All very pertinent points made here. My major concern apart from the lack of cutting edge up front is how ponderous and slow the midfield is - Poyet,Jacko and AA arent exactly the quickest around . That lack of urgency concerns me. Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Good post but Riga isn't doing the best he can with what he's got when he starts with Church. Every single forward at the club is better than him.
This isn't even a joke post - I think that Morrison would be a greater threat up front than Spongeboots. I hope I never see him again in a Charlton shirt.
The slow-getting-back-onside incident that's been mentioned a few times on here typified his afternoon. Still, with a goal scoring rate of 1 in 11 this season worth persevering with.
Will be seriously annoyed on Tuesday if I travel up from Brighton to find that he's anywhere near the squad.
I know, I was completely serious. That's the worst thing about it!
Since Ajdarevic doesn't have the muscle to move centrally just now, why not push Poyet up instead - play him farther forward, receiving rather than gathering, and joining in the attack.
One of the reasons our defence has improved is because they now have Poyet sweeping in front of them and he does it brilliantly. If he moves forward too much, that natural cover will disappear.
Yesterday we needed Cousins to make up the extra man in the box but so often it was just Church in there on his own and there wasn't a chance he'd ever win anything surrounded by several Reading giants. Cousins is a good player in the making and doesn't let anyone down but he's still in the very early stages of his career. Although he was ok yesterday I just sensed that he was a little off the pace and might need a game on the bench soon with Petrucci taking his place.
Overall it's hard for the new manager because he hasn't had much time at all to work on things in training because he hasn't had a clear week yet. We're either recovering from the last midweek match or setting up for the next weekend match. I hope he's here next season because I'd like to see if his methods will work with a full pre-season in the bag.
I've been saying this for weeks. Poyet would excel playing further up and behind the forwards.
I assume the tactic was containment first half then bring Reza on as the game opens up in the second. Fair enough. Fair enough too to rest and rotate players - we don't have enough bodies, fitness or talent to 'go for it' every game when we are playing twice a week. Having games in hand is a double edged sword. Maybe it would have made more sense to have Astrid play the second half rather than the first, but otherwise I didn't think there was much more the manager or players could do given their limitations, we were just beaten by a better team.
All very pertinent points made here. My major concern apart from the lack of cutting edge up front is how ponderous and slow the midfield is - Poyet,Jacko and AA arent exactly the quickest around . That lack of urgency concerns me. Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Leeds and Forest at the bottom puts our wins in perspective, but v interesting to see Brighton down there. Our game there is definitely one which we can get something out of
All very pertinent points made here. My major concern apart from the lack of cutting edge up front is how ponderous and slow the midfield is - Poyet,Jacko and AA arent exactly the quickest around . That lack of urgency concerns me. Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Out last 6 matches have been WLWLWL - gives us hope for Tuesday ?
All very pertinent points made here. My major concern apart from the lack of cutting edge up front is how ponderous and slow the midfield is - Poyet,Jacko and AA arent exactly the quickest around . That lack of urgency concerns me. Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Out last 6 matches have been WLWLWL - gives us hope for Tuesday ?
Form like this would be enough to keep us up but Riga is taking some huge gambles.
Interesting thing about that form table is that we have played teams at the very top and very bottom in the last six games. So now we have teams in the middle to play. For all the worries about Yeovil and Barnsley their form is not as good as ours. And with all these games played, Fraeye and Riga should now know the squad well enough.
Sure we do not have goals in our team but in Obika and Reza we do have players who can put a shot in. They will be fresh for Tuesday... We have got this far without the wheels falling off and within the next ten days we will know pretty much for sure whether it is triumph or disaster? I'm looking forward to it!
Not over-impressed with Petrucci yesterday. Did anybody else notice that he runs like Peter Shaw or Phil Chapple ?!
I hesitate to judge a player on such a short viewing but he looks as lightweight as Reza and from the Basey school of sprinting. I don't see him adding anything, which says something with our poor squad, and it is obvious why Man U wanted rid.
If he actually does anything for us please search for this post and ram it down my throat.
Haven't read most of the earlier comments so this is my take.
I thought we played well first half (other than in the final third). I am very happy for us to play like that, passing it around, getting the ball into wide areas in space to whip the ball in whether it be from the edge of the box or further out. The main things you need is
1. bodies in the box, so midfielders as well as forwards need to get in there.
2. quality of service into the box
I am not one who thinks that because Church didn't carve a chance out for himself, it all his fault. Indeed he worked hard but the quality of balls in was just very poor. Corners were wasted, and crosses over or under hit. Pretty possession football is great provided it has an end product.
The second half saw Reading tactically making changes that nullified Poyet's time on the ball. They upped the tempo of the game. Ours seemed to drop. AA was knackered which is why he was replaced. None of the subs made any impact except Obika but introduced too late.
