Back From The Game: Liverpool

[John Madejski's Wallet]

And Gunnarsson, how did he manage to keep up with Torres?.

While he looks lumbering and slow, I have rarely seen Bryn outpaced in a straight run. He is suprisingly fast when he gets going..... just not that quick at getting up to speed!

[Corky341]

I'm at a loss as to why SSC gave the MOTM award to McAnuff. Although he had a very good game, I thought he could and should have rounded their F/B far more often. My MOTM was easily Jem Karacan. I also like to see Cisse at C/B rather than C/M. Once again our lack of natural strikers was quite apparent. Can't wait for the new lad to start.

Again our attendance saddened me. ''They'll'' turn out to see the likes of Gerrard and Torres, but couldn't be bothered to watch Burgess, Bapiste (Blackpool), Clyne, Moses (Palace) Williams or Hooper (Scunthorpe) in matches that REALLY matter to the future of our club.

He's hoping we sell out for the visit of the once mighty Magpies.

[howser]

The obvious worries, for me, is the lack of pace in the back four, although both Gunnar and Ingi are getting past thier best it must never be forgotten how much they have done for the club and being integral parts of our greatest time in the clubs history, however sentiment aside, the two positions they hold in the team at the moment are the ones that give greatest worry.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Great performance last night. The players showed real commitment and desire, after the performance on Monday against Plymouth. The team looked a lot better with the introduction of Karacan and Mills. Mills brought the nonsense at the back under control and Karacan worked his socks off in midfield.

My man of the match yesterday was Jobi McAnuff. He gave Insua all sorts of trouble down both flanks. He delivered some cracking balls and is looking a intelligent buy. All the players put in good performances of note.
Church and Raisak looked a danger up front, and they combined well together throughout the game.

My only slight concern was Ivar Ingimarsson. Against Torres for most of the game, he was struggling. In the last few minutes, from my view in the North Stand, he made numerous mistakes which could of cost us the game. In my view, this my be Ivar's last season, as a first-team player here.

In my view, that should have been last season.

I had a look at the video this morning. Don't know if you guys have it but take a look if you have. Both the goal and the Torres last minute header arise from exactly the same circumstances. For the goal Ingi calls his back four to squeeze up as Liverpool play the ball back to Gerrard. Bertrand then comes out too late and Mills doesn't come out at all which is why Kuyt is on side. The header is exactly the same. Mills half asleep and doesn't squeeze up allowing Torres to move into the space.
Ingi is playing exacly how he always has and exactly how a Reading back four has played for years. Bertrand is great going forward but works poorly in a unit and Mills is all over the place positionly.
A back four has to defend as a cohesive unit and we are some way off doing that at the moment. That can only be sorted out on the training ground over time but we don't have that luxury. If we can get our money back for Mills then I would do just that and invest in an experienced centre back, a right back and another striker. We have to do whatever is required to stay up and then go on from there.

[Big Foot]

Comments:

Karacan - Why has he been out of the team so long? He must stay in.

Mills - Had a decent game.

Ivar - Looked like a liability, although he was up against Torres. Even Vidic struggles there.

Defence as a unit - Not bad at all against a dangerous attacking side. It was obvious they were being pushed to their absolute limit, but our keepers barely had saves to make. A few rushes off their line.

Hamer - Indecisive and nervy when he came on. Understandable in the circumstances and I hope he can be a good keeper for us.

McAnuff and The Sig - I thought something might happen whenever these 2 got the ball out wide.

Bertrand - You can see why Chelsea want to keep him.

Church - Good instinct for his goal and worked tirelessly. Good movement. Looked out of his depth against Carragher - hardly a criticism.

Rasiak - Shocker.

Delighted with the performance and proud of the team today. My issue is that this could be a flash in the pan for a big, televised cup game. Only time will tell I suppose. For Newcastle I would leave the team largely unchanged following that. Mills deserves his place in the team. Karacan should never have been dropped in the first place - McDermott should face criminal charges if he leaves him out for Newcastle after today's performance. Rasiak had a poor game today and appears to offer little to our team. He also has a decent scoring record this season and I would leave him in against Newcastle because he can get goals no matter how crap he is everywhere else. Thor on the bench instead of Long possibly. In other words, identical line up with the possible exception of right back. We have no solution to the right back problem yet, but I'm not sure Bryn is it.

