Best centre back pairing

[Zip]

I wouldn’t have any concerns if Osho came into the side.

I'm firmly undecided on Osho.

Thought he looked great in the game v Middlesborough last season, but hasn't seemed to kick on since then.

He played really well in that game but has had so few chances since. Didn’t get game time at Bristol Rovers on loan.He will probably be released in the summer which I think is a shame.

[Snowflake Royal]

I'm firmly undecided on Osho.

Thought he looked great in the game v Middlesborough last season, but hasn't seemed to kick on since then.

He played really well in that game but has had so few chances since. Didn’t get game time at Bristol Rovers on loan.He will probably be released in the summer which I think is a shame.

With McIntyre getting established, Odimayo gone and Osho not seemingly making much progress, who else is there? What's the next age group down like and who are they?

What's happened to Holmes?

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[Zip]

Thought he looked great in the game v Middlesborough last season, but hasn't seemed to kick on since then.

He played really well in that game but has had so few chances since. Didn’t get game time at Bristol Rovers on loan.He will probably be released in the summer which I think is a shame.

With McIntyre getting established, Odimayo gone and Osho not seemingly making much progress, who else is there? What's the next age group down like and who are they?

What's happened to Holmes?

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to the thread.

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yeah, don't recall being very impressed by him. But time away may do him a lot of good. Thought he was probably on loan somewhere. Thanks.

[Hendo]

He played really well in that game but has had so few chances since. Didn’t get game time at Bristol Rovers on loan.He will probably be released in the summer which I think is a shame.

With McIntyre getting established, Odimayo gone and Osho not seemingly making much progress, who else is there? What's the next age group down like and who are they?

What's happened to Holmes?

Paging

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and

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to the thread.

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

Isn't Holmes just coming back from injury as well? I think he would be the next one to make the step up.

Tbf to Holmes on that night v ALF, he was thrown a bit in the deep end as a 17 year old against an incredibly experienced striker. I don't think anyone was expecting him to boss that battle.

[Zip]

With McIntyre getting established, Odimayo gone and Osho not seemingly making much progress, who else is there? What's the next age group down like and who are they?

What's happened to Holmes?

Paging and to the thread.

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

Isn't Holmes just coming back from injury as well? I think he would be the next one to make the step up.

Tbf to Holmes on that night v ALF, he was thrown a bit in the deep end as a 17 year old against an incredibly experienced striker. I don't think anyone was expecting him to boss that battle.

He did have a nasty injury Not sure if fit at the moment. I hadn’t heard him on the night he made his debut. It was on a day when I had business trips to Devon and Cornwall so hadn’t planned going to the game until the club informed me I had one the Reading Reward free chef’s meal for two in one of the suite’s, plus free parking etc. Ended up going and drove well over 500 miles that day. Yes agreed though. It was a tough ask for him that night

[Millsy]

Miazga probably the best with his head. Moore probably the best for pace and strength. Morrison best for experience. There's little to separate and so to me it's more a case of the best partnership with other defenders and the keeper i.e. if someone new comes in there'll be just that slight lapse in communication/expectation eg Miazga against Birmingham. We're therefore more likely to go by injuries and availability and only change something if there's a poor performance.

[URZZZZ]

He played really well in that game but has had so few chances since. Didn’t get game time at Bristol Rovers on loan.He will probably be released in the summer which I think is a shame.

With McIntyre getting established, Odimayo gone and Osho not seemingly making much progress, who else is there? What's the next age group down like and who are they?

What's happened to Holmes?

Paging

.

and

.

to the thread.

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

Agreed

But to be fair, Osho was 20 when he made his appearance against Boro, whereas Holmes was only 17

[John Smith]

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

Incredibly harsh assessment.

[South Coast Royal]

Not sure about Osho or McIntyre as yet.
Morrison and Miazga for now and nameless you say about Morrison's poor passing but what about Moore?
Since that first season I think Moore has gone downhill and is still a great blocker of shots but the rest of his game for some time has not been good enough IMHO.

[Nameless]

Not sure about Osho or McIntyre as yet.
Morrison and Miazga for now and nameless you say about Morrison's poor passing but what about Moore?
Since that first season I think Moore has gone downhill and is still a great blocker of shots but the rest of his game for some time has not been good enough IMHO.

Moore is better on the ball than Morrison. He either passes it quicker or has the confidence to hold it and wait for a decent pass to open up. He also is happy to put his head down and charge upfield with the ball if the opening is there which Morrison is less keen to do.
In terms of the youngsters McIntyre is way ahead of Osho and I’d be happy to see him starting. He’s still learning but that learning needs to happen in matches now. His ability will carry him through the odd mistake (and none of our other CB’s are error free). Him and Miazaga would be a very good long term partnership.

[South Coast Royal]

As I said, I'll reserve judgement on both Osho and McIntyre in the hope that they progress.
Osho looks a confident ball-playing centre-back, quite quick but may lack a physical presence for the position.
McIntyre again isn't the biggest and to me looks a bit awkward.
Time will tell for both.

I really can't agree with you about Moore.
He does indeed make the occasional surge forward and then checks back and passes square to Morrison, abdicating responsibility.
His long-passing is just as bad as Morrison's IMHO and I would much sooner both of them gave the ball quickly to those that can pass the ball, in particular Swift ,rather than just fanny around and eventually play a hit-and-hope long ball in the general direction of the front men with no great accuracy.

[URZZZZ]

As I said, I'll reserve judgement on both Osho and McIntyre in the hope that they progress.
Osho looks a confident ball-playing centre-back, quite quick but may lack a physical presence for the position.
McIntyre again isn't the biggest and to me looks a bit awkward.
Time will tell for both.

