Back from the game - Leeds (H)

[leon]

Shamed that didn't actually happen.

Yes it did, during the resultant goal kick. The Leeds fans cheered.

I thought he tipped it out near the six yard box/touchline and then slipped after a free kick from the front of the box

Exactly

[mikey0406]

Cannot believe how negative some people on here about some of the individuals. Forget whether Leeds were poor or not, that was a convincing, controlled display from Reading. Got the ball forward with purpose and yes some of our creative players will give the ball away but for crying out loud at least we created rather than playing keep ball and not going anywhere

Kelly's workrate off the ball was immense and first came I have seen where he hasn't been out muscled due to his side. We are becoming dependant on Kelly

Quite possibly the best I've seen Williams play all season too! He ran half the length of the field at one point to make a last ditch challenge. Decided to hold rather than get forward and that is his best role

Moore is class, a real leader on the pitch and we will do well keeping him next season whether we get promoted or not.

Kermie for his age gets about that pitch and really imposes himself on the game, rarely lost an arial challenge and his closing from the front really allows us to win the ball back quickly. Saw fridays game QPR vs Derby, not sure what QPR paid for Smith up front but kermie is 2/3 times the player he is

Only criticism, need to be more clinical in the final third, on another day our missed chances may have cost us.

[Top Flight]

Absolute tactical masterclass from Stam yesterday. Completely outmaneuvered Leeds from a tactical perspective and fully deserved the win.

The first half was an absolute joy to watch. The way we controlled possession and created chances by being patient and choosing the right moments to spring forward. That type of performance leads me to believe that we are now the favourites to win the play offs. If we can control games in that manner then the other three teams will not fancy facing us. We need some luck as well of course. But all of a sudden it feels like we are slight favourites.

We have beaten Huddersfield, Leeds, Wednesday and Fulham. Yes we have also lost against those teams (not Wednesday) but we certainly have a chance now. The team has improved over the course of the season and are now delivering a level of performance that is even higher than before.

The concentration, focus, work rate and intensity of the performance yesterday was really on another level. Stam is taking us up another gear at the right time.

Well done Stam, well done Reading FC and you better watch out Yorkshire rivals, it will be Berkshire that prevails in a play off battle that is dominated by Yorkshire sides.

[WAZZOCK]

Ridiculous criticism off Blackett on here, the guy has taken responsibility in the absence of McShane and done a decent job.

He's comfortable on the ball and pick a pass through pressing teams into the midfield. He has the very occasional nervy moment but doesn't every young defender? Hasn't stopped him playing a major part in two crucial clean sheets

People need to get off his back, he's doing fine

100% this. He's done a more than adequate job in the last two games, where incidentally we've kept two clean sheets against our playoff rivals.

Get behind the whole team FFS, they are working absolute wonders this season and each and every one of them are playing their part.

[harry]

Quality performance. We should have won that by more.

MOTM would be a toss up between Moore, Williams & Kermorgant for me but there were many fine performances. All 9/10
Ali, Gunter, Obita were all very good. 8/10.
Swift a good first half but drifted out of the game. 7/10
Kelly was brilliant and at the time I didn't get why he was subbed but that was explained in Jaap's post match interview 8/10
I thought GMac looked unusually quiet, Beerens should have scored, Blackett was a mix of brilliant one minute, schoolboy the next. All 6/10

Oxford looked solid when he came on 7/10
Mutch had a couple of moments but was quite mixed
Grabban similar
Probably a hard game to get the pace of as a sub.

Worried about the number of knocks we took. Williams got done carrying the ball right near the end. Was Obita just cramp or something boot-induced? Hopefully everyone will be ok for Tuesday but I doubt it.

Ref gave no protection. Carded us for trivial stuff while missing boots, elbows, stamps all over the place and that's ignoring the less career-threatening late challenges. Wood on Blackett should have been at least a yellow. Can't remember who did the elbow on (I think) Moore but that was nasty. There was a late one on (again I think) Moore in second half that ref managed to give a free kick for but clearly didn't really see it. The stamp has to be a hefty ban.

Leeds lived up to the dirty reputation on and off the pitch. Hope they get suitable bans and fines in both areas. Bunch of 70's throw-backs.

[CountryRoyal]

I was skiing but got an earlier flight to get back for the game, glad I did.

That was excellent. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that was the best, most complete performance I have seen from us for years. Everything seemed to click. The passing was crisp and accurate, movement plentiful, good touches, quick play, clever vision and great awareness and strength on the ball. Defensively we were solid, marking was pretty good and everyone did the job, some great tackles as well. So often it seems the other way round but yesterday we got to every second ball and won most headers. We were very good with the ball, but when defending something which has been lacking was a pressing game, and we did that so well. We hassled and harried and gave them very little room to do anything meaningful.

