completey dominated the Cardiff attack and defended the long throws etc pretty well. Didn’t look massively comfortable with some of the play out from the back though
Pele 8: very very good. Playing against a strong experienced midfield he looked mobile and strong. Couple of good passes as well
Swift: 9 another assist and a cracking goal. Should have taken the pen, and could easily have ended up with another assist. Him and Ejaria completely bossed it
Ejaria: 10 Brilliant performance. Absolutely outstanding and showed exactly how good he can be. Looks an absolute bargain on that form
Puscas 9: all round be looks tidy, with 2 cracking goals. This against on paper a very good CB pair
Joao 7: Didn’t quite happen for him but got plenty of shots away and did his fair share. Got a bit frustrated with Morrison’s constant hacking at him. Looks a very good player though

Boye: didn’t put a foot wrong. Looked very tidy - like the look of him
Meite: Should have let Swift take the pen. Still caused a few problems and will be a good third striker. Needs to keep his head up and be ready when needed
Rino: unlucky to be dropped, but was the right choice for this one

[Hound]

Morrison was probably their standout

Ref and linesman were poor, especially the one on the North side. Missed so many blatant fouls on Joao

In agreement with nearly everything you say but thought Morrison was a little lucky for them. Ref seemed to give him a lot of leeway as you mention - another day he’d have given a lot of free kicks away in dangerous positions

And he got rinsed quite a few times by our forward line inc the penalty

[Armadillo Roadkill]

No Reading player put in less than an 8 out of ten performance. Pretty much everything went right.

The thing that seems to have changed most is the confidence of players to play their way out of a situation, rather than just trying to release the ball as quickly as possible, thereby putting their team mates under pressure. That's been the story of the past two seasons. Today everybody looked comfortable on the ball, and some of the close control skills all over the pitch were outstanding.

So this is my diagnosis of the change Gomes has implemented: players can express themselves, knowing their team mates are organised and motivated enough to cover if they make a mistake. Combine that with concerted and organised pressing and a supremely well organised defence (Morrison's contribution was absolutely vital), and you have one of the best Reading performances for many, many years.

Top 6 at least by the end of the season.

[Royal Monkey]

First game of season for me well worth the 330 mile round trip.
We played exactly the team I predicted apart from Pele in for Rino. Was surprised Rino got dropped but Pele kept it simple and tidy and didn’t really put a foot wrong so cant complain.
Everyone played well but thought Ejaria was excellent that boy has magic feet. He reminds me of Little in that he can look a bit awkward and gangly but ball just seems to stick to his foot. Puscas looks quality and like he will get plenty of goals gutted he didn’t bag a hat trick.
Joao was wasteful with a couple of chances but holds the ball up great and has good feet for a big guy. Like the way he drops deeper and puts in a tackle.
Much more confident with Rafa in goal looks solid. Absolutely great day 10 for everyone
Oh and lol at the Cardiff meatheads at the bottom of hill trying to get aggro singing England’s full of sh** I just couldn’t resist walking thru the middle of them laughing my head off f****n muppets
Will enjoy the drive back north.

[URZZZZ]

Morrison was probably their standout

Ref and linesman were poor, especially the one on the North side. Missed so many blatant fouls on Joao

In agreement with nearly everything you say but thought Morrison was a little lucky for them. Ref seemed to give him a lot of leeway as you mention - another day he’d have given a lot of free kicks away in dangerous positions

And he got rinsed quite a few times by our forward line inc the penalty

Didn’t think he was great but the best of a bad bunch. Some of them were clear fouls on Joao, others were Joao throwing himself to the floor. Really don’t like that when players do that

Morrison and Flint are two good Championship defenders but they’re too slow when together. Can really see Cardiff struggling this season

[Bigtimmeh]

Best match for a very long time. Swift Richards and ejaria stood out for me but good performances all round. I agree with the comment above some Cardiff fans singing about empty seats it was nice to be able to shout three nil at them! Onwards and upwards.

[Westwood52]

Best performance for a long long time,against a very powerful but limited Cardiff team.

Raphael 8 No mistakes couple of good saves.
Yiadom 8 After a couple of indifferent performances,great today.Very physical.
Richards 8 His best game in a Reading shirt.A real overlapping force.
Miazga 7 Did nothing wrong.
Moore 7 Good solid performance.
Morrison 8 Very impressed with this guy.A good seasoned pro.
Pele 7 Started poorly but very accomplished in the 2nd half.
Ejaria 9 An absolute purple patch in the 1st half.
Swift 9 Would have been ten apart from those corners
Jao 7 Class act,but not fit.Received no protection from the ref.
Puskas 9 MOM.