I really can't agree with you about Moore.
He does indeed make the occasional surge forward and then checks back and passes square to Morrison, abdicating responsibility.
His long-passing is just as bad as Morrison's IMHO and I would much sooner both of them gave the ball quickly to those that can pass the ball, in particular Swift ,rather than just fanny around and eventually play a hit-and-hope long ball in the general direction of the front men with no great accuracy.

Agreed here

Moore has always played at a relatively low tempo whilst on the ball. Build up play from the back needs to be quick if you want to play possession football, yet with Moore being a mainstay at the back for a few years now, the football has been rather stale for the majority of it

[Zip]

As I said, I'll reserve judgement on both Osho and McIntyre in the hope that they progress.
Osho looks a confident ball-playing centre-back, quite quick but may lack a physical presence for the position.
McIntyre again isn't the biggest and to me looks a bit awkward.
Time will tell for both.

I really can't agree with you about Moore.
He does indeed make the occasional surge forward and then checks back and passes square to Morrison, abdicating responsibility.
His long-passing is just as bad as Morrison's IMHO and I would much sooner both of them gave the ball quickly to those that can pass the ball, in particular Swift ,rather than just fanny around and eventually play a hit-and-hope long ball in the general direction of the front men with no great accuracy.

Agreed here

Moore has always played at a relatively low tempo whilst on the ball. Build up play from the back needs to be quick if you want to play possession football, yet with Moore being a mainstay at the back for a few years now, the football has been rather stale for the majority of it

Yes Moore has been slow on the ball too but he seems less hesitant than Morrison.

[Snowflake Royal]

Moore is better on the ball than Morrison, but I think Morrison is more aware of his limitations than Moore.

Moore has a tendency to surge forward 10 yards and then stop because there is nothing on and he's painted himself into a corner, whereas Morro is more likely to just play safe and go long.

[Nameless]

Moore is better on the ball than Morrison, but I think Morrison is more aware of his limitations than Moore.

Moore has a tendency to surge forward 10 yards and then stop because there is nothing on and he's painted himself into a corner, whereas Morro is more likely to just play safe and go long.

In a shock move I tend to see it differently !
Moore will drop his shoulder and push forward (always much more than 10 yards, he usually hits the half way line). He’s looking to change the shape of the opposition and inevitably he’s going to lay the ball off but when he does so it should have created more options for them midfield.
Morrison doesn’t have that option, he often gets closed in in the corner and a long punt at that point is not the safe option, it’s giving the ball to the opposition !
Being aware of your limitations isn’t well and good but if you struggle to overcome those limitations it’s a problem.
As I said ages ago it’s really not Morrison’s fault, he’s more than worth his place in the side for the positive things he brings and he’s not a complete muppet on the ball. The issue is that other teams play on the fact that he’s not as quick or accurate with his pacing as the other players and you can isolate him. We need to find a tactic to avoid this happening.

[SCIAG]

With McIntyre getting established, Odimayo gone and Osho not seemingly making much progress, who else is there? What's the next age group down like and who are they?

What's happened to Holmes?

Paging and to the thread.

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

Isn't Holmes just coming back from injury as well? I think he would be the next one to make the step up.

Tbf to Holmes on that night v ALF, he was thrown a bit in the deep end as a 17 year old against an incredibly experienced striker. I don't think anyone was expecting him to boss that battle.

I thought Holmes did OK that match, Alf didn’t threaten the goal. I think he’s a slightly better player than Odimayo but not as good as Osho or certainly McIntyre.

The Belgian loan, as you say, doesn’t seem to have gone too well for a number of reasons including injury.

Holmes’s father is a professor at Imperial College. My understanding is that Tom has two science A Levels and that combined with his football career will probably be enough to get him a university place. So if he does get released, which looks likely, he has a back-up plan.

I don’t know very much about players younger than Holmes and Odimayo. I don’t rate Burley or Balogun. Bowen seems to rate that Dorsett chap quite highly so I guess he’s next in line.

[Snowflake Royal]

Ooo I though Burley looked decent when he got some game time. Forgot about him.

[Hendo]

Holmes is on a season long loan in Belgium. I was less impressed by him. Felt he was a bit too slow and struggled to contain ALF on the night he made his debut.

Isn't Holmes just coming back from injury as well? I think he would be the next one to make the step up.

Tbf to Holmes on that night v ALF, he was thrown a bit in the deep end as a 17 year old against an incredibly experienced striker. I don't think anyone was expecting him to boss that battle.

I thought Holmes did OK that match, Alf didn’t threaten the goal. I think he’s a slightly better player than Odimayo but not as good as Osho or certainly McIntyre.

The Belgian loan, as you say, doesn’t seem to have gone too well for a number of reasons including injury.

Holmes’s father is a professor at Imperial College. My understanding is that Tom has two science A Levels and that combined with his football career will probably be enough to get him a university place. So if he does get released, which looks likely, he has a back-up plan.

I don’t know very much about players younger than Holmes and Odimayo. I don’t rate Burley or Balogun. Bowen seems to rate that Dorsett chap quite highly so I guess he’s next in line.

IIRC, ALF had about 3 or 4 shots early on that really did threaten the goal. One was a glaring miss, and going by the match report, he actually scored, so I would say that was a pretty decent threat to the goal!!

https://www.royals.org/matdoc/060318.html

Also...

Kelly played an uncharacteristically sloppy pass to present Le Fondre with a golden opportunity to open the scoring. Much to everyone’s relief (not least Kelly) the former Reading favourite put his shot over the bar.