* The Unofficial "Official" Reading V Boro Match-Day Thread *

[TeaCider]

Lenihan has played well the last two games but we shouldn't have signed him. Fry at CB, Djiksteel at RCB and McNair at LCB wokred really well for us last season. Why didn't Wilder decide to stick with this combination until the club signed a LCB, then you can possibly have McNair competing with Djiksteel for the RCB position - that's what I thought Wilder would do.

Wilder now doesn't have a clue what his best combination is at the back.

We shouldn't have signed a solid free agent at a prime age in a position we were weak in numbers in?

Come off it.

McNair was suspended and injured for the first game.

Fry was injured.

Neither could play at the start, Fry has since played half of our games this season and has struggled in each one.
I'll give him the excuse that he wasn't playing central where he's better, but he's not taken the opportunities to keep his place there.

 

[BoroMad87]

That changing the dynamics of the back 5 has completely messed things up consequently we can't stop conceding game after game is that simple enough to understand

Todays goal was a strike from the edge of the area not exactly the back 3/5s fault what about midfield closing down!

They sat back and frustrated us and you could see we where getting frustrated, things are just not dropping for us,

Hoppe should of scored, Watmore should of scored, crooks was onside it was a penna ...

 

[Glover_elbow]

Lenihan has played well the last two games but we shouldn't have signed him. Fry at CB, Djiksteel at RCB and McNair at LCB wokred really well for us last season. Why didn't Wilder decide to stick with this combination until the club signed a LCB, then you can possibly have McNair competing with Djiksteel for the RCB position - that's what I thought Wilder would do.

Wilder now doesn't have a clue what his best combination is at the back.

Wilders obsessed with playing out from the back and getting a left footed cb and is asleep at the wheel in terms of the rest of team the midfield is as weak as ****

 

[SuperStu]

Dijksteel has to be RCB. Crooks has to be RCM. Individually they might not convince everyone but that's what gets the best out of Jones and our system relies on the wingbacks doing well.

LCB McNair was first choice last season and nobody else has been signed so why is he not still there?

 

[Glover_elbow]

We conceded 4 in the last game of our settled back 5.

And how many in a season as a whole about 50 in 46 games talk about manipulating stats to suit your own agenda

 

[parmoboy]

We shouldn't have signed a solid free agent at a prime age in a position we were weak in numbers in?

Come off it.

McNair was suspended and injured for the first game.

Fry was injured.

Neither could play, Fry has played half of our games this season and has struggled in each one.

How many Boro fans were saying pre-season that we needed a CB bringing in to compete with Fry for the CB position, or to replace him?

Fry was excellent for us last season playing CB. I'd have preferred for us to have offered Bamba or Peltier an extra year as cover, then we could have prioritised signing a LCB.

Instead, here we are five games into the season and we have Bola playing there, and Wilder can't seem to make his mind up as to who plays in the other two CB positions.

Djiksteel was excellent for us playing RCB last season, and McNair could be brilliant in that position I feel as well given the chance, but today we have neither of them playing there, because Wilder obviously felt he had to bring Fry back into the team but he can't drop Lenihan, so we end up with square pegs in round holes.

 

[TeaCider]

And how many in a season as a whole about 50 in 46 games talk about manipulating stats to suit your own agenda

Not manipulating anything, that's just a fact.

We conceded loads of stupid goals at the end of last season with that settled back 3.

We conceded 15 in Fry's last 10 games last season and only kept 3 clean sheets.

People blaming everything on Lenihan playing over Fry is daft.

 

[Andy_W]

Dijksteel has to be RCB. Crooks has to be RCM. Individually they might not convince everyone but that's what gets the best out of Jones and our system relies on the wingbacks doing well.

LCB McNair was first choice last season and nobody else has been signed so why is he not still there?

I think Bola’s done as well as McNair last year to be honest, and has been good going forward. But with all the changes it might have been wise keeping Paddy there until everywhere else was settled. I suppose he might be getting McNair up to speed on his future role, or maybe he might be out the door soon. I don’t think we need him, but like his versatility.

Totally agree on Dijk, should be RCB every game, as he offers a lot supporting Jones. Jones was without that and Crooks today and it showed, he clearly has a good link with both of them.

 

[Glover_elbow]

Not manipulating anything, that's just a fact.

We conceded loads of stupid goals at the end of last season with that settled back 3.

We conceded 15 in Fry's last 10 games last season and only kept 3 clean sheets.

People blaming everything on Lenihan playing over Fry is daft.

Its not lenihan individually hes been ok but it's the overall effect on a relatively stable unit. I just can't fathom he gives us any advantage over the quicker player in fry.

