by Coppells Lost Coat » 15 Sep 2021 12:04
by Hendo » 15 Sep 2021 12:04
RG30 ^infogol app where I quoted my figures from
by windermereROYAL » 15 Sep 2021 12:06
hughsies no.1 Firstly (before I get a bit negative), we really needed that win - Pauno needed that win - and football is about winning games and we got that all important win.
Prior to the 64th minute when Swifty had that free kick, I thought we looked like 11 individual players, no cohesion, no real pattern of play and for me only one team was in the game, and it wasn't us. Don't really recall any chances we created either. Posh were playing like the home team and our only answer was to hit them on the break with balls into the channel - could clearly see players getting frustrated with each other.
64th minute - John Swift stood over the ball, said to my mate next to me - we need some Swift magic here to get us out of this hole - and he produced. Unbelievable strike from a player we need to make the most of, as there is zero chance IMO that he will be a Reading player next season.
The goal obviously gave us a boost and swung the game, meant Posh needed to be a bit more open and meant we could expose them and duly resulted in a second goal, credit to Puscas for his work down the flank and a solid finish by TDB.
Then when they got one back (Ovie didn't even jump), I would be surprised if there was one Reading fan in the stadium that felt we were going to hold on, the energy was sucked out of the place and an equalsier would have been disastrous for us (they nearly had one too with that Ovie flick on...). Fortunately another bit of magic resulted in us getting the win - but I think we were very fortunate to be victors.
Very hopeful that the introduction of Scott Dann at the back will really sure us up, also think Drinkwater will make a positive difference, but there is still an awful lot of work to be done.
Roll on Fulham (a) on Saturday - but we will need to play A LOT better than that if we are going to get any points back to the Royal County!
by hughsies no.1 » 15 Sep 2021 12:14
windermereROYALhughsies no.1 Firstly (before I get a bit negative), we really needed that win - Pauno needed that win - and football is about winning games and we got that all important win.
Prior to the 64th minute when Swifty had that free kick, I thought we looked like 11 individual players, no cohesion, no real pattern of play and for me only one team was in the game, and it wasn't us. Don't really recall any chances we created either. Posh were playing like the home team and our only answer was to hit them on the break with balls into the channel - could clearly see players getting frustrated with each other.
64th minute - John Swift stood over the ball, said to my mate next to me - we need some Swift magic here to get us out of this hole - and he produced. Unbelievable strike from a player we need to make the most of, as there is zero chance IMO that he will be a Reading player next season.
The goal obviously gave us a boost and swung the game, meant Posh needed to be a bit more open and meant we could expose them and duly resulted in a second goal, credit to Puscas for his work down the flank and a solid finish by TDB.
Then when they got one back (Ovie didn't even jump), I would be surprised if there was one Reading fan in the stadium that felt we were going to hold on, the energy was sucked out of the place and an equalsier would have been disastrous for us (they nearly had one too with that Ovie flick on...). Fortunately another bit of magic resulted in us getting the win - but I think we were very fortunate to be victors.
Very hopeful that the introduction of Scott Dann at the back will really sure us up, also think Drinkwater will make a positive difference, but there is still an awful lot of work to be done.
Roll on Fulham (a) on Saturday - but we will need to play A LOT better than that if we are going to get any points back to the Royal County!
A bit OTT to call it fortunate imo, you are lucky when the other team in the woodwork survive goalmouth scrambles, balls cleared off the line and you are penned in your own half for long periods, none of which happened to us last night
We will be hard presssed to see a worse team than Peterborough visit the SCL this season, we were far from our best but were worthy winners.
by SCIAG » 15 Sep 2021 12:21
HendoRG30 ^infogol app where I quoted my figures from
Ah ok, so xG can be different depending on what site you look at? Another one in the column for chucking it in the bin.
by Snowflake Royal » 15 Sep 2021 12:41
andrew1957 Have to say I agree with the comments about Swift saving Pauno's job. That was exactly my thought when the goal went in. It could just save our season because until that point we had not really looked like scoring and looked devoid of confidence. After the Swift goal we looked much better. Goals breed confidence.
I have tried not to join the Moore haters because he has at times been excellent for us in past seasons but there does seem to be something not right about him this season. He didn't really do anything much wrong before the injury, but I felt so much more confident of the defensive unit once Holmes had come on.
I felt the same about Southwood. I just always feel Rafa has a mistake in him whereas Southwood largely controlled his area and looked comfortable. Really hope he plays again against Fulham and we will see what he is made of against a better team.
Dele-Bashiru, Rahman, Laurent and Swift all looked class. Not a great fan of Yiadom but thought he was good last night and Puscas and Morrison had good games. Ejaria still doesn't look fit and Halilovic tried very hard but his end product was in the main
very disappointing.
Overall it was a struggle for 63 minutes until Swift scored. After that at times we looked like a very good side.
