BFT - I don’t know what to call it

[Muskrat]

Abject. Again. Aluko should never play for the club again but the problem runs so much deeper.

Relegation is more than just a possibility, for me it's now probable. And consecutive ones is not beyond the realms of possibility if this apparent mismanagement of the club continues.

Clement got the team selection wrong and the way we set up was like the away team with one up top and a defensive midfielder in front of the back four in a 4-1-4-1 line up. Are we really that scared of playing QPR at home that we have to set ourselves up like that?

Feel sorry for Clement and the shambles that has inherited but he can't go on making fundamental errors in team selection and tactical set up. Still think he could get us up the table though if he learns from recent mistakes and takes a bolder approach.

[Coppells Lost Coat]

Clement got the team selection wrong and the way we set up was like the away team with one up top and a defensive midfielder in front of the back four in a 4-1-4-1 line up. Are we really that scared of playing QPR at home that we have to set ourselves up like that?

Think the formation was right tbh. Just the personnel was so wrong.
Aluko just does not work anyway near hard enough and it really does have a knock on effect through the team. Kelly is too limited and very much out of form, Barrow was ineffectual (until Swift come on)
Need to stop treating the players like glass - if they are fit enough to be on the bench then they should be fit enough to start. I bet Swift and Sims wanted to start.

[Sutekh]

General Issues last night

1. Dreadful team selection.

2. Kelly works hard and buzzes about all over the place and gets involved but he doesn't achieve much. There's something wrong, therefore, with what he is being asked to do or he's just not good enough in this system.

3. Meite is a trier, he works hard and gives every ounce of effort. Unlike with Kelly there is some purpose to it but his end product is generally lacking. In his favour though he is not being helped by players around him failing to take risks and feed off the number of times he successfully win the a header or gets a flick on

4. Bacuna is frustratingly inconsistent. Far too many mis-hit passes and being out of position.

5. Aluko. Like everyone I am completely mystified why he was brought to the club, what he's meant to add to the team or understand anything remotely good about his game. He needs to be dropped to the bench and only surface for the last 30 minutes of games when he might be able to turn a tiring defender.

6. At home against a not good QPR team and yet there was no passion, no desire. All the stuff they did against Hull went out of the window. Playing at home with only 1 forward doesn't help and then the team doesn't seem to defend high enough up the pitch at the right times and are therefore always struggling to keep opponents off their backs.

[tee peg]

The issue of cramp at Brentford signals a lack of fitness.Its a joke that our top striker is injured in the warm up.
Regarding Injuries.I wonder how our record compares to other clubs?

[Hound]

The issue of cramp at Brentford signals a lack of fitness.Its a joke that our top striker is injured in the warm up.
Regarding Injuries.I wonder how our record compares to other clubs?

probably quite similar. We don't have loads of people out at the moment. Just some of the good ones.

[muirinho]

I generally feel it's the players on the pitch that should get the blame, rather than the manager, but last night it was mostly Clement I was raging about.

(1) Aluko is abysmal. If he was been given another chance, then that chance should have ended at half-time

(2) Kelly was nearly as bad as Aluko. Should have been subbed much earlier. I understand with Swift's injury record being careful with him, but there was so much more happening on the pitch when he was on.

(3) Gunter is pretty much the same on the left as he is on the right. Yiadom is not great on the left. If that's who you are picking as the fullbacks, then why on earth is Yiadom being played on the left?

(4) Sims didn't play a full game on Saturday, surely it would have made sense to start him.

(5) The "set up" is for wingers - but our wingers don't flipping cross. They try to bring the ball in to a crowded area, and lose it. What's wrong with putting in a few crosses, for crying out loud? Are they being told not to? I'm guessing Yiadom isn't crossing because he's on the wrong side, but that's Clement's fault too.

(6) Barrow was continually following the ball rather than the runners in defence. So he's ineffectually trying to help out Yiadom, gets in the way there, and ends up leaving someone else roaming totally free. He was doing that all game against Brentford as well. If I can see it, why didn't Clement? Is he being told to double up? Mind you, the less said about Aluko's defensive work the better, at least Barrow was sort of trying.

It wasn't as bad as Norwich, but in a way it was more frustrating, because what was wrong was down to wrong decisions and set-up rather than feeling the players weren't up to it or bothered. They were trying. (Actually I think Ezatolahi was trying a bit too hard - hence the penalty dive, and the wildly off-target shot in the first half when he should have passed instead)

[Sutekh]

I generally feel it's the players on the pitch that should get the blame, rather than the manager, but last night it was mostly Clement I was raging about.

(1) Aluko is abysmal. If he was been given another chance, then that chance should have ended at half-time

(2) Kelly was nearly as bad as Aluko. Should have been subbed much earlier. I understand with Swift's injury record being careful with him, but there was so much more happening on the pitch when he was on.