I don't actually think Leeds played that badly, yes they made mistakes and lacked a bit of composure with passing at times, but their overall play was actually decent I thought. I think those that saying otherwise are doing a disservice to us. Unlike Sheffield Wednesday, Leeds actually pressed us but instead of it forcing us into nervy mistakes we excelled and managed to get around them with our passing and clever play - this is what a possession game SHOULD be like. Triangles all over the pitch and everyone willing to burst a lung to put themselves in a position to receive a pass. Notice how we didn't play it around the defence aimlessly, only doing so to spread the ball or occasionally to take the sting out of the game.. no real moments of indecision when we got stuck in our own corner.

Al-Habsi 6 - Largely untested but a couple of mistakes which otherwise could very easily resulted in a goal. Thought his distribution was much better.

Gunter 8 - I'm one of Gunter's harshest critics but I thought he was outstanding. The cheer he gave to the east stand after he won that free kick in our box at the end was beautiful. I've often doubted his commitment and desire but yesterday really made me rethink that.

Moore 9 - Kept a striker who will finish the season on over 30 goals in his pocket. Hands down POTS.

Blackett 7 - A couple of standard Blackett moments but by and large they weren't that bad. Overall I thought it was a really good performance from him.

Obita 9 - What a display. Mature and expressed complete competence.

Williams 9 - I thought he was terrific. Brilliant energy as usual but was more clever and decisive than usual, picking the right option at the right time. All round brilliant midfield performance.

Kelly 8 - This guy.. love him. Great passing and link up and such tenacity. If he loses the ball (rarity) he more often than not seems to win it back.

Swift 8 - Getting back to his best following his injury. More so than others he seems such a confidence player, hopefully he goes from strength to strength.

McCleary 7 - Good all round play but needed to be a bit more clinical at times.

Kermorgant 9 - Great vision and link up play, topped off with the match winning goal. Defensively immense as we have come to expect from him.

Beerens 7 - Same as McCleary. Missed a couple of really good chances.

I was very skeptical when Stam made the changes at a time in a game when we were in control but fair play. I thought the subs did their bit. Shout out to Grabban, I have been very critical of him but he was decent yesterday. A couple of times lost possession but was a much better cameo from him. He showed desire and willingness which was pleasing to see, think Stam might have given him a bit of a bollocking after his show at Hillsborough.

Fans were in fairly good voice buoyed on by the big game feel, what was going on in front of them and the Leeds fans. A note on the latter; they travel in numbers and are fairly loud, so why do they let themselves down by throwing bottles and being general gimps?

2 games ago I was enjoying the season and despite thinking we would still finish in the playoffs, accepted that we wouldn't progress as we hadn't demonstrated that we could beat any of the top teams. 6 points and 2 clean sheets against our nearest rivals and I'm starting to think differently. If we play like we played yesterday we are a match for anyone.

Proud Reading fan today.

[CountryRoyal]

Quality performance. We should have won that by more.

MOTM would be a toss up between Moore, Williams & Kermorgant for me but there were many fine performances. All 9/10

Agree - I couldn't pick out a stand out from the lot, Moore for the clean sheet and Kermorgant for the goal, can they share it?

[Victor Meldrew]

Cracking game to watch between 2 teams that are way off Premier League class but are two of the better teams in the Championship (some way, as the points show, behind the biggest team in the south and the biggest in the north )..
Walking and talking on the way back to the car my mate and I both agreed on the game being good value and probably should have been something like 4-2 to us.
Leeds clearly missed their star centre-back and I started thinking back to when we beat Bolton just before the play-offs in 95 and then lost to them at Wembley a few weeks later.
Having said that, I think we are a better all-round side than Leeds and wouldn't fear them in the play-offs-our nemesis Fulham are a much greater concern but one of the others might beat them for us.

With all the weaknesses that we are so aware of we are still long odds-on to be in the play-offs and it is a job not to think about a month or so from now.
Stam really is the man and is matched only IMHO in this division by Wagner at Huddersfield in getting a moderate squad to finish in the top 6-the only criticism would be that his January window signings haven't contributed much (none started yesterday) but there is still time for any of them to play a part before the season ends.

BTW are we now using the p.a. system from Elm Park-yesterday it was grim and the trash music so loud before the game was naff, as is our ring-master and Blue Peter announcer-off the pitch was rubbish, on the pitch uplifting where even Gunter wasn't bad.

[RoyalBlue]

Great result, proved we're up for the fight.

