Watford vs Reading: Five Things

<strong>1) Jordan Obita is an effective wing back.</strong>

I’ve seen Obita play a handful of times this position on the wing, and although I believe he’s a great player in the making and his work rate cannot be faulted, I couldn’t help but feel that he was sometimes pushed off the ball too easily. However, seeing him play at left back on Saturday showed that he is very worthy of his place on the team, with some excellent defending, decision making and attacking, including the superb corner he took to set up Kaspar Gorkss’ goal.

<strong>2) Our midfield shouldn’t revolve around Danny Guthrie.</strong>

This one may be slightly controversial with some people, but I don’t think we particularly miss him when he’s not playing. I’m not saying Guthrie is a bad player; he can have moments of pure class. I just personally prefer our style of play when he’s not on the pitch. Danny Williams always puts in a decent performance when he plays, looking for clever passes rather than just hitting it half the way up the field. It’s worth noting that Hope Akpan put in a good effort this weekend too.

<strong>3) Jobi McAnuff doesn’t deserve the stick he gets from some Reading fans.</strong>

I’ve always been a fan of McAnuff. I think he’s a good one of those characters you want at your club regardless of whether he’s starting or not. I’m not going to deny that he always plays well, but I just think some people are a little too harsh on him. His performance on Saturday proves that he is still a vital member of the squad and a very good club captain.

<strong>4) Other teams have bad atmospheres at home.</strong>

Okay, so you’ve got to take on board that Watford are missing a stand, but the majority of the home crowd’s noise was coming from their Hornet mascot with a drum (and even then it stopped as soon as it figured out the Reading fans were using the beat for their own chants). It was a great atmosphere from our fans, but it always puts a bit of a dampener on things when the opposition support doesn’t offer anything in return. At least John Solako was on hand to add some excitement to things.

<strong>5) Could 2014 finally be the start of good things for the Royals?</strong>

It’s amazing what a couple of weeks do in terms of change. Since the start of the New Year the Royals have been through all sorts, however, the passion and desire seemed to reappear in some form at Watford, especially at the end when all the players came over to the fans. Okay, there’s still a lot to work on, the most important being having more than one shot on target per game, but there’s now positives to hang onto. Leap-frogging up to 7^th in the table without really trying and with lots of hints of an imminent takeover too, I’m hoping that there’s finally something to start smiling about when it comes to Reading Football Club.