How Reading went 0-3 up at Deepdale.
A quick look at how The Royals stifled PNE, and what went wrong for Ryan Lowe's side.
Reading travelled to Deepdale in torrid conditions on Saturday in what proved to be Veljko Paunovic’s last hurrah as Royals’ coach. It emerged shortly after 5pm that the Serb had agreed to part ways with the side sitting in 21st. But, what a way to go.
Despite sitting in that lowly position and without a win so far in 2022, Reading have quality within their ranks, with Lucas Joao and John Swift regularly performing well against PNE in recent years. They came with a game plan which was well executed and below I have looked at how The Royals went 0-3 up within 60 minutes.
Reading’s press.
It’s well known by now that Ryan Lowe wants his team to build up through no.6 Ben Whiteman with short passes. Teams have come to Deepdale, most recently Huddersfield, with the aim of shutting Whiteman out of the game and Reading managed to do this with a man to man approach. They also cut off space for the wider CBs and generally frustrated PNE who were too one-dimensional.
Reading set up with a 4-2-3-1 out of possession which became a man-to-man system aiming to remove Ben Whiteman and Daniel Johnson from the build up. It was more or less man-to-man all over, with the Reading wingers (Ince and Hoillett) in half positions between PNE’s Wing Backs and wider Centre Backs. The aim was to cut off short passes through midfield and it worked.
Below we can see Reading’s shape in action. Main emphasis on being man orientated with Johnson and Whiteman, whilst the wingers could press onto the wide CBs, or double up on PNEs Wing Backs if needed. North End generally lacked the individual quality to break the structure.
Early example of the man-to-man emphasis on Daniel Johnson. Rinomhota carried out this duty well all afternoon and generally stayed with DJ throughout to prevent him getting time on the ball to create going forwards.
Joao (Reading No.9) was tasked with pressuring the CB most active in the build up, usually Van Den Berg. Behind him Swift (No.10) cuts off Whiteman whilst out of picture Hoillett (LW) has cut off Potts (RWB). As we can see, Bauer (CCB) doesn’t offer for the ball and so PNE are forced backwards to Iversen (GK) who is poor when pressured.
As the ball is forced back, Joao uses this as a trigger to press across Iversen, forcing him onto his weaker left foot and forcing him to slice a clearance long. Ince (RW) is tucked in, but is ready to press Hughes (LCB) and so in effect his positioning forces PNE long and Reading regain territory. This was a constant pattern.
Below we see another example of the 2-3-1 shape, again with Johnson and Whiteman man marked. Sinclair (LWB) is poor 1v1, lacks power to beat opponents and generally looked uncomfortable receiving in deep areas. He’s forced back to Hughes here who is then rushed by Joao.
The deep positioning of PNE’s wing backs was an issue and PNE struggled to progress through wide areas as Sinclair and Potts were too isolated and often received in a deep, static position, from where it’s very tricky to beat a man.
Ball goes backwards to Hughes which is a trigger for Joao to press, and short options are cut off in the process.
As the half progressed, Reading were more and more willing to give Bauer (CCB) space in central areas as he struggles to progress the ball due to limited willingness to carry and a square body position in possession, meaning he lacks the fluidity on the dribble to beat pressure or change the angle of the attack.
PNE’s poor pass selection/ space exploitation.
As effective as Reading’s press was, PNE completely failed to use the direct option in possession to go over the pressure. Instead, there was an insistence of going short, into feet, within Reading’s structure and North End lacked the quality to play through.
Cameron Archer dropped into good pockets of space which created a vacuum for Emil Riis to attack on multiple occasions.
However, either Riis failed to recognise this space, or his penetrative runs weren’t found, as PNE only seemed to want to play short, which in turn invited more pressure. There were ample “double movement” opportunities for North End which weren’t seen, and this is something Lowe needs to work with the strikers on, in terms of relationships.
Few examples of this below.
Almost identical below, Archer has dropped into the space and he is found to feet, but he’s pressed and forced back. Instead, Archer’s movement should’ve been a decoy to find Riis in the exploited space.
Again, Archer receives a ground pass to feet from deep, but Riis could be found as a more direct option above the pressure if he’s more active. Alternatively, PNE’s defenders could force his hand by playing longer initially.
