BFTG Villa

[blueroyals]

Interestingly Ali Al Habsi's initials are the noise I make whenever he receives the ball

[bobby1413]

Gunter was terrible last night. I thought he'd been a bit better recently but he was truly awful yesterday. Just let his man run past him so many times, including the first goal.

Beerens is clearly a Stam favourite. Will he ever be dropped or subbed? The new Jobi McAnuff?

And why bring on Gravenberch to play centre forward rather than try Samuel for the last 5 minutes? Very strange.

Gunter looks tired to me, maybe he needs a break or is not 100% fit.

[JIM]

Most annoying thing, We lost to a reserve team who are at least 10 places below us,
Father Christmas came early this year, Give away points the Reading way is alive,
I suspect Rotherham will be next for a hand out,
When will the mentality change, MISTER NICE GUY MUST GO

[John Madejski's Wallet]

I get the feeling we're really hard to beat, and usually win, if we take the lead... but really really struggle if we go behind. Because of our obvious lack of goals and slightly ponderous and uncertain build up..

Isn't that the exact same problem we've had under all our recent managers that have wanted to play possession football out from the back. It means a total lack of urgency when chasing a game and usually going out with a whimper. All too familiar since we dropped back down

[Ian Royal]

I get the feeling we're really hard to beat, and usually win, if we take the lead... but really really struggle if we go behind. Because of our obvious lack of goals and slightly ponderous and uncertain build up..

Isn't that the exact same problem we've had under all our recent managers that have wanted to play possession football out from the back. It means a total lack of urgency when chasing a game and usually going out with a whimper. All too familiar since we dropped back down

I think the problems have been quite different and the different managers have had different approaches. It's not like there's only one type of possession football.

Adkins didn't get near the support of Clarke or Stam and was screwed by owners. His brand of passing football wasn't the same.

Clarke's certainly wasn't either. And McDermott got left with the shitty end of a stick.

Stam is the only one who seems to have had a clear vision and philosophy and plan to implement it from the start. He's brought in a defender to give us the opportunity to play from the back when historically we haven't really had that base. I don't really agree with the split the CB ethos, or Stam's system of having two such wide forwards supporting the striker. I prefer them narrower... the one thing I liked under Clarke.

There's clearly a goal issue, but Stam was never going to address everything in one window. I fear we may easily slip back into a funk and getting the right striker could be nigh impossible. But I don't think our problems now have the same causes at all, even if they may have the same symptom of lack of penetration and goals. But, it's much much easier being positive when I'm no longer wasting and entire day of my weekend to watch 90 minutes of dissapointment every other week.

I don't have the best view of the situation and I'm not trying to comment on individual games, just what I see, what people report and on results.

[ladida_gunner_graham]

...to give us the opportunity to play from the back....

The problem so far is that we don't play from the back we play at the back.

[Sutekh]

I get the feeling we're really hard to beat, and usually win, if we take the lead... but really really struggle if we go behind. Because of our obvious lack of goals and slightly ponderous and uncertain build up..

Isn't that the exact same problem we've had under all our recent managers that have wanted to play possession football out from the back. It means a total lack of urgency when chasing a game and usually going out with a whimper. All too familiar since we dropped back down

Actually thought Stam had cracked that as after the usual drab, dull, insipid, going nowhere first half the players came out with much more drive and enthusiasm and purpose and more than matched Villa and should have won but for the usual lack of a goalscorer and lack of substitutions to replace obviously tired looking players.

Consequently feel a bit more upset about the team and prospects after that than the usual malaise that has been setting in after other performances.

[No Fixed Abode]

Here's something to cheer you up this morning in case you haven't seen it.

https://www.facebook.com/paddypower/vid ... 463199914/

[stealthpapes]

yeah, that is good.

[muirinho]

...to give us the opportunity to play from the back....

The problem so far is that we don't play from the back we play at the back.

Sometimes we do, and sometimes we don't. Part of the problem is that in order to create space it requires very patient passing to create the space. If any of those passes are risky, the crowd gets restless, and sometimes that makes the players panicky, and they boot it forward when there's no space to pass it into. Or it's not risky at all, but it is boring, and the crowd gets restless, with similar results. So it fails. And other times, the final pass forward into space goes awry. Because, you know, we have a back 4 that is worth, tops £3 million. Not £30 million. And of course you have the problem that the midfield isn't very good always at finding that space. Especially Danny Williams (hey, if you can have Gunter as a permanent scapegoat, I can have Danny. )

I do think, seriously, that we are getting better at it. And the problem isn't the back 4, it's further up the pitch. But I'm kind of dreading Rotherham, because of the miserable run they've been on - it would be entirely predictable if we, yet again, are the catalysts for the breaking of a terrible run.

