The Wild Lower West: Hope In Reading’s Defeat At Wrexham
Dixey takes the positives from Saturday’s loss and looks ahead to Saturday’s clash with the Addicks.
At the risk of sounding like Paul Ince, I didn’t think that we played that badly against Wrexham. A 3-0 defeat would not normally bring such a reaction, but these days you can see hope in defeat, because we looked as if we were giving it a go and trying to play football, which is where the comparisons to Mr Ince end.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not happy that we were beaten 3-0, and there are still lots of things to work on (particularly our strange shape at times), but there no longer seems to be a tendency to self-destruct and drop heads as soon as we concede. The fact that we were still trying to play and create chances shows there is a belief in this team, which in turn gives me hope that we will have more good days than bad this season.
Wrexham (who I was told prior to the game play good football) clearly had the simplest of game plans, which roughly involved finding men in space and getting the ball into the box at maximum height as often as possible. They were typical of a Parky side: big, strong and able to bully teams. Whether that’s enough to get them promoted, I personally don’t care, and it isn’t going to cause me sleepless nights.
My player ratings
Joel Pereira 7: Pulled off an incredible double save prior to Wrexham’s second goal and still looks far more assured than Button. Maybe should have done better for Wrexham’s third goal, although some angles of the goal show that he could have been unsighted.
Jeriel Dorsett 5: For me he was at fault for Wrexham’s first goal and should be doing better to stop the cross. I can’t help feeling that Dorsett is far more comfortable going forward than he is defending, although we are asking him to play a position (or two) that doesn’t necessarily come naturally to him.
Michael Craig 6: Once again tenacious in a tackle and made several blocks that ended Wrexham attacks and won possession back for Reading. Craig’s positional play still needs work at times, but to his credit he did get forward and join the attack several times.
Tyler Bindon 6: Not Tyler’s best game in a Reading shirt but certainly not his worst. I thought that he could have closed a lot quicker on more than one occasion, and he struggled at times to deal with crosses into the box, although it’s not every week that he will come up against by a 6’5 striker. Composed on the ball but wasn’t really pressed when in possession.
Amadou Mbengue 6: Not the usual all-action performance that we have come to expect, and too often left Bindon exposed by rushing out to break up play in areas that he didn’t need to be in. That said, he again made a couple of last-ditch tackles that stopped dangerous Wrexham attacks.
Charlie Savage 6: Covered the pitch well and worked hard, but too often relies on those around him to put out fires and get us on the front foot. There is a tendency to drift in and out of a game, and often struggled to cope with the physicality of Wrexham’s midfield.
Ben Elliott 8: I thought that almost everything positive about our performance came from Elliott, with his ability to link play and drive us forward. He finds space where others find traffic, and his runs with the ball at his feet had Wrexham back peddling on more than one occasion.
Lewis Wing 7: I find it difficult to be critical of Lewis, as even on an off-day (by his standards) he was still the one who provided hope of getting back into the game. A couple of trademark 25-yard efforts could easily have crept in, and he continued to keep Reading on the front foot as much as possible, despite him often dropping deeper than is ideal.
Adrian Akande 6: Enthusiastic, neat and tidy with the ball, and not afraid to take players on when the chance arose, which I liked a lot. Linked well with Craig in the first half but drifted in and out of the game in the second. Very promising all the same.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan 6: Held the ball up well and again wasn’t afraid to put in the hard yards to deny Wrexham space and time at the back. Too often though I felt that there was a better option than the one Kelvin chose, and he was often looking to shoot when a pass was more obvious.
Sam Smith 6: Needs a goal to kickstart his season. Like Ehibhatiomhan he worked hard and kept Wrexham’s back line busy without really threatening to score. Did his best to bring others into the game with his back to goal, but all too often his efforts on goal were either blocked or easily saved by Okonkwo.
Subs
Andre Garcia 6: Again, he looked composed on the ball and didn’t shirk a tackle when it was needed. Seems to have gained bundles of confidence from his involvement so far this season. I can’t tell you what I was doing at his age, but let’s just say it was a million miles away from playing first-team football for Reading.
Tivonge Rushesha 7: I’m really impressed with Rushesha’s contribution and his general all-round play, albeit with limited minutes. He was always looking to press forward and his goal-bound effort late in the game was not given, despite it looking to be over the line.
Jayden Wareham 5: Took up some promising positions and was unlucky not to get on the end of a Lewis Wing pass late on. Needs to hold the ball up better, as too often a ball played to him was coming straight back.
Basil Tuma 5: Didn’t really have an opportunity to impact the game and lost the ball in a couple of promising positions. That said, I thought he took up some intelligent positions when we attacked and showed his obvious pace to get away from his marker.
Kelvin Abrefa: Not enough minutes to be rated.
This Saturday we are back to the SCL where we entertain Charlton Athletic, who have made the perfect start to the season, winning all three league games without conceding a goal. Losing Alfie May in the summer would have been a big loss to them, but several additions to the squad have since been made, including five signings from Championship clubs. Remember what that felt like?
Regarding signings, I was really hoping that new ownership would have been rubber-stamped by now, and Ruben Selles would be off shopping for further additions to the squad.
As it stands, we appear to be no closer to the deal being finalised, and with the transfer window closing on Friday, I am concerned that we could be placing too much expectation on those coming through from the academy. I always have, and always will be, a great advocate for our academy and the players that it produces. However, these players need to be integrated into the squad to learn from experienced players, rather than being relied upon to be the architects of our points tally for a whole season.
That said, the transfer window has become something that most of us keep an eye on for outgoing players rather than incoming ones in recent seasons, so it looks likely that we will be relying on loans, free agents and some goodwill from the EFL!
I do not want to be drawn on the rumours surrounding the problems with finalising the takeover of the club, because I really don’t know the truth, but I think it’s fair to say that we have suffered more than enough now and just need some clarity.
Anyway, back to Saturday’s game with Charlton, and I really think that this will be a tough one. Given Charlton’s start to the season and our strong home form, I think this will be an entertaining draw.
Reading 1-1 Charlton Athletic
(Wing, Godden)
13,868
For anyone into their trivia, I pride myself in being able to name most of the Reading players that I have watched over the last 45 years, yet I was stumped during a conversation with my mum this week. Her memory isn’t the best these days, bless her, and she asked me about “a fella who played at the back for the club when you were mascot”.
Not the best quiz question I have ever been asked, given the many possible answers, and being six years old at the time of being mascot, I probably wouldn’t have remembered much anyway.
Having rattled off a few names, she then said: “No, it’s none of them, his name is something to do with fire, but I can’t remember it.”
“Steve Wood,” I said confidently. “No it’s not him,” came the reply.
I could not remember any other players with a surname such as flame, blaze or smoke, so her question had me baffled. Just as I was about to text my mate Jordan (full of football stats and information is Jordan) she said...
“I know who it was: Martin Sticks!”
(That should be club legend Martin Hicks for younger readers.)
They say never work with children or animals, but ageing parents are comedy gold.
Dixey’s Dilemma
At the start of the season I entered a competition called Last Man Standing. Quite simply you pick a Premiership team to win their game each week, but you can only use each team once. If your team loses or they draw, then you are out.
So far, I have already used Arsenal and Man City, so my dilemma is:
- Do I continue picking the teams most likely to win and hope that everyone else goes out in the meantime?
- Pick one of the lesser teams this week and keep the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea for later weeks?
Much love and c’mon Urzzzz
Dixey