I’ll try and assess Saturday’s shaky start both quantitatively and qualitatively. It’s disappointing and little surprising, but I’ll try not to be too reactionary. Simply put, I thought we were poor, we looked nervous, showed very little of what they will have worked on during pre-season (which will frustrate Chris Davis) and frankly, didn’t deserve anything from the game.
Saturday’s result will come as a surprise to a few, and may amuse some across the EFL. But it was more about the performance than it was the result. I heard someone compare the performance of the first half to Rooney’s football – a little over-dramatic to say the least. However, there were some similarities in the press.
Davies has made it very clear that Blues will press high and suffocate the opponents, however Saturday’s application was more of a Rooney-press than what Davies is looking to achieve. Reading were notoriously shaky playing from the back last season, but our disjointed press made it easy for them, and they never really looked worried in those situations.
We were pressing high and working hard but there was no organisation about the press, players were pressing in ones and two, which made it easy to by-pass. Defensively, Reading were able to carve out a handful of good chances in the first half, which on another day they could’ve taken. On occasion we defended as we did last season, which is a slight concern and Davies will need to address that quickly. We also never really looked comfortable dealing with set-pieces, something we’ll face a lot of this season.
Readings press was high, however when in our own third, Reading didn’t always chase everything which meant we looked comfortable going sideways and backwards. When we attempted to play forwards there was a plethora of individual errors which made for tough watching, not to mention the many example of miss-hit diagonals.
It wasn’t for a want of trying, you could see we were working hard throughout the game. You can see what Davis has been implementing during pre-season but it didn’t click on Saturday. I think it’s fair to say Reading worked harder, they won back possession quickly and hunted in packs, stifling us continually, which only added to fan frustration, which became apparent at half time with a scattering of boo’s.
The second half showed signs of improvement especially when Reading finally dropped a little deeper, made numerous changes (most of which young inexperienced players) which naturally dropped Readings intensity and we started to get a foot hold, taking the sting out of the under-par performance. Later on in the second half, our attacking patterns of play were a little more clear to see and our organisation off the ball looked to improve, albeit miles off what we hope to see on display this season.
Readings lack of depth on the bench and a couple of decent performances from Hanson and Anderson probably salvaged the game for us, however make no mistakes, we were lucky to come away with anything at all and we’ll need to see an enormous improvement (and quickly) should we challenge for the automatic promotion places come Easter.
My main concern is the final third, it’s all well and good having over 2/3’s possession and making hundreds of passes, but if you’re not continually creating chances, it’s a pointless over-emphasised modern statistic. Moving the ball quickly through patterns of play is great when it works, but it had almost no effect on Reading, who dealt with it comfortably.
A big challenge this season will be how we’ll cope against teams who play a low block, but on Saturday we struggled to play through a team who applied an aggressive press all over the pitch, something I thought we would have the technical ability by-pass. When Reading did drop deeper in the second half, we again struggled to find a way through. I didn’t see us carve teams open in pre-season either and although we scored a fair few, we never really tore teams apart and that’s going to be something Davies needs to address quickly.
In terms of individual performances, I don’t want to be too harsh. If the team and individual performances mirror this one in October/November I’ll be extremely concerned. I don’t think there was a stand out performer this week, so I haven’t awarded a MOTM, however there were a few who could leave St. Andrews knowing they did enough to avoid criticism.
It’s early days yet, but a few need to pull their finger out and adapt or be moved on. Davies’ substitutions showed a ruthlessness we haven’t seen from the side line for a long time which was refreshing. Personally, I think we need another 5 through the door so we’ll see what the next few weeks before the window brings. Keep Right On and Up The Blues.
Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images
Ratings
Starting XI
Bailey Peacock-Farrell: 6
A decent enough start. There wasn't much more he could do about Reading's goal. He looked comfortable with the ball, happy to receive it and his distribution is an improvement on what we've seen at Blues in recent years. I would've liked to see him be a little more commanding from set pieces.
