BFTG QPR

[3points]

Not sure why Bowen didn’t use McCleary’s experience in the last few minutes instead of Boye, who is more of a forward when replaying Ejaria who played left midfield all game. Or McCleary instead of Olise. Just seemed a little odd. Could have used Obita to replace Ejaria as well

[CavershamRoyal]

Rafael 8 - distribution and communication suspect at times but made some very good saves second half when we were trying our best to throw it away.
Gunter 8 - made some good tackles and his crossing is better than Yiadom's. Gave Joao two very good chances second half. Does still back off a little too much.
Moore 8 - his past few games have been really good. Leading by example.
Morrison 7 - solid if less eye-catching than Moore.
Blackett 6 - still prefer him as a LCB, did nothing terribly but equally nothing that brilliantly.
Pele 8 - was very good tonight. Tidies things up well.
Adam 7 - can really pick a pass and turn a sideways-passing fest into an actual attack. Did tire second half.
Ejaria 6 - didn't quite shine tonight, he's much better centrally.
Swift 8 - mainly for the goal. Guilty of giving the ball away a few times especially first half but the goal was placed in the definition of the postage stamp. Beautiful.
Meite 6.5 - maybe a tad harsh but there wasn't a great deal of end product. Love his work rate though, he looks way better on the right than up front.
Joao 6.5 - held the ball up well at the end but for someone who's about 6ft4, does lose it more than you'd expect in the air.


Subs -
Rino 6 - game passed him by a little.
Olise 6 - flashes of a good player but tried a little too hard at times. Decision making was questionable, eg trying a curled pass into Joao in stoppage time rather than running it into the corner.
Boye 4 - didn't do much apart from almost give away a chance at the death.


All in all a pretty good team performance. QPR looked pretty poor until the 80th minute and fans were outsung all game - C1871 seemed pretty loud from where I was in the ED.

[URZZZZ]

Yes he was. A constant threat.

Thought he was poor throughout except for the odd bit of magic, cracking bit of skill for the chance where Morrison cleared off the line to be fair

Over the two games, he’s no where near as good as QPR fans hype him up

In all seriousness, I agree with this. He certainly has something, as evidenced by the last 20-25 minutes, but we kept him quiet for large parts of the game as we did up at their place.

Yiadom defended him better in the first game than Gunter did tonight.

Correct me if I’m wrong but Eze was CAM tonight so surely would have been more in the vicinity of Pele rather than Gunter

[3points]

Not sure why Bowen didn’t use McCleary’s experience in the last few minutes instead of Boye, who is more of a forward when replaying Ejaria who played left midfield all game. Or McCleary instead of Olise. Just seemed a little odd. Could have used Obita to replace Ejaria as well

Just realised McCleary wasn’t on the bench

[Zip]

Sorry but that’s selective criticism IMO
Boye did six things in the game IIRC

He had a blocked shot
He made a good interception
Played a simple pass to Olise

But he had one poor touch
He committed when he shouldn’t have which should have led to the equalising goal
One poor pass

We can agree that’s poor, right? But Olise (who you said “showed some nice touches”) failed to hold the ball up and on one occasion, played a horrendous ball undercooked to Morrison

Boye is one of the weirdest scapegoats I’ve ever seen, the bloke barely gets on the pitch FFS!

Every time I’ve seen Boye there is absolutely no end product, I did think he played well enough against Derby and said so on here but even then he should have had a first time strike at goal with a decent chance but guess what. He lost the ball by doing too much which is very much his trademark. Very underwhelmed.

Oh I’m not disagreeing he did some daft things tonight, I do like him but think he’s a bit, well, random and does some really stupid things

I was just wondering why Olise wasn’t given the same review when he also gave the ball away quite a few times

Personally thought the subs were a bit strange. Rino for Adam was good, but I’d have gone Obita for Ejaria too and then Boye for Joao to just run around for the last 5

Anyone know where McCleary was tonight?

I can only recall Olise misplacing a forward pass near the end as a particular error.I just don’t have any expectations of Boye at all. His passing was decent v Derby but whenever he tries to beat a player he nearly always loses possession.
I can only think McCleary was dropped from the squad.

