There was a sense of optimism in the air as championship football returned to the Madejski, Gomes galvanised the club last season and now with a whole summer to mould his plans, everyone was excited to see what it'd produce. What I was hoping to see from this opening game was an attacking performance that showed promise, but moreover a cohesive defensive display from all areas of the pitch. Reading's attacking impetus has been missing for nearly three seasons now, even in Stam's first season we didn't score a shedload of goals - I wasn't expecting us to go and score 3 every game, I just wanted to see an improvement in our intent. Defensively wise, we have two of the leagues best centre-backs, after the re-acquisition of Matt Miazga, and with a whole pre-season to spend time solidifying the cracks that were present, I think anything other than solid would be doing the manager a disservice - I was disappointed.
After a good first 5 minutes, Sheffield Wednesday's attacking advantage was starting to show as Fletcher and, in particular, Harris started to cause real problems. The latter ran the show for the entirety of the first half, his pace and directness perfectly complimenting Bannan's vast array of passing. I couldn't help but see him as another potential thrifty free transfer that eluded us during the summer's soft transfer embargo. Harris' effectiveness was rewarded as he capitalised on Moore's momentary hesitation to speed past the centre back and slot it coolly past Virginia. It will be interesting to see if Lucas Boye can prove to be as useful.
With this goal, Reading managed to work their way back into the game and actually finished the half the stronger team. However, for all their possession, Reading failed to create anything, mainly due to their shape - the 'fluid' front four often sat in a horizontal, narrow line on top of the Owl's back line, offering no width whatsoever, and very little depth for Swift and Rinomhota to play off and progress up the pitch - after the break however was a different story.
In the second half, Reading came out looking fully refreshed; producing high tempo play utilising Barrow's pace on the left wing and relinquishing Richards from quite as much defensive responsibility to support. Crosses were coming in thick and fast but too often were not finding a Reading man, winning numerous corners in the process. Eventually, the ball fell to Barrett on the edge of the box, following another Barrow cross. It looked like the chance had passed him, with the number of touches it took to get the ball under control, but an inch perfect cross later and the stadium was holding its breathe; waiting to see the net bulge as Meite's header looped over Westwood.
The sound in the stadium was beautiful, the momentary intake of breathe lifted in an almighty roar, only amplified more by the presence of a bustling Club 1871. Meite ran over to Adam, who coincidentally coached him on how to run at the defenders during the half-time break, before the entire team joined the huddle. That's why I missed Reading FC over the summer - for moments just like that.
However, with adrenaline still running through my blood, Reading went for the killer blow and got close - Barrow again running down the left causing the problems but as soon as there was a glimpse for our second, Wednesday got their own. Hutchinson's absolutely stunning header gave Virginia no chance but having that amount of the room in the box from a corner is criminal. Following the goal, Meite let rip at Miazga as it was clear that he attacked the wrong space in their zonal marking system, leaving the Hutchinson free to attack the space between the two. The real sucker punch however, was conceding so quickly after equalising - it happened so many times last season and it not only flattened the morale of the players but the whole stadium as well; you could maybe put this down to Miazga joining late on in summer but these mistakes must not continue.
Once again, Reading found them one down. 35 minutes to go in the game, but this time the wind was knocked out of their sails. The possession based style once again ensued; lacking any sort of cutting edge until the introduction of Olise and Adam. I was surprised to see the 33 year-old Adam to assume the number 10 role but a lack of defensive responsibility worked well as he was afforded to put all his focus on driving the team up the pitch, which he did with quick and incisive passing - not to mention rallying the crowd as well. Olise, on the other hand, gracefully glided around the pitch at speed, playing give and goes to increase the speed of attacks and dribbled to create space at great effect. Their introduction, reinvented the Reading attack and, with the help of tired Sheffield legs, started to unpick the defence.
A delicately played ball by Olise, following one of those intricate 1-2s, led to Barrow and a defender jostling for a potential shot on goal, but the on-rushing Westwood had other ideas; absolutely clearing the Reading man out. Due to being outside the box, he was on the receiving end of a red card rather than yellow. Personally, I would have rather the resulting free kick was taken by Adam as his left foot would have been much better suited than Swift's right and after seeing it disappointingly hit the wall, everyone watching agreed. Reading really struggled to capitalise on this man advantage, and when Wednesday brought on Joao, it ended any chance of a Reading comeback. Not only did he score the final goal with a superb first touch to turn Miazga, but he kept the ball in the corner and won fouls for almost 5 straight minutes?! Lets just say based on that performance, I would be quite happy if the rumours of us trying to sign him were true.
The Takeaways
- Lets just start off with a quick word the horrendous state of officiating that is present in this league, and I don't mean the televised matches that get decent referees, I mean real championship officials. Today was about as bad as it gets: numerous cynical fouls unpunished; a lack of control over the time-wasting, including not adding on more time for time-wasting in extra-time; allowing Sheffield Wednesday players to basically take their own drinks breaks; a blatant handball stopping a shot on the line not called and a very strong case for climbing not called on the box either. This isn't just a one off, and I'm sure fans of all clubs across the EFL would tell you the same, the declining standard has been noticeable for nearly half a decade - the majority of referees just aren't in control of these matches and something needs to be done.
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| Somehow not a handball? |
- Danny Loader on the other hand was barely anywhere to be seen. It's so frustrating when you can see how talented players are but it's not quite working out. That's the case with Loader at the moment - he's not a winger, he should either be playing behind the striker or as a striker. On the wing, he drifts far too much into the middle of the pitch, closing down the space for players like Swift to use whilst not offering an out-ball on the wing. This makes Yiadom push further up to offer a wide option and that's what lead to the first goal conceded. I think the signing of Boye and Olise's evident skill will lead to a little less game time for Loader, but he will be more influential in the minutes he plays.
- I thought Omar Richard's main role for Reading this season would be as a winger, or on loan somewhere else; today he proved otherwise. Omar has bulked up and looks to be a lot more defensively 'switched on' than last season, in which he had many more poor performances than good. However, he needs to be confident in his abilities, there were points in the game that the best option to drive the team forward was for him to dribble past players, which is one of his strengths, but instead took passes backwards or sideways.
- I must be honest, when I saw we signed Charlie Adam, I was less than impressed, but I really cannot fault him whatsoever. He's a professional off the pitch, openly encouraging the team whilst warming up as a substitute and coaching players during the game. On the pitch, he was perfectly competent, even impressive at points, and seemed to ooze experience when it comes to how he needs to change the game he is being introduced to. He'll prove to be a good frugal signing and not a wasted one.
- The players need more Bravery. Much alike Richards, there were options for Reading to take killer passes, balls over the top, or go on runs to really make meaningful attacking progress, but chose to recycling possession instead. I'm not saying that these options have to be taken every time they present themselves, but they do need to start actually some risks. For example, Swift was decent but his only real quality showed when playing long cross-field passes that utilised Yiadom's bombing runs, nothing down the centre of the pitch.
- Reading do not need a new striker, they never have done, for the past 5 years Reading's problems have been in their build up and chance creation. A midfielder should be a priority. Reading need a real holding midfielder, it would allow Rinomhota to focus on helping during transitional phases, Swift can play further up the pitch in a free roaming no. 10 role where he is best and the centre-backs can get the cover they need. This one key role unlocks so much for the team and I really believe could be key to unlocking this team.
Overall, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done, the problems of last season were apparent on the opening day, but will that prove to be a curable hangover or not? Looking forward, Hull next week is going to be another good test of where we will stand in this division. They are a team that are likely to be around the bottom of the table come the end of the season and so another performance like this would be start to get the nerves flowing.
