Joel Pereira: 6
Didn’t really have a whole lot to do today, which is more owing to Barnsley’s profligacy than those of a Reading disposition in front of him. It looks bad that Barnsley had only two shots on target and scored from both, but realistically, Pereira couldn’t do much about either of them.
Pereira made a couple of good claims from high balls into the box during the course of the game, usually unchallenged by anyone.
Produced two absolutely magical bits of play during the game that deserved better from their
recipients: a javelin-like throw to reach Roberts out wide on the left in space and – I’m scrambling for better words here – a delicious side-angled drop-kick to set Lane loose at the top of the pitch. It was poetry in motion.
Andy Yiadom: 5
Not a good time to put in a performance like this, both when Reading are in a dip of form and when the side have just signed another right-back who the manager has worked with before.
In fairness to Yiadom, it’s hard to know if this is his fault or not. Richardson likes to have one full-back attacking and the other drop in centrally and be very defensive, and it seemed that today the “defensive” full-back was Yiadom, as opposed to Roberts.
However, this minimises the best elements of Yiadom’s game and it showed today. He was culpable for allowing Barnsley’s left-winger Reyes Cleary to skin him and leave him for dust to put in a delivery that led to Barnsley’s first goal, and generally wasn’t anywhere to be seen today – not helped by, seemingly, being asked to stay back.
Later subbed off for Ryan Nyambe.
Paudie O’Connor: 5
O’Connor did deliver a couple of good headers and I have made notes about two interceptions he made that prevented counter-attacks.
The thing is though: he should win the headers – it’s what he does – and the interceptions, while great, were very far up the pitch. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there wasn’t as much of a threat attached to those interceptions.
He was generally poor in possession (again, as is his wont) and honestly, I didn’t see him anywhere for either of the Barnsley goals or doing anything to prevent them.
Jeriel Dorsett: 5
Moved to centre-back for the first time in a while, and despite that being his natural position, he looked very uncomfortable there for the majority of the first half. However, he did grow into the role as the game went on.
His passing was generally erratic – especially when going long, it was very inaccurate and ineffective. Some of the short passes into midfield were excellent, but they would usually be followed up by a miscued pass.
Lost his man in the first Barnsley chance and it felt like he spent more of his time reactively chasing the ball or Barnsley attacker, rather than reading the game to prevent the opposition attacks. This lead to him producing some good, last-ditch blocks during the course of the game, to balance out the moments when he’d get caught out positionally.
Dorsett was unfortunate to not get a goal, with an excellent flicked header from a Savage cross hitting the bar in the second half.
Haydon Roberts: 7
Our best player today by an absolute country mile. Very close to earning an 8/10 but his first-half levels dropped in the second – understandably so, given the ground he was covering and lack of game time he had with his previous employers.
He also loses that potential for an 8/10 by the fact he was so often going forward that he left Dorsett exposed at times, which Dorsett was noticeably uncomfortable with. Savage would sometimes drop in to cover, in order to help.
However, Roberts was just excellent with the ball. He was always looking to get the ball and take it forward, making runs down the line and often putting in dangerous crosses. A small note of frustration was that he would also look to play to the back post, and on a couple of occasions, threading a through-ball to a near-post runner would have been a better option.
Scored an excellent goal in the first half by darting into the box and to the back post to score from a tight angle with his left foot, after Marriott missed an opportunity from a much easier position in front of the goal.
Didn’t seem to build much of a connection with Lane – I’ll explain more on this shortly. I could write a lot more positive about what he did today, but overall it was an excellent debut today and something for the fans to be really excited about.
Lewis Wing: 4
There was a moment towards the end of the game that summed Wing’s day up quite well: after the ball went out for a Reading goal-kick, he was urging those around him to get up the pitch, while making no effort at all to push up himself or lead by example by continuing to run.
He had another very quiet day at the office, and more passes than not either didn’t find their target or didn’t really create opportunities for Reading to break – similar to his set pieces and one or two of the shots he did attempt.
Often, when he’d receive the ball, he would do this really weird routine of trying to find space and taking four, five, six touches while turning like an oil tanker and then ending up in roughly the same place that he started, except having given Barnsley’s defence more time to get back and organise their lines.
He did have some moments when it would all fall into place – quick passes between himself and Savage or himself and Marriott, for example, that led to openings. Overall though, I can’t really think of anything that he did from an attacking viewpoint that helped the team and I also think, defensively, he left the backline exposed too often.
Charlie Savage: 6
A quiet day at the office for Savage as well. However, what he did do well, he did well. He was able to put in some good crosses that deserved better from those on the end of them and had a nice volleyed effort from a corner that went over.
He had a few good moments in phases of play with Roberts and Lane or Doyle where they’d play triangles of passes to move the ball quickly and further into the Barnsley half, and a lot of this was owing to his tenacity to hold off the Barnsley players and adeptness with his first touch to keep the moves alive.
Savage also also sent in a beautiful corner in the second half that was headed against the bar.
