2-1 masacre

[United Aren't Back.]

Yeah, Duffy leaving affected us. He's a fantastic player and we're so much better when he's playing.

I'm not doubting our effort and desire to defend and see out the win. We did that in a professional and organized manner.

Just saying we were very poor in the 2nd half, nothing wrong with saying that, its going to happen sometimes. If I were manager of that team today I'd have been very disappointed with the failure to put them to the sword and then let them get back in the game through a lack of concentration and an overall in ability to connect the first pass in possession.

Stats would also back that up:

1st Half:
59% possession
238 passes
77% pass completion
9 attempts

2nd half:
35% possession
162 passes
61% pass completion
5 attempts

Thing I disliked was the endless lofted balls forward. I pitied Clarke, chasing the ball from defender to keeper and back, almost all 2nd half. Of course he missed his one on one.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

How was that 2-1 squeaky bum time at the end?

As they say, someone is going to get a real hiding soon,

Agree BW , someone is gonna be on the end of a proper arseholing , I know they picked up in the last 15 but did Blackman have a shot to save all 90 . My only critism is I thought Blackman should have cut out the

 

[grafikhaus]

If Duffy was going to go off then Lundstram was the choice not Brooks. You can't replace a hard working midfielder with a good attacking player who still has a lot to learn about defensive duties. We went to a 4-3-3. With Lundstram in place of Duffy and the midfield remaining strong then we could have brought on Brooks for Sharp.

IMO of course

This in its entirety. Lost shape and work rate when Duff went off and it looked like 5 2 3 and suddenly there's an overload for Reading. CW has to then bring on Lundstram to stiffen up the midfield and allow Brooks up top where he should have been in the first place instead of Billy. Too clever Trevor again. Brooks is no Duffy either in experience, work rate or positional sense.

Agreed, Duffy going off changed our entire shape. What's puzzling me is why has Duffy been subbed 7 times in eleven starts?

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Continued due to dyslexic fingers ..... I was trying to say I thought poss Blskman could have cut out the cross for their goal .. but only in minor picking on a a very very good performance against last seasons play off finalists

 

[Fanny magnet]

How can anyone say they were all over us .some fans got worried the team never did.
We still created more than them in the 10 minutes they put some effort in after kicking lumps out of us and having to rest Duffy. Jamals gloves were never put under pressure. Ìt was as one sided a game as I've ever seen . They got what their performance deserved.we were at it for all 97 minutes .They huffed and puffed for 10 and even then we had e golden chances to their 0

We couldn't get the ball of em you mad cunt

 

[Linz]

We couldn't get the ball of em you mad cunt

Pardon?

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

Reading have, for several years now, been devoid of any real quality in their squad and have been desperately lacking anything like a decent, recognised goalscorer for a good while. Shouldn't have been this close.

 

[Roygbiv]

Last season's play off finalists had one shot on target. I did worry our great start would raise expectations to an unrealistic level

 

[Roygbiv]

where is this rubbish 2nd half come from, we dominated the game for 75 mins out of 90. They didn't deserve anything else from the game. They had the last 15 , even then we nearly scored on the break twice. What about that fantastic save there keeper pulled off which would have made it 3 nil and game over? Some people on here just carnt wait to have a go.

Mad scenes on here tonight.

 

[Fanny magnet]

Pardon?

It was meant as a joke
I apologise

 

[Guesty]

Agreed, Duffy going off changed our entire shape. What's puzzling me is why has Duffy been subbed 7 times in eleven starts?

I think he just struggles to finish 90 minutes, rather than it being a reflection on his performance.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

They were all over us for most of the second half but didn't create much and we could have scored 3 more on the break

I looked at the clock at the time when I felt Reading were starting to get on top. It showed 75 mins gone. They played very well in that last 15 mins. Up until then - not.

 

[super_pig]

It was meant as a joke
I apologise

emoticons mate..
sounds like we got a bit complacent.. we probably didn't expect to be so on top. we'll learn from that.. nothing lost it didn't cost us

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Don't really recall us having too many clear cut chances? Decent performance but not great.

Bringing Brooks on for Duffy was a mistake, should have been Lundstram on for him and Brooks for Sharp.

Or better still just leave Duffy on.

 

[Blade56]

Their number 10 Short looked a game changer. Would question Tufty a bit on formation after Duffy went off and yes last 10-15 mins was a bit bum squeaky. But where did 5 mins added time come from, no time wasting, no stoppages and trainers?

 

[derfblade.3]

No one seems to be taking into account the wind factor. Anyone who has played the game will tell you that having the wind at your back, as in the second half can be hazardous with the ball running away from you and controlling the weight of a pass can be very difficult. The first half was fantastic with the lads playing into the wind and keeping control of the ball ,and the passing was exceptional.
We mastered the conditions far better than Reading and thoroughly deserved the win. Well done Blades.

 

[Bergen Blade]

Yeah, Duffy leaving affected us. He's a fantastic player and we're so much better when he's playing.

I'm not doubting our effort and desire to defend and see out the win. We did that in a professional and organized manner.

Just saying we were very poor in the 2nd half, nothing wrong with saying that, its going to happen sometimes. If I were manager of that team today I'd have been very disappointed with the failure to put them to the sword and then let them get back in the game through a lack of concentration and an overall in ability to connect the first pass in possession.

