Excitement v boredom.

Millsy
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Excitement v boredom.

by Millsy » 25 Nov 2021 15:02

Lots has been said on other threads about Pauno in, Pauno Out, shake it all about, relegation etc etc and all valid points to be fair. Some like me have changed sides and there'll be more side-changing I'm sure as things develop.

But here's an observation that I think is relevant and I want people to think about. ONE of the reasons I went from being vehemently anti-Pauno last season (when most people were still blinded by the first few handful of games) to being PRO-Pauno (for the time being) after what I've seen this season is that I genuinely enjoy watching his sides play even when we lose.

I wanted to start this thread when we had only ONE draw - lower than any other team in the division. Now as I write this though we have TWO, but still lower than anyone in this division. And it only went up to 2 in a match where we threw everything at them and could have won - or spectacularly lost it.

My point is the reason we have so few draws is we play exciting football. We either win.. or we cock up and we lose. Rarely do we play boring slow crap stuff (Sheff Utd excepted) where we can only expect a draw. We pass around the back, invite the press, create space further up then try to exploit that space.

Yes it's scary and I've criticised it in another thread, but it's also - to me at least - exciting. Sometimes we cockup and have Moore/Drinkwater/Holmes moments where we lose the ball and concede. But a lot of the time it opens up chances or moments of brilliance by Hal/Swift/Ejaria etc

Some of you will say we have good form or bad form, and that is a valid other way of looking at it too. But to me it's just how we play - risky but we either get thumped or thump someone.

Yes we pass it round the back and yes we don't use wingers so in that sense it might look like Stamball, but it couldn't be any more different. Stamball was passing it around the back ad nauseam and no plan other than hope something happens at some point. With us there seems to be much more purpose now - pass it around, play dangerously, but hope our better quicker technical skills on the ball shine through.

What all this means is when we lose we look shite, and when we win we look exciting.

So the question of this thread isn't are you Pauno in or Pauno out, or do you think we'll get relegated - we're doing those to death. MY Q is: what do you want? Do you want a team who lives dangerously, rarely gets any draws and gets wins or losses? Or a team that plays like Italy of old, or Stamball?

Mathematically going for the win makes much more sense of course in a 3-for-a-win system so there should be no argument, but also it just seems so much more exciting for me. If you go with this system, just accept sometimes we'll make cockups. High win/high risk/high loss. But low draws.

TLDR: We have the lowest number of draws in the division. This is because we play risky all or nothing football. It is exciting even if we lose. I like it. Do you?
Last edited by Millsy on 26 Nov 2021 00:36, edited 4 times in total.

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Zip
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Zip » 25 Nov 2021 15:06

What’s exciting about it? We rarely play with pace, create few chances, take an age to get the ball into advanced positions and are barely able to manage any sustained periods of pressure in any game.

We do have some talented players but often their best work is done on or around the halfway line which doesn’t end up hurting the opposition.

Not for me.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Hound » 25 Nov 2021 15:17

When we play it well, its exciting and enjoyable to watch. Forest was good fun, Stoke, enjoyed the Barnsley game, QPR was great, Preston, other halves of football here and there

Too often we just play negatively though, Sheff utd being the nadir, but plenty of others fall into that.

It doesn't look anything much like Stam ball to me, where keeping possession was the be all and end all. We don't do that, and I guess we are prob less than 50% on the possession stats this year. I just don't see the comparison.

We are lacking a cutting edge certainly and lack the ability to create chances consistently. Constantly turn the ball over in midfield, do play too narrow. Seemed to have driven all the flair out of Ovie. Lack any conviction when we do go wide.

On my lists of moans though, being boring isn't one of them really. Not all the time anyway

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Lower West
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Lower West » 25 Nov 2021 15:58

Millsy My point is the reason we have so few draws is we play exciting football.


Kamikazee in my book doesn't count as exciting.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by SCIAG » 25 Nov 2021 16:27

I think Stamball gets an unfair reputation. When we had McCleary on one wing, Beerens or Barrow on the other and a proper striker through the middle we looked really good. People make out like he was the second coming of Brendan Rodgers but his Reading team were much more progressive than Rodgers’. Definitely preferred Stam to his three successors, or predecessors for that matter. And if draws are your metric, we only drew 7 in that first season, one more than Huddersfield, second in the league.

I found us exciting to watch when we had Joao plus at least two of Ejaria, Olise, Swift and Meite. I don’t really find us exciting to watch at the moment. Swift and Drinkwater are the only players who give me that sense of anticipation. If Puscas and Ejaria were at their respective bests then it would be another matter- if Puscas had five goals to his name we’d probably be in the top half and everyone would be much more cheerful.


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Snowflake Royal
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Snowflake Royal » 25 Nov 2021 19:39

Zip What’s exciting about it? We rarely play with pace, create few chances, take an age to get the ball into advanced positions and are barely able to manage any sustained periods of pressure in any game.

We do have some talented players but often their best work is done on or around the halfway line which doesn’t end up hurting the opposition.

Not for me.

When we play well it's good. But we only do that in about 30% of games. And Tuesday was the most insipid display of football I've seen since Stam

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CountryRoyal
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by CountryRoyal » 25 Nov 2021 19:47

The excitement for me is a couple of hours before kick off. Come 3pm or 8pm it’s instantly squashed by us starting on the back foot, Ejaria trying to beat 4 men on the edge of our penalty box and our captain filming a segment to teach young players how NOT to defend.

