Let’s not get too carried away. A win against what was, let’s face it, a toothless and slow tempo’d Derby won’t convince that Reading are destined for promotion/play offs, however it does convince that the club is on the right lines.

Thought everyone played well, with Joao and Ejaria being the obvious standouts. Rinomhota and Laurent quietly and effectively got on with things and I think are going to be fairly key the the way Reading play this season (consequently think Reading need a signing there in this window to cover those two).

Joao proved again how effective he is and what a handful he can be for any opponent but he is so integral to the preferred style that cover needs to be added for him asap unless VP can suddenly develop a plan B in the opening weeks of the season (or perhaps Yakou could step up to the role).

Downer from the game was Ejaria’s injury but currently it’s reckoned it’s nothing to worry about so hopefully Ovie will return for Barnsley next week.

There’s still obviously a long way to go and many much more difficult games to come (eg. Watford, Brentford, sides who play with a high press/tempo (plus anyone at home!)) before knowing exactly what to expect/hope for from the season but at least the club has had its best league start for 4 years and a win next Saturday I believe will be Reading’s best since 2001!

A solid performance that is certainly down to the quality of the starting XI. I cant say much of our beat work came from tactical play or the formation, more from individual moments of inspiration and a settled team that understands each other well. We have been down that road before and followed it up often enough with tinkering and poor performances.

Our reliance on the players just "clicking" has gotten us into trouble in the past. Overall though I think that is the best team we have. I question whether playing Swift deeper would be a sensible alternative, transforming the 4-2-3-1 into a Christmas tree formation of 4-3-2-1. While it may have just been a mediocre performance from Swift I sense that he will not get enough time on the ball playing as a 10 and is at his best when given as much time on the ball as possible.

I also wonder why Joao was left on, i am hoping it was down to the injury to Ejaria, someone at the club should inform Pauno he has a bad history with injuries so protecting him is a high priority.

It was great to see Yiadom back, he looked sharp and his passing and turn of pace is valuable despite the fact we seem to be continuing to play down the left more frequently. I hope Richards, who played well, can keep his fitness up as, if we continue this style of play, Araruna seems to be capable of mimicking Yiadom on the right.

Rafa had little to do but released a great pass to Joao for the second. His awareness so close to the end of the half is such a positive sign. Top work from him.

Olise and Ejaria both did well enough, they both worked hard at creating chances and, perhaps surprisingly, both did well at winning the ball back from the opposition, however both tried to do a little too much at times. That can be forgoven given the result. I hope both can really kick on in the coming weeks.

Joao was everything we knew he was last season, a creative yet strong forward who is not limited to his excellent hold up play. His little jaunt in the top left hand corner at the end of the game was hilarious. 4 players couldn't get the ball off him. As I said last season, I have mild concerns about his Zlatan-like propensity to come to deep to collect the ball, not because of him, but because we often lack other finishers. Ejaria took his goal superbly but he, along with Olise and Swift, is guilty of not shooting fast enough. With Joao sat deeper at times it feels like we just won't score. Hope they can prove me wrong.

Ref was decent.

Edit: forgot my bit on our excellent deep midfielders. Wow. Rinomhota and Laurent were top. Both did tremendous work in both protecting the backline and contributing further forward. Both have a good burst of pace and the required physicality to thrive together in this league. I must say, Rinomhota did really well in the water carrier role he played. I got so used to seeing Swift collect the ball deep last season I didnt even consider how well it could work with Rinomhota charging the ball forward and causing a panic in the opposition. I also want to note how high up they often won the ball. It was great to see.

I watched on follow but never had any . Anyone else have same problem?

Commentary that is

Someone kindly helped me out with this

Bottom right corner there are audio options for Home, Away or No
Commentary

Good result, good performance. Reaping the benefits of all the faith previous managers have shown in the likes of Richards, Olise and Rinomhota... those three are really growing into super players that it would have cost upwards of £10m to bring in that quality in signings.

