Player ratings - Reading

[One Love]

Kusczack - 8
Bruno - 7
Upson - 7
Greer - 5
Ward - 7
Ince - 6
Andrews - 7
JFC - 7
Lopez -8
Lingard - 8
Ulloa - 6

Dunk - 7
Buckley - 7
March - 6

This sounds like a really good performance.

What game was it? Palace on St Patricks day?

 

[goldstone]

I'm getting more and more frustrated at our lack of goals. As has been said by many others on here, why have THREE wingers on the bench. What the hell is OG doing? I like the way he's brought the youngsters on, but I'm beginning to lose faith in him as the man to take us forward.

Kuszczack 7. Very good keeping again, but I thought he could maybe have done better for the goal. Some of his distribution still not up to par.
Bruno 4. Usual stuff ... flashes of brilliance along with some suicidal defending.
Greer 5. Second yellow was harsh, but stupid decision making to get himself in the position where he is likely to get cards.
Upson 7. Another good game from our player of the season. MOM
Ward 6. Not his best performance up against a tricky winger.
Andrews 7. Much improved performance.
Ince 6. Not at his best today, but still a decent game.
JFC 6. An OK game.
Lopez 4. He really really needs to stop bottling out of tackles. Man-up, Dave!
Lingard 7. Great potential. Would like to see him given more time on the pitch. Not yet quite on the same wavelength as some of his team-mates.
Ulloa 6. Not much service. Not one of his best performances.

Subs:
Dunk 7. Did well and will be fine on Tuesday.
Buckley 7. Flashes of the old Buckley. Should have started or at least been brought on a lot earlier.
March 7. Should have been given longer. He's gonna be great!

Manager 3. We were at home. Start with an attacking line-up. WE MUST START SCORING SOME GOALS!

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Did we have a shot on target all game ?

No. Their keeper didn't make a save, although Buckley and March came very close.
.

Left early then?

 

[StanmoreSeagull]

I'm getting more and more frustrated at our lack of goals. As has been said by many others on here, why have THREE wingers on the bench. What the hell is OG doing? I like the way he's brought the youngsters on, but I'm beginning to lose faith in him as the man to take us forward.

Kuszczack 7. Very good keeping again, but I thought he could maybe have done better for the goal. Some of his distribution still not up to par.
Bruno 4. Usual stuff ... flashes of brilliance along with some suicidal defending.
Greer 5. Second yellow was harsh, but stupid decision making to get himself in the position where he is likely to get cards.
Upson 7. Another good game from our player of the season. MOM
Ward 6. Not his best performance up against a tricky winger.
Andrews 7. Much improved performance.
Ince 6. Not at his best today, but still a decent game.
JFC 6. An OK game.
Lopez 4. He really really needs to stop bottling out of tackles. Man-up, Dave!
Lingard 7. Great potential. Would like to see him given more time on the pitch. Not yet quite on the same wavelength as some of his team-mates.
Ulloa 6. Not much service. Not one of his best performances.

Subs:
Dunk 7. Did well and will be fine on Tuesday.
Buckley 7. Flashes of the old Buckley. Should have started or at least been brought on a lot earlier.
March 7. Should have been given longer. He's gonna be great!

Manager 3. We were at home. Start with an attacking line-up. WE MUST START SCORING SOME GOALS!

This with bells on!

 

[Oscar]

Kusczack - 7
Bruno - 6
Upson - 8
Greer - 5
Ward - 6
Ince - 6
Andrews - 7
JFC - 5
Lopez -6
Lingard - 5
Ulloa - 7

Dunk - 7
Buckley - 7
March - 5

 

[Davey Boy Smith]

Strange game today go in at H/T 1-0 after not even having a shot on target.

Still not sure about the 2nd yellow looking forward to seeing it on the FLS in a sec. Thought we were playing ok before that though, once we went down to 10 we just panicked. LOTS of long balls to no one just inviting the pressure straight back.