By and large it’s the same shit week in week out and it’s so monotonously predictable.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by windermereROYAL » 25 Nov 2021 19:47

A long drawn out post that I didn`t have the patience to finish, sorry millsy , if I missed the point then sorry, but I need to ask one simple question.
When was the last time you walked out of the ground thinking we really played well? I`m stumped for one.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Millsy » 26 Nov 2021 00:33

windermereROYAL A long drawn out post that I didn`t have the patience to finish, sorry millsy , if I missed the point then sorry, but I need to ask one simple question.
When was the last time you walked out of the ground thinking we really played well? I`m stumped for one.


Sorry for the wordiness. A therapeutic distraction from shitloads of stress atm, my bad.

Just pointing out that we've had the fewest draws in the division which is in keeping with what I perceive to be dangerous yet exciting play that leads to either great victories or disappointing defeats, rarely a draw.

Q: do we prefer this up and down excitement over safe consistent boredom?

I think we played well a few times but I know I've found watching the games exciting even if we've not played well and even if we've lost.


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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Sutekh » 26 Nov 2021 12:48

windermereROYAL A long drawn out post that I didn`t have the patience to finish, sorry millsy , if I missed the point then sorry, but I need to ask one simple question.
When was the last time you walked out of the ground thinking we really played well? I`m stumped for one.


Sheffield United at home - the FA Cup game a couple of seasons ago that is!

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by royalp-we » 26 Nov 2021 13:04

Thump or be thumped? I can’t remember the last time Reading thumped someone Millsy :lol:

The other week we went through a period of something like 1 shot on target in 3 matches.

I’m finding it hard to take this post seriously tbh.

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CountryRoyal
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by CountryRoyal » 26 Nov 2021 15:16

Millsy TLDR: We have the lowest number of draws in the division. This is because we play risky all or nothing football. It is exciting even if we lose. I like it. Do you?


We categorically do not play all or nothing football. We are timid and cautious, reactionary and a bit clueless. The last thing I would ever describe this team as is gung ho or “all or nothing”.

The fact we have the least draws is a matter more of coincidence, rather than causation. I would argue that we generally struggle to pull ourselves back into games from losing positions.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Hound » 26 Nov 2021 16:20

CountryRoyal
Millsy TLDR: We have the lowest number of draws in the division. This is because we play risky all or nothing football. It is exciting even if we lose. I like it. Do you?


We categorically do not play all or nothing football. We are timid and cautious, reactionary and a bit clueless. The last thing I would ever describe this team as is gung ho or “all or nothing”.

The fact we have the least draws is a matter more of coincidence, rather than causation. I would argue that we generally struggle to pull ourselves back into games from losing positions.


yep in the CR camp on that one. Definitely not gung-ho


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Snowflake Royal
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Snowflake Royal » 26 Nov 2021 18:28

Not exciting. They aren’t 6 goal thrillers. For the most part they're dour slug fests lacking in quality with a bunch of oxf*rd ups.

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Lower West
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Lower West » 26 Nov 2021 20:05

Reading rank 9th in the division retaining the ball 50.4%.

22nd in terms of shots with 9.8 per game.

6th in terms of passages of play with more than 10 passes.

4.2 shots from outside the box - 12th

Joint bottom 0.4 shots from within the 6 yard box

17th for shots inside the box with 5.3

33% possession in own defensive third highest in the division

24% in oppositions attacking third lowest in the division

We've seen it with our own eyes. This is boredom football.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by percy_freeman » 26 Nov 2021 21:17

Never Boredom watching Reading. Post should be Excitement v Frustration.

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Sutekh
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Sutekh » 27 Nov 2021 10:32

Lower West Reading rank 9th in the division retaining the ball 50.4%.

22nd in terms of shots with 9.8 per game.

6th in terms of passages of play with more than 10 passes.

4.2 shots from outside the box - 12th

Joint bottom 0.4 shots from within the 6 yard box

17th for shots inside the box with 5.3

33% possession in own defensive third highest in the division

24% in oppositions attacking third lowest in the division

We've seen it with our own eyes. This is boredom football.


The Chronicle expands on this a bit below

https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news ... eading-fc/

Personally think the most damning stat is the 24% possession in attacking third and strikers with stats showing most touches / possession in the middle of the park.

It’s dull in the extreme to watch a club that uses less than a quarter of its total possession in its attacking third of the pitch.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by South Coast Royal » 27 Nov 2021 11:41

Having played in midfield I do enjoy the intricate passing going forward and admire the first touch of those playing in midfield.

However, passing around at the back creating only ball retention (often ending up with a hoof forward) and creating so few chances up front is boring.
So, on balance I find us more boring than exciting and we are miles away from being an "all-or-nothing Barry Fry type gung-ho" side.

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Zip
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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Zip » 27 Nov 2021 12:09

Lower West Reading rank 9th in the division retaining the ball 50.4%.

22nd in terms of shots with 9.8 per game.

6th in terms of passages of play with more than 10 passes.

4.2 shots from outside the box - 12th

Joint bottom 0.4 shots from within the 6 yard box

17th for shots inside the box with 5.3

33% possession in own defensive third highest in the division

24% in oppositions attacking third lowest in the division

We've seen it with our own eyes. This is boredom football.



Yep this very much sums up my match day experience. It’s why I want Pauno gone. Fed up with watching football that just isn’t going to be successful in the Championship.

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Re: Excitement v boredom.

by Snowflake Royal » 27 Nov 2021 12:31

Are we reaching new poll territory here?

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