A few hungover thoughts. Have just read Dave's report and generally agree however I disagree when he says Reading were a poor side. There was talk of them putting 10 men behind the ball and coming for a draw. Far from it and to be honest, first 30 minutes, they were outstanding on the break as we struggled to put our passed together. Swift in midfield is a great little player and there were a couple of others who had pace and skill on the break. Philips was left for dead on 2 occassions in the first 20 minutes and it's games like these when you realise the Yorkshire Pirlo isn't actually and his lack of pace will cost him at the highest levels. Having said that there aren't too many pacey midfielders in the championship. You could definitely see why they've sprung a few decent away performances. We still had the chances to bury them in the first 30 mins but it was the usual story. Costa doing brilliantly on the right only to put over a poor ball or be tackled at the last minute. When is this guy going to deliver ? Bamford is starting to look ball shy and you get the feeling that he's not hunting for that ball in the six yard area anymore and that for me is a very worrying sign. He doesn't look close to a goal, not even off his arse and 1 goal in 11 is not good enough for a side chasing promotion. The good news yesterday was the Pablo is slowly regaining form and if he keeps fit and plays with the energy he did yesterday he will be massive for us. Yes, the passes were still going astray but he was everywhere and his goal said everything about his persistance and determintaion. Kilch should have had a hat-trick but I'm not sure if he'll ever score again. The other major incident was Philips's injury. Having been skinned alive Philips through desperation decided it was time to put one of his tackles in. It was a great tackle, man and ball, leaving the Reading player polaxed and Kalvin jumping straight to his feet with a "don't you run past me again you c*nt ! You could immediately tell something was wrong as he limped around and tried to carry on but couldn't. The substitution involved a complete reshuffle with Dallas going to right back, Ayling to centre back White into midfield and Allioski to left-back. So yet again we have our best defender playing out of position because we haven't got anyone at the club that can deputise for Philips, the HOLDING MIDFIELDER. If Philips had picked up an injury for the rest of the season would Ben White play there for all that time ? Crazy how we didn't do something about this in January when we knew Philips was suspended. Instead Orta shelled out a load of brass on a young winger who can't get on the bench and might come good for the 2025 season and a striker that is so painfully unfit he can't replace the woeful Bamford. Madness. The great thing for me was we played our best football with Philips off the pitch. Dallas was back to his rightful home and he really is the best right wing back at the club. In reality, White played as an extra central defender and when he did get involved in midfield he didn't look comfortable. I think Reading ran out of steam 2nd half, Swift was subbed and they put on fat knacker Charlie Adam (he looks a mess) and that was that although we still managed to give them their best chance of the game in the final minute of injury time however Kiko saved well and as a result we picked up 3 points. So all in all, another good win in difficult conditions, should have been easier but we move on to 2 winnable away games this week. Kiko - 5. He dithered his way through the match. Indecisive. Came for one ball and totally missed it. Made a decent save from a free kick and then won us the match with the save in the dying seconds. I see Bielsa is bigging his performance up and you'd expect that but he's still a massive problem and if I didn't know better I'd say he could cost us promotion. Ayling - 6. Started ok , moved to centre back and again did ok. Had one shot which I thought was going in. White - 6. Looked uncomfortable in midfield. Cooper - 7. Solid defending throughout. Pablo - 8. High energy, great goal Philips - 3. Game passed him by. I think he's been great these last 2 games but the hysteria around him is ridiculous. I heard someone say not only is he the best midfielder in the championship, he is the better than the best in the PL and should be England Captain. You're having a laugh. Ask Swift what he thinks of Philips ? He'll probably answer that he didn't know he was playing. Klich - 7. Everywhere as usual but really should have done better with his chances. Dallas - 8. Best right wing back at the club.
Harrison - 6. Not as effective or as involved this week but still had his moments. Costa - 6. Some great moments but final ball always lacking. Bamford - 4. A lot of aimless running, some good control but he's not playing as a striker at the moment. Unfortunately, we don't have an alternative. Subs: Allioski - 6. Did ok. We look nice and balanced with Allioski / Harrison and Dallas / Costa Shackleton - 6. High energy. Had a great chance when he broke late on but it was a poor pass to Harrison (?) that stopped the move. Why can't he be a straight swap for Philips ? He can tackle, he's quicker than Philips, he can get forward and back ? The obsession with the holding midfielder winds me up. Big week this week. Philips ok apaprently. At least that means our best defender won't be playing out of position. _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email leedslist-unsubscr...@gn.apc.org Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE
