Reading v Liverpool

On paper: Reading sit at the bottom of the table and are on a seven game losing streak during which they've scored four goals. We are 5-3-2 in our last 10.

Perhaps ideally this match would have been a couple of rounds later with Reading certain to get relegated. Now they may see this as the very last opportunity to start a winning streak that might save them from the drop, meaning they'll be throwing the kitchen sink and the bathtub at us. Probably anyway.

No major injury news. Let's go get the three points which could be vital for finishing above Everton - who, by the way, play QPR at home.

Royals and Reds come together

This Saturday, Reading Football Club and Liverpool Football Club will come together with our supporters to pay respects to the 96 victims of the Hillsborough tragedy.

A minute's silence will be held shortly before kick off, with our owner Anton Zingarevich and Liverpool's Managing Director Ian Ayre laying a floral tribute to the 96 in the centre circle.

Anton and Ian will also be accompanied onto the Madejski Stadium pitch by a supporter from each team, as Royals and Reds come together to remember those who tragically lost their lives that day. Both sets of players will wear black armbands. The floral tribute will then travel to Merseyside and form part of Monday's Hillsborough Memorial Service at Anfield.

Supporters may like to note that both the home and away turnstiles will not be in operation for 60 seconds, during the minute's silence, but will reopen immediately afterwards, so please take your seat as early as possible.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Liverpool Football Club, the Premier League and this weekend's match officials for their help in arranging Saturday's tribute.

Class reading Class.

Glad they realized it would be a bad idea to attempt to have a minute's silence for Thatcher as well.

RedOranje wrote:Glad they realized it would be a bad idea to attempt to have a minute's silence for Thatcher as well.

This.

The media would've slated our fans because no way in hell anyone from Liverpool would've respected that minute's silence.

The Reds team in full is: Reina, Johnson, Enrique, Agger, Carragher, Lucas, Gerrard, Henderson, Coutinho, Sturridge, Suarez.

Subs: Jones, Assaidi, Downing, Coates, Suso, Shelvey, Skrtel.


With this team im thinking if we dont put 3 or 4 past them.

This is it, exact the team I wanted. GTFI

Oh geez one of them days

Need to put away one of them chances...

This is going to haunt us. Could be 5-0 right now

My god we're f*cking hopeless. We aren't good enough for Europa League, who are we kidding.

Their keeper had the game of his life, sign him for barca after valdes leaves. FML

CLEAN SHEET BABY OH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

This 4-2-4 has to stop.
Hopefully that shuts up that "balanced" play that Downing brings to this squad. We basically brought Reading into the game by trying to give him some game time as it opened up space for them to counter us. It genuinely gave Reading belief that they could go on and snatch the win. There is no way he was brought on to help win us the game and he almost nearly gave a penalty away aswell...

Special shoutout to their keeper, McCarthy. One of the best GK performances I've seen from a keeper this season. He didn't play for 5 months and came in with that performance.

Messiah "Aggerswagger" wrote:My god we're f*cking hopeless. We aren't good enough for Europa League, who are we kidding.

Settle down......

I'm sorry if I am a little upset that we couldn't dispatch the worst f*cking in the league.

You have every right to be a little upset. Infact, you should be furious.

Just not a fan of this "not good enough for Europa" crap.

The knee jerking after today *bleep* me, the chat was bad enough.

If we don't change this form by the end of next season, then we will solidify the high-mid table club tag we have been given.

mr-r34 wrote:The knee jerking after today *bleep* me, the chat was bad enough.

Only reason why I don't come on this forum during games.

Firstly, you hardly see the tactical view point of the game.
Secondly, you work yourself up writing down your frustration after every shot saved.
Lastly, you fail to see any real positives.

ynwa wrote:

mr-r34 wrote:The knee jerking after today *bleep* me, the chat was bad enough.

Only reason why I don't come on this forum during games.

Firstly, you hardly see the tactical view point of the game.
Secondly, you work yourself up writing down your frustration after every shot saved.
Lastly, you fail to see any real positives.

You can't really say we had any positives tonight, yes we got a clean sheet, but it was bloody reading.

First of all, I'm never in the forum during games. Only sign in at half time and after the game to share my thoughts, frustrations, etc.

Second of all, the chat is where we (Arq, myself, Nish, sometimes Stevieg) get the all the frustrations out of our chests.

mr-r34 wrote:

ynwa wrote:

mr-r34 wrote:The knee jerking after today *bleep* me, the chat was bad enough.

Only reason why I don't come on this forum during games.

Firstly, you hardly see the tactical view point of the game.
Secondly, you work yourself up writing down your frustration after every shot saved.
Lastly, you fail to see any real positives.

You can't really say we had any positives tonight, yes we got a clean sheet, but it was bloody reading.

Agreed there were no positives. It was the worst f*cking team in the league you would expect us to play well.

Wasn't just citing this game. I've been coming to the forum atleast 24 hours after majority of the games not just season because of the kneejerk comments. I mean, how are we not worth a Europa league spot? It's definitely not just this thread. A lot of the game threads have knee jerk decisions in 'em.

Today was simply bad finishing. We lack killer instinct in the squad. Only Gerrard and Luis has it.

Rodgers decision to throw Downing on was ridiculous also. Completely got rid of the midfield position in Henderson that opened up the game for Reading - not for us. He went make or break and was ridiculously lucky not to concede when they tried to "jew" (fifa term) the goal out of us. Downin also nearly gave a penalty away.

Reina then made a great save and then had another Reina derp moment a minute later when a throw in was thrown into the box.

It's come to the point where the seasons over. Everton will clinch the European spot. Time to throw some youngsters in, the likes of Shelvey etc to give us some energy for the remainder 6 games. Downing just has to go ffs.

We were very unlucky in this game. Poor finishing did come into it, but McCarthy made some quality saves.

Awful game by us and even worse than the previous draw. I know all the hopefuls will just praise McCarthy for his Goalkeeping heroics yet that does not excuse us for our pathetic finishing. Our play as a whole looked dire and without any guile. Same pass and move channels exploiting the same repertoire of tricks which made us look predictable and utterly bereft of ideas. Rodgers needs to learn how to actually CHANGE the game with subs rather than going for the same inductive changes that end up making incidental changes.

It didn't help when Gerrard and Coutinho were our only notable players doing something. Suarez has been poor the last 2 games and it doesn't help that Rodgers's and Tabarez love to run him to the ground for 90 mins without rest. Sturridge needs to learn how to finish and use his other god damn foot.

And any genius who tells me Downing adds "Balance" and is brilliant in "tracking back" can piss off because I am sick of watching this worthless player with his same one-footed bag of tricks ruining our players with his hit and hope trash. Atrocious player.

I don't usually like to talk about luck, because winners make their own luck and in the long run it just stems from statistics and probabilities, but today I'll say we were unlucky.

Half a dozen brilliant chances to score, but a combination of poor finishing and goalkeeping heroics denied us. Mind you, Reading were much improved in the second half and had a couple of good chances themselves.

Against West Ham I would have liked to see a completely different option in Carroll in our squad (who btw scored a nice free-kick today ), but today from start to finish the players who were on the pitch were the right ones, constantly forcing Reading's backline to mistakes - just very frustrating we couldn't capitalize on any of them.

So, a disappointing result, but a much better performance than in our 0 - 0 draw against West Ham, imo. To say something positive.

By the way, I can't be the only thinking that Suarez is looking terribly off-form, can I? Fatigue or has a Winner like him given up on this season, i.e. it being a mental issue? Or neither?