Daniel Kyerewaa: 5
Ran a lot at the start of the match but struggled to get into the game for the most part. When he did receive the ball, he would often waste it with a poor pass or by running into Barnsley defenders and not having the confidence to use his left foot to create openings or shots.
On one occasion did play a wonderful ball from the centre out to the right to find Doyle, which shows what he can do when he’s got his booted laced up properly. Generally, he was wasteful though and gets the rating he does because he was at least a presence in an otherwise very blunt attack.
Kamari Doyle: 4
Doyle’s end product hasn’t been great for most games he has featured this season; today was no different. However, worryingly, what was also missing was his usual energy.
You can usually count on him to press and hound defenders, make up ground on the top of the pitch and look to move the ball forward. Today there was none of that energy.
He did play a couple of neat passes and a couple of neat crosses. However, his cross accuracy needs improving: it’s like he’s aiming for a general area rather than a specific player when he puts the ball in.
In good news, he does have a marvellous new hairstyle. So it’s not all bad. Subbed off for Will Keane.
Paddy Lane: 5
For the first five minutes of the game, he was running and running and running, looking to be on the end of everything and press the opposition back line. That’s about as good as it got, bar an assist for Roberts, but he was poor otherwise.
I think the problem here was the set-up. With Roberts behind him pushing up so high, Roberts would occupy the space that Lane would typically look to occupy as a left-footed left-winger. Not being right-footed, he wasn’t inclined to drift inside and instead, the more Roberts grew into the game, the more Lane shrank. He would have been much more useful in the centre, with Doyle on the right.
Lane did nearly score with a wonderful swerving effort from outside the area, but about a minute later, followed it up with a skied effort over the bar. Also failed to capitalise on a Pereira arrowed drop-kick that set him free down the centre of the pitch, in a one-on-one with he Barnsley defender that led to him not even getting a single touch on the ball, let alone anything else.
Subbed off for Kelvin Ehibhatomhan.
Jack Marriott: 5
Here’s the thing: yes, he scored, but a striker like Marriott has a very specific niche. He’s not the kind of person who holds the ball up to bring others into play, he’s the last line of attack and looks to make the runs to finish off the moves.
The service to him was, again, not great, but when you have such a specific niche as Marriott does, you have to be clinical to keep your place in the team. And, usually, when he gets a chance, he will get a goal or at least make the goalkeeper work hard.
However, today he missed some sitters. A Roberts delivery set him free and he failed to capitalise. He was caught offside when he had the freedom of the pitch to time his run better to have a free run at the Barnsley goal from the edge of the box.
However, this is Marriott we are talking about and he did get his goal. The most difficult chance of the day, he received a Nyambe cut-back and buried a difficult shot through a crowded Barnsley box into the bottom corner to earn Reading an equaliser and earn himself a more credible rating.
Subs
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan: 4
Subbed on for Lane and was just about as poor. He didn’t influence the game much when playing on the left and didn’t seem to know where he should be playing when Reading appeared to change shape in the last 10 minutes.
His first touch was poor throughout and often he would lose the ball when it was passed to him, or if attempting to dribble, he would over-hit the knock on and lose the ball.
Ryan Nyambe: 7
Just a quick snip here from Sim’s article discussing Nyambe’s move to join us earlier in the week:
“A quick look at Nyambe’s profile suggests he’s a more conservative, defence-focused right-back, which is backed up by the fact that he’s yet to score in senior football, and his best assist return was four in 38 2020/21 appearances. While Nyambe will hopefully help shore things up at the back, on the face of it he doesn’t seem to quite fit into Reading’s current system.”
Yeah, about that… he was everything Yiadom wasn’t, after coming on as a sub for him. He was a true attacking outlet for us on the right today and made an instant impression on the pitch by always looking to bring the ball up the field, making intelligent runs to stretch the play and provide the winger or midfielder an option to pass to out wide.
He was often seen hovering dangerously outside of the Barnsley area and – while I don’t have the stats to hand for this – I’d wager he made more successful crosses or passes into the Barnsley box in 10 minutes than our starting wingers (Lane and Kyerewaa) managed all game. He even got the assist for Marriott, for Reading’s equaliser.
An excellent start to life as a Reading player and I am sure we will be eager to see more of him.
Matt Ritchie: 5
Subbed on for Roberts at the same time as the introduction of Nyambe and Keane.
I literally have no notes. He came on just in time to meet the 10-minute criteria and earn a rating – more’s the pity for him.
Will Keane: 4
Subbed on for Doyle, at the same time as the introduction of Nyambe and Keane.
Missed a close-range chance from Kyerewaa’s cross. The only other thing he did was receive a good ball from Savage in the box and take a really poor first touch which led to the attacking move breaking down and Barnsley being able to clear.
It would seem he was brought in as an upgrade to Mark O’Mahony, and yet somehow, O’Mahony playing would at this moment be an improvement on what we are getting from him.
Average: 5.13/10
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