As for the JFC debate thought he was playing okay but when we went down to 10 he looked completely lost and should have come off IMHO. I thought Andrews had one of his best games this season - interesting that he was further forward than usual too.

 

[HawkTheSeagull]

Kooshack - 8
Bruno - 7
Upson - 6
Ward - 6
Ince - 6
JFC - 5
Andrews - 6
Dave - 6
Lingard - 6
Ulloa - 5

Subs
Buckley - 6.5
Dunk - 6.5
March - 6

 

[Billy the Fish]

Whats going on at the moment, too many long balls to Ulloa who is struggling to stand up, but the real difficulty I have is the formation. When a team plays one up top it needs, the midfielders to be mobile and able to support the lone striker. So we have Ince, the fifth defender, Andrews a holding midfielder, JFC who can push forward but needs to win the ball, Dave the playmaker and Linguard. What happens when we win the ball in midfield, we have nowhere to go and this was most evident today. No pace, no width and no idea in the first half today. The substitutions were evident way before they were made. We are not scoring anywhere near enough goals and after two and a half seasons at the Amex is not becoming evident that playing one up top is not working for us, either under Poyet or Garcia, I am forming the opinion that we are pursuing the wrong ideology for the players that we have at the club.

Decent post and should be a source of debate on this thread.

I agree with most of what you say except the last bit. There's no reason this formation won't work, but you've already highlighted the problem in that all our pace is sat on the bench, the wrong players are in that formation.

Of the central midfielders we have - Ince, Andrews, JFC, Spanish Dave, Orlandi, pick any three of those and we should easily be able to play two proper wide men. As you say when we're set up like yesterday we just lack pace and width.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Thought he linked up well with Bruno and was excellent at pressing the opposition high up the pitch (one example would be the free kick he won in the first half just outside the box). Also his assist for the goal, that cross made sucked their defence into making a mistake.

Well, I guess it's all about opinions.

 

[Zebedee]

I wish that OG would explain publicly the reasoning behind having three wingers on the bench and lining up so defensively at home. The logic escapes me and makes him look both unadventurous and tactically naive. Does he actually know what his best side is, or what he is doing? I wonder more and more.

 

[StanmoreSeagull]

I wish that OG would explain publicly the reasoning behind having three wingers on the bench and lining up so defensively at home. The logic escapes me and makes him look both unadventurous and tactically naive. Does he actually know what his best side is, or what he is doing? I wonder more and more.

Agree 100%!

 

[HantsSeagull]

Interesting difference of opinion on JFC. I thought he contributed nothing except a clearance in the first half and the through ball for the offside goal. Drenthe left him for dead for the goal. Can't tackle, does nothing with the ball... What happened to the prospect of two seasons ago?

i very much agree with this. I and everyone around me thought JFC was shocking yesterday. Did nothing except stand off whoever he was defending against, got done like a kipper for their goal and contributed nothing else all game. I don't think the team selection helped but he looked way out of his depth.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Kusczack - 7 I thought he could have done better with their goal but then made a terrific save later.
Bruno - 6
Upson - 7
Greer - 5
Ward - 6
Ince - 6
Andrews - 5
JFC - 5
Lopez -5
Lingard - 7
Ulloa - 6

Dunk - 6
Buckley - 7 Should have done better when one on one
March - 6

 

[Langley]

Said that a few weeks ago and got pilloried on NSC. Not a bad player, but you can clearly see why he plays for a mid/upper Championship team, at best. I think he is vulnerable defensively for pace or 1 on 1's and a couple of levels below the perfect Wayne Bridge - the best Albion LB I've seen.

Pity you never saw Jimmy Langley play, equally as good as Wayne.

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

i very much agree with this. I and everyone around me thought JFC was shocking yesterday. Did nothing except stand off whoever he was defending against, got done like a kipper for their goal and contributed nothing else all game. I don't think the team selection helped but he looked way out of his depth.

