Manchester United v. Reading Preview

By: Rob | August 11th, 2007

One day of the Premiership in the books, and an entertaining day it was. Despite being displaced from the local pub so they could broadcast a rugby match in half the bar for six people, much fun was had (and my fantasy team got off to a ripping start to boot). The good form of road teams today certainly bodes well for the Royals in tomorrow’s opener, but it’d probably behoove them not to overlook this Manchester United squad…I think they’re going places.

Some slightly more serious analysis:

- Much has been made about Reading’s dreadful opening week: @ManU, Chelsea, Everton. But now’s probably the best time to have at the first two, given that they’re still winded/banged-up from their global preseason tours and still working on integrating all the big signings of the preseason. Tevez won’t take the field tomorrow, Hargreaves is still working on his fitness and is doubtful, even C. Ronaldo’s got a bit of ankle thingie (though he’s expected to play). On the other hand, United won’t be in the awkward “getting to know you” phase - like their Community Shield lineup, it’ll likely be pretty close to last year’s top XI.

- Last year, Reading got a face full of Fergie’s fellows, and met the challenge strikingly well:

9/23 Reading 1, Manchester United 1
12/30 Manchester United 3, Reading 2
2/17 Manchester United 1, Reading 1
2/27 Reading 2, Manchester United 3

Two 1-1 draws, two 3-2 losses. Not bad, to say the least. Some chalk it up to Steve Coppell’s tenure as a player at United, but that seems a bit superstitious. Like Reading’s success against Chelsea, I think it’s just a matter of playing positive football, rather than the bunker down mentality most smaller teams employ against the big bad four.

- Which is why I’m a bit concerned about rumors that Coppell will use a 4-5-1 tomorrow, now that Leroy Lita has suffered his mysterious bed-related ailment (he’s supposed to be out for about a month). Part of Reading success last year was due to their depth at the forward position, rare for a newly-promoted team. When Dave Kitson went down in the opening match, Lita stepped up. When Kevin Doyle went down later in the season, young Shane Long was able to step in. In some ways, I even like a Kitson-Doyle or Kitson-Lita pairing up front…Doyle and Lita are a little too similar to my liking. Dropping Doyle back to a midfield position takes away a bit of Reading’s spark though, and their best bet tomorrow may be to come out guns blazing and try to catch United still taking their victory lap.

- Speaking of injuries, Ibrahima Sonko and Glen Little are also out. I’ve always disliked Little for some reason, though I suspect he’s a much better player than he looks. His achilles injury is expected to keep him out for quite a while, which means the wingers will be some combo of Seol Ki-Hyeon, John Oster, Stephen Hunt, and Bobby Convey. Convey’s still getting fit from a bad knee injury last year, but here’s hoping for a triumphant return.

Sonko’s absence is a little more worrisome. Reading’s open style requires some solid central defense play, lest things get out of hand, and Sonko was a rock back there for the first half of the season. After going down in late January, Reading’s defense seemed a little less tight, though looking back at the scores, there’s not a noticeable difference post-Sonko. Still, I feel a lot better when he’s back there in place of Michael Duberry, who gives me nightmares.

- Finally, the nice thing about opening at Old Trafford is that the expectations are about as low as possible — if Reading scrapes out a point, they’ll party like it’s 1999. At the very least, we might see some of the new signings run out against top competition, maybe in the fly new Oakland Raiders colors away kit (modeled above), and hope nobody gets hurt. 3 points from these first 3 games, and the Royals should be pleased.

You’ll likely see all this before I do; I’ll be on a plane during the game, but will be torrenting fiercely as soon as I arrive at my hotel. So, look for a recap late tomorrow, American time.