 

[uncle_rico]

We created chances in that second half imo. Watmore and Hoppe could have had two each. First half terrible I agree. McNair in the midfield doesn't work.

But they didn’t. Watmore could’ve had 6 this season at least. You can have as many chances as you want but you need to put them away. This is the inherent problem.

 

[TeaCider]

I think Bola’s done as well as McNair last year to be honest, and has been good going forward. But with all the changes it might have been wise keeping Paddy there until everywhere else was settled. I suppose he might be getting McNair up to speed on his future role, or maybe he might be out the door soon. I don’t think we need him, but like his versatility.

Totally agree on Dijk, should be RCB every game, as he offers a lot supporting Jones. Jones was without that and Crooks today and it showed, he clearly has a good link with both of them.

I think Dijksteel was dropped because of his poor marking at the end on Wednesday which cost us the win, brought in Fry for a bit more defensive solidity.

But then that completely wiped out any creativity on our right hand side, which Dijksteel often contributes a lot to.

Not sure it was worth the trade-off, but I suppose you could argue that Reading never looked like scoring barring a hit it and hope that would normally fly out of the stadium.

But we only started to threaten when Crooks came on and McNair replaced him and started linking up on the right.

 

[Glover_elbow]

Not manipulating anything, that's just a fact.

We conceded loads of stupid goals at the end of last season with that settled back 3.

We conceded 15 in Fry's last 10 games last season and only kept 3 clean sheets.

People blaming everything on Lenihan playing over Fry is daft.

Its not lenihan individually hes been ok but it's the overall effect on a relatively stable unit. I just can't fathom he gives us any advantage over the quicker player in fry.

 

[Lottowyn]

‘We missed Akpom today”. Says it all really.

 

[BoroMad87]

They had one strike!
We still had Lenihans header, watmores diving header and the shot he blazed over after a good move should of done better, hoppe should of scored, could he of had a penna?
Crooks should of done better with his header and should of had a penna?

We have had chances again today but its just not going ur way at the moment, I still think we need more creativity in midfield but the teams not as bad as results are making us believe, maybe we just need to re think the formation and playe giles and jones either side of Muniz when he signs in a 433 formation

 

[Moreno]

We have dropped 12 points out of 15. That is a huge gap to make up.

 

[parmoboy]

I think Dijksteel was dropped because of his poor marking at the end on Wednesday which cost us the win, brought in Fry for a bit more defensive solidity.

But then that completely wiped out any creativity on our right hand side, which Dijksteel often contributes a lot to.

Not sure it was worth the trade-off, but I suppose you could argue that Reading never looked like scoring barring a hit it and hope that would normally fly out of the stadium.

But we only started to threaten when Crooks came on and McNair replaced him and started linking up on the right.

And this is a key reason why we're struggling in terms of creativity at the moment. You don't want somebody playing RCB who offers more defensive stability, you want somebody in that role who can offer a lot in terms of attacking play. Wilder places so much importance on the overlapping centre halves. We have two players in Djiksteel and McNair who are perfect for this yet neither of them played there today. Wilder has lost track of his own gameplan and tactics.

 

[BiggEggo]

Wilder is looking more like a duck egg with every passing game. His side is clueless defensively and didn't even look interested first half today.
This side is a mile off promotion challengers.

 

[starplayer]

Wilder sounded justifiably annoyed with that today. The sooner Scott and co get deals done the better to add some competition to the comfort zone crew on the pitch. Please buy a forward that can hold the ball up. Please buy 2 midfielders that will try to dictate a game and a LCB to add the balance the manager wants. Wilder said from the beginning that he wants his team to be possession based and thats how he sets them up. He did his bit and his team had over 70% possession. If the players cant produce with that amount of the ball then we need better players, not a different manager.

 

[Soutra]

Not sure it was worth the trade-off, but I suppose you could argue that Reading never looked like scoring barring a hit it and hope that would normally fly out of the stadium.

On the Sky highlights Reading had a few shots. The goal was a lovely controlled strike, unlike Watmore's terrible row Z effort.

 

[Scrug]

Wilder sounded justifiably annoyed with that today. The sooner Scott and co get deals done the better to add some competition to the comfort zone crew on the pitch. Please buy a forward that can hold the ball up. Please buy 2 midfielders that will try to dictate a game and a LCB to add the balance the manager wants. Wilder said from the beginning that he wants his team to be possession based and thats how he sets them up. He did his bit and his team had over 70% possession. If the players cant produce with that amount of the ball then we need better players, not a different manager.

Wilder needs to shoulder the blame. If we don’t have the players to play your brand of football yet, ensure we’re solid until we do. He hasn’t, an we’ve already lost 12 points.

Tony Mowbray said it about Woodgate, it’s all well and good trying to change the culture, but you need to find a way to win.