Agree with most of that, I think Karacan was very unfortunate to be dropped earlier on this season and only impresses me the more I see him. Comfortably my MOTM last night with Mills a close second.

[Ian Royal]

I respect your opinion quite a lot and haven't seen it since watching the game. I'm not too concerned with Ivar's organisation. It's more his total lack of pace, inaccurate, looping headed clearances and the fact he is really easily turned.

I've never rated Bertrand that highly to be honest. He seems to have skill, but not much of a brain. Too many times he pushes balls straight at an opposition player when he's trying to race past someone. Or as you say, is playing people onside. Great cross for the goal though.

Mills I'm not overly impressed with either, but I think some acknowledgement that he hasn't played for a while must be made.

I'm quite worried about centreback. Ivar is a shadow of his former self. Pearce is ponderous, Mills is weak positionally and Cisse can't head. I'd still go with Pearce and one of Cisse or Mills though.

[LoyalRoyalFan]

I don’t know why some people on here are criticising Raisak's performance last night, but I for one, thought he played quite well. Skrtel and Carragher struggled to deal with his height and he made a number of good passes that led to chances.

[Tilehurst Mike]

So the trend in the New Year continues--yet another failure to win at home!!

Seriously, this was a thoroughly committed peformance and Karacan and Mills must play against the Toon. Losing Federici to injury might be a blessing in disguise as although Kuyt dummied in front of him, I think his positioning when Gerrard shot was questionable and a better keeper would have pushed it around the post. This was more like the 'old' Reading, playing the game at a high tempo and chasing down and harrying everything. The defence is not good enough to sit back and soak up pressure so we need to be on the offensive in the games ahead. The result will do the team and Mcdermott a world of good. Well played everyone and at last a decent peformance on the box.
Disappointed to see some many fans with Berkshire accents wearing red shirts--disgraceful!

[RoyalBlue]

Saw the game also on TV here in Iceland and I thought Karacan, McAnuff and Sigurdsson were the best Reading players. I dont agree with what you said regarding Sigurdsson, I may be biased but he delivered dangerous setpieces, and his delivery from open play was dangerous as well. He kept the ball well and looked assured, beat players and always passed the ball foward. Never afraid to shoot from distance and could have earned a penalty in the first half. Solid display in my book. Tired towards the end though. McAnuff looked a very good player against an awful Insua. McAnuff looked like he could run rings around players in a phonebooth judging on todays performance. Karacan was outstanding and looked like an established premiership player.

My other two countrymen, Gunnarsson and Ingimarsson, looked absolutey horrendous. Hope the national manager watched the game and never selects Gunnarsson again.

I think that's very harsh on Bryn and Ivar. I thought they both had very solid games, particularly given the standard of opposition they were up against. There aren't that many midfield players that could stand in at right back and play as well as Bryn has done.

Can't understand the criticism, by others, of Mills either. I didn't really notice him that much watching the game live, which is surely a good thing. Made a point of looking out for him when I watched the game again and thought he did pretty well. In fact I think it would be hard to fairly criticise any of our players today.

Hopelly Hamer has now got his nerves out of the way because I suspect he may be playing again against Newcastle.

[statto]

I thought Gunnarson did well, there was one point in the first half where a cross came over and he controlled it beautifully and cleared it.

Although I think Cummings is useless, I feel a bit sorry for him as he now has two central midfielders, one left footed, ahead of him at right back, questions have to be asked of the scouts who decided he was good enough.

Liverpool were terrible, Insua particularly bad.

Sigurdsson is very good, Mcanuff good, Rasiak made a nuisance of himself but lacks quality.

By the way, did anyone hear the bloke ring up BBC Berks after the game with the sole aim of slagging off Kebe, even though he didn't play.
Some people are just idiots.

[RoyalBlue]

I'm at a loss as to why SSC gave the MOTM award to McAnuff. Although he had a very good game, I thought he could and should have rounded their F/B far more often. My MOTM was easily Jem Karacan. I also like to see Cisse at C/B rather than C/M. Once again our lack of natural strikers was quite apparent. Can't wait for the new lad to start.

Again our attendance saddened me. ''They'll'' turn out to see the likes of Gerrard and Torres, but couldn't be bothered to watch Burgess, Bapiste (Blackpool), Clyne, Moses (Palace) Williams or Hooper (Scunthorpe) in matches that REALLY matter to the future of our club.

