A game that carried a lot of promise in the build-up ultimately ended in, well, a bit of a damp squib. Reading came into this meeting with Rotherham United on the back of a morale-boosting win over Stevenage
and two very valuable weeks on the training ground, not to mention the prospect of a biggest home crowd of the season, but could only manage a solitary point.
The Millers went ahead somewhat against the run of play in the first half, Josh Benson capping off an incisive team move. With time running out after the break, Charlie Savage eventually provided the one moment of quality we needed to spare our blushes – rocketing home with his right foot in the 78th minute. Not great, not terrible. It’ll do.
More significantly, this game was a good indicator of where Reading are right now at this stage of their development under Leam Richardson. Based on today’s evidence, the last fortnight was used well enough to instil some clear tactical ideas, particularly in possession, but not well enough for those ideas to be capitalised on or properly sustained throughout the game.
And really it comes down to a tale of two halves. Before the break, Reading were for the most part energetic and positive, creating enough chances to pose the Millers real problems. The required cutting edge was lacking however, although to be fair it would have had to be particularly sharp to undo a Rotherham side that’s been racking up clean sheets for fun in the league recently.
Richardson’s tactical changes showed some real promise in the first half. Though Reading lined up on paper in a 4-2-3-1, again we saw the switch to more of a 3-2-4-1 in build-up: one full-back pushing up to become a wing-back, with the winger on that flank tucking infield to essentially be another number 10.
Reading (4-2-3-1): Pereira; Abrefa, O’Connor, D Williams, Dorsett; Wing, Savage; Ritchie, Doyle, R Williams; Ehibhatiomhan
Reading (3-2-4-1): Pereira; O’Connor, D Williams, Dorsett; Wing, Savage; Abrefa, Ritchie, Doyle, R Williams; Ehibhatiomhan
Subs: Stevens, Yiadom, Stickland, Garcia, Rinomhota, Camara, O’Mahony
The crucial part of that 3-2-4-1, for me, is the four-man ‘box midfield’ it provides in the centre of the park. Lewis Wing and Savage remain a double pivot, but they then have Kamari Doyle and Matt Ritchie ahead of them – in pretty free roles – as options for playing through the lines. When Reading got those two into the game more, in dangerous positions, the attack looked that bit more dynamic and creative.
One big room for improvement is in quality out wide. Though Randell Williams and Kelvin Abrefa have the energy to bomb up and down each flank, neither did a good enough job today of taking their man on and really stretching the game.
I saw enough in Reading tactically before the interval to give me encouragement. However, after the break, it’s as if Reading were spent of energy within minutes of the restart.
So, so much of the Royals’ play in the second half just seemed, well, tired. There was a collective lack of sharpness and intensity, but Reading too often made sloppy individual errors that betrayed players running out of steam.
Fatigue really shouldn’t be a problem after a fortnight without any competitive action – and it’s not as if we were in a dense run of fixtures before the international break anyway. However, Richardson’s comments after the Carlisle United game about his squad not being fit enough also rung true for this game: Reading were capable of an intense, energetic first half but the battery was flat when they reemerged from the dressing room.
Fundamentally, Reading won’t be able to kick on properly as a team until this issue is decisively addressed. At the same time though, getting players back from injury will help due to Richardson being able to be more proactive with his substitutions, while developing the game management side of things – knowing when and how to conserve energy – is also important.
First half
After a bit of a quiet start to the game, Reading managed their first quality chance of the afternoon through Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan around 13 minutes in. Wing played a long ball down the right, which Ehibhatiomhan controlled well and took around the ‘keeper, but he could only guide his finish – from a tight angle – past the far post. Still, it was an excellent pass initially, and also hopefully a sign that Ehibhatiomhan can get on the end of those kinds of chances – ones about movement and running in behind – which aren’t typically his forte.
With Reading starting to get going, typically, it was in fact the Millers who took the lead, in the 19th minute. In a sharp bit of team play, they got in down the Royals’ left, with the ball pulled back for Benson to slam home, helped by a deflection off Abrefa. 0-1.
The Royals showed intent but not a load of attacking quality by way of an immediate response. Shortly after the half-hour mark however came a couple of excellent chances in quick succession. Initially a cross dropped for Savage at the back post to blast goalwards (saved by the ‘keeper’s feet at his near post), and the subsequent corner eventually fell to Ehibhatiomhan, who couldn’t keep his shot from close range down.
To compound Reading’s frustration, five minutes later, two seemingly solid penalty shouts were waved away. First, a ball into the box very clearly bounced off the outstretched arm of Hamish Douglas inside the area. Second, shortly afterwards, Doyle appeared to be hauled down by a Millers player. The referee was uninterested in both appeals (and to be fair probably didn’t have a great view of the former incident), and was booed off by the home support when his half-time whistle went.
Half-time: 0-1
This’ll be one of the quicker summaries of a 45-minute period I’ll do in a match report: barely anything happened, bar Savage absolutely lashing his right-footed shot home from range in the 78th minute for 1-1. The second half was worrying devoid of incident from Reading’s perspective – unable to create much momentum at all – but just the ticket for a Millers side very happy to sit in, remain compact and frustrate the hosts.
And to be fair, they did that very well indeed. Although Rotherham didn’t offer much going forwards after the break, they looked that bit fitter than Reading and knew exactly how to shut down space in the middle, preventing us from getting going. It’s telling that Reading’s best two chances of the half came from range; Savage had already forced a really smart save out of the ‘keeper before he equalised.
Similarly, Richardson’s substitutions didn’t make much of an impact. Andre Garcia and Mark O’Mahony replaced Randell Williams and Ritchie on the hour mark, while Andy Yiadom and Mamadi Camara came on for Abrefa and Jeriel Dorsett 12 minutes later. There wasn’t really much else Richardson could have done – new signing Andy Rinomhota being too defensively minded for this situation – although I’d have liked to see Garcia go to left-back sooner (he only went there in the 73rd minute when Dorsett came off for Camara).
Full-time: 1-1
Overall, a point feels like a fair result. A loss would have been a bit harsh, while Reading sneaking a 2-1 win wouldn’t have been outlandish, but it’s hard to see when that extra goal could have come, if not in the first half.
Next weekend is a first away game since the 2-1 loss at Cardiff City in mid-October: a trip to Blackpool (which always results in defeat). Reading aren’t going to suddenly become a much fitter team by then, but hopefully we’ll see some improvements as the result of work on the training ground in the coming week.
