Pick Your Best 11

[Crotts]

The current side should be:
McCarthy
Gunter Mariappa Gorkss Shorey
McCleary Guthrie Ledgerwood Mcanuff
Pogrebnyak Roberts

However,
The current side, if we had invested sensibly, and I'm talking reasonably priced not fantasy football multi-millions should have been:
McCarthy
Simpson Mariappa Sean St Ledger Stephen Ward
Matt Phillips Charlie Adam Peter Whittingham Will Buckley
Pog Zaha
Subs: Federici, Cummings, Gorkss, Ledgerwood, Kebe, Roberts

BM should have realised that we had very few players up to Premiership standard and should have invested sensibly. We were fortunate last year and will need more luck this year to stay up, though I do not doubt BM's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[sputnik]

St Ledger better than Pearce ?

[mr_number]

Also, QPR showing just how well changing your whole team can work

[Big Foot]

The current side should be:
McCarthy
Gunter Mariappa Gorkss Shorey
McCleary Guthrie Ledgerwood Mcanuff
Pogrebnyak Roberts

However,
The current side, if we had invested sensibly, and I'm talking reasonably priced not fantasy football multi-millions should have been:
McCarthy
Simpson Mariappa Sean St Ledger Stephen Ward
Matt Phillips Charlie Adam Peter Whittingham Will Buckley
Pog Zaha
Subs: Federici, Cummings, Gorkss, Ledgerwood, Kebe, Roberts

BM should have realised that we had very few players up to Premiership standard and should have invested sensibly. We were fortunate last year and will need more luck this year to stay up, though I do not doubt BM's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

LOL

[Extended-Phenotype]

Here's a different spin on things...

I'd go 3-5-2

McCarthy
Mariappa Gorkss Pearce
McCleary Ledge/Jem Guthrie Mcanuff Shorey
Pog Hunt

We'd have a decent mix of attack minded and defensive cover in the 5 man midfield also with Guthrie in there you get the playmaker and for all of the moaners you have the drive of Mcanuff...and players who can swap position/provide cover etc..

Most teams seem to be going with 4-5-1 at the minute, so why have 4 defenders picking up one striker...play 3 defenders and get the midfield passing and retaining possession...

The midfield is the key and currently it's not performing well enough for the premier league...hence why we get out passed and out played and just seem to end up running around alot...make the ball do the work...it really can't be that hard!!

Because 3-5-2 vs 4-5-1 leaves teams 2 vs 1 on the flanks (which arguably is our strongest area) and with all three CM's with marking duties they can't provide help for an overlap.

3-5-2 is not the formation you adopt to play against 4-5-1.

[Ian Royal]

The current side should be:
McCarthy
Gunter Mariappa Gorkss Shorey
McCleary Guthrie Ledgerwood Mcanuff
Pogrebnyak Roberts

However,
The current side, if we had invested sensibly, and I'm talking reasonably priced not fantasy football multi-millions should have been:
McCarthy
Simpson Mariappa Sean St Ledger Stephen Ward
Matt Phillips Charlie Adam Peter Whittingham Will Buckley
Pog Zaha
Subs: Federici, Cummings, Gorkss, Ledgerwood, Kebe, Roberts

BM should have realised that we had very few players up to Premiership standard and should have invested sensibly. We were fortunate last year and will need more luck this year to stay up, though I do not doubt BM's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

LOL

Seconded. What sort of total moron do you have to be to think its a good idea to sign 10 new players and play an entirely different team to the one that got your promoted!

[Crotts]

The current side should be:
McCarthy
Gunter Mariappa Gorkss Shorey
McCleary Guthrie Ledgerwood Mcanuff
Pogrebnyak Roberts

However,
The current side, if we had invested sensibly, and I'm talking reasonably priced not fantasy football multi-millions should have been:
McCarthy
Simpson Mariappa Sean St Ledger Stephen Ward
Matt Phillips Charlie Adam Peter Whittingham Will Buckley
Pog Zaha
Subs: Federici, Cummings, Gorkss, Ledgerwood, Kebe, Roberts

BM should have realised that we had very few players up to Premiership standard and should have invested sensibly. We were fortunate last year and will need more luck this year to stay up, though I do not doubt BM's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

LOL

Seconded. What sort of total moron do you have to be to think its a good idea to sign 10 new players and play an entirely different team to the one that got your promoted!