I think Riga was prepared to keep the game very tight, hope to nick a goal, and try and ensure that his best players were reasonably fresh for Tuesday. A point in this game, would have been pretty decent, if we beat Yeovil.
Nothing much changes. If we we beat Yeovil and pick up a few more wins, we will be safe. Blackpool away could be an interesting one.
Having seen Riga's comments I have to say he comes across as the right man who has very difficult circumstances to deal with but is focused on survival
It's difficult not to over react, but I agree today's result is not the end of the would. I thought we would lose, we did, sadly other results were not kind, the pressure is now well and truly on for Tuesday, a game we must not lose. What happens if we go behind Tuesday? It happens, teams pick themselves up get back into games and go on to take all three points. Can anyone on hear confidently say that if this team, for all their effort, could achieve this?
Our terrible home form coupled with our chronic inability to find the net, to me, means that if we concede to Yeovil and have to chase the game then in all probability, we will lose. if we do then I'm afraid the Fat Lady will be in the wings warming up...!
im looking for 2 points out of barnsley and yeovil. if we get a win i will be ecstatic. a lose will be annoying but we will tay up anyway. we need to get 2 more wins.
Played well first half without creating any chances of note. Reading came out for the second half and took the game to us. I hope taking off our best attacking player on the day, AA, while keeping on the hapless Church and Harriott was with an eye on Tuesday but was disappointing as we really could have won today. Reading were much better than us in the second half and our reluctance to take shots is alarming. Still in an ok position overall but need at least a point on Tuesday.
Wellwickman Cousins created a glorious oppo but finished tamely and Harriott cut inside from the right wing three times delivering poorly twice. Better off drilling low into the six yard box than trying to pick out a statuesque striker. The week off paid dividends for Reading as illustrated in the second half. Don't think many expected anything out of yesterday. We are not going to beat strong play-off contenders this stage of the season. Tuesday night btw we need 3 points. Lose and morale will plummet. Games in hand are great for good teams but can be a millstone dor a poor side.
We miss a physical presence up front since Kermo left - he was skilled in winding up the opposition and didn't back out from a challenge. Church and Reja are lightweight and Obika hasn't got as involved as I'd like. Our service to the strikers is poor so we're reliant on scrappy goals and clean sheets. 3 goals in 8 goals is alarming but we've kept 5 clean sheets in that time. I'm beginning to think we might as well play six in midfield and try shooting at every opportunity.
im looking for 2 points out of barnsley and yeovil. if we get a win i will be ecstatic. a lose will be annoying but we will tay up anyway. we need to get 2 more wins.
madness. 2 points from those two games and we are saying hello to league 1
................... Viewfinder, totally agree. I'm a ST holder who travels up from Hampshire. Yesterday, I was happy to miss the match, even more so when I saw that Harriot was out wide with Church alone up front.
I realised when watching the last half hour against Burnley that I was bored. No proper passing, no movement, no real skill, never a hope of scoring a goal. In terms of entertainment the last 2 seasons have been dire and a decent attacking passage of play from us is a rare event.
If we do stay up then we can count ourselves very lucky that there were 3 teams worse than us. Irrespective of what division we're in the squad needs a major overhaul, which I'm not convinced our owner has got the stomach for.
Yes I'm keeping the faith in the hope of better times ahead and in memory of better days gone by. Bloody Charlton.
Very well said, ValleyMick. My neighbour in the Lower North, a quiet and thoughtful season-ticket holder of many years' standing, turned to me in the second half yesterday and said: "We look like we are playing away."
It is quite scandalous that we are physically and mentally incapable of pressurising our opponents' defence. We are simply unable to move forward with the ball: we lack the most basic skills of accurate passing, quick control, moving and passing again. Are those lovely qualities innate to all those teams who routinely beat us at The Valley: Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Millwall, and the rest - are they gifted to them, natural talents?
Of course not. I don't want Callum Harriott to understand metaphysics, or Jordan Cousins to study spatial awareness, or, even less, Danny Green to have Nietzsche in his pocket as he takes a rare corner. What we lack is the ability that is drilled in to the players of good teams, rehearsed and repeated on the training ground again and again such that it becomes instinctive - unthinking.
Yesterday, in the second half, we had several attacking throw-ins on the right. We were 1-0 down. Our man stands with the ball aloft and ready. No movement. Reza runs across to him, taps it back to the thrower from four yards, who taps it backwards to Wilson, who in turn is immediately ambushed. So he sweeps it across the back-line. An opponent runs at Wiggins, and so the ball goes back to Hamer.
We are 1-0 down, for heaven's sake. This inability to get forward and disturb our opponents' defenders has been a shocking failing of ours for two years. Whether by learned skill, delicious cunning or sheer bloody brute force, we simply must advance in to the box and - shoot.
