by Millsy »
21 Sep 2021 13:08
If I'm honest, much as I've been Pauno Out for so long, one thing I have really enjoyed is how dangerous we generally look. I don't think I remember a team that seems to pass around so quickly and cleverly and get forward so quickly.
My biggest issue is that I felt he had a lucky first few games which coincided with Joao and Meite hitting form and that with their injuries he was out of ideas and unable to use Puscas or others in any meaningful way.
This season has really questioned my beliefs. We're really not missing Joao in terms of scoring. Puscas is now seemingly being utilised very effectively, he's made signings and is playing a system that just looks very dangerous. Midfielders are scoring masses of goals, whether it's Ejaria, Swift, TDB, Azeez... it must seem like whack-a-mole for the opposition at the moment - they mark one man out and another pops up to terrorise them.
We can't just brush off the "yeah ok we're doing well in attack" like that's some sort of fluke. Pauno has got us playing like that and it's becoming clear it's NOT a Joao-only thing. If anything the Joao-only mindset might have been setting us back. YES OF COURSE defence is an issue and of course he'll go if he can't sort that out somehow but getting Dann wasn't forced. Persevering with Southwood I'm sure won't be forced, it's a real decision he's going to have to make and my opinion is that this 'injury' to Rafael is BS anyway and there's more to it.. None of his signings or the great attacking way we're playing are forced - that's just Pauno. I honestly can't think of a Reading team in the last few years that has been as attacking and competent going forward as this.
I'm not saying I love Pauno all of a sudden, just that I think it's easy to take all the good stuff for granted. Credit where it's due, he's made us a dangerous team to play against.