I'd be interested to know where you sat because from the South stand it looked the exact opposite. First half he was involved in everything going forwards and was involved in some great interplay with Lingard, Bruno and Dave and in the second half he defended admirably, put in some good blocks, clearances. If he hadn't been the player Drenthe had "skinned" when he scores it'd be interesting to see if he'd be give as much flak as he is.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

JFC was hardly skinned. Drenthe's shot went through JFC's legs - hardly left for dead.

 

[One Love]

Kusczack - 7 Maybe could have done better with goal but saved us later, and Bruno
Bruno - 5 Some good moments and some poor as usual. That mistake in the second half was just awful.
Upson - 6 The worst I've seen our defence for a while, so he was up against it.
Greer - 2 Terrible distribution as always. Gave the ref no option in my opinion. Really shown up defensively
Ward - 5 Worst game I've seen from him.
Ince - 5 Really not himself, presumably hasn't trained so shouldn't have been played.
Andrews - 5 His main objective in the game seems to be getting away with doing the bare minimum
JFC - 5 He didn't look right either and was knackered a while before it was noticed by the bench and subbed
Lopez -4
Lingard - 7 Bright and promising.
Ulloa - 6 A futile and frustrating task for him week in week out with the team that is being selected around him

Dunk - 6 Looking forward to him starting
Buckley - 6.5 Made things happen at least but still not right
March - 6

If it wasn't for the fact that we turn up with no energy and commitment often, I would be thinking we have a bug in the camp or something. Most players just do the bare minimum and this is shown up by Linguard, March and to a lesser extent Buckley. We take the game like a Sunday afternoon stroll. This is then highlighted when we go down to 10 men because we then really can't be bothered. Fortunately Reading have got their own problems so we got away with a point.

Every game the first few minutes of the second half we are vulnerable. Does Oscar put them to sleep in the dressing room. I thought we had got away with it then the Greer red happened.

We've got Crofts out but who were we missing from our midfield yesterday? Only Stephens! With no midfield cover on the bench! We are really weak in that department. Yesterday was the perfect time to change it with our injuries and play 2 in the middle, 2 wide and Ulloa and Linguard up top. Buckley, LuaLua and March on the bench together! What is going on?

At the moment the management look clueless. Oscar hasn't stamped any of his way into our game, we are just Gus's team part II (the sequel that is far worse than the original) but showing far less fight, commitment, passion, battling etc etc etc

 

[chez]

Kooshak 8. Great saves, poor kicking
Bruno. 5. From first minute to last looked a liability but also showed flashes of genius
Ward. 7. Wasn't sure about at start of season , now he looks decent
Upson. 6. Think it was him who stood off for the goal
Greer. 5. Shocking pass that led to his first yellow
Andrews. 6. Decent enough today
Jfc. 5. Hate to say it , but I'm not sure jfc has it to succeed at this level
Ince. 6. Not his best game but this lad will play in the premier league
Ulloa. 7. Clearly they were out to get him. Battled hard
David. 5. Enough has been said about him - shadow of last seasons player
Jesse 6. Tidy . Should have been passed to more


Dunk. 7
March. 7
Buckley. 7. Lively but should have scored

Pretty much spot on for me.

 

[Pondicherry]

Interesting difference of opinion on JFC. I thought he contributed nothing except a clearance in the first half and the through ball for the offside goal. Drenthe left him for dead for the goal. Can't tackle, does nothing with the ball... What happened to the prospect of two seasons ago?

Agree re JFC. Has gone backwards in the last two years. He is not a bad player but he shows no signs of becoming the type of midfielder who could help get us out of this division. Two years ago he did look like he would become that type of player.

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

Agree re JFC. Has gone backwards in the last two years. He is not a bad player but he shows no signs of becoming the type of midfielder who could help get us out of this division. Two years ago he did look like he would become that type of player.

He is only 19 and it's his first season of regular first team football. I don't know what people were expecting to be honest. I think it's a case of people on NSC hyping him up after his few appearances under Poyet and now turning on him because he isn't a world beater... at the age of 19! He still has a good half a decade to reach his peak. Give the lad a chance.