As well as the stamp, Al habsi having not one, not two but three bottles thrown at him from the Leeds end.

Scum of the earth doesn't cut it

"Dirty Leeds"

Great performance by all the starting 11.

Oxford - looked good, even after a headfull of studs.
Grabban - ok at times.
Mutch - ?

Mutch is one of those players who doesn't stand out but is actually very effective. Watched the game through again and he was exactly the type of player we need to see out those types of games. Came on, was physically strong and more than able to stand up to and match the Leeds approach, defended well and helped deal with the aerial bombardment.

[RoyalBlue]

That was fantastic. No footy for three weeks and some shit days at work meant I was really looking forward to it and had that swelling feeling of anxiety all day long. We were brilliant first half. Kelly is a gem. Williams and Swift were just too good for them and at least Yanm took one of the chances. Second half we were also brilliant with backs to the wall defending.

The crowd noise was great and it felt like the last promotion year at times.

I saw the stamp in the hotel afterwards on a big screen. There was a collective gulp of astonishment. Five matches for the the Leeds thug; Blackett could get a three match ban.

Sky's commentary team reviewed it at the time and reckoned it was clumsy rather than intentional, said hand was open and would have been clenched had he meant it - and that from an ex pro who knew how to physically intimidate opponents and dish it out. It was only Leeds fan Danny Mills who tried to use it after the game to balance out Cooper's GBH. However, I suspect the FA will side with the big club and punish Blackett equally. Wouldn't even put it past them to exonerate Cooper and hammer Blackett!

[RoyalBlue]

:lol:

Very disappointing performance and result.

Leeds fans were intimidatingly vocal throughout, drowning out our support which was unusually quiet. Their fans were an absolute credit to their club.

The match was very one-sided, Leeds were all over us from the start. We were very scrappy and the referee was correct to book so many of our players and none of theirs.

Obita had his worst game for a while and Kelly is never going to make it as a professional.

Stam's substitutions were spot-on, I completely see what Grabban brings. Also nice to see Stam's new hair style.

Not looking forward to Blackburn!

+1 Lovely sarcasm SCAIG

I nearly fell for it!

[Lower West]

Couldn`t understand why young Kelly was taken off. he was the best player on the pitch for me.

Tactical. As good as Kelly is. Not effective in the position he was playing yesterday when the game becomes an aerial bombardment. Suffered same fate away at Rotherham earlier in the season after only 20 odd minutes. Stam isn't afraid to change tactics to negate the opposition.

[genome]

Yup. When Leeds start pumping it long trying to get an equaliser, probably not the best idea to have a 5ft 5" midfielder sat in front of the defence.

[marlowuk]

Quality performance. We should have won that by more.

MOTM would be a toss up between Moore, Williams & Kermorgant for me but there were many fine performances.

I agree with that. Williams bossed the game in the first half - best performance from him for a while. Apparently Swift was the official MOTM however. He is certainly playing better now but is still a long way from his pre-injury form. Great through ball to give Beerens a chance in the first half but, in general, he tends to play the safe, easy ball and seldom takes opponents on like he used to.

It felt like we were hanging on in the last half of the second half but, thinking back, I don't think AAH had a save, of any note, to make. It was a great match and a brilliant 3 points. Huddersfield seem to have hit a bad patch and we may even creep up to 3rd although that might mean playing Fulham over 2 legs which I would rather avoid!!

[bobby1413]

Also who's that hot blonde steward in Y26? Always stands at the Concorse entrance.

If my GF hadn't have been with me yesterday I'd have been in there like a rat up a drain pipe

[CountryRoyal]

Also who's that hot blonde steward in Y26? Always stands at the Concorse entrance.

If my GF hadn't have been with me yesterday I'd have been in there like a rat up a drain pipe

Yeah she was peng, I played with her fur.

(on her coat)

[ast58]

Also who's that hot blonde steward in Y26? Always stands at the Concorse entrance.

If my GF hadn't have been with me yesterday I'd have been in there like a rat up a drain pipe

And she'd be interested in you because?

[Ian Royal]

You've got to be spectacularly one eyed to think Leeds deserved a point out of that. We should have had three goals comfortably. And we're quite happy to sit and defend a 1-0 goal lead.

[Lower West]

And we're quite happy to sit and defend a 1-0 goal lead.

For the last 20 minutes we had little choice.......

[CountryRoyal]

And we're quite happy to sit and defend a 1-0 goal lead.

For the last 20 minutes we had little choice.......

Maybe it was the 2 hours sleep, 3 hour plane flight and copious amounts of alcohol... but it didn't feel like we were THAT pegged in.

Might try and find a full download of the game to watch again.