Just not good enough!!!!!

[Whitesideup]

Of course our defence is as leaky as a sieve, but why? For me it is at full back that the problems start. For  the first goal today, Christie failed to close his man down enough to prevent a cross. He looked uninterested, lacking urgency, which is a shame as he has played much better recently. For the second he was tighter but was well beaten one on one. But our right flank is just as open with Bryan also standing off his man. If our central defenders were better they might compensate for this, but Ream is static and often caught dwelling on the ball. Mawson is in and out of form, and Odoi works hard but is not dominant. Then again, there is the tactics  issue which often leads to our defence being caught in an open, stretched, situation where defenders have little support. Compare that with the compact units our attackers are having to deal with. Something has to change- and soon!

Our central defenders get a lot of stick - some of which is warranted - but some of which is due to the failure of others and the system, as LittleErn has alluded to. We essentially play 4-2-4 so why are people surprised that midfielders like Adam aren't picked up when they arrive in the box? Bryan is not a defender in the truest sense (although yesterday I thought he was better) and Christie is up and down, both of which mean the central two are up against it. Until we sacrifice some of the attacking potential, we will be open to conceding but Parker doesn't seem to want to acknowledge it. Joka played a 3-5-1 with the wide men helping out the full backs but we are 4-2-4 (or 4-2-1-3) and it leaves the defence wide open. Ream was player of the year 18 months ago and Odoi was part of the 23 unbeaten run, so they aren't bad players - we just need a system that means they aren't exposed all the time.

Artful - a measured and sensible post. You express a slightly different view, but not in a dogmatic or strident fashion, and to me it sounds very reasonable. We need to find a way to commit enough people forward to break down the massed ranks of the opposition but without defensive sacrifices that mean we can get caught on the break, as happened against both Hull and Reading. Maybe moving the ball forward faster, and thereby taking more frequent risks of losing possession,  (as in the Leeds game) is part of the answer. But as we have seen often at home, conceding first to teams who are happy to park the bus, seldom turns out well for us (Forest, Hull and Reading). 

[Matt10]

This is mainly a change in tactics that is not exactly panning out, or at least did not against Reading. We've started to overlap our fullbacks, primarily Christie, much earlier in possession than before. Previously, and what seemed to be disliked by some, was a slower build up of possession, which utilized square balls to our fullbacks, centre mids and wingers.

A small sample size, but the 3-4-1-2 we played with in the second half provided better support in transition, allowing some cover for Reading's counters. Bowen countered us though with a 3-5-1-1 that allowed Swift to roam freely and his sure touches brought more stability overall. It was a smart change for Bowen to bring in Miazga as well, who is quite good on the ball considering he's an USMNT player in Berhalter's high possession system.

Reading have a good crop of defenders, and actually some very good players. I think we greatly underestimated them.

[RaySmith]

Reading definitely have some very good players - very skilful and hard to dispossess in midfield and attack, very solid in defence, and their setup suited this, and getting  an early goal made  all the difference to the game.
Once we were chasing the game it was tough, but we still deserved to score at least one more goal, though we did well not to concede another too.

This was a game that seemed played at a great pace and intensity, a real battle, though we looked well on top until our goal miss, and then them scoring.

I really thought the Fulham players  gave it  everything, though obviously defensively fragile as usual, and maybe  lacking midfield creativity - we missed Cairney and  Omaho, and a seemed bit frenetic, though the first goal was unlucky with the deflection, and we had no luck at all yesterday.

We really needed someone to get a foot on the ball, and maybe slow it down a bit, like Cairney does, and Adams did for them.
Someone criticised Cav  earlier in the thread, but i thought he played well, and, as well as providing an assist, he seemed our best chance of getting us back in the game, with his probing runs and crosses, apart from  his saved shot, but he really made an effort to get something from the game, and never gave up.