Bristol Rovers 0-2 Reading: Tactical Analysis

11/04/2024 19:36

Unpacking a strong performance on the road from the Royals, which earned a comfortable win at the Mem.

In November 2023 I analysed the reverse fixture at the SCL, introducing my piece by saying: "We were so poor on Tuesday I could have few qualms if Reading went home with nothing."

And that, readers, is why the jubilant scenes in the away end at the final whistle this time around are more than warranted, given the quite incredible turnaround of this team since then.

I believe that Bristol Rovers are the worst team we've played on the road this season, so I can't say that it was Reading's best performance, because frankly our opposition made it pretty easy for us, but that doesn't take away from the progress this team has made over the past few months.

Let's unpick what went right for the Royals on Tuesday.

The vulnerabilities of our old 4-2-2-2 formation were regularly highlighted by fellow frustrated fans earlier in the season, including exposing an unexperienced back line, giving us a lack of strength in midfield, weakness down the wings and isolated strikers, but no tactical system is bad 100% of the time. Facing a team with two points and zero goals scored in their last six games was surely the best time to reintroduce it, which Ruben Selles did to great effect.

We employed a very attacking iteration of the 4-2-2-2 on Tuesday, with the wingers just as high and Harvey Knibbs (number seven) very advanced too.

Despite being labelled as a number 10 in the 4-2-3-1, Knibbs is played in a very free role and given the licence to drift to the wings and pick up scraps from knockdowns.

A good example of this is right from Reading's kick-off. Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan takes it, finding Amadou Mbengue at right-centre-back, and you can see on the near side here Sam Smith and Knibbs making a run down the left ready to compete for a diagonal pass.

However, the ball is instead passed to Andy Yiadom at right-back, drawing the Bristol Rovers team further up, while also giving the man on the ball a little more time to pick a pass, given Luke McCormick had to divert his press towards Yiadom.

While this happens though, Smith makes an immediate sprint towards the gap in between the two Rovers centre-backs from the left. Knibbs then continues further towards the left, meaning we're already in a four-on-four with their back line early in the game.

Yiadom hooks it down the line and we fail to win the opening header, but after Lewis Wing and Ben Elliott push up too, Reading have immense manpower around the ball, suffocating the opposition and force them to either surrender possession in their third or clear the ball, which only invites more pressure of Bristol Rovers' defence.

Besides this kick-off and other set pieces, we struggled a little to create as advantageous scenarios from long balls, given that it's harder to organise manufactured opportunities from open play.

Another problem we found when playing the 4-2-2-2 was a disconnect between full-backs and wingers, but on Tuesday we almost embraced that. Something we've suffered from this year in build-up has been knocking it around the back four well enough, but as soon as we play a driven ground pass into either winger, they're either hustled and shoved off the ball or fail to find a teammate to lay it off to.

This time, as shown by the line thickness on the graphic below, we didn't focus our efforts on that, but instead getting it into midfield to Wing or Elliott, who are better in the tight spaces and moving the ball through a congested midfield.

There's also the obvious factor that, if a central midfielder moves the ball forward 10 yards, it's superior to a winger doing it out wide due to the closer proximity to the goal.

Everything went through Wing and Elliott on Tuesday, alongside a particular link with Yiadom on the right too.

When in possession high up the pitch, the full-backs in possession could work it inside, as happens here when Elliott receives it in space.

The Cameroonian uses his quick feet to spin away from Kamil Conteh into acres of space. He can't get a shot or pass off on his weaker left foot in an overcrowded box and the chance dissipates, but it shows one of the many advantages of playing him. I don't think Elliott over the past two games has really showed his capabilities in passing or defence too much, but he hasn't needed to really.

Especially in League One, where mistakes can be less punishing than in higher-quality divisions, we can give more creative players the chance to show their skills, and Elliott is a prime example of that.

There are a few factors there on how Selles has adapted the 4-2-2-2 to work against this particular opponent, however I think the most important thing is the improvement in our defending. Earlier in the season, we had to have a Michael Craig, Charlie Savage or even Sam Hutchinson protecting the back line, but now we've got a settled defence it's far easier for us to commit more players forward.

I think Mbengue coming into the team - with his experience playing in midfield - has greatly benefitted us in this respect. He's old and mature enough to know when to step out and be brave, but also has that youthful energy to dribble out with the ball. He is not the Nelson Abbey replacement, as they are very different players, but he is the embodiment of this new-era Selles team.

However, Selles' next victims are fifth in the table, so the points may not come as easy this Saturday. They are fresh off two losses to Charlton Athletic and Stevenage though, so who knows what sort of performance the Tykes will put in.

Safe trip up to South Yorkshire everybody!