Surprised by some of the comments here tbh.
Personally, had a great day because of the company. Delightful to meet PLF, see paddy for the first time in a while & a proper few conversations with deutsch, & darlo & company with their unruly funny selves!
Strange team selection for me. Too many changes in 1 go. I can only assume, as deutsch suggested, that 1 eye is on tuesday night. Golbourne being eased back in makes sense, injury or no injury. Iorfa struck me as a strange decision, as I've been very impressed with him. Sako returning was inevitable.
However, given the above, I think dropping Price was a mistake. We built a good 8 game run based on solid defensive abilities. This after a very poor November. However in that 8 game spell, some quarters have been dis-satisfied that the wins weren't 3-0 or better. Evan into midfield was seen by many (KJ included) as an option to include our forward potency. Problem is, the cost to that is it exposes us defensively.
Reading weren't (imo) the better team, but our tactics cost us today. Despite a poor start, the team looked pretty up for it. I am shocked at the dis-satisfaction with Sako, as today I thought he had a pretty good game. Repeatedly he beat more than 1 player. So much so, that it got to the stage where Reading would have 3 even 4 men on him. That meant there was space elsewhere, but we failed to exploit that.
Onto the substitutions, which were strange. Dicko comes on for Evans, who, to be honest hadn't done a great deal. OK, we're going 4-4-2. Makes sense, kinda. Reading were there for taking, & between Nouha, Afobe, Sako and RVlP we should be able to open them up. However, Edwards in a midfield 2 didn't work, left space which Reading exploited.
Henry was about to come on as they scored. KJ continued to bring him on, but also, on a whim brought Price on. Van la Parra and Edwards off. OK. Are we now 4-4-2? $-3-3? 4-5-1? Something else? I didn't know, & importantly, it appears the players didn't either.
The last 20 minutes of this confused state meant no-one knew who was supposed to be making runs. End result, too little movement, meaning we didn't create anything, bar a few opportunities we didn't make the most of. It got a bit urgent, but no end product.
Kuzsczak - looked rusty to me. Caused a bit of hearts in mouths by a poor attempt to play it out when leathering it was the right option. Great save from the free kick though.
Doherty - I don't think he's as bad as some will make out, but I don't think he offers as much as Iorfa. A strange choice.
Baath/Stearman - the one pair that was retained worked as effectively as it has for a while. That tells you a lot about why we lost today imo.
Hause - he's no Golbourne, but I didn't think he did much wrong today tbh. I didn't have a clear sight of their first though, as someone walked in front of me as it happened. However I thought he was ok. Still a CB at left back though. In time, he'll be a good CB.
McDonald - is it me, or is he afraid to shoot? I think his defensive side of his game has improved a lot. A couple of 2nd half passes nearly came off. Not great today.
Evans - doesn't work with McDonald for me. Didn't add the forward spark people were expecting. For me, Evans is a decent technical performer, & I think he should be tried in the #10 oft discussed position.
Edwards - pretty anonymous today. I like Edwards. I think there's a lot he doesn't get credit for. I also think part of his importance to the squad isn't his footballing abilities, but his experience. However, technically he isn't great. His acheivements have been through effort, not skill. He isn't a creative footballer. He isn't going to make slide rule passes to put another player in. His industry gets him on the end of others creativity. Whilst he's brilliant at that, & defending from the front, that lack of creativity is costing us in at least 3 games in every 5. He should have come off for Dicko, not Evans. These are the reasons I'd put Evans in for Edwards, retaining Price/McDonald behind.
RVlP - He's raw, with frightening pace. I'm reminded a bit of Sako when he first joined. You can see the potential. If he and the coaches put in the work, we could have a real gem here. I can understand the frustration others have with him though.
Sako - phenomenal first half. Pretty good second I thought til he was marked out of the game.
Afobe - saw glimpses of some class. Some good control, touches and vision. I firmly believe he'll become an asset the more he gets to know his team mates. I don't think he's in the same mould as Dicko, I do think he offers something different.
Rather than comment on the subs, as akin to above I don't think it was the players who lost today, as almost all were a steady 6/10 (Sako and Afobe were better), it was the tactics. KJ got this one wrong. Too many changes in one go. If you want to make the midfield more attack minded, then retain that back 4 who aren't conceding & look solid. In addition, don't go from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2 then back within a 10 minute time frame.
Ref - appalling in his inconsistency. Some bizarre decisions given against us, a soft booking or 2, yet Readings holding, obstructions and time wasting all went unpunished. He also gave bad decisions against the, so it didn't cost us, but the inconsistency is unforgiveable. I am amazed at the number of poor refereeing shows I have seen this season.
That said, neither the ref, nor the players lost us the game today. And it wasn't Reading (who started time wasting around 25 mins in) either. It was KJ's initial line up, then strange substitutions.
