This weekend will see Forest travel to Reading to take on a team on the up, winning their last 4 games in a row in the championship including noticeable wins over Preston and Fulham. The change in manager has resulted in a change in formation for the royals as they have now moved away from the three centre backs to a flat back 4 with two holding midfielders to give them extra protection in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
This has allowed both Pele and Adams to build a new partnership based on what they do best. Pele has the athleticism to get to players with the ball quickly and make the challenges and Adams to make the longer-range passes from deep quickly without have to be concerned about his lack of mobility.
In front of the deep lying midfielders Reading have a player who has a great future in front of them in John Swift who in the free role is starting to show what he is capable of. A player with the ability to dribble with pace at the centre of teams and put defenders on the back foot. The player also has an eye for long-range shots and passes which means he is always a danger in the final 3rd of the pitch. The move further up the pitch has removed the need on him to put in the full defensive shift required previously which was one of his weakness and he was often caught ball watching at important moments during the match.
When Reading do attack, they prefer to build up possession in their own half through the middle of the pitch and look to play quick long switching balls out wide before coming back centrally in order to gain yards into the opposition half. This switching play means teams do not get time to set up defensively correctly and leaves space for players to float in the middle areas of the pitch.
Reading are a team who will look to shoot often and do mix up long range efforts and shots within the 18 yard box with most shots coming from moments of individual skill or from free kicks.
Without the ball Reading are a hard working team who will press high and fast to limit short pass options. This has in recent games proved very effective for them in stealing the ball from the opposition or intercepting the longer pass into their half.
Despite Readings love for build-up play with possession at the back before the long quarter back pass, they do lose the ball due to the high risk final passing strategy they undertake. Reading take on a high risk, high reward game plan which does leave them open to quick counter attacking football.
Reading are not blessed with quick defenders although they are physically strong they struggle with through balls and being turned. This means without the ball Reading defenders will drop to a deep back line but the area between the defence and midfield is patrolled by the 2 deep midfielders to stop space from being exploited.
On this bases Forest would do well to allow them to have possession in their own area and bring the defensive line up with the view of winning the high risk longer pass and then themselves going direct in behind the defence to high % win zones rather than to feet.
Forest would also do well to dribble towards Adams when in possession and run the ball past him to create space, as his defensive partner will often have to move to cover and thus create a small pocket of space for others in the central areas.
Dealing with skilful players has been an issue for Reading in recent games and it gave the opposition the opportunity to shoot from outside the box or try a through balls numerous times. However, in the games against Fulham and PNE the opposition was unable to take advantage with those teams far too concerned about giving the ball to their main front man even if he was not best positioned to receive the ball.
Reading are strong, work hard however, they are not an aggressive team, and do not like being toughed up themselves especially the wingers. We have seen these wider players stop challenging for 50/50 balls or pull out from tackles once a few marks have been left on them which again has resulted in the ball being lost to the other team.
Match prediction
I’m going to say this is going to be a very tight game but one that should suit Forests away style so going to say 1-2 for the Reds if we can get to grips with controlling the middle of the park.
This has allowed both Pele and Adams to build a new partnership based on what they do best. Pele has the athleticism to get to players with the ball quickly and make the challenges and Adams to make the longer-range passes from deep quickly without have to be concerned about his lack of mobility.
In front of the deep lying midfielders Reading have a player who has a great future in front of them in John Swift who in the free role is starting to show what he is capable of. A player with the ability to dribble with pace at the centre of teams and put defenders on the back foot. The player also has an eye for long-range shots and passes which means he is always a danger in the final 3rd of the pitch. The move further up the pitch has removed the need on him to put in the full defensive shift required previously which was one of his weakness and he was often caught ball watching at important moments during the match.
When Reading do attack, they prefer to build up possession in their own half through the middle of the pitch and look to play quick long switching balls out wide before coming back centrally in order to gain yards into the opposition half. This switching play means teams do not get time to set up defensively correctly and leaves space for players to float in the middle areas of the pitch.
Reading are a team who will look to shoot often and do mix up long range efforts and shots within the 18 yard box with most shots coming from moments of individual skill or from free kicks.
Without the ball Reading are a hard working team who will press high and fast to limit short pass options. This has in recent games proved very effective for them in stealing the ball from the opposition or intercepting the longer pass into their half.
Despite Readings love for build-up play with possession at the back before the long quarter back pass, they do lose the ball due to the high risk final passing strategy they undertake. Reading take on a high risk, high reward game plan which does leave them open to quick counter attacking football.
Reading are not blessed with quick defenders although they are physically strong they struggle with through balls and being turned. This means without the ball Reading defenders will drop to a deep back line but the area between the defence and midfield is patrolled by the 2 deep midfielders to stop space from being exploited.
On this bases Forest would do well to allow them to have possession in their own area and bring the defensive line up with the view of winning the high risk longer pass and then themselves going direct in behind the defence to high % win zones rather than to feet.
Forest would also do well to dribble towards Adams when in possession and run the ball past him to create space, as his defensive partner will often have to move to cover and thus create a small pocket of space for others in the central areas.
Dealing with skilful players has been an issue for Reading in recent games and it gave the opposition the opportunity to shoot from outside the box or try a through balls numerous times. However, in the games against Fulham and PNE the opposition was unable to take advantage with those teams far too concerned about giving the ball to their main front man even if he was not best positioned to receive the ball.
Reading are strong, work hard however, they are not an aggressive team, and do not like being toughed up themselves especially the wingers. We have seen these wider players stop challenging for 50/50 balls or pull out from tackles once a few marks have been left on them which again has resulted in the ball being lost to the other team.
Match prediction
I’m going to say this is going to be a very tight game but one that should suit Forests away style so going to say 1-2 for the Reds if we can get to grips with controlling the middle of the park.
