Alex suggests some ways in which the Royals could evolve tactically next season.
It seems this summer will pass Reading by without bringing in many new faces to supplement the current first team. No doubt there will be a varying range of emotions about this, if indeed the summer does pan out that way, but I will controversially say that signings can often be a sticking plaster for the issues rather than a catalyst for overall improvement.
That’s not to say that, in an ideal world, I wouldn’t want to see Reading bring players in, but as we are well accustomed to, Reading don’t live in an ideal world. What this does give us, however, if we view the glass as half full, is the opportunity to bring through some of our academy players who have had a successful season last year and can help add strength in depth in some of the positions where we need more numbers/options.
The reason I say transfers aren’t always the best thing is that I am a believer in the values of good old-fashioned coaching. A good head coach with a good support team can bring the best out of players, and for far less financial commitment than buying a new player.
Further to this, a manager with a good understanding of tactical systems, player roles and set-ups can really help players during their in-game management and planning. Fortunately for us, I believe we have someone in Ruben Sellés who does this. I also believe this presents an opportunity for us, based on the current available playing quota.
It seems that whatever Sellés’ preferred formation is (currently 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1 seem to be the more favoured), he likes inverted wingers to cut inside on their stronger foot to support the attack, with a running overlap from the full-back. We have seen the use of an inverted full-back more recently though. However, I think there is a better option for a system tweak that could get the best out of who we have available to us.
Before I get into this, I’m certainly no tactical mastermind like Ross or Tom are, so you might need to take this with a pinch of salt!
Starting with the attack, I’d put Femi Azeez on the left and introduce someone like Mamadi Camara on the right. This would put both players with their stronger foot on the outside, potentially helping to give us more width in how we attack, in order to stretch play. Cutting inside is still possible, but I would expect this to see us create more crosses into the box from these players getting chalk on their boots as they run down the line.
This is where we can utilise what I believe to be one of Sam Smith’s under-rated strengths: his aerial ability. I believe he stands at 6´1”, so while not exactly short, he’s also not the tallest target man either. However, he is always very effective at winning headers deeper in the pitch for us.
Coupled with the engine and height (6´2”) of Harvey Knibbs, winning those headers closer to the goal could help us create more goalscoring chances. This in turn could help give Knibbs more opportunities for shots at goal, as Tom has mentioned as something he’d like to see Knibbs work on given his strike success rate.
As well as this, with Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan standing at 6´3”, this tactic would work with him leading the line as well.
Further back in the pitch, with the width being provided by the wingers, we could see us utilise the inverted full-back model more often.
Kelvin Abrefa seems able to play on both sides of the defence, as does John Ryan, having done so for the under-21s last season. With Andy Yiadom’s legs not quite what they once were, instead of big overlapping runs, this would allow them to drift into the midfield and could allow players such as Ben Elliott, Lewis Wing and Charlie Savage to push up further in support.
All three are good, technical operators and the closer we can get them to goal, the more goalscoring opportunities they could help our forward line to create. Or give Wing a chance to score a few of his now customary world beaters!
This may see us become a side that is more possession-heavy against most teams, which, with the players we have at our disposal - if we are quick enough to switch play to stretch defences by creating running opportunities for the forward players - could really help see us play more front-footed football. However, I believe this tactic is not limited to possession-heavy football either.
Against some of the more dominant teams from last season, such as Bolton Wanderers, and teams that we would expect to be competing high up in the league, such as Peterborough United, Huddersfield Town, Rotherham United, Wrexham and Birmingham City, we could adopt a deeper backline, play a low block and look to use the pace we have in the side to counter-attack down the wings.
It remains to be seen if we’ll bring anyone in, and who is next to make the breakthrough from the academy to feature regularly. I would certainly prefer to see Jeriel Dorsett provide cover for the Olympic-competing Bindon, rather than playing as a left back, for example. But it’s entirely possible we still continue to see Ehibhatiomhan and Dorsett feature as square pegs in round holes for the season ahead.
However, I can’t help but wonder if changing how our wingers play could give us a different result, allow us to be a little more unpredictable and help us to make changes further back in the pitch to make more use of the strengths that certain players have to give us a more rounded team.
