Reading vs Wycombe Wanderers

[ZacNaloen]

Can see the season just start already?

Adam Federici
Andy Griffin
Marcus Williams
Matt Mills
Alex Pearce
Jem Karacan
Brian Howard
JImmy Kebe
Jobi McAnuff
Gylfi Sigurdsson
Simon Church
Ben Hamer
Brynjar Gunnarsson
Jake Taylor
Jay Tabb
Michail Antonio
Hal Robson-Kanu
Noel Hunt
Shane Long


Looks like this could be be the first team coming into the new season

Taking note of that Jake Taylor and Antonio are in there. Good for them.

Jake Taylor especially, if he is already pushing for the first team, he could prove to be another special player from our academy.

[Sun Tzu]

Incredible thing about Taylor is he got very good reviews from the tour despite playing utterly out of position !

He also got his Welsh call up before playing a first team game and had hardly played for the reserves when he got into the U21s.

Certainly lots of good indications, although where would he play ? He's an attacking midfielder and Gylfi is a shoe in there.

[I was there at Elm Park]

Starting line-up: Federici, Griffin, Williams, Mills (c), Pearce, Karacan, Howard, Sigurdsson, McAnuff, Kebe, Church.
Subs: Hamer, Taylor, Gunnarsson, Tabb, Antonio, Robson-Kanu, Hunt, Long

Would expect the same 11 with maybe one or two changes against Scunthorpe.

[Mike Hunt]

Incredible thing about Taylor is he got very good reviews from the tour despite playing utterly out of position !

He also got his Welsh call up before playing a first team game and had hardly played for the reserves when he got into the U21s.

Certainly lots of good indications, although where would he play ? He's an attacking midfielder and Gylfi is a shoe in there.

I thought I read somewhere that he likes to be up front?

[I was there at Elm Park]

1-0 Wycombe Pitman

[Big Foot]

Incredible thing about Taylor is he got very good reviews from the tour despite playing utterly out of position !

He also got his Welsh call up before playing a first team game and had hardly played for the reserves when he got into the U21s.

Certainly lots of good indications, although where would he play ? He's an attacking midfielder and Gylfi is a shoe in there.

Played rather well at right and left back out in the Balkans

[Ian Royal]

Karacan & Tabb will be an interesting battle for one midfield slot.

Also be interesting to see if McDermott tries a 4-4-2 version of a probable first 11 in one of his later friendlies too. And who the striker partnership would be and which one of Gylfi, Kebe, Jobi, or Howard would therefore presumably miss out.

[wolsey]

1 - 1 Sig Pen

[tomrfcurz]

Now it's 1-1. Sigurdsson from a penalty on 65 mins. McAnuff won the penalty thanks to a great run into the box and was checked on his way towards goal from the byline - no doubt about it, stone wall penalty.

[wolsey]

Sig misses 2nd pen

[tomrfcurz]

Another penalty! This time Sigurdsson misses after winning it himself, the referee even apologises to the Reading fans for not sending the Wycombe player off as in a league game, would've been a blatant red.

[tomrfcurz]

Reading lead 2-1 through Hal Robson-Kanu! Noel Hunt crosses it into the middle and the winger is there to volley it past the Wycombe keeper and into the net after 78 mins. Looking like another pre-season win is only moments away for Brian McDermott and his team

[tomrfcurz]

Full time and Reading win 2-1 to continue what is a very good pre-season effort from the whole team and manager, Brian McDermott. Reading's next friendly and only home fixture of the pre-season campaign takes place at the Madejski Stadium on Tuesday night against Wolves, kick off 8:00PM.

Goals:
Wycombe: Pittman (8 mins)
Reading: Sigurdsson (pen - 65 mins), Robson-Kanu (78 mins)

[Ian Royal]

Sig's missed a couple of pens now recently hasn't he?

Nice to see Hunt getting involved in a goal even if he hasn't scored it. Nice to see Jobi, Sig and HRK all seemingly causing problems as well.
Also we seem to be getting quite a lot of penalties in the friendlies (or is it just me?), are teams being particularly rough or is it just our tricky play is inviting mistimed tackles?

[tomrfcurz]

Sig's missed a couple of pens now recently hasn't he?

Nice to see Hunt getting involved in a goal even if he hasn't scored it. Nice to see Jobi, Sig and HRK all seemingly causing problems as well.
Also we seem to be getting quite a lot of penalties in the friendlies (or is it just me?), are teams being particularly rough or is it just our tricky play is inviting mistimed tackles?

I think when you have players like McAnuff, Kebe and Robson-Kanu darting into the box from wide it must be very hard to time a tackle to perfection; perhaps this is the reason why? Just a thought and one i'd be very happy with come the season starting.

[Negative_Jeff]

Did Federici kick downfield every time? Did the full backs retreat to the touchline to get the ball off him?
If the answer is No and then Yes there are grounds for optimism.

[North Eaat royal]

Good run out for the lads, especially in the second half.

We knocked the ball around well and found great spaces on both flanks.

Michael Antonio and Jake Taylor played particularly well when they came on.

Good to see a large number of Reading make the short journey!

[howser]

The penalties thing is quite funnny, I have constantly critisised Cardiff for falling over in the box, because of the amount of spot kicks they had over the last couple of seasons, but it now apppears that the shoe is on the other foot ! although from Christmas last season till the seasons end I for one couldn't see a spot kick we got that we didnt deserve, and probably a few that we should have had but didnt ! as was said perviously on this thread, Kebe, McAnuff and Sigs all have very tight control on the ball so there is a fair chance that we will get our fair share this coming season as well, and hopefully Sigs has got his misses out of the way in the pre-season friendlies ??

[handbags_harris]

Well I think that was deserved in the end, however I thought the first half was somewhat disjointed. 25 minutes in and Wycombe had the measure of us, they ran the midfield somewhat and generally posed us a number of problems in the form of Pitman and their No.7 who I think was Gareth Ainsworth. I noticed, however, that McDermott and Mills had a brief discussion ending with Mills having what can only be described as strong words in McDermott's direction, and from then on it seemed pretty clear to me that something was tweaked as we ran the game form then, Wycombe only having one chance late in the first half which they should have taken.

Positives: Mills - strong as an ox; McAnuff - looked like he was going to create something every time he had the ball; Hunt - good to see him back and firing, great cross for HRK's goal.

One real negative: Marcus Williams - looks like he reacts too late to situations and certainly offers very little in an attacking sense. Improvement required...

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

Penalty scored...




Penalty missed...