Possession is nine-tenths of the law. Or not, if you are Paul Ince’s Reading.
Compare the amount that the Royals have had the ball in their five league fixtures so far this season and there is a stark difference between their two defeats and three victories.
In losing to Blackpool and Rotherham, Reading had 52% of the possession. However, they had just 39% when they beat Cardiff, 35% in the glitzy win over Blackburn and then a tiny 27% as they triumphed over Middlesbrough on Saturday.
We might be less than a month into the new season but from those numbers you can make an early conclusion about this team: they are far more confident facing teams who enjoy possession rather than teams who are happy for Reading to have the ball.
This is somewhat of a 180 degree turn on the strategy we have seen in recent seasons. For the most part, ever since Jaap Stam rolled into town in 2016, Reading have attempted to be a team that try to win matches by controlling possession.
That tactic has not been without its successes and when implemented well it is certainly the most attractive way of playing the game. But it would be naïve to think that is something that Reading can do this season.
This is a team of cobbled together free agents and loanees, from Premier League offcuts to unproven lower league drifters to a Senegalese midfielder from the Portuguese top-flight who no one had heard of a month ago.
They are merely the best options that Reading have been able to bring in under difficult circumstances.
To his credit, Paul Ince appears to have recognised over the last two games that possession is not the way to go. Instead, he has had to utilise the old cliches: energy, fighting spirit and steely determination.
Those qualities have been seen in abundance and the home crowd have responded with a roaring atmosphere.
Having the ball does not matter. Against Blackburn, Reading showed a proactive, aggressive press high up the pitch that limited Rovers’ threat.
Three days later, they sat deeper, remained disciplined and simply stood their ground against a Middlesbrough side who admittedly did not pose too many difficult questions.
Even when they did, Reading were switched on to prevent any danger. A late, vital block from 18-year-old substitute John Clarke was a stand out moment in that regard.
There certainly remains a concern about what happens when Reading face a team who are happy to surrender possession and there will come a point in the season where the Royals need a plan B.
But considering that this season threatened to be misery from start to finish, the fact that we actually have a prospering plan A at this point feels like a good place to be.
By Olly Allen