All very pertinent points made here. My major concern apart from the lack of cutting edge up front is how ponderous and slow the midfield is - Poyet,Jacko and AA arent exactly the quickest around . That lack of urgency concerns me. Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Something i have looked at a lot when watching other teams is what you say about getting players in the box. we rarely seem to have more than one man to aim at.How come other teams seem to manage three or four players,and if church is the only man to aim at were doomed.
And why oh why do the players turn into statues when we win a throw-in in the opposition's half?
Callum - you are a man after my own heart. Somehow, Sparrows Lane has been consecrated by wishful pilgrims. Until quite recently there was graffito painted on a wall in Greenwich: KILLER HALES IS GOD.
Makes you wonder what goes on at Sparrows Lane, doesn't it?
All very pertinent points made here. My major concern apart from the lack of cutting edge up front is how ponderous and slow the midfield is - Poyet,Jacko and AA arent exactly the quickest around . That lack of urgency concerns me. Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Something i have looked at a lot when watching other teams is what you say about getting players in the box. we rarely seem to have more than one man to aim at.How come other teams seem to manage three or four players,and if church is the only man to aim at were doomed.
Yes, you are absolutely right. We lack mobility. For instance: a thirty-yard pass fizzes straight to Callum Harriott out on the wing. Even before Harriott thinks about how he might control it, three opposing defenders are up his backside. As much as he would like to be, Callum Harriott is no Wilfried Zaha. More importantly, where is the man who sent that pass? He and the rest of the midfield are still thirty yards away, staring at him.
Good teams with limited ability hunt in packs. They pass closely, trusting and supporting each other: they snap at the ankles of opponents and worry them into mistakes: they close them down, harry and disturb. Collectively, they get forward and back again. Meanwhile, look again at our 'attacking' throw-ins: one of our men should intuitively be hacking down the line to the corner-flag. There is this aching vacancy. What is he afraid of? The ball itself?
When you are in a relegation dogfight and it is 0-0 you are also conscious of not being too expansive and keeping your shape plus you cannot make a silk purse out of a pigs ear :-0
Can we please stop feckin around with the forwards, For me the attacking line up should be Obika and Reza with AA and JJ in behind.( Church should be nowhere near the 1st eleven.) Obika and Reza both show good movement. Reza not afraid to shoot and can produce subtle touches in the box if played forward enough. He is not a winger/midfielder. Obika has Churches energy but looks far more likely to do something/cause problems. With AA pulling strings behind and JJ arriving late, both could be useful. We have a solid back 4 and with DP and JC holding we can afford to let the others concentrate on actually trying to create and score some goals. We don't have a winger worthy of the title so keep it narrow, Any width can be provided by forays by Wiggins and Wilson
Agree with this. It's no wonder we can't score when Riga is changing the forwards every week. Pick who you want and stick to it.
Exactly. Yeovil have nothing to play for, so rest some players today and secure the win on Tuesday. Oh, hold on...
Honestly, the amount of fans that are saying we can rest players and write today off because we'll beat Yeovil. I've never heard such nonsense.
I don't think anyone's saying that we definitely WILL beat Yeovil, just that it's more important that we beat them than Reading, and we've got more chance of doing that with our strongest team than vice versa.
Maybe psychologically we scapegoat Church because it is hard to face being stuck with Charlton when things are going badly. I have seen many worse players for us over the years, and many worse forwards too...Mike Small anybody for starters?
seth true we have seen some crap over the years---but how many games did Small play ? BarrY Endean-----total Kak scored two one against Watford his old club miles off side. Johhy Ostergaurd-------------1 goal
Comments
Also,watching Yeovil on the (limited) highlights showed how much they flood the box when they have possession/free-kicks and also if you have a look at the form , they generally score goals away from home ( 5 out of last 6) - and their away form has been very good recently. We all know what might happen should they take the lead on Tuesday.
http://www.footballformguide.net/form/sky-bet-championship
Shows how we have more recent form than the teams around us, also have a look at the team at the top - was a surprise to me- especially as we are the only team to have beaten them in last 10 games.
Yesterday we needed Cousins to make up the extra man in the box but so often it was just Church in there on his own and there wasn't a chance he'd ever win anything surrounded by several Reading giants. Cousins is a good player in the making and doesn't let anyone down but he's still in the very early stages of his career. Although he was ok yesterday I just sensed that he was a little off the pace and might need a game on the bench soon with Petrucci taking his place.
Overall it's hard for the new manager because he hasn't had much time at all to work on things in training because he hasn't had a clear week yet. We're either recovering from the last midweek match or setting up for the next weekend match. I hope he's here next season because I'd like to see if his methods will work with a full pre-season in the bag.
I've been saying this for weeks. Poyet would excel playing further up and behind the forwards.
Did anybody else notice that he runs like Peter Shaw or Phil Chapple ?!