I didn't say that I would have started the season with 10 new players. The 6 on the bench would have started the season as they earned promotion but by now hopefully one would have realised that they are borderline premiership standard players. We had one player in the PFA championship team of 2011/12 for a reason. That is rare for a championship winning team and in one of the weakest championship leagues for many a year. Just ask yourself how many championship players from sides last season have been bought by teams that stayed up in the Premiership last year.

If fans think that we had 7 or 8 premiership quality players in last seasons side that's their opinion. I definitely am not of that view but would not refer to people that do as morons.

[melonhead]

The current side should be:
McCarthy
Gunter Mariappa Gorkss Shorey
McCleary Guthrie Ledgerwood Mcanuff
Pogrebnyak Roberts

However,
The current side, if we had invested sensibly, and I'm talking reasonably priced not fantasy football multi-millions should have been:
McCarthy
Simpson Mariappa Sean St Ledger Stephen Ward
Matt Phillips Charlie Adam Peter Whittingham Will Buckley
Pog Zaha
Subs: Federici, Cummings, Gorkss, Ledgerwood, Kebe, Roberts

BM should have realised that we had very few players up to Premiership standard and should have invested sensibly. We were fortunate last year and will need more luck this year to stay up, though I do not doubt BM's ability to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

LOL

Seconded. What sort of total moron do you have to be to think its a good idea to sign 10 new players and play an entirely different team to the one that got your promoted!

mark hughes

[melonhead]

If fans think that we had 7 or 8 premiership quality players in last seasons side that's their opinion. I definitely am not of that view but would not refer to people that do as morons.

i doubt many people though that

i doubt many peole thought that in 06/07 either



the idea of replacing an entire team in one summer, and hoping they all gel and play together is moronic.
we bought a good ammount of young hungry quality championship players, that improved the 1st eleven/strengthened the squad.
imo thats pretty much as good as you can hope for.

[Crotts]

If fans think that we had 7 or 8 premiership quality players in last seasons side that's their opinion. I definitely am not of that view but would not refer to people that do as morons.

i doubt many people though that

i doubt many peole thought that in 06/07 either



the idea of replacing an entire team in one summer, and hoping they all gel and play together is moronic.
we bought a good ammount of young hungry quality championship players, that improved the 1st eleven/strengthened the squad.
imo thats pretty much as good as you can hope for.

From the 2005/06 winning championship team I personally at the time thought that : Hahnemann, Shorey, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Sidwell, little, Doyle, Hunt, Long, Kitson were of premiership quality before we played in the Premiership. Admittedly I was wrong on some of them but that's a judgement call. I can't see many of last year's team getting into the 2006/07 Reading premiership team.

I just didn't see that standard last year and expressed the view at the time that we were incredibly fortunate to go up and completely lacked a nucleus of premiership quality players. Will be over the moon if we stay up but can't see it happening unfortunately.

[melonhead]

im the biggest optimist in the world, but even i ony thought sidders,kitson and marcus were definitely going to make it(and of those only marcus played long term for anyone, sidders has only just started playing week in week out for fulham)
possibles for doyle, sonko, little, shorey
never for ivar, murts, convey


lol @ hunt and long in your list, they hardly played in the championship

[Extended-Phenotype]

im the biggest optimist in the world, but even i ony thought sidders,kitson and marcus were definitely going to make it(and of those only marcus played long term for anyone, sidders has only just started playing week in week out for fulham)
possibles for doyle, sonko, little, shorey
never for ivar, murts, convey


lol @ hunt and long in your list, they hardly played in the championship

I suppose the only quality we have this season is Lawson D'Ath and Jake Taylor.

[Ian Royal]

LOL

Seconded. What sort of total moron do you have to be to think its a good idea to sign 10 new players and play an entirely different team to the one that got your promoted!

mark hughes

Is the correct answer.

