01-02-2015, 13:58
What a disappointment after the excitement of the takeover.
I have to ask what SG was thinking with regard to his formation. We have been performing pretty well away from home but he made several changes to formation, tactics & personnel from the Forest match which all made us look ill equipped to beat one of the division's weaker sides. Our starting eleven had scored five goals between them (excluding penalties) all season.
It was hard to work out what formation we were playing initially although it appeared to settle into a 4411 with Maguire playing partly behind Keane & partly on the right. We dominated possession but mainly in our own half & rarely threatened the Reading goal.
We should have scored when Maghoma burst clear on the left and played the ball in cleverly from the left giving Maguire a clear sight of goal from twelve yards but he hit it tamely at the keeper. Baker had another chance but curled it straight to the keeper.
Gradually Reading looked more dangerous as they played on the counterattack. Westwood made two fantastic saves as Reading cut us open through the centre with Lees struggling against the muscular Pogrebnyak. Eventually the goal came when Lees lost his man & Pagrebnyak had a free header from six yards. 1-0 quickly became 2-0 as Chalobah brilliantly side footed home from twelve yards from a right wing cross.
It looked like a battle to survive until half time then although Baker hit a beautiful shot which the keeper did well to tip round the post.
Nuhui replaced Baker and Helan replaced Mattock at half time as we played more 442 with Maguire switching back to the wing. It nearly went totally pear shaped when Helan made an ill advised challenge in the box & conceded a penalty but fortunately the spot kick was poor & Westwood saved comfortably.
This gave us some momentum and we started putting some real pressure on the Reading defence with Maghoma running at them through the middle and we started creating chances. Maghoma could only slice his shot when he was crowded out after a good one two with Keane. Maguire was put through but slipped and couldn't get a decent shot in after he fell. Dielna shot horribly wide after replacing Hutchinson.
Westwood - 7 - two goods saves plus a penalty save
Palmer - 5 - below par
Loovens - 6 - cleared off line, pillar of strength
Lees - 5 - several poor passes, at fault for first goal
Mattock - 5 - cleared off line, both goals came from crosses he could have stopped
Maguire - 4 - constantly gave the ball away, missed passes, selfish
Hutchinson - 5 - hardly involved
Baker - 5 - one brilliant shot but otherwise little influence
Lee - 6 - poor first half but linked well second half
Maghoma - 6 - created our best chances, much better in the centre second half
Keane - 5 - a few good touches but never looked like scoring
.............................................................................
Nuhui - 5 - never got near goal
Helan - 5 - ran down blind allies
Dielna - 5 - didn't add much
We struggled attacking wise because every time a player made a run with the ball, there was no-one ahead of him so he was forced to check back. Keane doesn't look like scoring, pretty much like Nuhui so goals have to come from midfield. Excluding penalties, our midfield have only contributed five goals between them this season.
I think SG got his tactics wrong, which kind of made us more impotent than usual up front. We went into this match on a high after the takeover but SG set up with a negative mindset. Keane & Baker look like boys in a men's match. Maybe if we were winning regularly, they would shine. Lees for the first time look flustered when put under pressure. We now face two matches without Loovens. We will miss his leadership although Dielna is a good deputy.
Our season is pretty much over. We are 16 points off promotion, 11 off relegation and 9 off the playoffs. We are good enough to hold our own but lack that class & invention to challenge for promotion. We have little pace & no threat that opposition teams fear. Hopefully, our new financial muscle will improve things, if not in this window then in the summer.
I have to ask what SG was thinking with regard to his formation. We have been performing pretty well away from home but he made several changes to formation, tactics & personnel from the Forest match which all made us look ill equipped to beat one of the division's weaker sides. Our starting eleven had scored five goals between them (excluding penalties) all season.
It was hard to work out what formation we were playing initially although it appeared to settle into a 4411 with Maguire playing partly behind Keane & partly on the right. We dominated possession but mainly in our own half & rarely threatened the Reading goal.
We should have scored when Maghoma burst clear on the left and played the ball in cleverly from the left giving Maguire a clear sight of goal from twelve yards but he hit it tamely at the keeper. Baker had another chance but curled it straight to the keeper.
Gradually Reading looked more dangerous as they played on the counterattack. Westwood made two fantastic saves as Reading cut us open through the centre with Lees struggling against the muscular Pogrebnyak. Eventually the goal came when Lees lost his man & Pagrebnyak had a free header from six yards. 1-0 quickly became 2-0 as Chalobah brilliantly side footed home from twelve yards from a right wing cross.
It looked like a battle to survive until half time then although Baker hit a beautiful shot which the keeper did well to tip round the post.
Nuhui replaced Baker and Helan replaced Mattock at half time as we played more 442 with Maguire switching back to the wing. It nearly went totally pear shaped when Helan made an ill advised challenge in the box & conceded a penalty but fortunately the spot kick was poor & Westwood saved comfortably.
This gave us some momentum and we started putting some real pressure on the Reading defence with Maghoma running at them through the middle and we started creating chances. Maghoma could only slice his shot when he was crowded out after a good one two with Keane. Maguire was put through but slipped and couldn't get a decent shot in after he fell. Dielna shot horribly wide after replacing Hutchinson.
Westwood - 7 - two goods saves plus a penalty save
Palmer - 5 - below par
Loovens - 6 - cleared off line, pillar of strength
Lees - 5 - several poor passes, at fault for first goal
Mattock - 5 - cleared off line, both goals came from crosses he could have stopped
Maguire - 4 - constantly gave the ball away, missed passes, selfish
Hutchinson - 5 - hardly involved
Baker - 5 - one brilliant shot but otherwise little influence
Lee - 6 - poor first half but linked well second half
Maghoma - 6 - created our best chances, much better in the centre second half
Keane - 5 - a few good touches but never looked like scoring
.............................................................................
Nuhui - 5 - never got near goal
Helan - 5 - ran down blind allies
Dielna - 5 - didn't add much
We struggled attacking wise because every time a player made a run with the ball, there was no-one ahead of him so he was forced to check back. Keane doesn't look like scoring, pretty much like Nuhui so goals have to come from midfield. Excluding penalties, our midfield have only contributed five goals between them this season.
I think SG got his tactics wrong, which kind of made us more impotent than usual up front. We went into this match on a high after the takeover but SG set up with a negative mindset. Keane & Baker look like boys in a men's match. Maybe if we were winning regularly, they would shine. Lees for the first time look flustered when put under pressure. We now face two matches without Loovens. We will miss his leadership although Dielna is a good deputy.
Our season is pretty much over. We are 16 points off promotion, 11 off relegation and 9 off the playoffs. We are good enough to hold our own but lack that class & invention to challenge for promotion. We have little pace & no threat that opposition teams fear. Hopefully, our new financial muscle will improve things, if not in this window then in the summer.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.