Boro V Reading

[LukeR 44]

Neck on the line 3-0 to boro!

 

:D

[34. 22]

Outstanding performance again. The belief and confidence on display at the moment is massive.

 

Perfect end to a miserable year and hopefully puts the ghost of the shmables mowbray created to bed. We are starting to look an organised and very dangerous team, Varga at rightback looks a very good move, his natural position oddly enough, and hes been outstanding the past 3 games, even Whitehead who i wasnt impressed with previously is starting to turn in excellent performances.

The defence looks settled and composed and can actually defend now, I think keeping Shay Given is an absolute must, he just seems to instill confidence and it shows to the rest of the defence. We actually look like a team. 3 wins, 3 clean sheets...at christmas...for boro. Dare we start to believe, I do hope we can start getting bigger crowds in and get everyone behind the club, it could well be a good second half of the season

 

This sums everything up nicely.

[p_mards 1,365]

I'll do a summary and ratings in a bit. The difference under Karanka is we're very tactically disciplined and well drilled in defence and not just as simple as Maddo said about Given being a leader. The complete opposite of us under Mowbray. I'm daring to dream about the play offs if we keep playing this way.

 

When Emnes was asked about the difference between us under Karanka and Mowbray he said that now we actually prepare specifically for the match. It seems madness that Mowbray didn't!.

[EstonSmog 129]

Thoughts on the game today... very impressive display. We never let Reading play, defence finally seems solid and comfortable. Thought Whitehead and Leadbitter bossed the midfield and Ledesma worked tirelessly. Still need a good goalscorer yet though but can't fault the effort that Juke and Main put in today, great knock down for Adomahs goal by Juke to give him credit.

 

Overall can't really fault any of them today. Friend is looking the the player of old, Ayala keeps getting better. Dare I believe we've finally turned that corner!!

 

As said above I really hope that the town starts to get behind the team and we could go on to to have a good 2014. If that means reduce the price if we can we should. We hhave some real momentum behind us for the first time in a while! Very positive end to what was a miserable year!

[andrewparkes 12]

I'll do a summary and ratings in a bit. The difference under Karanka is we're very tactically disciplined and well drilled in defence and not just as simple as Maddo said about Given being a leader. The complete opposite of us under Mowbray. I'm daring to dream about the play offs if we keep playing this way.

 

When Emnes was asked about the difference between us under Karanka and Mowbray he said that now we actually prepare specifically for the match. It seems madness that Mowbray didn't!.

 

I only caught the end of the Emnes interview by time got back to the car, but thats just madness, absolute madness.

 

I agree about Karanka, it shows we arevery well disciplined tactically. Hes set out to initially make us hard to beat and the rest will come, so far its working an absolute treat

[trekkers 104]

Just in from the game and eating a lovely Shepherds pie at the in-laws.

Great game today. Leadbitter and Whitehead controlled the game and Ledesma was superb. Given marshalling the defence was another reason we kept a clean sheet.

My worries are Friend at LB and Varga at RB. They didn't convince me much as did the lack of an out and out goal scoring striker.

Great result. Roll on Bolton!!

[NY1 1]

Whitehead has been really impressive of late, looks the solid buy we all thought he would be.

 

A massive improvements in all areas of the team, the only thing we could hope for is more goals upfront but aslong as midfield keeps contributing we can cope till we make a signing

[Oslo_Syd 320]

Whitehead has been really impressive of late, looks the solid buy we all thought he would be.

 

I think this applies to a lot of our players now. If you'd taken a poll 2or 3 weeks ago about who we should go for in the transfer window it would have virtually amounted to changing the entire team. Now we're talking about keeping Given and signing a striker. I'm not even so sure that we need a striker. Ledesma, who had been practically written off, has been a revelation. Kamara will return from injury, Juke and Emnes will grow in confidence and cease to panic in front of goal...and we'll score plenty. Our leaky defence seems to have been plugged, thanks to Given.

 

And, not before time and quite incredibly, it seems that we have a manager who actually tailors our line-up to the opposition.

 

The results speak for themselves. If it works, don't mess with it.

[LukeR 44]

Just got in and these are my match ratings:

 

Given- 9- superb. Can't fault him, he claimed EVERY ball that came near him, and made 2 stunning saves. As you all know, I rate Steele, but I can't see him getting a look in if we sign Given permanently.

 

Varga- 8.5- very solid defensively, a great pass to play in Ledesma for our first goal, and his positional sense is excellent. He would have got higher if his distribution was better when we were under pressure.

 

Ayala- 9- Faultless. He won practically every header that was fired towards our box and made a few vital interceptions.