[Zip]

Rafael 8 - distribution and communication suspect at times but made some very good saves second half when we were trying our best to throw it away.
Gunter 8 - made some good tackles and his crossing is better than Yiadom's. Gave Joao two very good chances second half. Does still back off a little too much.
Moore 8 - his past few games have been really good. Leading by example.
Morrison 7 - solid if less eye-catching than Moore.
Blackett 6 - still prefer him as a LCB, did nothing terribly but equally nothing that brilliantly.
Pele 8 - was very good tonight. Tidies things up well.
Adam 7 - can really pick a pass and turn a sideways-passing fest into an actual attack. Did tire second half.
Ejaria 6 - didn't quite shine tonight, he's much better centrally.
Swift 8 - mainly for the goal. Guilty of giving the ball away a few times especially first half but the goal was placed in the definition of the postage stamp. Beautiful.
Meite 6.5 - maybe a tad harsh but there wasn't a great deal of end product. Love his work rate though, he looks way better on the right than up front.
Joao 6.5 - held the ball up well at the end but for someone who's about 6ft4, does lose it more than you'd expect in the air.


Subs -
Rino 6 - game passed him by a little.
Olise 6 - flashes of a good player but tried a little too hard at times. Decision making was questionable, eg trying a curled pass into Joao in stoppage time rather than running it into the corner.
Boye 4 - didn't do much apart from almost give away a chance at the death.


All in all a pretty good team performance. QPR looked pretty poor until the 80th minute and fans were outsung all game - C1871 seemed pretty loud from where I was in the ED.

Where were you in the ED? There was a twat in glasses who I have not noticed before directly behind us in HH. He was screaming at the players right from the start. Totally pissed and very annoying. First time I have ever felt the need to move seats as he was spoiling it for those around him.

[CavershamRoyal]

Rafael 8 - distribution and communication suspect at times but made some very good saves second half when we were trying our best to throw it away.
Gunter 8 - made some good tackles and his crossing is better than Yiadom's. Gave Joao two very good chances second half. Does still back off a little too much.
Moore 8 - his past few games have been really good. Leading by example.
Morrison 7 - solid if less eye-catching than Moore.
Blackett 6 - still prefer him as a LCB, did nothing terribly but equally nothing that brilliantly.
Pele 8 - was very good tonight. Tidies things up well.
Adam 7 - can really pick a pass and turn a sideways-passing fest into an actual attack. Did tire second half.
Ejaria 6 - didn't quite shine tonight, he's much better centrally.
Swift 8 - mainly for the goal. Guilty of giving the ball away a few times especially first half but the goal was placed in the definition of the postage stamp. Beautiful.
Meite 6.5 - maybe a tad harsh but there wasn't a great deal of end product. Love his work rate though, he looks way better on the right than up front.
Joao 6.5 - held the ball up well at the end but for someone who's about 6ft4, does lose it more than you'd expect in the air.


Subs -
Rino 6 - game passed him by a little.
Olise 6 - flashes of a good player but tried a little too hard at times. Decision making was questionable, eg trying a curled pass into Joao in stoppage time rather than running it into the corner.
Boye 4 - didn't do much apart from almost give away a chance at the death.


All in all a pretty good team performance. QPR looked pretty poor until the 80th minute and fans were outsung all game - C1871 seemed pretty loud from where I was in the ED.

Where were you in the ED? There was a twat in glasses who I have not noticed before directly behind us in HH. He was screaming at the players right from the start. Totally pissed and very annoying. First time I have ever felt the need to move seats as he was spoiling it for those around him.

B15 but quite near the front so didn't notice him. It was quite sparse tonight but didn't really notice anyone other than the usual ST holders nearby.