[Norfolk Royal]

Chris Gunter in giving his assessment of the Villa game on the OS: '“Sometimes results can affect people’s thinking of how it went'

That is true Chris.

Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... hVwtdHV.99

[Maneki Neko]

...to give us the opportunity to play from the back....

The problem so far is that we don't play from the back we play at the back.

pretty much spread between the thirds on Tuesday. imo

[Maneki Neko]

Chris Gunter in giving his assessment of the Villa game on the OS: '“Sometimes results can affect people’s thinking of how it went'

That is true Chris.

Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... hVwtdHV.99

fine margins.
hes correct, and its an important point.
we were very close to getting the draw, everyone would have thought, meh, ok, itll do
chalk off the shit rebound/O.G shenanigans in the first half and we could have won it and everyone would have been pretty happy with things. lose to two spawny goals and its frustration and moaning all round.

when in reality the actual performance would be the same in all three scenarios.
fans are too keen to equate shit results with shit performance, imo

[ladida_gunner_graham]

...to give us the opportunity to play from the back....

The problem so far is that we don't play from the back we play at the back.

pretty much spread between the thirds on Tuesday. imo

Far from the case. To be fair, it's never likely to be even, but gut feel can be very misleading. Follow this link and click on the Heat Map. For those who can't be arsed to look, for a home team looking to win, it's heavily skewed in our own half, with huge hotspots at right back, left back and goalkeeper. Evans had the most touches, mostly in our half. Al Habsi had more touches than Beerens, Williams and Kermorgant.
‪
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/10850 ... ston-Villa

[JIM]

New record for ROYALS . First team to loose at home in 14 months to ASTON VILLA.
Second only to. when royals played the dustbins an lost,

[bcubed]

Chris Gunter in giving his assessment of the Villa game on the OS: '“Sometimes results can affect people’s thinking of how it went'

That is true Chris.

Read more at http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article ... hVwtdHV.99

fine margins.
hes correct, and its an important point.
we were very close to getting the draw, everyone would have thought, meh, ok, itll do
chalk off the shit rebound/O.G shenanigans in the first half and we could have won it and everyone would have been pretty happy with things. lose to two spawny goals and its frustration and moaning all round.

when in reality the actual performance would be the same in all three scenarios.
fans are too keen to equate shit results with shit performance, imo

hasn't it always been so?

[biff]

The problem so far is that we don't play from the back we play at the back.

pretty much spread between the thirds on Tuesday. imo

Far from the case. To be fair, it's never likely to be even, but gut feel can be very misleading. Follow this link and click on the Heat Map. For those who can't be arsed to look, for a home team looking to win, it's heavily skewed in our own half, with huge hotspots at right back, left back and goalkeeper. Evans had the most touches, mostly in our half. Al Habsi had more touches than Beerens, Williams and Kermorgant.
‪
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/10850 ... ston-Villa

Very telling, a great resource. Shows how unthreatening and insipid we currently are.

[72 bus]

The more I see of Beerens the more he reminds me of Paul Brooker

[Pandoras Box]

pretty much spread between the thirds on Tuesday. imo

Far from the case. To be fair, it's never likely to be even, but gut feel can be very misleading. Follow this link and click on the Heat Map. For those who can't be arsed to look, for a home team looking to win, it's heavily skewed in our own half, with huge hotspots at right back, left back and goalkeeper. Evans had the most touches, mostly in our half. Al Habsi had more touches than Beerens, Williams and Kermorgant.
‪
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/10850 ... ston-Villa

Very telling, a great resource. Shows how unthreatening and insipid we currently are.

Don't get it. If you uncheck Gunter there's still a large red at RB. If you recheck Gunter and uncheck Moore, the red goes completely - so what happened to Gunters heat map?

[Ian Royal]

The more I see of Beerens the more he reminds me of Paul Brooker

Wow. That is indescribably harsh. Beerens definitely takes people on and puts crosses in. Brooker was a useless yellow streak of piss who cowered by the halfway line doing nothing most of every match.