Good team selection. Was a bit nervous about Swift, Olise and Ejaria in the same team and the latter two playing wide. The addition of Laurent has really transformed the team though. Gives us real balance to the side, excellent energy, pressing ability to win the ball back and break forward hard. Thanks Mark. And it shows how disappointing it is that we saw Rino and Pele bossing it together comparatively rarely last season.

Cabral - 7 didn't have a lot to do, made a couple of routine saves and set up the second goal with a great ball to Joao
Yiadom - 7 little defending to do and his usual breaking forward, if a bit less than usual it seemed, no bad thing
Richards - 7 some good defending when called on and a couple of Ejariaesque moments of skill. He's really grown this last year
Moore - 7 largely untroubled
Morrison - 7 largely untroubled
Rinomhota - 8 releasing him to go forward has been a revelation as we saw at the end of last season, he does the defensive work brilliantly, but he adds much needed tempo and directness when driving us forward to counter
Laurent - 7 some dodgy moments but generally very good. Got to expect the odd lapse early on from someone making the big step up. Compliments Rino very well and gives us the solid base we need to play the lighterweight fancy Dans
Olise - 8 I love this kid. He's so good, already adding more end product, his work ethic is incredible for a teenage flair player and his tempo is really good. Just needs to drill in a couple of shots
Swift - 6 quiet game, but didn't have to do a lot, should really have scored at least once, probably twice, pulled the strings nicely though - like others I don't think he quite has the legs to play 10, I prefer him in a deeper diamond playmaker role, but that would probably mean dropping one of Olise or Ejaria for a second striker
Ejaria - 8 continues to frustrate me and delight in equal measure, multiple times dwelt on the ball and did too much only to lose it when there were better options, but also scored a fine goal and creates moments of magic from nothing
Joao - 9 Simply put, this guy makes or breaks our season. Last year he broke it by being out injured, this year, if he stays fit we could fly. 40 games from him a season and he'll be talked about in the same terms as Kitson and Doyle. Absolute quality. PL quality.


There are two big questions for this season.

1) How do we cope with injuries?
Losing Joao, Rinomhota, Laurent or Richards would cause a huge hole in how we try to play as there simply isn't a replacement of the right quality, if at all, for them in the squad.

2) How do we cope with a hard press and a team that carries an attacking threat?
Derby were toothless and let us play. We've seen our team put in good performances and win comfortably when allowed to play... Cardiff early last season, Luton late last season, amongst others. We've then seen them melt under pressure against the likes of Brentford. That's the real test. Was this yet another false dawn, or the start of something meaningful?

There's also still the home form. We've had plenty of great away performances. Got to do it in the home games too.

EDIT: Forgot the subs
Aluko - 6 made an effort which is a step up from his usual. But offered basically nothing and a couple of shit moments.
Baldock - 6 work rate but didn't notice him a lot
Holmes - N/A good to see him get on for a few minutes

I'll do this a little differently. 1st Half Summary, 2nd Half, Ratings and Observations.

1st Half

We absolutely bodied Derby. We passed the ball well around the back without much pressure and patiently waited for an opportunity to go forward. This is the change in tactic though...One of Swift/Olise/Ejaria would drop deep to receive the ball from the defence and lay it off to either Laurent or Rino in most cases who would then drive the ball forward to one of the other creative players. Derby did not know who to handle it and was why we dominated the half so much. When it went wrong Laurent and Rino were still there to mop up too. It took nearly 40 mins for Derby to get to grips with it by doubling up on Olise/Ejaria/Swift everytime they dropped to receive the ball. We should have scored one more but we looked comfortable and fully deserved our lead.

2nd Half

Derby pressed a little more higher up the pitch as we tired, especially after 70mins, they controlled the possession but without really creating any clear chances. It was a case of holding the shape and then counter attacking where Derby have thrown more bodies forward. We should have scored a couple more this half and I think a more "Ready" Reading would have done so. We were in no danger of conceding at all. A well deserved victory.

Ratings

Rafael 6 - Kicking was good and only had 2 or 3 saves to make. I felt he could have pushed the 1st save away further and where he didn't it led to Marriott having a chance to f*ck up. Solid though and no complaints.

