0-0 at Old Trafford: Drawin’ Ugly

By: Rob | August 13th, 2007

So I realize being a fan of a team like Reading means I should be overjoyed at a nil-nil scoreline on the road to United, and truly one can’t sanely ask for a better start to the season with this schedule. But I have to admit to being a little disappointed with the team’s play yesterday, it was highly un-Reading. For all my talk of the Royals’ fearlessness and open style, they settled for a bend-don’t-break strategy, starting five defenders, flinging hopeless long balls instead of patient counter attacks, and relying pretty heavily on luck (and Marcus Hahnemann) to save them. Some random, quick thoughts from a hotel room:

- Impressed: Hahnemann was simply incredible, showing again how criminal his lack of US caps is. Given that he’s only a couple games back from a broken hand suffered in last year’s season closer, his aggressive play was remarkable - diving out and smacking the ball away from a breaking Rooney in the first half comes to mind. I gave Michael Duberry some shit last post (I think it might be the long-sleeved jersey that puts me off), but he was the rock we needed in the middle defense, minding Rooney in the first half (and, whoops, breaking his foot, the Reading hitlist grows again) then clamping down Ronaldo in the second. Stephen Hunt was his usual kamikaze self, running the few offensive chances down with abandon, and gamely trying to nag Ronaldo out of his comfort zone.

- Disappointed: Reading really need James Harper to settle into the playmaker role that Sidwell abandoned in center midfield, and he was invisible Sunday. The passing was pretty abysmal all around, and I’m going to put the largest blame on Harper for not coordinated the offense. That horrifying possession statistic (73 to 27!) wouldn’t have looked quite so bad if United wasn’t picking off the first or second pass of each Royal attack. Seol Ki-Hyeon was playing a weird role - not quite forward, not quite winger - but was pretty much useless, and was happily subbed before the first hour was up. He may be on his way to Fulham sooner than Coppell claims. And Dave Kitson, what the hell, man?

- The team definitely missed Leroy Lita more than I had anticipated…with so few opportunities and a completely counter-attack-based offense, his pace would have put more pressure on Ferdinand & Vidic coming 2/3rds of the way up the field. With Kitson suspended for at least one game, he’ll be missed even more. Get loose, Shane Long.

- Due credit to Reading’s defense for snuffing that last pass that would’ve set up the easy goal many, many, many times; it was an impressive display of defensive organization. But jesus, there was a healthy dollop of luck involved: balls hitting the post, balls skimming the crossbar, Evra’s almost-whiff, Rooney’s injury, and so on and so on. If United had another true striker available, the game could’ve gotten out of hand. So in that sense, my relief about playing United this early on was justified…played in September, this may have been a bloodbath.

But, it’s a point! And very few people will remember the circumstances in a few months. It’s the third draw with Manchester United in five matches since reaching the Premiership, and that’s a lot better than most teams can claim. Let’s hope we give Chelsea a little more of a game on Wednesday though, eh?