 

Gibson- 8.5- a very solid performance, again, he read every ball coming into our box and cut it out, he organised the rest of the defence too. Would have been higher if his distribution was better in the first half.

 

Friend- 8- he didn't have much to do really. I can't remember the winger beating him once, and he got forward pretty well at points. Looks a different player to the one under Mowbray, much more solid.

 

Whitehead- 8.5- he switched play like an American football quarter back, spreading passes left, right and centre. He put in some solid challenges and made it difficult for Reading to play.

 

Leadbitter- 9- retained possession well, and kept us ticking over in midfield. His strike was a worldy and his penalty was cooly dispatched, it's obvious he's been working on the defensive side of his game, as he made a few vital interceptions and challenges, 2 of which were in the box.

 

Ledesma- 9- created the first goal with a sublime 50 yard pass, got the man sent off by beating him and charging towards goal, and won the penalty after beating 2 men and going down. He was a joy to watch today (agian) but he was out of the game at points because Reading put 3 men on him. His passing and vision is second to none in this league, and he'll create chance after chance for us.

 

Emnes- 8.5- he's a clever player. He knows when to make runs, where to find space, how to keep possession, and he did it again today. He made a few chances, but he also wasted a few shots. But at least he's got his confidence back so he's taking shots again.

 

Adomah- 8.5- a fairly quiet day for adomah, whenever he got the ball, he always had the beating of his fullback, and he took his goal clinically. But similar to Ledesma, they tried to mark him out of the game. He was wasteful with a few shots too.

 

Jutkiewicz- 8.5- he's been hitting the gym. He won everything in the air, and practically everything stuck to him. As always he took a beating for the team and worked his socks off. That said, he's never going to be a 20 goal a season striker, not because he can't take chances (he can't, but that's besides the point :P ). But because he doesn't get into the right areas to score.

 

Subs:

 

Main- 7.5- came on to pressure the defenders, and did just that. He wasted a decent chance though.

 

Carayol- 7.5- didn't really get the ball, but when he did he kept possession well, and played some nice one two's with Ledesma.

 

Butterfield- 8- kept the ball, played some good passes and created a chance for Main.

 

Overall, I think something has clicked. Reading are by no means a poor side, but we showed them up today. We looked sharp, all the players knew their jobs, and everyone pulled them off without too much fuss. Very similar to Mourinho's sides. Efficient is the best way to describe us.

[Aphex_Boro 1,444]

Was one of the biggest criticisms of Mowbray not that he set up to counter the opposition and didn't cater to our strengths?

[boroinbishop 65]

I was a big supporter of juke but i think his chance has gone. We need a goal scoring forward

 

Juke was amazing today, battled for everything, his chance to score was a hard one so can't blame him for it not going in.

 

Hi guys,

 

Reading fan here - well done today. I think everyone has found out how we play this season and that's why we're awful at the moment. We've lost four of our last five because of this.

 

Still could be worse - we've only got one centre-back for the Forest game on New Years Day...

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

It's always nice to have an opposition point of view on the forum. Personally I don't think it was the way that you play that caused you to lose today, even burnley struggled to deal with us in our last game when we came out of the blocks quickly.

 

It would be nice to hear what you thought of the two teams performances today if you were there?

Thanks - I wasn't there, but I listened to it on the radio.

 

It sounded like you let us have the ball, but you were able to break quickly when you had it and it caused us problems. Following the red card, it sounded like you kept the ball, but didn't push much. The penalty seemed like it was a dubious decision, but at the end of the day (for us) it was irrelevant. A worrying run of games for us now. You're the latest side to have over 20 shots against us. McCarthy kept us in it - we're in huge trouble when we sell him. :(

 

The penna couldn't have been more obvious, ledesma took it past the defender who then took him out.

 

My Ratings:

Given -8- Not too much to do, two saves to make, the second of which was brilliant in the top corner.

Friend -6- Got skinned time after time by their winger, luckily Ayala cut out all the crosses

Ayala -9- Outstanding, had pogrebnyak in his pocket all game, cut out everything that came into the box

Gibson - 8- Same as Ayala, but Ayala was more prominent

Varga -8- Brilliant performance at right back, handled their winger on most occaisions, needs to learn when to get rid and when to try play out from the back though.

Whitehead -8- Broke everything that came his way, chased the ball down and won the second balls before laying it off to more attacking players.

Leadbitter -10- MOTM He did everything today, pressed the ball high up the pitch and forced them to make mistakes, a wonder strike of a goal, i dare bet we won't see a better strike at the riverside this season.

