View From The Town End: Alfa Semedo

Reading made their fourth addition of the summer on Sunday afternoon, bringing in Alfa Semedo on a season-long loan from Benfica. Interestingly, this isn’t the midfielder’s first taste of life in English football; he spent the entirety of last season on loan at the Royals’ Championship rivals Nottingham Forest.

To find out some more about Semedo, we spoke to Sean Hockett from Bandy and Shinty.

How would you sum up Alfa Semedo’s time at the City Ground?

Ended disappointingly to be honest. And that’s not because we f*cked it up lol. We thought we had a genuine player when he first arrived. Good engine, showed some ability on the ball. Good attitude and fitted in the team well.

Then we signed Samba Sow and he took a bit of a back seat and think that put his nose out of joint. There was one game late last year - I think it was Barnsley at home - when he came on late but showed little interest. Lamouchi actually shoved him to get him to track back after we lost the ball. Only saw him sporadically after that. We were told it was an injury, but I’m not so sure.

What style of midfielder is he?

Certainly can play as a box-to-box player as well as a more deep-lying position. Not afraid to get stuck in.

What are his main strengths?

He’s got some pace and like I’ve already mentioned, a good engine.

Any weaknesses?

Seems like he could be an “arm around the shoulder” type player. Can also seem to be disinterested at times.

What’s his character like?

Certainly looked like a team player. Liked among the squad, so I think that says a lot about his character.

On the whole, is he a good signing for Reading?

You could have done worse. He won’t be pulling up trees, but could be a good addition for you.