Sure we do not have goals in our team but in Obika and Reza we do have players who can put a shot in. They will be fresh for Tuesday... We have got this far without the wheels falling off and within the next ten days we will know pretty much for sure whether it is triumph or disaster? I'm looking forward to it!
If he actually does anything for us please search for this post and ram it down my throat.
I'll be delighted to be proved wrong.
I thought we played well first half (other than in the final third). I am very happy for us to play like that, passing it around, getting the ball into wide areas in space to whip the ball in whether it be from the edge of the box or further out. The main things you need is
1. bodies in the box, so midfielders as well as forwards need to get in there.
2. quality of service into the box
I am not one who thinks that because Church didn't carve a chance out for himself, it all his fault. Indeed he worked hard but the quality of balls in was just very poor. Corners were wasted, and crosses over or under hit. Pretty possession football is great provided it has an end product.
The second half saw Reading tactically making changes that nullified Poyet's time on the ball. They upped the tempo of the game. Ours seemed to drop. AA was knackered which is why he was replaced. None of the subs made any impact except Obika but introduced too late.
I think Riga was prepared to keep the game very tight, hope to nick a goal, and try and ensure that his best players were reasonably fresh for Tuesday. A point in this game, would have been pretty decent, if we beat Yeovil.
Nothing much changes. If we we beat Yeovil and pick up a few more wins, we will be safe. Blackpool away could be an interesting one.
Wellwickman
Cousins created a glorious oppo but finished tamely and Harriott cut inside from the right wing three times delivering poorly twice. Better off drilling low into the six yard box than trying to pick out a statuesque striker.
The week off paid dividends for Reading as illustrated in the second half. Don't think many expected anything out of yesterday. We are not going to beat strong play-off contenders this stage of the season.
Tuesday night btw we need 3 points. Lose and morale will plummet. Games in hand are great for good teams but can be a millstone dor a poor side.
Our service to the strikers is poor so we're reliant on scrappy goals and clean sheets. 3 goals in 8 goals is alarming but we've kept 5 clean sheets in that time.
I'm beginning to think we might as well play six in midfield and try shooting at every opportunity.
...................
Viewfinder, totally agree. I'm a ST holder who travels up from Hampshire. Yesterday, I was happy to miss the match, even more so when I saw that Harriot was out wide with Church alone up front.
I realised when watching the last half hour against Burnley that I was bored. No proper passing, no movement, no real skill, never a hope of scoring a goal. In terms of entertainment the last 2 seasons have been dire and a decent attacking passage of play from us is a rare event.
If we do stay up then we can count ourselves very lucky that there were 3 teams worse than us. Irrespective of what division we're in the squad needs a major overhaul, which I'm not convinced our owner has got the stomach for.
Yes I'm keeping the faith in the hope of better times ahead and in memory of better days gone by. Bloody Charlton.
Very well said, ValleyMick. My neighbour in the Lower North, a quiet and thoughtful season-ticket holder of many years' standing, turned to me in the second half yesterday and said: "We look like we are playing away."
It is quite scandalous that we are physically and mentally incapable of pressurising our opponents' defence. We are simply unable to move forward with the ball: we lack the most basic skills of accurate passing, quick control, moving and passing again. Are those lovely qualities innate to all those teams who routinely beat us at The Valley: Sheffield Wednesday, Barnsley, Millwall, and the rest - are they gifted to them, natural talents?
Of course not. I don't want Callum Harriott to understand metaphysics, or Jordan Cousins to study spatial awareness, or, even less, Danny Green to have Nietzsche in his pocket as he takes a rare corner. What we lack is the ability that is drilled in to the players of good teams, rehearsed and repeated on the training ground again and again such that it becomes instinctive - unthinking.
Yesterday, in the second half, we had several attacking throw-ins on the right. We were 1-0 down. Our man stands with the ball aloft and ready. No movement. Reza runs across to him, taps it back to the thrower from four yards, who taps it backwards to Wilson, who in turn is immediately ambushed. So he sweeps it across the back-line. An opponent runs at Wiggins, and so the ball goes back to Hamer.
We are 1-0 down, for heaven's sake. This inability to get forward and disturb our opponents' defenders has been a shocking failing of ours for two years. Whether by learned skill, delicious cunning or sheer bloody brute force, we simply must advance in to the box and - shoot.
Turnstile operator.
Good teams with limited ability hunt in packs. They pass closely, trusting and supporting each other: they snap at the ankles of opponents and worry them into mistakes: they close them down, harry and disturb. Collectively, they get forward and back again. Meanwhile, look again at our 'attacking' throw-ins: one of our men should intuitively be hacking down the line to the corner-flag. There is this aching vacancy. What is he afraid of? The ball itself?
BarrY Endean-----total Kak scored two one against Watford his old club miles off side.
Johhy Ostergaurd-------------1 goal
many others
When get Obika and still play Church ?