by handbags_harris »
25 Mar 2014 23:46
Resisted the temptation to post over recent months on the basis I felt the views I held were prematurely thought out, with the tide about to turn at any point but I've finally convinced myself that the tide won't turn unless we actually start to play to our strengths.
1) The prime case in point is the back four, or more specifically the centre back pairing. Pearce and Gorkks, let's be frank about it, are bangers and mash defenders yet Adkins wants them to play like caviar and Champagne defenders.
2) Related to the previous point, we have a goalkeeper sat on the bench who is, actually, a bit of a footballer with great distribution. McCarthy, for all his excellent ability, has a quite alarming weakness in his game - his distribution. A major part of the Adkins masterplan is distribution from the back. How many times this season has McCarthy played an abysmally poor pass or throw out from the back to a man who is under pressure?
3) Full backs - all too easily defended at times. Gunter has a habit of making potentially catastrophic errors and will do so at least once a game, and is actually pretty weak in any kind of physical challenge. Obita, while still learning the role (let's give him plenty of time) is easily bypassed at times and allows his man in behind him far too often. Both are good when bombing forward but rarely do we see that particular strength utilised.
4) Midfield - desperately needs a Gylfi-like player just behind the front man that can actually play the role. Drenthe flatters to deceive, McAnuff isn't suited to it, Guthrie is better utilised in a deeper lying role (and isn't exactly fantastic at that either), Blackman just isn't Championship quality despite improving as the season has progressed. Desperately needed, but sadly missing.
5) Strikers - We simply don't have a partnership, and none of the strikers are really suited to the lone striker role. It's not going to change, disjointed and ineffective forward play has blighted our season.
6) There are many Adkins detractors out there, and I am on the turn having been uber-confident at the start of the season simply because after a year in charge we have seen little to no improvement save for a goalscoring blip in January, but are we seriously thinking that we're going to improve when the manager is making players play a game that isn't suited to them which in turn leads to the same f*cking mistakes being made by the same f*cking players every f*cking game?
On to tonight, looking at it from an entirely Reading perspective, it was just another dismal example of disjointed, aimless and generally creativeless football. Playing the way we do, we simply cannot handle teams that press us high and deny us space in our own half, particularly with ponderous liabilities at centre back. Having said that, even under no pressure at times there were basic errors - see Gorkks playing a square ball centrally from the edge of the 18-yard box and playing it out for a corner. Couple that with little or no movement up front or in midfield and suddenly the pattern begins to emerge - it leads to the ball out to the full backs and the hoof up the line or the centre backs play the hoof up to a physically strong but appalling in the air with back to goal Pogrebnyak. Or Le Fondre. We're not actually set up to play that way and so when we do, which invariably happens. we end up looking disjointed and aimless. Tonight it was the second time this season we have been outplayed by one of the poorer teams in the division. I mean no disrespect to Barnsley, but even their most ardent and one-eyed of supporters will understand that after 37 games the table doesn't lie but we were prevented from playing by a well drilled team who had a reasonable amount of Championship ability within their ranks. It's fair to say that they were a tidy outfit, a bit lacking in creative quality but their second goal was an excellent example of passing football that Reading can only dream of playing this season. Their high pressing caused two horrible errors that gifted them the first, and then two quite superb efforts gave them the points that they deserved. The third was a supreme strike but at the same time, Jesus, just stand off him and let him shoot yeah lads? But despite the poor display we still managed to get into some excellent situations - McCleary's run forced Steele into a smothering save, Pogrebnyak through on goal and (questionably) brought down for the penalty, Drenthe getting to the byeline and then producing a horrendous cross, then the same man missed the most guilt-edged chance we had...and that was it then. Barnsley saw the game out disconcertingly comfortably against a team supposedly aspiring for the playoffs.
That is now two wins in ten at home with a goals for/against of F17 A14, but 12 of those goals came in two successive games. Discount those two games and you have F5 A12 over 8 games - that is poor by any standard. The fear is a petering out season ending in midtable (more likely than not on present form) and then a firesale in the summer because quite simply we cannot afford to keep the players we have. Until then, sit back and enjoy the ride. Unfortunately the ride is going to be more the Noddy car in Sainsbury's than Nemesis.