(3) Gunter is pretty much the same on the left as he is on the right. Yiadom is not great on the left. If that's who you are picking as the fullbacks, then why on earth is Yiadom being played on the left?

(4) Sims didn't play a full game on Saturday, surely it would have made sense to start him.

(5) The "set up" is for wingers - but our wingers don't flipping cross. They try to bring the ball in to a crowded area, and lose it. What's wrong with putting in a few crosses, for crying out loud? Are they being told not to? I'm guessing Yiadom isn't crossing because he's on the wrong side, but that's Clement's fault too.

(6) Barrow was continually following the ball rather than the runners in defence. So he's ineffectually trying to help out Yiadom, gets in the way there, and ends up leaving someone else roaming totally free. He was doing that all game against Brentford as well. If I can see it, why didn't Clement? Is he being told to double up? Mind you, the less said about Aluko's defensive work the better, at least Barrow was sort of trying.

It wasn't as bad as Norwich, but in a way it was more frustrating, because what was wrong was down to wrong decisions and set-up rather than feeling the players weren't up to it or bothered. They were trying. (Actually I think Ezatolahi was trying a bit too hard - hence the penalty dive, and the wildly off-target shot in the first half when he should have passed instead)

Re: Swift. Really need proper cover for him. Wasn't that why Reading were after that bloke from Swansea? There's obviously no-one ready from the Academy for that position. Suggest this should be the priority acquisition in January.

Gunter played well last night I thought. Every so often he does turn up for a game. Personally though I'd play him on the left and put Yiadom back on the right. Longer term let's hope Obita proves he's still well capable as a left back and he gets back in there. Blackett has actually improved under Clement so play him on the left now his hamstring's supposedly better though and Gunter to the bench.

Sims or Aluko? Sorry does the manager really need make a choice there. Sims contributes defensively and is more direct going forward isn't that enough?

[Hound]

Also thought Gunter was a lot better last night. Saw PC really get on at him to get forward a few times. I think being dropped has done him a lot of good

Agree on the Swift backup.

Did you see Yiadom's attempted left foot cross, where he tripped over his feet and ball trickled out off him after hitting the first defender. That in one move showed exactly why he should be on the right. He has a crap left foot

[Hopeful]

I am starting to wonder whether the Gunter / Yiadom debate has more to do with who is in front of them?

If we recognise Barrow tracks back a little more than Aluko (not that much more from what I have seen), and that Barrow drives forward attacking the opposition RB more whereas Aluko likes to cut inside and use his left foot, I think Gunter is more suited to running beyond Aluko, so that pairing is (horribly/unfortunately) more natural.

One may argue Gunter is more experienced that Yiadom, so Clement puts him behind a defensively weaker winger.

I have been a huge fan of Gunter in previous years, but admit his form has been woeful of late - seems to have not got out of the Stam way of playing, however, like others have said I thought last night he did a little more than 'OK', and worked well with Sims.
I think where Gunter was 7/10 in recent seasons was because of GMac in front of him. He now has Aluko so he has 2 jobs to do.

Finally, we seem to play 4-1-4-1 (even at home), yet the number of crosses does not reflect that formation.
I also think Aluko and Barrow would naturally fit into a 4-3-3, as opposed to 4-1-4-1.
Sims on the other hand tries to get to byline as fast as he can and put a cross in, hence fitting into the formation.

[Zip]

lol at people expecting a team who have been consistently and utterly awful for ages to suddenly turn it around and win every game playing attractive football.
It will be two baby steps forward and 1 baby step back for most of this season. don't get too ahead of ourselves when we win, don't go doolally metal when we lose.

Nope that’s untrue. I do though expect the team to turn up looking motivated and being more organised that a youth team(reference our continuing dreadful marking at corners).

team that has looked unmotivated and looking disorganised not suddenly becoming completely motivated and organised after a couple of good results

I would expect a team of highly paid professional footballers to be able to master the simple of task of marking an opponent at our near post from a corner. It’s not too much to ask.

[LWJ]

Anyone know why we insist on playing a left footed player on the right wing, and a right footed player on the left wing? I wouldn't mind if they switched every so often................... or were decent on their weaker foot.

[Old Man Andrews]

Anyone know why we insist on playing a left footed player on the right wing, and a right footed player on the left wing? I wouldn't mind if they switched every so often................... or were decent on their weaker foot.

Not certain but I believe it is just for the LULZ.

[Hound]

Anyone know why we insist on playing a left footed player on the right wing, and a right footed player on the left wing? I wouldn't mind if they switched every so often................... or were decent on their weaker foot.