Meite Why was he on pen duty ?

Cardiff will stay up.They we’re very powerful in the first half.But lacking in flair.

Ref Another joker.The booking of Moore ridiculous,no protection for Jao and no idea on obstruction.

A GOOD DAY !!,

[Old Man Andrews]

Meite Why was he on pen duty ?

Mainly because he is the designated penalty taker.

[Hound]

Meite Why was he on pen duty ?

Mainly because he is the designated penalty taker.

I doubt he is tbh. Looked like he demanded it from Swift who let him have it due to the match situation

[Old Man Andrews]

Meite Why was he on pen duty ?

Mainly because he is the designated penalty taker.

I doubt he is tbh. Looked like he demanded it from Swift who let him have it due to the match situation

He took the penalties at the end of last season and scored them all from memory. He took over from Swift.

[Hound]

Did we have any pens let seasons? Genuinely can’t remember any

[AthleticoSpizz]

(BFTG and a beachfront bar, it's an Ian Royal synopsis )

Thought Jose Gomes deserved the 10 today, rang the changes and made the ex-Prem team look like us last season.
Player ratings? All 8's and above, winning back pocexsion at every cause, Puscas opener was a real gem.

Team spirit and self-confidence has returned.

[Lower West]

Didn’t think he was great but the best of a bad bunch. Some of them were clear fouls on Joao, others were Joao throwing himself to the floor. Really don’t like that when players do that

When was the last time that we had a CF that could boss opposition centre backs like that. A thorn on in their side.

For a team that's never played together before in a competitive match that was an outstanding performance.

Morrison is the bargain of the summer.

[Aeroguide]

Sorry for maybe putting this in the wrong thread:

From Live4Liverpool:

When Liverpool agreed to send Ovie Ejaria back on loan to Reading, no one would have expected a couple of weeks later to see him being described as “world class” and “unplayable”. However that is exactly what has happened with some Reading supporters completely blown away by the midfielder’s display in their 3-0 win against Cardiff on Sunday afternoon. Ejaria bossed the game, pretty from much start to finish as the Royals bagged their first win of the new season. Liverpool loaned Ejaria out in the summer transfer window and, as reported by the Daily Mail, the Championship side has an obligation to sign the central midfielder at the end of the season for £3million. It’s not hard to see why there are so many Reading fans who believe that is a bargain, especially after how well he played at the Madejski on Sunday. According to WhoScored, Ejaria completed eight dribbles, won four tackles and had a pass accuracy of 84 per cent. He was never going to be Liverpool quality but that £3million fee does look a bit low now.

[Royal Monkey]

Sorry for maybe putting this in the wrong thread:

From Live4Liverpool:

When Liverpool agreed to send Ovie Ejaria back on loan to Reading, no one would have expected a couple of weeks later to see him being described as “world class” and “unplayable”. However that is exactly what has happened with some Reading supporters completely blown away by the midfielder’s display in their 3-0 win against Cardiff on Sunday afternoon. Ejaria bossed the game, pretty from much start to finish as the Royals bagged their first win of the new season. Liverpool loaned Ejaria out in the summer transfer window and, as reported by the Daily Mail, the Championship side has an obligation to sign the central midfielder at the end of the season for £3million. It’s not hard to see why there are so many Reading fans who believe that is a bargain, especially after how well he played at the Madejski on Sunday. According to WhoScored, Ejaria completed eight dribbles, won four tackles and had a pass accuracy of 84 per cent. He was never going to be Liverpool quality but that £3million fee does look a bit low now.

As the window came to a close I wasn’t too bothered if we didn’t get Ejaria but I’m glad we did thought he was class today MOM.

[PieEater]

Agreed with the majority of opinions, that was a great display from the team with Ejara and Puscas just outstanding. The first goal from Puscas was a solo effort from his own half, and a great left footed finish. He's quite a player and I was sitting there wondering how on earth we were able to sign someone who was that good.

Similarly with Ejara, he showed flashes of skill last season but he seems even better now, Very two footed and just owned any player trying to press him, Cardiff didn't know what to do. Combined with Swift who was equally skilful but perhaps passed better, we dominated them in midfield.

Joao also looked a handful but never really recovered from sprinting forward to support a break where he sliced the ball over. Meite should have come on then rather than 10-15mins later.

I have to say that Cardiff looked very poor and unfit, most of them were knackered after 30mins, and lol at Warnock putting on 4 strikers but taking off his wide players so they never got any service except long throws.

[CountryRoyal]

3 goals from open play and a clean sheet?!?!

We were good, Cardiff were awful. We should have had 5. Ovie is a baller.