Richards 7 - He was statistically one of the best tacklers in the team and championship last season, he seems to have carried on where he left off in that respect. Every time Derby tried to attack down his side in the first half he blocked a cross or forced them into another direction. He put in a great cross 1st half and was solid 2nd half. I would like to see him put more crosses in per game over the season.
Moore 7 - Solid. Good on the ball and one great block. Good to see him playing well.
Morrison 6 - Solid. But not quite as good on the ball as the others. I'll expand on this later on. No complaints though.
Yiadom 6 - Looked very rusty in the first 25mins and kept losing the ball but he gradually grew into the game and setup Joao for the cross bar 2nd half. Good to see him starting again and he will get back to his best with more games.

Laurent 7 - Dynamic, full of energy, confident and I liked how after winning the ball he knew exactly where to pass it forward. I think he will be one of the bargains of the season.
Rhino 8 - Absolutely brilliant. Same as Laurent but drove forward a bit more. The balance in the lower part of the midfield is perfect with him and Laurent. He looked like he was enjoying his football a lot more too.

Swift 6 - Nice touches, great passes but should have done better with a couple of chances. He faded in and out a bit but still a threat. I don't think we can have him and Ejaria in the same team all season but I'll touch on this later.
Olise 7 - Worked his socks off, got in good positions forward, defended well and some nice moves. He needs to work on his decision making, which is expected from a youngster and needs to be a bit more ruthless in front of goal. Great corner for Joao's goal.
Ejaria 8 - All the skills to the pay the bills. Great finish too. Got battered by Derby when they had their midfield torn a new one. I just wish he was quicker at releasing the ball. I know he can beat everyone but it's about getting the ball into an attacking position quicker.

Joao 9 - Had he scored 2 more today (Cross bar and the first chance) he would have got a 10. His all round play was perfect. I hope he stays fit otherwise we are screwed.

Subs
Holmes - Can't say as he wasn't on for long enough but he played as a DM when he came on.
Baldock - Runs and runs with little end product
Aluko 6 - He actually did ok when he came on but at his age and wages he really needs to be shifted on once we get some players in.

Observations

1) Pauno has clearly had some influence on how we played in such a short space of time and I think that really needs to be noted by our fans. Tactically we are fluid getting the ball to the creative players in attacking positions and that has got to go down to the manager.
2) Derby did not pressure our defence much in the 1st half. High press teams opposition will start to come up against us soon as teams get fitter and that will really show where we are as a team. I am a little worried about Morrison on the ball coping with that. I like him but for the way we play we might be looking at McIntyre or Holmes (if he's not converted to a DM) to play if they can show they are more comfortable on the ball.
3) I know we won and played well but the transition from defence to attack got a slower when Ejaria was doing his thing. If Pauno can coach him to cut the showboating a bit then he, and we, will be absolutely devastating going forward.
4) Swift and Ejaria can not play in the same team all the time purely based on the balance of the attack. They play different styles but are players of the same position. Against better teams we will be predictably easier to defend against. I think this is why the club are looking to get Riquelme as he is a bit more dynamic than Swift and Ejaria,. He would also provide a different attacking avenue for the opposition to deal with.
5) Puscas and Baldock don't fit this system at all and I think in an ideal world we would move these 2 on now. I like both of them but we just look so much better in this formation and they are not built for it.
6) Depth:
>We need a winger with pace to offer something different going forward.
>We need a back up striker like Joao so our striking position remains balanced with the system when he needs a rest or is unavailable.
>Seeing as we sold Holsgrove we need another central midfielder as back up to cover Laurent/Rhino.

Overall, that was an impressive start and there are some promising signs for the season ahead. However, we need more depth and we need to be a bit more ruthless with the team if we want to improve on last season.

Thanks for reading.

I didn't watch on ifollow but have just seen the highlights, they couldn't muster anything to show for Derby so it looked like we completely dominated chances. Joao could of had a couple more and Swift missed a sitter.

When I saw the team I thought it looked like our strongest, and I like that we now have a formation that plays our best players in positions that suit them. Injuries aside this could be a good season.