Ethan Laird: 5
Full of energy and covered a lot of ground up and down that right side (whether he can keep that up throughout this season is for another conversation). He gets himself in good positions, but his end product is next to non existent (hardly ground breaking journalism, I know). He won a couple of important duels and took the pressure off, winning a few tactical free kicks near the corner flag. Can't help but think if his end product was just a little better, Saturday could've been different.
Krystian Bielik: 6 - Man of the Match
Made an important clearance that kept us in it, strong in the sir and won just enough individual battles. Looked happy to receive and play short, but struggled when going long and making purposeful forward passes.
Dion Sanderson: 5
Dion was slow in possession and looked nervous on numerous occasions, similar to how he looked last season when tasked with playing from the back. There were numerous errors when in possession which is surprising after he looked to have made big improvement in that area of his game during pre-season. Defensively he did just enough and did make one very important challenge but never looked massively assured.
Alex Cochrane: 6
Didn't see much of him going forward, other than an excellent mazy run which almost made it into the penalty area. Defensively he looked solid winning a few individual battles. Thought he may be more influential but it's early days yet.
Paik Seung-Ho: 5
Was busy throughout the game but failed to show any real quality that has given him the tag of one of the best midfielders in League One. Our two central midfielders will need to be the best players on the pitch if we are to master Chris Davies style of play and really make an impact in League One. Paik was solid enough in possession, worked hard to regain possession but far from anything to write home about.
Marc Leonard: 6
Happy to drop deep and bounce the ball around, often choosing to go sidewards and backwards rather than taking it on the turn. He helped keep it ticking and played a few nice balls around the corner to the full backs to play through the first line of Readings press. Out of possession he was industrious enough to win back possession well on a few occasions. Didn't do much to influence proceedings and did make a unforced few errors in the second half. It's his first start in the starting XI so I'll give him a free pass.
Willum Þór Willumsson: 5
It's early days, but I'm still not sure how he will impact the division. He's drifts into pockets of space nicely and travels well with the ball, especially in transition. He didn't contribute much other than a few decent forward passes. He clearly possesses excellent ability on the ball, but that doesn't always work at this level. We'll need to see him use his physicality more if he's going to shine this season. I think this one will take time and we'll need til January to see the best of him.
Siriki Dembele: 5
I think we all knew it was either going to be a barnstorming performance or a damp squib. Unsurprisingly, it was the latter, and unfortunately it was the Sirki we see more often than not. On a few occasions he beat his opponent and was industrious working to win the ball back when dispossessed. But he was very ineffective and was pulled at half-time. Davies clearly likes him, but I can see him leaving before the end of the window.
Koji Miyoshi: 5
Showed glimpses of the player we know he can be, albeit drifted in and out of the game - perhaps not always his fault. Uncharacteristically sloppy at times and failed to really impact proceedings. Unsurprising to see him removed in the second half. He'll have better games.
Alfie May: 6
Seemingly his trademark this far in his Blues career, 'working hard and scoring goals'. He worked his socks off but had very little impact on the game. He looked isolated up top as we struggled to create any real chances. At times he was pressing on his own, making it easy for Reading to play through (difficult to judge that, as we don't know the game plan). Alfie made some good runs in behind but had very little service. He took his penalty well and probably deserved it for his work rate.
Subs
Emil Hansson: 7
A big step up on the performance Siriki put in in the first half. More direct with the ball and moved it on at the right time with some very good passes and crosses. His link up play improved us going down the left. Think he'll have that position nailed down come October.
Luke Harris: 10
A little more effective and urgent than WW but didn't really have a real impact on the game. Came into the game earlier than expected for his first competitive appearance, so again, this was a free hit for Luke. Can't judge him until he's had a few more weeks to settle.
Keshi Anderson: 6
May have surprised a few on Saturday featuring so heavily, but last time he was in League One, he was very effective. He made an impact, he was direct, physical and was more effective than Koji. He worked hard to create opportunities but over did it occasionally. I think he has put his name into the conversation for the next week or so.
Lukas Jutkiewicz: N/A
Not enough to judge.
Brandon Khela: N/A
Looked comfortable (barring one mistake) so he'll be pleased.
