A closer look at how the Royals made it three unbeaten on the road.
Tactics analysis pieces are back! It’s rather bad timing that my absence from writing them coincided with some of the best form and football we’ve seen from a Reading team in years, grabbing six wins from nine games, but I’m happy to see a positive result upon my return.
It’s hard to argue with a well-earned point on the road at a playoff-pushing team in Barnsley, even if in parts of the game the performance paled in comparison to the win at Peterborough United on Saturday. I don’t think either side played particularly brilliantly at Oakwell, with clear-cut chances few and far between; instead it was the final ball that was lacking for the Royals and the Tykes.
Still, it’s hard not to rue Reading’s defensive mistakes on Tuesday which took us the width of a Rizla away from a six-point week. Let’s see what earned the point for us in midweek.
It seems slightly crass to comment on a statement made pre-game after the match has happened, but when listening to the fantastic-as-ever TTE podcast, I noticed that Ross raved about the long-awaited return of Jeriel Dorsett to the side. Granted, he did well at London Road, but I think it was his half-time departure for Andre Garcia that tipped the balance to put us onto the front foot for our two goals against Barnsley.
A team such as Reading that likes playing out from the back having full-backs who are confident on the ball is a non-negotiable. In the opening 25 minutes at Barnsley, Dorsett completed only one pass, and over his whole time on the pitch he received the ball 12 times - yet only found a subsequent pass to a teammate five times.
The shape that Ruben Selles employed didn’t help too much. In the first half we played out in a traditional 4-3-3 shape, very occasionally putting Michael Craig further toward the middle from right-back, but certainly no special positioning from any of the midfielders.
Barnsley had a 3-4-1-2. The two strikers gave our centre-backs little space to move the ball about, while their two wide players went man-for-man on Dorsett and Craig. This match-up often left us in some tricky corners to work the ball out of, like in the picture below, where Dorsett is forced to go back to Joel Pereira, who can only go long, which eventually means Reading losing the ball.
This isn’t exactly Dorsett’s fault, just a selection issue that left him unable to play to his strengths.
It was a constant cycle of being made to go back to the ‘keeper, followed by a misplaced long ball because of the pressure he was under. Pereira went long six times in the first half, compared to four times in the second, with three being clearances in the last five minutes of the game.
At half-time our tactics in playing out changed completely. Garcia’s introduction gave us the possibility to put either full-back into midfield, which was exercised almost immediately, and very effectively. It also felt like all the other Reading players grew in confidence too as they knew they had one more supremely technically gifted footballer on the pitch.
Craig (left) here is the one to drop in, with Tyler Bindon and Louie Holzman pushed very wide. He’s able to find a great pass between the lines into the space in midfield.
Lewis Wing receives it, and this triggers Charlie Savage and Garcia to rotate positions, with the latter making a beeline into the centre.
We’ve now got two talented passers of the ball in the position you’d want them to be, and Garcia - the man who’s arguably better going forward than he is defending - is finding the half space just behind the midfield.
This drags Barnsley centre-half Maël de Gevigney away from his marker, Harvey Knibbs. It is marker, isn’t it? Or maybe markee if he’s the one being marked? That sounds a bit too much like marquee though really. I’ll shut up now.
Knibbs then has the space to be found by Wing’s probing through ball, and picks out a cross. And there you have it, a chance made by some simple positional awareness, positive play and working to each individual’s strengths.
Garcia was impressive in possession too. In the build-up to our first goal he received the ball in the position below, with limited forward passing options. Instead of a turn and pass back, he opts to beat his man and open up some space on the left flank. Garcia is circled in the screenshot below.
It’s some simple dribbling: nothing too fancy but also requiring a different skill set and body type compared to the other left-back options we have in order to be effective. Some interplay with Savage follows, who was also given a lot more freedom in the second half to drop in to receive the ball, playing a more dynamic position.
Following this, the 16-year-old drives inside the pitch and picks out Craig in midfield, who’s in acres of space. Notice how there’s seven Barnsley players on our left side, with just two remaining on the right, which is caused by the quick passing and incisive decision-making from Garcia.
Chem Campbell received the ball from Craig, cuts inside, shoots, and goal. The deflection off Smith is very fortunate, but, hey, they all count don’t they.
That was the first of a brace for Sam Smith, but it was his performance aside from the goals that makes him my man of the match by a distance. He is the perfect striker to take the ball down on his chest, hold off an opponent and kickstart a counter on the transition.
He does exactly that here, shielding the ball from 6”4 centre-back Marc Roberts for a good time, and spotting the run of Savage forwards.
Smith himself is a physical player and not massively tall in footballing terms, but uses his body so well. He plays that role in the same way we all hoped Andy Carroll would, except Smith is far better than Carroll was, and also comes with the rather large advantage of not falling out with the manager.
It was a proper poacher’s performance from our striker too, grabbing two slightly scrappy but equally deserved goals to take his tally to five in the league for the season.
All in all, a very decent showing at Barnsley, and a far cry from the dross we’ve become used to watching away from home over the past few years following this football club.
FA Cup action awaits on Sunday, with my only request to the team to try to not embarrass themselves against non-league opposition again. The fact we’re hosting gives me more hope, but I certainly wouldn’t count out Harborough Town.