Not too much to add to those comprehensive reports

Played very well. The first 11+Meite, McIntyre and Puscas is decent. Massively reliant on Joao

Be interesting to see where potential signings would fit in and what would be prioritised. Need some cover but can’t really see beyond that where exactly you think ‘we look weak there’

Yeh, the biggest challenge will be strengthening the squad, without rocking the boat. Desperately need some depth, but going to be a hard sell to get in some quality if they're just going to be bench warmers.

Didn't watch the game but caught the highlights. I just wanted to check in and confirm the rumour I'd heard that we are definitely going up is true?

Not just going up, but breaking the points record.

Not just going up, but breaking the points record.

Lovely stuff, thanks for the upd8

Excellent stuff although I don’t agree that we should let Puscas go.

Agree on Puscas.

Considering "He had a poor season"and was in a new country, a new league, starved of
chances, not played in his ideal position, a middling side, his goal tally was very decent.

Set up of the team hasn't suited Puscas. Like Aluko was he a marquee signing rather than a player who was identified to fill a role. Concerning that the squad is somewhat lighter than at the end of last season. Transfers / loans in are going to punts rather than identified targets.

Has anyone complained about his goal tally?
The concerns with Puscas are about his barren spells and what he contributes other than goals aren't they?

Has anyone complained about his goal tally?
The concerns with Puscas are about his barren spells and what he contributes other than goals aren't they?

Agree, no consistency

I thought you had boycotted the club?

As I told you before, that's because you're stupid and listen to OMA.

Oh yeah I remember, my bad

Out of interest, has anyone managed to connect to iFollow using a VPN? Our daughter lives in the US and has bought a US season pass for iFollow but wants to know if she can still watch in the UK via a VPN when travel restrictions are lifted.

Don't take anything I say as ghospel


BUT


Last time I looked at going VPN, it came up with a thing that offered a "pretend" country

Was gonna edit ghospel, but that definitely should be a word

Thanks, seems iFollow objects even when it is a computer overseas that is communicating with it. Guess she'll just have to make the most of watching at the reduced price when she is in the US and beg me to pay the tenner when she is over here!

Good points made above so I won't echo.

Ratings and comments all fair.

I'll only add:

- Olise, good of course and I like him but I counted THREE times he tried to do what I can only call, I don't know.. a Gilkesy. You'd have thought he would learn from the first one or two times, that he wasn't going to be able to pull it off, but no. Gilkesy he ain't. Or was he trying to pull an Ejaria? Ejaria he also ain't. To be fair even Ejaria wasn't Ejaria in that game, yeah did his usual taking the ball past 5 people but lost it more than usual too. To be fair I remember only one Ejaria moment that Olise did last season, when he did some sublime turn thing once, but that's the only time. Is it a problem if he's trying to emulate Gilkes or Ejaria? Nah, not really. It's fine. If anything it's a good thing that Ejaria is clearly having an effect on the lad as he tries to emulate him.

- Pauno. Haters will still hate, but there is no mistaking that this was the Pauno effect, even if it's just down to honeymoon. Two comprehensive victories in two games, that can't be taken away from him. For me the real question is a) does he have a plan B for when Joao is injured and b) does he have a plan B for when we're found out. Time will tell.

I've used iFollow with a VPN for the past 3 seasons. I use Windscribe which is free for 10GB per month, you can disconnect once the stream starts. I use Edge instead of Chrome and clear the history and cache before every attempt at connecting.

Not just going up, but breaking the points record.

Well, we already have more points than we did at this stage of the 2005/06 season.

Thanks, seems iFollow objects even when it is a computer overseas that is communicating with it. Guess she'll just have to make the most of watching at the reduced price when she is in the US and beg me to pay the tenner when she is over here!
Stranded would be a good bet, believe he uses Ifollow overseas.


I get the feeling if you're an overseas customer you should still have access to watch even if you visit the UK, but don't have actual facts.

Yes, excellent points. I am open minded and give Panko my full support and it’s started well but the points you make are very valid and will define whether he is successful