Obviously, This Isn’t Good (Reading 0-1 Tottenham)

By: Prederick | May 3rd, 2008

It’s no longer in Reading’s hands now. And they can’t blame anyone but themselves.

Today’s fixture was always going to be tough, but there were a few things that really stood out to me about today’s match as I watched. That it had been over eight hours since Reading had scored wasn’t the news I wanted, nor was Coppell’s decision to play a virtual 4-3-3, given the blunt ineffectiveness of the strike-force recently. Frankly I don’t see the reason in putting the rather tall Dave Kitson up front without any wingers who can give effective service. And don’t get me started on Leroy Lita, who I just do not think is a Premiership striker. He’s like a poor man’s Obafemi Martins, or even Darren Bent, who helped torment Reading today with intelligent runs on and off the ball, and some great link-up play, thing Lita seems incapable of (although he certainly does love a good flail at net from a near-impossible angle).

Were it not for Marcus Hahnemann and a incompetent line judge, it could’ve (should’ve) been 3-0 going into the half. Tottenham were absolutely rampant, while Reading had no bite in midfield, no ideas whatsoever, and while i’m generally against the home fans turning on their own, deserved some of the barracking they got as they trudged off at the half.

Credit to the team, they came out fighting in the second half, and even managed a few spells of pressure. Perhaps, with some luck, Bikey’s shot might’ve flown in rather than hitting Zokora, or Cerny wouldn’t have made that fantastic save to prevent Liam Rosenior from equalizing. But Tottenham really should’ve been further ahead when Darren Bent smacked the inside of the post.

I never thought I’d hear anyone saying this, but i’m not particularly confident heading into the match against Derby. Reading are (understandably) nervous and frustrated, and with today’s results, are staring smack-dab into the mouth of the abyss. In most other circumstances, i’d expect the team to get all three, but I think Derby, despite their uselessness, will be up for the final game of the year, to give their loyal fans something to remember from a forgettable season.

Next week is, obviously, do or die. That’s it, end of. We need at least a point and are relying on results from other games to stay up, which is the worst possible situation. The situation is the team’s own doing, and some of the blame has to be on Mr. Coppell, who showed admirable loyalty in sticking with his players but may have handicapped the team by not strengthening in August or January, especially after the loss of Steve Sidwell.

Hopefully, Mr. Coppell will be smart and start the best midfielder (on form) we’ve got right now in Matejovsky. And maybe the team will finally realize that this is the veritable definition of a must-win game. But if I said i’m confident right now, i’d be a liar.