[Zip]

Rafael 8 - distribution and communication suspect at times but made some very good saves second half when we were trying our best to throw it away.
Gunter 8 - made some good tackles and his crossing is better than Yiadom's. Gave Joao two very good chances second half. Does still back off a little too much.
Moore 8 - his past few games have been really good. Leading by example.
Morrison 7 - solid if less eye-catching than Moore.
Blackett 6 - still prefer him as a LCB, did nothing terribly but equally nothing that brilliantly.
Pele 8 - was very good tonight. Tidies things up well.
Adam 7 - can really pick a pass and turn a sideways-passing fest into an actual attack. Did tire second half.
Ejaria 6 - didn't quite shine tonight, he's much better centrally.
Swift 8 - mainly for the goal. Guilty of giving the ball away a few times especially first half but the goal was placed in the definition of the postage stamp. Beautiful.
Meite 6.5 - maybe a tad harsh but there wasn't a great deal of end product. Love his work rate though, he looks way better on the right than up front.
Joao 6.5 - held the ball up well at the end but for someone who's about 6ft4, does lose it more than you'd expect in the air.


Subs -
Rino 6 - game passed him by a little.
Olise 6 - flashes of a good player but tried a little too hard at times. Decision making was questionable, eg trying a curled pass into Joao in stoppage time rather than running it into the corner.
Boye 4 - didn't do much apart from almost give away a chance at the death.


All in all a pretty good team performance. QPR looked pretty poor until the 80th minute and fans were outsung all game - C1871 seemed pretty loud from where I was in the ED.

Where were you in the ED? There was a twat in glasses who I have not noticed before directly behind us in HH. He was screaming at the players right from the start. Totally pissed and very annoying. First time I have ever felt the need to move seats as he was spoiling it for those around him.

B15 but quite near the front so didn't notice him. It was quite sparse tonight but didn't really notice anyone other than the usual ST holders nearby.

Ok. You wouldn’t have noticed him then as we are high up in B16
I do think the one player we may struggle to keep hold of in January is John Swift. There may be bottom half PL teams thinking he might be worth a punt.

[Jagermesiter1871]

Yes he was. A constant threat.

Thought he was poor throughout except for the odd bit of magic, cracking bit of skill for the chance where Morrison cleared off the line to be fair

Over the two games, he’s no where near as good as QPR fans hype him up

I really don’t understand. He was the best player on the pitch. Danger danger every time he got the ball.

He was definitely in the top 5 players on the pitch. Other than an on the line piece of heroics should have scored.

[Jagermesiter1871]

I actually thought both olise and boye were fine when they came in. Thought Bowen got it spot on with subs just the shape had completely gone.

Where were you in the ED? There was a twat in glasses who I have not noticed before directly behind us in HH. He was screaming at the players right from the start. Totally pissed and very annoying. First time I have ever felt the need to move seats as he was spoiling it for those around him.

B15 but quite near the front so didn't notice him. It was quite sparse tonight but didn't really notice anyone other than the usual ST holders nearby.

Ok. You wouldn’t have noticed him then as we are high up in B16
I do think the one player we may struggle to keep hold of in January is John Swift. There may be bottom half PL teams thinking he might be worth a punt.

Yup could see this and think swift would take it. Would expect the owners try there best to hold on to him.

[Millsy]

My talking points

1) My God we have missed SwIft

2) Adam was just immense until he got tired. How he finds those balls time and time again is phenomenal.

3) We were up for it tonight. Getting all the interceptions, winning the 50-50s. That’s what won it for us.

4) Not quite sure why we let Ejaria’s twin Do so much damage. Why on earth was no one willing to get into him.

5) Gunter actually looked good going forward.

6) Someone at left back (assuming it was Blackett) totally cocked up and did a Richards and let the player in. Great.

7) We were all over them and should have been 2-0 up, only for us to start passing it out the back while they were really high up pressing. I remember it so clearly, we did our shit passing, put ourselves huge pressure, lost the ball , tried to win it conceded a free kick, and they got what seemed like their first touch of the game. From that moment on it seemed to be all QPR till the end of the half. Almost as though that ridiculous back passing sucked the confidence out of us and injected it into them instead. Ffs.

wtf was the handbags between Rafa and Gunter? Good to see the passion though.

9) We shaded it and it wasn’t a totally undeserved win.

10) Joao was immense. Exactly the sort of player we needed. Held stuff up. Got onto the end of crosses as required and cane close to scoring a few times. A real handful for their defence. Lol at his penalty appeals though.