Below Riis has dropped towards the ball and Browne has countered this by attacking the channel space, something he does so effectively. Instead of finding Browne in the channel, PNE go short into Riis’ feet, and controlling the ball with his back to goal is not a strength. Another wasted opportunity for North End who were naive in insisting on shorter passes.
Again Browne makes a counter movement to Archer’s, but Browne is again ignored. Not sure if this was instruction or whether PNE now lack the vision to go longer.
PNE weren’t just naive in attempting to penetrate the final 3rd, but they were also sloppy in the initial phases, taking too many passes when they could’ve gone over pressure.
Insisting to go through Whiteman (pressed), when they could’ve played out of pressure more directly. Van den Berg in open space here, for example.
This time Bauer goes short and backwards instead of finding Potts wide. These short, backwards passes invite pressure and force PNE backwards again and again.
Back foot Bauer.
Patrick Bauer’s form has been a concern of mine for a few weeks (yes, even with the clean sheets). To me he appears to have become less proactive in engaging with opponents, and his foot speed which has always been a weakness seems to have deteriorated even more. These issues are exacerbated by the increased demands within Lowe’s system (more isolated defending, more space to defend).
Reading’s transitions were effective as Joao was able to drop off the line, receive and turn under limited pressure from Bauer who was reluctant to follow him and condense the space. This ploy was used by Reading regularly and acted as an effective way of moving into the final 3rd, with Joao a useful target with good strength and technical quality.
Reading’s second goal isn’t a direct Bauer mistake, but he is on the back foot in transition and he allows Joao, who scores, to gain 20+ yards without engaging.
Bauer is then caught too square, and his lack of foot speed becomes an issue as Joao enters into a shooting area.
Bauer is wrong footed by Joao, lacks the agility and foot speed to recover to block, and Joao scores. As I said, not a glaring error, but more so a cautious approach which concedes space far too easily.
This continued and allowed Reading to gain territory too easily to halt any PNE pressure.
And again. These aren’t glaring errors, which may be why my criticism of Bauer has been met with such opposition, but these details do allow territory to be gained too easily.
This continued (and was exposed more) in the 2nd half when North End went to a 4-4-2/4-3-3. Bauer has been fairly protected in the middle of a back 3, but in the 4 where he has to cover wide, he was badly exposed.
The second time this happens it leads to Reading’s 3rd goal and effectively seals the game.
So Bauer’s caution and lack of comfort agains more direct transition was evident yesterday and Liam Lindsay’s performance begs the question over who should start in midweek against Forest. Bauer’s form with and without the ball have been poor in recent weeks and his place in the XI shouldn’t be cemented by any means.
North End’s Double Wide
I have long argued that a 3-5-2 makes life very difficult for the Wing Backs who are tasked with beating players 1v1, attacking the box and creating from wide, whilst also pressing and settling into a defensive shape.
Potts, Earl, Cunningham, McCann, Browne and now Sinclair have all been used there under Lowe’s tenure and nobody has really secured a spot. It’s the hardest role within this system in my opinion as I believe the demands are largely unrealistic of Championship quality players.
Reading, as with many other sides, negated PNE’s Wing Backs by going 2v1 quickly, or forcing them to receive in deep areas where they are forced backwards.
Ryan Lowe moved from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 after around 35 minutes. This meant PNE had 2 wide players on each side rather than 1, and this helped pin Reading’s wingers deeper, whilst it also allowed PNE to start creating 2v2, 3v2, or 3v3 wide combinations.
Reading’s early 2v1 in wide areas allowed them to gain territory easily as their Full Backs were often free players. By countering this, North End negated this advantage.
This continued in the 2nd half and PNE reclaimed territory and had more chances despite not creating many clear openings. My biggest gripe with Lowe’s 3-5-2 system is the isolation of the Wing Backs so fair play to him for changing this yesterday.
North End lack natural width and so they are always going to rely on overloads to create combinations in wider space. Johnson, Browne and McCann all offer something as the 3rd man in this regard.
Whilst the change was too little, too late, it’s something to consider going forward as Murphy and Barkhuizen regain fitness. The key point is to prevent wide isolation, as North End become easy to stop against Double Wide systems.
Ryan Lowe will have plenty to think about as Reading showed that by pressing high, man marking the key play makers and isolating the defenders, you can stifle North end relatively easily.