I absolutely agree we need to get behind the keeper.
Preferably in a tightly packed defensive line, to protect the goal when he makes (yet) another cock-up.
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The keeper is fine. But as Dodds alluded to, it shouldnāt have been in a position to pass it back.
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Random question and slightly off-topic but has Sky Sports + stopped broadcasting EFL games on a Saturday?
Given the head coach isnāt significantly involved in recruitment I donāt think he can be blamed for which first team keeper has been signed.
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Van Sas has made 2 mistakes in 3 games. While that sounds awful, I think some of the outstanding saves heās made & potential that we can all see in him allows him that margin of error. If I was to compare his mistakes to Norrisā mistakes on Tuesday, I know which keeper I want on the pitch for the rest of the season (and itās NOT Norris!).
Heās only 21, played less than 25 first-team games and itās his first season at this level, we need to back & support him and hope that he continues his development throughout this season. If heās still making mistakes in Dec, thatās a different matter completely.
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sad individual always blaming Dodds ā¦that all you do #youareonmute
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You can hardly call Rav āa rookieā. He played roughly 50% of our games last season
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They only show games they have selected. I believe they showed seven at 12.30pm today across three divisions.
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Thanks @Midlander
Because a bad backpass just going for a corner is a temporary moan quickly forgotten.
Somehow managing to play it straight to a striker with an open goal and concede was breathtakingly terrible.
Weāre not good enough in midfield. We donāt do the ugly things anywhere near well enough to be a strong league 1 side. Successful league 1 teams can mix it. We canāt.
I think he just understands football better than most posters on here
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We will kick start Readingās seasons for them. No doubt about that.
I want to know what Leahy is appealing for in the aftermath of the goalā¦ the ball fouling Van Sas?
A point from home is always good. It wasnāt bad over 90 minutes even if it wasnāt particularly entertaining.
Today was the archetypal Doddsball performance. The same pattern weāve seen for almost all his games so far:
- Average to poor first half
- usually go in a goal down at the break
- very little to get excited about attack wise
- mistakes at the back due to knocking it around aimlessly and occasionally recklessly
- we then come out second half and look much better
- many glimpses of what we want to do as a team, and flashes of what individual players are capable of
- we grab a goal, excitement returns about the project
That would be absolutely OK from time to time, for one of the fancied teams in the league.
But weāre at the point where Dodds has quite literally repeated the same lacklustre timeline 20 times over. The exact same dynamics play out nearly every time, yet we set up to do it all over again the next match.
I suspect weāll eek out a narrow win against Exeter, just to give the illusion of momentum, then give Reading their first win fairly comfortably on Saturday.
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He wasnāt appealing, he was berating absolutely a shocking passage of play.
Van Sas has played behind three different back fours / threes so far. Thatās the problem.
In friendlies he also played behind different back fours.
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Stockport drew, @Floyd.
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This is what I texted my dad with when I saw the team. Why no attempt to keep a settled back four/five?
I wanted this in the friendlies, but accepted (although diagreed) he wanted to see different combos every 45 mins.
But three different defences with at least two different shapes is just insane. Youāre not Pep. Stop overthinking it and give the players a chance, Dodds!
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That makes more sense (although he definitely has his hand up appealing something before he vents his frustration)