[Ian Royal]

If fans think that we had 7 or 8 premiership quality players in last seasons side that's their opinion. I definitely am not of that view but would not refer to people that do as morons.

i doubt many people though that

i doubt many peole thought that in 06/07 either



the idea of replacing an entire team in one summer, and hoping they all gel and play together is moronic.
we bought a good ammount of young hungry quality championship players, that improved the 1st eleven/strengthened the squad.
imo thats pretty much as good as you can hope for.

From the 2005/06 winning championship team I personally at the time thought that : Hahnemann, Shorey, Sonko, Ingimarsson, Sidwell, little, Doyle, Hunt, Long, Kitson were of premiership quality before we played in the Premiership. Admittedly I was wrong on some of them but that's a judgement call. I can't see many of last year's team getting into the 2006/07 Reading premiership team.

I just didn't see that standard last year and expressed the view at the time that we were incredibly fortunate to go up and completely lacked a nucleus of premiership quality players. Will be over the moon if we stay up but can't see it happening unfortunately.

How, precisely, did you think that Long - who had played a handful of games and only really showed genuine first team quality from 2011 - and Hunt - who played a substitute bit part before we got promoted, was Premier League Quality?

That's revisionism of the highest order.

[Extended-Phenotype]

What he is saying (badly) is the same shit that everyone keeps spewing on here - that our last promoted side was of better quality than this seasons. I'd agree.

He's also sayin' that this season while we made a handful of signings, it didn't look like enough at the time and that the results are vindicating that opinion. I'd agree with that too.

However, we haven't been regularly awful, it often takes us time to get going and new signings rarely join a team firing on all cylendars. You could argue that it might be too early to blame McD and Co. for not bringing in enough players to level our club at the standard required for avoiding promotion.

I'd agree with that, but I can totally see why people are growing concerned.

[pea]

In response to the topic title:

Federici, McCarthy, Mariappa, Pearce, Cummings, McAnuff, Guthrie, Kebe, Roberts, Pogrebnyak, ALF

In response to the OP:

McCarthy, Cummings, Mariappa, Pearce, Shorey, Karacan, Guthrie, Kebe, McAnuff, Hunt, Pogrebnyak

[ManchesterRoyals]

From the 2005/06 team the only player i thought that was prem quality at that time was sidwell and i would rather have the 2005/06 squad compared to todays squad

[Ian Royal]

What he is saying (badly) is the same shit that everyone keeps spewing on here - that our last promoted side was of better quality than this seasons. I'd agree.

He's also sayin' that this season while we made a handful of signings, it didn't look like enough at the time and that the results are vindicating that opinion. I'd agree with that too.

However, we haven't been regularly awful, it often takes us time to get going and new signings rarely join a team firing on all cylendars. You could argue that it might be too early to blame McD and Co. for not bringing in enough players to level our club at the standard required for avoiding promotion.

I'd agree with that, but I can totally see why people are growing concerned.

Oh I agree this promotion squad was inferior to the last one. I agree we could have done with more quality signings.

I absolutely reject the stupid assertion that we needed an additional 8 signings, or Simpson instead of Gunter, Whittingham instead of Guthrie, Phillips instead of McCleary, plus an additional 5 signings.

And of course the frankly ludicrous implication that Charlie Adam would pick Reading over Stoke.

And the similarly bizzare later implication that we'd sign all those players and yet still pick Cummings, Gorkss, Ledge, Kebe (who was injured) and Roberts (who was suspended and injured) ahead of them.

[E. Andrew]

------------------McCarthy---------------------
Cummings----Pearce----Mariappa----Shorey
McCleary----Guthrie----Karacan-----McAnuff
---------Le Fondre----------Pogrebnyak------

Subs: Federici, Gorkss, Leigertwood, Robson-Kanu, Kebe, Hunt, Roberts

This. Don't think there's a clear advantage btwn Cummings and Gunter, so either. I think both a) this is our best, and b) if we lost all season, this is who I would want to watch do it, which I think is important. Not impressed by Pog yet, he frustrates me to no end nearly every time he touches the ball, but I'm not stupid enough to think we've seen everything from him. Though I wouldn't mind seeing Hunt in his place.

[E. Andrew]

From the 2005/06 team the only player i thought that was prem quality at that time was sidwell and i would rather have the 2005/06 squad compared to todays squad

For starters, record-transfer Kevin Doyle wasn't PL-qualified?