But everything will depend on injuries. We now only have 13 fit first team players by my calculation and we seem to be losing one each match so far. At that rate we will be playing a 100% U23 team before Christmas! We have had a horrific run of injuries for a number of seasons now but this seems like the worst that I can ever recall. Hopefully a few like Dann and Drinkwater will soon regain match fitness to help out.
On a personal note I put £50 on us to win at 19/10, also bet on Swift getting the first goal in the game and that there would be more than 3 goals in the game. Up about £150!!
by windermereROYAL » 15 Sep 2021 12:49
by Snowflake Royal » 15 Sep 2021 12:51
windermereROYAL Ejaria looked far from happy for being subbed in front of the east stand last night, the walk around the pitch could not have been slower.
by Sanguine » 15 Sep 2021 14:50
by NewCorkSeth » 15 Sep 2021 15:07
Sanguine The one thing that still amazes me about Ejaria is how long Liverpool held on to him before his permanent deal. Bags of ability, but he/the club just can't harness it.
by Coppells Lost Coat » 15 Sep 2021 15:49
NewCorkSethSanguine The one thing that still amazes me about Ejaria is how long Liverpool held on to him before his permanent deal. Bags of ability, but he/the club just can't harness it.
I still think he has value beyond just plain goals and assists. Any team that didn't close him down would be made look foolish. The fact they have to pay close attention to him gives us a lot more breathing room in attack.
by Hound » 15 Sep 2021 15:52
NewCorkSethSanguine The one thing that still amazes me about Ejaria is how long Liverpool held on to him before his permanent deal. Bags of ability, but he/the club just can't harness it.
I still think he has value beyond just plain goals and assists. Any team that didn't close him down would be made look foolish. The fact they have to pay close attention to him gives us a lot more breathing room in attack.
by Hendo » 15 Sep 2021 16:37
by Zip » 15 Sep 2021 16:40
genomeZip Moore adds to the injury list but it sounds like a Dann, Drinkwater, Rino and Rafael should all be back in the next couple of weeks which will strengthen the squad.
One (sort of) positive is, our squad is going to be very strong around January time once the injured players come back in.
by Zip » 15 Sep 2021 16:42
HoundNewCorkSethSanguine The one thing that still amazes me about Ejaria is how long Liverpool held on to him before his permanent deal. Bags of ability, but he/the club just can't harness it.
I still think he has value beyond just plain goals and assists. Any team that didn't close him down would be made look foolish. The fact they have to pay close attention to him gives us a lot more breathing room in attack.
He is just a different player to what we assumed. Again he did some great defensive work last night (bar the goal), kept possession well, and often got us progressing quickly when he got his act together second half.
I think he is a cracking all round midfielder. Just not the goal/assist machine we thought he might be
Note last night: second most passes, most dribbles, most tackles, most interceptions, third most clearances, second most aerials won, third most touches
And that wasn’t on a particularly good night
by Hound » 15 Sep 2021 17:02
Hendo I'd certainly rather have Ovie playing for us than having to come up against him, that's for sure.
by Hendo » 15 Sep 2021 17:09
HoundHendo I'd certainly rather have Ovie playing for us than having to come up against him, that's for sure.
Reckon if you polled every manager in the div on who our 3 best players are, Ovie would be in 90% of them
by Snowflake Royal » 15 Sep 2021 17:10
NewCorkSethSanguine The one thing that still amazes me about Ejaria is how long Liverpool held on to him before his permanent deal. Bags of ability, but he/the club just can't harness it.
I still think he has value beyond just plain goals and assists. Any team that didn't close him down would be made look foolish. The fact they have to pay close attention to him gives us a lot more breathing room in attack.
by Lower West » 15 Sep 2021 17:21
South Coast Royal Just on Drinkwater,I mentioned a few days ago that my son saw him play for Chelsea in a pre-season game at Bournemouth and ,bearing in mind that as a Chelsea fan he has never been impressed by Drinkwater, he said that he was the best player on the pitch.
Seemingly the player hasn't caught the Reading injury disease as the message appears to be that he and Dann are not match fit.
How fit does a Premier League winner need to be to get a game for us?
by Snowflake Royal » 15 Sep 2021 17:21
Lower WestSouth Coast Royal Just on Drinkwater,I mentioned a few days ago that my son saw him play for Chelsea in a pre-season game at Bournemouth and ,bearing in mind that as a Chelsea fan he has never been impressed by Drinkwater, he said that he was the best player on the pitch.
Seemingly the player hasn't caught the Reading injury disease as the message appears to be that he and Dann are not match fit.
How fit does a Premier League winner need to be to get a game for us?
Fit enough to get a place on the bench by merit not just because of reputation. Suspect they've been brought in partly to bring experience and professionalism to the training ground.
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