Barrow is left footed

Agree on RW though. But then think it’s a case of just squeezing Aluko in somewhere. Don’t think there is any real thought behind it

[leon]

Anyone know why we insist on playing a left footed player on the right wing, and a right footed player on the left wing? I wouldn't mind if they switched every so often................... or were decent on their weaker foot.

Barrow is left footed

Agree on RW though. But then think it’s a case of just squeezing Aluko in somewhere. Don’t think there is any real thought behind it

Whoahhh hold on. Is Aluko LEFT footed?

[Hound]

Allegedly

[Sanguine]

One positive (I think) is that in terms of technical ability, Ezatolahi looks about 6 divisions better than any of his team mates.

[Zip]

Can someone educate me on this new tactic of defending corners by having all 11 players in or on the edge of the penalty area, even when we're level or trailing? I could understand it if we were defending a lead but we're doing it right from the start of matches. Being Reading, of course, we're adding a new twist to the tactic whereby all 11 players stand rigidly still and watch the opposition create space and win free headers. QPR's goal came after a succession of corners and free kicks from which we learned nothing and let one of their players come short to flick-on completely unmarked.
Defending set pieces is basic stuff - if you're going to coach them to all come back for every corner then at least coach them to mark opposition players and not space.
Another noticeable tactical difference last night (particularly in the first half) - QPR chased us down incessantly all over the pitch, using 2 or 3 players to hassle us, so when the ball came loose, there was one of theirs on hand to pick it up. We did neither; no pressure on them when they had the ball, especially when they were in their own half, and when we did challenge, it was with one player so no chance of picking up second balls.
Kelly also guilty of bottling challenges - counted at least 3 times he backed out last night.

Also, I've heard of other teams fining players that got cramp within 90 minutes. This is a matter of fitness and so it's down to our training regime that we had players 'cramping up' at the end of the Brentford game.

Apart from your final paragraph about cramp which I am unsure about the rest of your post is spot on. The lack of pressure on the ball in the first half was abject. I have been banging on about our poor marking at corners for a while now. It was a matter of time before we were punished for it.

[Snowflake Royal]

On 87 minutes Moore slowly brings the ball out of defence before playing a sideways pass. The ball is then passed forward then back again and then sideways again. Were we 1 up at the time?

Defenders don't do this for no reason. QPR had sat back and packed their final third and had no intention of coming out to press. They'd squeezed the size of the pitch they were defending and our players were tired. There were very few passing options for Moore that didn't risk a turnover and counter attack because of tight marking in numbers, no space and a lack of movement.


For your earlier question to TF about Clement, I'd back him if we get relegated because I don't think the manager is a major part of the problem and our record shows we won't hire anyone better. Even if we do, the players, medical team and recruitment are the main problem so they'll have the same problems as Clement.

Clement, like the team, look lost.

An actual manager would never pick Gunter and Alluko in the same team.

And for all those saying the reaction is over the top - we have 9 points from 11 games. Isn’t after 10 games when you get a picture of how things are going?

I think we had an excellent idea after six. I don't disagree with what you say, but what makes you think we'd recruit anyone who would do different?
Clarke - piss all experience, played Gunter
Stam - piss all experience, bought Aluko and played him and Gunter
Clement - piss all experience and plays Aluko and Gunter, although at least with Gunter he's made an effort to give himself more options.

Most the managers around with experience are serial failures.

[leon]

Defenders don't do this for no reason. QPR had sat back and packed their final third and had no intention of coming out to press. They'd squeezed the size of the pitch they were defending and our players were tired. There were very few passing options for Moore that didn't risk a turnover and counter attack because of tight marking in numbers, no space and a lack of movement.


For your earlier question to TF about Clement, I'd back him if we get relegated because I don't think the manager is a major part of the problem and our record shows we won't hire anyone better. Even if we do, the players, medical team and recruitment are the main problem so they'll have the same problems as Clement.

Clement, like the team, look lost.

An actual manager would never pick Gunter and Alluko in the same team.

And for all those saying the reaction is over the top - we have 9 points from 11 games. Isn’t after 10 games when you get a picture of how things are going?

I think we had an excellent idea after six. I don't disagree with what you say, but what makes you think we'd recruit anyone who would do different?
Clarke - piss all experience, played Gunter
Stam - piss all experience, bought Aluko and played him and Gunter
Clement - piss all experience and plays Aluko and Gunter, although at least with Gunter he's made an effort to give himself more options.

Most the managers around with experience are serial failures.

Inexperience hasn’t served us well in the past 3 appointments but we don’t want experience because experienced managers are mostly shit?

I don’t understand your point please elaborate.

[Top Flight]

Fortunately Snowflake isn't in charge of recruitment.