Ledesma- 10- where has this guy come from? everything he did was brilliant apart from running the ball out of play once in the first half, his delivery is brilliant, got two assists and deserved a goal.

Emnes -7- didn't do much, ran at their defenders a few times and got a few shots away, not a bad performance but not an outstanding one either.

Adomah -9- Always a pain to their full back, drifted inside a lot too, we're starting to work with the movements a 4-3-2-1 one is built for which is why we're looking a lot better going forward, took his goal well.

Juke -9 - Did all the dirty work, constantly getting fouled by Gorks brought people into play brilliantly, great vision for his assist.

 

Subs:

Main: Did a lot of running but not much else, i think the last few games has shown he isn't cut out for this level.

Carayol: Didn't do much when he came on but we were just playing keep ball so you wouldn't expect him too.

Butterfield: See carayol.

[Northstandmanc 4]

Just got in and these are my match ratings:

 

Given- 9- superb. Can't fault him, he claimed EVERY ball that came near him, and made 2 stunning saves. As you all know, I rate Steele, but I can't see him getting a look in if we sign Given permanently.

 

Varga- 8.5- very solid defensively, a great pass to play in Ledesma for our first goal, and his positional sense is excellent. He would have got higher if his distribution was better when we were under pressure.

 

Ayala- 9- Faultless. He won practically every header that was fired towards our box and made a few vital interceptions.

 

Gibson- 8.5- a very solid performance, again, he read every ball coming into our box and cut it out, he organised the rest of the defence too. Would have been higher if his distribution was better in the first half.

 

Friend- 8- he didn't have much to do really. I can't remember the winger beating him once, and he got forward pretty well at points. Looks a different player to the one under Mowbray, much more solid.

 

Whitehead- 8.5- he switched play like an American football quarter back, spreading passes left, right and centre. He put in some solid challenges and made it difficult for Reading to play.

 

Leadbitter- 9- retained possession well, and kept us ticking over in midfield. His strike was a worldy and his penalty was cooly dispatched, it's obvious he's been working on the defensive side of his game, as he made a few vital interceptions and challenges, 2 of which were in the box.

 

Ledesma- 9- created the first goal with a sublime 50 yard pass, got the man sent off by beating him and charging towards goal, and won the penalty after beating 2 men and going down. He was a joy to watch today (agian) but he was out of the game at points because Reading put 3 men on him. His passing and vision is second to none in this league, and he'll create chance after chance for us.

 

Emnes- 8.5- he's a clever player. He knows when to make runs, where to find space, how to keep possession, and he did it again today. He made a few chances, but he also wasted a few shots. But at least he's got his confidence back so he's taking shots again.

 

Adomah- 8.5- a fairly quiet day for adomah, whenever he got the ball, he always had the beating of his fullback, and he took his goal clinically. But similar to Ledesma, they tried to mark him out of the game. He was wasteful with a few shots too.

 

Jutkiewicz- 8.5- he's been hitting the gym. He won everything in the air, and practically everything stuck to him. As always he took a beating for the team and worked his socks off. That said, he's never going to be a 20 goal a season striker, not because he can't take chances (he can't, but that's besides the point :P ). But because he doesn't get into the right areas to score.

 

Subs:

 

Main- 7.5- came on to pressure the defenders, and did just that. He wasted a decent chance though.

 

Carayol- 7.5- didn't really get the ball, but when he did he kept possession well, and played some nice one two's with Ledesma.

 

Butterfield- 8- kept the ball, played some good passes and created a chance for Main.

 

Overall, I think something has clicked. Reading are by no means a poor side, but we showed them up today. We looked sharp, all the players knew their jobs, and everyone pulled them off without too much fuss. Very similar to Mourinho's sides. Efficient is the best way to describe us.

 

Completely agree with all this

[boro_fan_in_brum 604]

We had 22 shots!!!!

[boroinbishop 65]

Doesn't look like my ratings posted but they are pretty much what LukeR Wrote

 

The penna couldn't have been more obvious.

 

Biggest disappointment for me once again was the North stand, was sat in the south and never heard a chant out of them all game, the 100 odd reading fans were louder.

[Northstandmanc 4]

Doesn't look like my ratings posted but they are pretty much what LukeR Wrote

 

The penna couldn't have been more obvious.

 

Biggest disappointment for me once again was the North stand, was sat in the south and never heard a chant out of them all game, the 100 odd reading fans were louder.

 

I was in the North Stand and heard plenty of Shay Given and Albert Adomah songs... probably that wretched drum drowning everything else out