Ugh, another draw on the road with a long depressing journey there and back. Today we faced Reading at the Car Leasing Stadium and I have to say that we put on a better performance than the game during the week, against Burnley. We have not won away since 2 January, which is frustrating as I have been to every following game, and since then we have lost three and drawn four. Last season we earned most of our points from away games and we lost at home. This half of the season it has been flipped around and we are playing much better at home. Nonetheless, Reading have only been able to chalk up one win in their last five league matches–losing the rest.
Was it worth the journey? Yes, we play well away from home and some of the games can be entertaining. We cannot finish them off, though, and for most of the games I am just watching us ping the ball around the field, not doing anything with it. We seem to be nervous and this needs to change as we cannot keep relying on winning at home.
Two changes from our game during the week; Óscar Estupiñán replaced Dimitrios Pelkas and Jacob Greaves for Callum Elder. It is another new starting eleven and it shows that Rosenior has not worked out what his best squad is. It is great to know that we have a lot of options, but we need a consistent team that can get to know each other's style of football. Nonetheless, according to LiveScore, we were in a 4-4-2 formation with Karl Darlow in goal; Jacob Greaves, Alfie Jones, Sean McLoughlin and Lewie Coyle at the back; Malcolm Ebiowei, Regan Slater, Jean Seri and Allahyar Sayyadmanesh in the middle and that leaves Óscar Estupiñán and Adama Traoré up front. I had no complaints with the team and this should be what we start with in every game.
The first period was the more exciting out of the two and it was us who settled into the game. In the first minute, their keeper was called into action; Sayyadmansh had time and space at the far post, but his shot was stopped. But, we did not stop there. Ebiowei struck the ball from a distance, however, it was blocked by a Reading defender. Two dangerous chances in the opening five minutes and they were efforts that we should be putting away.
For the next 20 minutes, we were still attacking and not allowing the hosts to have the ball. Our attackers were always winning their battles and Reading struggled to take the ball from us. Then, in the 26th minute we took a well earned lead; Traoré made an excellent defence-splitting pass to Slater, who ran into the box and smashed it into the back of the net. A great goal, but at this point we should be two or three nil up.
After this, like always, we switched off and allowed Reading to settle into the game. Why do we do this? We go from attacking for half of the period and scoring, to defending in a matter of minutes. I wish we could keep fighting for the next goal as it would give us confidence knowing we have a comfortable cushion, whilst defending. What made it worse was that we did not try to make an attack and we did not get close to their keeper again.
As expected, they equalised due to some sloppy defending. In the 44th minute, Casadei nodded on a cross, which landed in Carroll’s feet. And, after we failed to clear the ball, he slammed it past Darlow from the edge of the box. My brother and I hate this player, purely because he turned us down for a photo last year and he always scores against us. Thankfully, this was minutes before half-time and we went in at the break level.
The whistle could not have blown at a better time; we were becoming lazy, making poor passes and we struggled to get out of our own half. This is always the case. We can never start well and stay like that for the rest of the half. Also, we rarely go in front by more than one goal. Nonetheless, there were some positives; Traoré and Seri were great at starting the attacks and anchoring the middle. They could, also, hold the ball and get out of tricky situations. This duo will be great together and they will cause a lot of problems for other teams.
The second half was boring and nothing much happened. So, I will keep it brief.
We opened up brightly, controlling much of the play, and we had some good opportunities; Ebiowei took a shot from the edge of the box, but the keeper made a comfortable save and Sayyadmanesh shot from 18 yards out, but it went wide. Since they have been introduced in the team, we are looking better in attack and they are players who know what they are doing. Most of the time, they beat their men; however, the only problem I have is that they keep the ball for too long and they never pass. This allows the opposition to get their defenders back and mark our players. Instead, they should be getting it into the box first time or taking a shot from a reasonable position. In fact, Sayyadmanesh did this and it prevented us from taking the lead; he received the ball down the left wing and he drove with it until he got to the edge of the box. There were two players waiting to tap it in, however, he kept running into the box and he ended up getting dispossessed.
Reading had a few chances, but they came from free kicks that went over the bar. I have to say that they were one of the weaker sides that we have faced away this season and we should have put them to bed. They made a lot of loose passes, they could not keep the ball for long, they were slow when attacking and they looked hesitant when they had the ball. Alongside a poor performance, they had some of the worst home fans and it was like playing in a library–you could hear the players talking. Needless to say, neither team was able to steal the three points and the game ended goalless.
So it was another game, where we dominated. We had 12 shots to their 11, we had 62% of the possession compared with their 38% and we completed 546 passes. I do not understand how we were able to score one goal with those stats. It's typical of Hull City and if we had less possession, chances and fewer passes, I guarantee that we would have won. Also, we need to bring in players who can play out from the back. I know I said that we need to cut it out, however, there is no other alternative. I guess we have to stick with the process and I hope we can get better at it.
Due to an international break, we now have a couple of weeks to train and come back stronger for the final quarter of the season. After this, we have Rotherham at home under the lights of the MKM Stadium. Surely we have to win that one? They are currently 21st in the table and they have lost their previous two games. If we lose, my hopes for the playoffs will be crushed.