Stopping the rot

[mozo]

Just now, ExiledAjax said:

Based on what? I disagree because we've been posting the same figures - in terms of shots/shots on target for a year now...and we've not been winning every game. Happy to disagree of course, but on that showing we still need a lot of improvement.

Yeah and I don't want you to think that I'm misrepresenting your views, because I really like stats and keep them coming.

I just felt that the flow of the game was in our favour this evening, whereas we played many games last season with similar stats whereby we were clearly out of our depth. 

Do you have the xG?

[ExiledAjax]

8 minutes ago, mozo said:

Do you have the xG?

From one of the three sources I use to get an average yes. It's good for us tonight. Actually the first time under Pearson we have breached 2.0xG. But that's one source and I'm not going to use xG from three games to judge how we might fare over the rest of the season. I like stats, but I know their limits.

8 minutes ago, mozo said:

I just felt that the flow of the game was in our favour this evening, whereas we played many games last season with similar stats whereby we were clearly out of our depth. 

That's a fair point. But like I have said before, you see one thing with your eyes - that we played well. You see one thing with the result - we won. You see a third with the stats - that perhaps we won...not against the odds exactly...but maybe we got the rub of the green. So I temper what I see with my eyes by a look at the stats. 

I've got three seasons of this stuff on file and it's not let me down yet.

Not sure if you've seen NP's post-match yet but he's being pretty cautious in his praise, as am I. As an aside - it's actually my favourite interview from him yet.

[Davefevs]

3 hours ago, ExiledAjax said:

3 points is great. I'm happy we won.

But, I'm not sure tonight is a sign of a great turnaround. Reading were better in almost every metric. 80% pass completion to our 61%. We only completed about 170 passes in the whole match - Reading managed 450ish. Just the 8 shots for us, 5 of which found the target and of course 3 went in - so again a reliance on clinical finishing that is very difficult to sustain. Those numbers are reminiscent of last season.

Good to get the win, and some improvements in terms of workrate, but I'd keep the champagne on ice for now.

Will be keen to see Reading’s passing heatmap and passing network / average positions tomorrow.  Also how much it differed 1st half to second half.

We we’re really good in letting them pass sideways 10 yards in their own half but pouncing when they tried to play through the lines.  When the ball went in to Yiadom, Pring was excellent at creating pressure on him, or making him go backwards.  One purposeful press from Pring allowed us to reset our shape or put pressure on the receiver of the next pass.

[normanhillred]

Not being funny guys but more than anything I have missed the leaving an away ground (or home one) after a win so am absolutely  buzzing. Thought we did enough even after a box of Thatchers! Happy days

[Mr Popodopolous]

First away game for me in a while- quite enjoyed it!

Weimann great, 2 goals and ran all day. Scott his first competitive assist- Massengo showed a lot of his good points, a goal would have been icing on the cake- would it have been his first competitive League goal for us if so? A Kalas-Atkinson pairing could be good.

Simpson I had fears about due to age, lack of gametime in recent years but he did better than I feared might be the case- credit where due. I guess Vyner will be able to learn off him too.

As for the stats bit, I'm usually quite big on that, possession too- but the last 10 mins or phase of the game where Reading had quite a bit of pressure and possession skewed things somewhat in their favour, more than overall. I think we deserved it but still loads to do of course. Pring in a wide area higher up was also unorthodox?

To counteract the kinda scenario we saw late on, just slow it down a bit, keep and take care of the ball that bit more in the latter stages- while of course looking to hit a quick break if possible.

[ExiledAjax]

8 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Will be keen to see Reading’s passing heatmap and passing network / average positions tomorrow.  Also how much it differed 1st half to second half.

We we’re really good in letting them pass sideways 10 yards in their own half but pouncing when they tried to play through the lines.  When the ball went in to Yiadom, Pring was excellent at creating pressure on him, or making him go backwards.  One purposeful press from Pring allowed us to reset our shape or put pressure on the receiver of the next pass.

Yeh. Will be interesting.

I should have said - these passing numbers surprised me when I looked them up. Watching the game I had the impression it was pretty even, I certainly didn't get the impression that we were failing to complete loads of passes.