[Dick Habbin's hairdo]

Old man Adam was pure class for the first 45. Didn't need to run and his awareness of players was simply first class. Every Hollywood pass to feet except when Gunter thought it was coming too quickly, took a couple of steps back, and it pinged two yards off his first touch....

Moore was immense in the Alamo in the last 15 minutes and he had to be because Rino was poor when he came on. No press, defending on the 18 yards line, losing the runner. Sunday league.

Special mention for Pele who used his body well all night to keep the ball and play it simple.

Gunter, Mr percentage - and as frustrating as oxf*rd. The one time he gambled on running wide and putting in a first time cross and it nearly paid dividends with the Joao misshit that had the keeper scurrying.

Jonathan Swift - yet again proving he is the classiest player in the squad.... and what a finish.

Oh, and Meite... lots of effort. Lots of effort..... *ahem*

[Jackson Corner]

Just want to say what a joy it was watching Charlie Adam tonight. In 40 years of watching Reading I can’t remember us having a player who can ping the ball with such accuracy. He maybe getting on in years but it was a masterclass of midfield play. No coincidence we struggled after he left the field.

[Sutekh]

Ridiculous.

Eze was excellent.

Yes he was. A constant threat.

Thought he was poor throughout except for the odd bit of magic, cracking bit of skill for the chance where Morrison cleared off the line to be fair

Over the two games, he’s no where near as good as QPR fans hype him up

Sky said before the game that Reading had Eze on trial at some point.

[Mr Optimist]

Just want to say what a joy it was watching Charlie Adam tonight. In 40 years of watching Reading I can’t remember us having a player who can ping the ball with such accuracy. He maybe getting on in years but it was a masterclass of midfield play. No coincidence we struggled after he left the field.

His performance reminded me of when Kevin Dillon joined us at the tail end of his playing career. Kev used to pull the strings in a similar way just from the central third of the pitch, but that was admittedly a division below where we play these days.

Adam may look like 50 years old but the ability and vision is still there, and I’m not sure how much he’s ever had in his legs, but still a class act!

[Hound]

Generally we played pretty well I thought

Joao did a good job 2nd half particularly and a couple of good efforts at goal. Meite was fine and defended well but needs to work on his crossing.

Pele motm for me. Thought he held the midfield together 2nd half. Swift was slightly off the pace and Adam tired badly in the 2nd period

Defence were all pretty good, esp Moore and Rafael. Blackett a few dodgy moments in there

QPR had decent ends to both halves but we just about deserved the win. Kept a decent hold on Eze who didn’t contribute as much as he can

Concerned about Swift leaving tbh. Did Adam say something like ‘hopefully we can keep hold of him to the end of the season’ or was that me mid-hearing? He makes the team tick

[Hound]

Just checked whoscored and as I thought Rino didn’t actually touch the ball in 20 mins on the pitch

Pretty impressive that

[SCIAG]

Ejaria didn’t have a good game on the left, but there’s no room for him centrally. I’d start Boye or Olise there as they should offer a bit more end product and support for the striker.

Alternative is going back to 3-5-2 with Blackett at centre back, Obita and Gunter as the wing backs, and Swift just off Joao, but I think that would be a bad case of just cramming your best players in.

Rafael MOTM for me with Swift and Moore close behind. Pele and Adam had their best games for us, like watching Leigertwood and a fat non-tackling Norwood.

[windermereROYAL]

I read from some reports we were under the cosh for 15-20 minutes at the end, must have been watching a different game to me, in normal time QPR hit the bar and Rafael saved with his head, apart from that we were nowhere near under the cosh for that long. we were hanging on in the 4 minutes added time though.
On balance were deserved to win because we performed for 85 minutes rather than 10.

[Jack Celliers]

Yes he was. A constant threat.

Thought he was poor throughout except for the odd bit of magic, cracking bit of skill for the chance where Morrison cleared off the line to be fair

Over the two games, he’s no where near as good as QPR fans hype him up

I really don’t understand. He was the best player on the pitch. Danger danger every time he got the ball.

Ejaria was the best player on the pitch, but Eze looked very good, particularly as the game wore on and we started to panic a bit and give the ball straight back to them a bit.