Stats would also back that up:

1st Half:
59% possession
238 passes
77% pass completion
9 attempts

2nd half:
35% possession
162 passes
61% pass completion
5 attempts

I think we were exceptional first half, very impressed with the entire team and management for getting everything spot on. Second half I think we tired.

The amount of pressing and movement had been fantastic, but we paid the price and we should probably have made substitutions earlier. We couldn't keep up our high pressing, and struggled to get close enough to players even when dropping deeper. We pushed fewer players forward and gave the ball away a lot with long punts. Coutts and Fleck had too much space to cover. I think we should have accepted they'd have more of the ball, strengthened midfield and counter attacked with determination. Brooks for Duffy was a mistake. It should have been Lundstram or Carruthers a few minutes earlier, then Brooks for Sharp a bit later. I'd also put on Donaldson for the last ten minutes for even more pressing and running up front.

Overall though, very impressed again, really looking forward to every single match this season.

 

[Cerberus Blade]

Their number 10 Short looked a game changer. Would question Tufty a bit on formation after Duffy went off and yes last 10-15 mins was a bit bum squeaky. But where did 5 mins added time come from, no time wasting, no stoppages and trainers?

SWIFT, not Short. Yes he was excellent and him coming on and Duffy going off changed the dynamic in midfield and almost cost us 2 points.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

I think we're getting spoiled. It perhaps looked even better for those of us on the Kop, but I don't recall a better 45 minutes in terms of the quality and dominance. 2 fantastic goals, they never had a look in, and it could have been even more. I know lessons have always got to be learned, but to witness that after where we were 18 months ago is amazing. Let's enjoy it.

 

[PokerBlade]

Thought Reading were the worst side we've played so far this season at home. Would be outright were it not for Bolton.

On the other hand, the first half we didn't let them have a second on the ball and they were absolutely lost trying to handle the pressure. Once again, we scored a goal of pure beauty.

Second half we started the better, and we really should've gone 3-0 up with that close range header. Reading looked dead and buried.

Look, the problem with playing the high press we start with is that it's very high energy. Sometimes we're not going to be able to sustain it, and sometimes we're going to rightly try and see a game out. Unfortunately, if I see any pitfalls of this current team it's that we don't look like we can sit back and be as solid as say Norwich were when defending a lead. Reading opened us up once and scored but I still don't think the result was ever in any doubt for me.

A tactical change to conserve a bit of energy tested the fans' nerves but that was as comfortable a win as we've had all season.

 

[SandyMcBlade]

It was clear they were starting to target Duffy with hard tackles in the second half and expecting Brooks who is feather weight instead of Carruthers to rep!ace him was a bit risky to say the least.

 

[Northyorksblade]

Not really, only clear chances we had was the Sharp header and Clarke 1 on 1, and maybe Brooke's that he fluffed.. We played okay for for 25 min in 1st half and opening 10 mins of 2nd half. Other than that it was a very poor performance by our standards in the 2nd half with a lower chance creation than normal.

On to the next game.

Sigh

 

[Fanny magnet]

It was clear they were starring to target Duffy with hard tackles in the second half and expecting Brooks who is feather weight instead of Carruthers to rep!ace him was a bit risky say to say the least.


_

Brooks played really well and set up 3 very dangerous counters that could have put the game out of sight

He also tracked back and won the ball and took up really clever positions to counter attack from making himself available to our defenders and midfield to play out to

 

[Blend-it-like-Harris]

That was so one-sided for so long it looked easier than any game I can remember last season. It was that easy maybe we became a bit complacent, but it showed that we can defend at the back as well as using our default "attack is the best form of defence" type of defending. Still not seen anyone in this league I'd rather be putting my money on. On target for automatic...........

 

[Liverpool blade]

I thought we were excellent for 65/70 minutes and did enough in the end to see the game out comfortably. I M O. I'm a very happy blade on my way home to Liverpool and a Chinese takeaway and a couple of drinks. Happy days for all blades everywhere. Utb. FTP.

 

[andy m]

Think people are overthinking the substitutions. We were 2-0 and and we need to make sure Brooks' gets game time. They didn't score until Lundstram came on and that was due to poor positioning by O'Connell. I thought we managed the game well 2nd half, never looked in trouble.

 

[Willie Carlin]

where is this rubbish 2nd half come from, we dominated the game for 75 mins out of 90. They didn't deserve anything else from the game. They had the last 15 , even then we nearly scored on the break twice. What about that fantastic save there keeper pulled off which would have made it 3 nil and game over? Some people on here just carnt wait to have a go.

Our slide started when Duffy went off. They took over the midfield for last 15 minutes.

 

[PaulHalfway]

Never forget there are some good sides in this division with decent players, they wont just role over and give us 3 points. I thought overall we were fantastic again, 3 more points and move on to the next game. Leeds will be a bit test, bring it on

 

[Northyorksblade]

You can also judge how poor the opposition/how good we are, by the away fans. After five minutes, not a peep. Pathetic, could hardly even be bothered to applaud the substitutions. The first time they woke from theirs slumbers was when they scored and then they actually did support for the last few minutes. Worst support I've seen this season.

 

[zablade]

Duffy is the irreplaceable player, even more than Coutts and Fleck, Brooks is a different player and should not be asked to play that role again.

Carruthers is the only other one who could possibly come close to standing in for Duffy.