Given our shyte home performances for the past year, is it really any wonder?!!

I think most neutral observers would say that we are doing really well to get the level of attendances that we do.

[Ian Royal]

I thought Gunnarson did well, there was one point in the first half where a cross came over and he controlled it beautifully and cleared it.

Although I think Cummings is useless, I feel a bit sorry for him as he now has two central midfielders, one left footed, ahead of him at right back, questions have to be asked of the scouts who decided he was good enough.
Liverpool were terrible, Insua particularly bad.

Sigurdsson is very good, Mcanuff good, Rasiak made a nuisance of himself but lacks quality.

By the way, did anyone hear the bloke ring up BBC Berks after the game with the sole aim of slagging off Kebe, even though he didn't play.
Some people are just idiots.

Given McDermott hasn't favoured him and he came from Chelsea, I rather suspect our target for blame on that signing is Rodgers. Not that I think he's as bad as many think.

[RoyalBlue]

Terminal. Normally agree with a lot of what you say, but do you not think the defence was far better than normal today. Bertrand had his best game for a long time and Mills and Ingi seemed to hit it off as a defensive pairing. We probably should have had more shots .. but when you have such limited options up front you can't really expect more. Maybe the extra dosh from a replay might help us in that respect.

Agree with that. Thought Bertrand had a fantastic game both defensively and pushing forward. I really am stunned that so many of our supporters are so critical of the player's performances and/or are scoring them so low for yesterday. We are two years on from when we were a decent Premier League team and able to expect to get something against a team like Liverpool. Yesterday saw a team who are struggling in the lower section of the Championship up against a team 7th in the PL and oozing quality players. In that context the performances and result were brilliant.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

I respect your opinion quite a lot and haven't seen it since watching the game. I'm not too concerned with Ivar's organisation. It's more his total lack of pace, inaccurate, looping headed clearances and the fact he is really easily turned.

I've never rated Bertrand that highly to be honest. He seems to have skill, but not much of a brain. Too many times he pushes balls straight at an opposition player when he's trying to race past someone. Or as you say, is playing people onside. Great cross for the goal though.

Mills I'm not overly impressed with either, but I think some acknowledgement that he hasn't played for a while must be made.

I'm quite worried about centreback. Ivar is a shadow of his former self. Pearce is ponderous, Mills is weak positionally and Cisse can't head. I'd still go with Pearce and one of Cisse or Mills though.

I agree with you re the Cisse option. His performance v Man U 2 years ago was one of the best i've seen at CB and I actually believe that to be his long term position. The problem again being that it would mean another new partnership.
As for Ingi he has never had any pace. I thought he would be the first of the 106 team to lose his place in the Prem but he turned out to be one of our best performers. The reason being that (as with all good back 4's) the collective unit covered each others deficiencies.
I really think he remains important to us either to play with (and develop) Pearce or to play with an experienced centre back for the rest of this season.
The big worry is that they work all week on the training ground to defend as a unit and yet defend as individuals on the pitch. Per a previous post, I wonder just how much we miss Wally Downes in that respect.

[Sun Tzu]

oozing quality players

Liverpool ?

Two is hardly 'oozing' !!!

[Sun Tzu]

Per a previous post, I wonder just how much we miss Wally Downes in that respect.

Since Wally left we've not conceded 6 or 7 in a game !

[Ian Royal]

Per a previous post, I wonder just how much we miss Wally Downes in that respect.

Since Wally left we've not conceded 6 or 7 in a game !

Since Wally left we've played 27 games and conceeded 3 goals or more 7 times and kept 4 clean sheets.

[Sun Tzu]

Per a previous post, I wonder just how much we miss Wally Downes in that respect.

Since Wally left we've not conceded 6 or 7 in a game !

Since Wally left we've played 27 games and conceeded 3 goals or more 7 times and kept 4 clean sheets.

But we've not conceded 6 or 7.

Or even 5

[Ian Royal]

And we've not faced Pompey or Spurs. Or scored 4.

[RoyalBlue]

oozing quality players

Liverpool ?

Two is hardly 'oozing' !!!

For f*cks sake, can't you ever acknowledge anything good in any club apart from RFC?

They may not have performed to their price tags/standards yesterday but to deny that they are a club full of quality players is absolutely absurd!