Reading FC 0-2 Millwall: Player Ratings

Vito Mannone: 6

Not helped by some suspect back-passes and sloppy defending, Mannone occasionally had to bail his own defence out of trouble a few times. Helpless for the first goal and stranded for the second, I won’t blame him for either.

Chris Gunter: 5

Steady but nothing spectacular, got forward down the right better than Bacuna did down the left.

Liam Moore: 5

Seemed quieter and less physically imposing than usual, but mostly steady enough.

Tommy Elphick: 6

After an awful first pass in his home debut, he settled quickly, looking composed on the ball and strong in the tackle. Desperately unfortunate to go off injured after half an hour, but those 30 minutes were very encouraging.

Tiago Ilori: 5

Inconsistent in his distribution, Ilori was both guilty of some naive passes that put his own team under pressure and some impressive Hollywood-esque ball control. Too indecisive for Millwall’s second.

Leandro Bacuna: 5

Unlucky to see Romeo’s shot deflect off him past Mannone, which would go down as an own goal. Started at left wing back where he was ok, but struggled to get into the game. Needed to offer Reading energy and width going forwards, but didn’t.

A few sloppy passes, including one that put Mannone under a lot of pressure in the first half. For me, he looks more comfortable when playing in the middle.

Dave Edwards and Joey van den Berg: 5

Both were so uninvolved in the game that I might aswell grade them as one. Nothing catastrophically bad, but Reading needed presence in the midfield, movement and creativity. Granted, Edwards and van den Berg aren’t best-suited for some of those things, but in a tough game I expected more from two of our more experienced players.

Modou Barrow: 7

The only Reading player who looked likely to create anything. Looked particularly sharp at the start of the second half, and got in behind Millwall a few times with some dazzling runs. Lacked end product though.

Yann Kermorgant: 5

Looked so off the pace on Saturday, lacking his usual physical presence and composure.

Jon Dadi Bodvarsson: 6

Not influential enough in the final third, but gave Reading a good option with his strong runs down the channels. Let down by a lack of creativity coming his way.

Subs:

Tyler Blackett: 4

One of those when a player is so unconfident that everything seems to go wrong. Gave the ball away unnecessarily a few times, including in the build-up to Millwall’s second. In terms of pure ability, I don’t think he’s that bad, but his confidence problems are so much worse than others that he sometimes just goes to pieces.

Chris Martin: 6

Not hugely involved, but clearly looked a level above the rest of the team in terms of both confidence and ability. Clever link-up play on the edge of the area to bring Edwards/Joey into action, and a delightful dummy both stood out.

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