The Royals secured their first league win of the season in emphatic fashion with a 5-0 victory over Mansfield Town at the SCL Stadium on Wednesday night.
A brace from Jack Marriott, alongside goals from Benn Ward, George Earthy and Jacob Brown, sealed all three points on an impressive night for the Royals.
Manager Leam Richardson was delighted with his side’s performance as Reading made it three clean sheets in succession. Here’s what he had to say when he spoke to Royals TV after the game.
Richardson on the performance
“Really
pleased, obviously, with the scoreline reflecting that. I thought there were some really strong individual performances and, in the end, the collective performance was fantastic.
“I thought we started the game relatively well, and then I didn’t like us for 10 or 15 minutes. All of a sudden, it seemed our distances were all wrong. Our full-backs were letting their wide players drop a little bit too deep and do their job.
“Once we snapped out of it and got used to their press, and then got used to our own, our distances became a lot stronger. I thought we then turned the ball over, transitioned really well and ended up scoring a good few goals in the first half.
“Probably disappointed not to go in at half-time one or two more ahead.”
Richardson on building on the first goal
“It’s so important. I said to them at the end of the game: we’ve got to be more ruthless. We’ve got to demand more of each other.
“I’ve spoken a lot this week to the players, and it’s something I’ll share with you. A lot of teams now are well coached. They’re coach-led teams, so to speak, with the structures and solutions, and we probably give them too much information sometimes.
“But there’s a ceiling to that, in my opinion, and the players have got to take over. They’ve got to have demands on each other, because once the players take over, there is no ceiling. Then you can become a good team. You can demand of each other, you can be ruthless and you can have that little bit of arrogance.
“Like I said, we’ve got some good players and, if we’re all aligned and connected and the support is like that all the way through the season, in good, bad and indifferent times, as we’ve seen with Wrexham over the years, we can go somewhere.”
Richardson on debut goals for Ward and Earthy
“[Earthy’s] only been in the building a week or so – whatever it is, two weeks. Really good, really pleased with him.
“He takes information in really well. I’ve spoken to him a lot about his finishing positions as a 10, when he’s having possession, to then give possession up for more penetration.
“About time Benn Ward got on the end of something as well! We’ve had about 80 corners already, so it’s about time he chipped in. I thought he was outstanding tonight. He’s probably one of those where he needs to come out of himself, lead more, demand more and have that little bit more arrogance.
“Like I said, we’ve got some good players and he’s got good scope to improve.”
Richardson on whether the Luton game was mentioned at half-time
“It’s always important, even tonight, whether good, bad or indifferent, we always want to be better. There are moments tonight where we can be better.
“Our analysts will be at work now picking the game apart. But we’ve got to evolve all the time.
“The Luton game: it came, it went. We experienced something and we’ve experienced it before.
“You’ve got to get the structure, get the solutions and then carry it through. We have to have more clean sheets. I don’t think we had anywhere near enough in my time last year when we came here, but that’s the demand.
“That’s the demand from the goalkeepers, from the centre-halves, from the strikers. You can see how hard the lads at the top end of the pitch work and it’s no coincidence, when they do finish in those positions, that they’re connected and very well drilled.”
Richardson on Marriott
“We know how important he is. Obviously, I tried to sign Jack a couple of times, so I think it’s not surprising. We know his ability, we know his finishing. He’s deadly.
“But my big thing is the information he takes in and the work that goes unnoticed at the top end of the pitch, in possession and out of possession.
“Again, I think even he’s feeling it. It’s no coincidence when you find yourself in strong finishing positions because the distances and the connections are really strong.
“So keep working away, keep trying to improve and keep him on the pitch. As I said before, it’s quality over quantity for him.”
Richardson on Blackpool on Saturday
“We won’t underestimate anybody. We’ll certainly respect ourselves off the back of what we’re doing, three clean sheets and goals, and we have to start with the same intent that we finished with.
“Fingers crossed we can back that performance up with another good performance, another good clean sheet and all the good fundamentals. So, more of the same Saturday.”
