Reading 0-1 Millwall: Player Ratings

Joe Lumley: 5

There have been a lot of problems this season, but Joe Lumley hasn’t been one of them. He’s been one of the standouts. However, today he made a key mistake in conceding the penalty. I’m not 100% sure whether it was inside or outside the box, and if he hadn’t have steamed out of his goal they may have scored anyway, but it’s still an error from Lumley.

Andy Yiadom: 6

Yids wasn’t the problem today, and even though he hasn’t been as impressive this season than previous ones it was a shame to see him go off at half-time. We’re a worse team without him in it.

Tom Holmes: 6

I thought Holmes was okay. He didn’t do anything horribly wrong, nor anything amazingly well. He’s developed into a very decent centre back at this level.

Scott Dann: 5

Scott Dann is a very Paul Ince kind of player, but I just don't think he’s quite cut out for this level anymore. Whenever he plays he looks slow and off the pace. A hamstring injury rubbed salt into his wounds and he was withdrawn at half time.

Naby Sarr: 4

He’s really improved in recent weeks, but today he was really sloppy on the ball and gave the ball away far, far too often. It was Sarr’s misplaced pass that led to Flemming running through on goal and being fouled by Lumley for the penalty. A poor afternoon for Naby.

Nesta Guinness-Walker: 5

We were awful going forward all afternoon, and as a left-wing-back Guinness-Walker has to be counted as part of that. It looked like he was scared to get forward and take people on today; on too many occasions he turned back on himself and played backwards in promising positions.

Tom Ince: 5

Really not Ince’s day. He huffed and puffed but the quality was just nowhere to be seen from minute one. Part of me feels sorry for him because of how much this team (and his manager) expects and relies on him to deliver a bit of creativity, but even so we should expect better than we saw today.

Jeff Hendrick: 5

This is becoming standard for Hendrick really, isn’t it? Games just pass him by. Today was another afternoon where he offered very, very little.

Tom McIntyre: 4

For anyone who needs to hear this (I’m looking at you, Paul): Tom McIntyre is not a central midfielder. And he’s also not a left-wing-back.

He did a job today but it was very much a case of square peg in a round hole, and looked sloppy at times too. I don’t want us to waste a defensive talent like McIntyre by playing him out of position every week.

Andy Carroll: 5

For anyone who needs to hear this (again, I'm looking at you, Paul): the 60-yard diagonals to Andy Carroll don’t really work anymore.

Our game plan (if you can call it that) is the same every single week. Hit it long to Carroll, hope it sticks, and play from there. Today it didn’t work, shock. Yes, he got a bit of rough treatment that the ref should’ve perhaps picked up on a bit more, but that doesn’t change how ineffective Carroll was in all honesty.

Shane Long: 5

He huffed and puffed but, like every other one of his attacking team mates, it just didn’t click for him. The lack of any kind of attacking tactics or identity is a lot more of a Paul Ince problem than the players, but that doesn’t eradicate the players from blame.

Subs

Liam Moore: 6

I actually thought he was okay when he came on, he was by no means the problem this afternoon.

Amadou Mbengue: 5

Similar to Moore really, although he added little going forwards as Reading’s right-wing-back in the second half. However, it’s starting to get to the point where I’d like to see Mbengue slotted into one position and played there. I’m still not sure what his best is.

Lucas Joao: 6

One of Ince’s biggest crimes is turning Lucas Joao from star man to supporting act (at best). 12 months ago Joao was one of the best in the league, now he’s making fleeting appearances off the bench. He looked bright once he came on, and we just need to see more of him on the pitch.

Cesare Casadei: 6

A genuine candidate for man of the match. He looked impressive when he came on and, similarly to Joao, we need to see more of him on the pitch. Don’t think he was told that Ince doesn’t really like young players before he came.

Femi Azeez: 5

Didn’t really have enough time to make any impact.

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Average: 5.18/10

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