Reading’s 2023/24 Season Through Tactics
Tom explains how the Royals evolved tactically over the course of the 2023/24 season.
It’s hard to believe that our final-day win against Blackpool came in the same season as that drab opening defeat to Peterborough United back in August.
Since that first game, the squad has been rotated more than the revolving doors in the Watford manager’s office, with 33 players utilised in our league campaign. Players with previously relatively modest careers have come in and made themselves part of the furniture at Reading, and are blossoming under a system that’s brought the most successful seasons upon many individuals in our squad.
So I’ve compiled here a sort of tactical timeline, detailing the changes that have taken place and what they’ve meant for Ruben Selles’ side.
August
The 4-2-2-2 debuted at home to the Posh to kick off the season, in a game I’m not sure anyone remembers anything about. The usual “old guard”, as well as a sprinkling of new signings, made up the starters on that day, and only two of those managed to keep their place in the XI for the demolition at the Den the following Tuesday.
Reading vs Peterborough United: Bouzanis; Yiadom, Holmes, McIntyre, Guinness-Walker; Hutchinson, Savage; Azeez, Knibbs; Ehibhatiomhan, Carroll
Reading vs Millwall: Boyce-Clarke; Mbengue, Bindon, Abbey, Carson; Wing, Rushesha; Camara, Knibbs; Ehibhatiomhan, Vickers
Selles’ free-flowing, pressing, intense and vibrant football was born. That was until the gauntlet was passed back to the opening-day Reading team, managing a single shot on target (a penalty that was saved) away to Port Vale.
Tyler Bindon and Nelson Abbey really began to shine in home wins against stubborn Stevenage and Cheltenham Town, with consecutive clean sheets for the first time in about a year. Wing replaced Hutchinson in the latter fixture, which saw the start of him dropping into right-back to use his ball-playing qualities.
September
We went for a 4-5-1 shape away at Cambridge United, and our pressing structures were very disjointed as we struggled to disrupt the Us in an unfamiliar formation with a teenage Caylan Vickers up top, but when returning to the 4-2-2-2 we found success subsequently playing Bolton Wanderers, and of course Exeter City away in the cup.
The creativity and movement shown from Michael Craig, Ben Elliott and Pizza Cup Paul were top drawer that night, and naturally, as happens with a 9-0 scoreline, the rest of the team weren’t half bad either.
Reading vs Exeter City (Pizza Cup): Boyce-Clarke, Mbengue, Dean, McIntyre, Carson; Rushesha, Craig; Elliott, Mukairu; Wareham, Vickers
Reading vs Blackpool (starting XI): Button; Yiadom, Bindon, Abbey, Mola; Hutchinson, Savage; Azeez, Elliott; Ehibhatiomhan, Ballard
Reading vs Blackpool (second half): Button; Mbengue, Bindon, Abbey, McIntyre, Yiadom; Wing, Hutchinson, Savage; Ehibhatiomhan, Ballard
Out went Harlee Dean and Tom McIntyre and in came Bindon and Abbey for a pummelling at Blackpool, where our young defence was mercilessly exposed in the 4-2-2-2. Two physical strikers bullied us all match, and at half-time Selles even went for a five at the back, with Amadou Mbengue on the right and Andy Yiadom at left-wing-back. Safe to say we never saw the return of that idea.
In this game, and against Burton Albion the following week, Reading showed incredible naivety on set pieces going forward and defending, as well as positional nightmares playing out from the back.
October
We persevered with the 4-2-2-2 for four consecutive league losses, with a token Pizza Cup win vs Swindon Town sandwiched in. It was much of the same circus defending, a lack of firepower in attack and an absent midfield during that period, with individual errors compounding our misery.
The lack of width that came with playing that formation cost us heavily, especially with Matty Carson and Bindon at full-back, a then-inexperienced pair thrown in the deep end of League One football. Selles had to make a change, and change he did, giving us the first glimpse of a 4-1-4-1 at home to Portsmouth.
Reading vs Portsmouth: Button; Yiadom, Dean, Bindon, Guinness-Walker; Craig; Azeez, Wing, Savage, Knibbs; Smith
The pressing remained a little frantic and disorganised at times, yet we managed to go two goals up to the league leaders in the first half, before game management let us down, showing that this new tactical system had immediately positive effects on the team.
November
Jeriel Dorsett came in at left-back for Nesta Guinness-Walker after an underwhelming start to the year, as well as Abbey taking Dean’s place in defence beside Bindon for the game against Bristol Rovers at the SCL. Harvey Knibbs continued to be pushed onto the left wing in this period too, until moving central at Shrewsbury Town.
We reached a new low away at Shrewsbury. Calamitous defending cost us from two corners, demonstrating mentally we just could not compete, and Reading Football Club was bursting at the seams with negativity and despair. Early in the game though, the 4-1-4-1 served us well to get us in front.
Tom Holmes returned to captain us against Arsenal’s under-21s, while Guinness-Walker played right-back and the double-pivot pairing in the 4-2-2-2 was Craig and Mbengue. An unorthodox setup, but that Tuesday we looked well drilled, organised and most importantly worked very hard and punished a strong team.
Wycombe Wanderers away was the first game we really saw the settled XI we know and love now. Wing showed us why he’s the best player in the league, Knibbs found his place as a left-sided number eight and Craig protected the back line.
Reading vs Wycombe Wanderers: Button; Yiadom, Bindon, Abbey, Dorsett; Craig; Azeez, Wing, Knibbs, Ballard; Smith
We saw similar consequences when Carlisle United visited the SCL a few days later. Knibbs played even more advanced this time, almost like a second striker, yielding a brace for him, and our two wingers were also key to an emphatic win in RG2.
December
Reading kicked off with a loss to Eastleigh, where we stuck with the 4-1-4-1 yet pushed Elliott onto the left wing, as well as a centre-back combination of Holmes and Clinton Mola. Set pieces and crosses remained a vulnerability for us.
The team struggled playing out and creating chances as we squeaked past Charlton Athletic on penalties in the EFL trophy. Against Barnsley the following Saturday, Selles opted to stick with Craig in defensive midfield, but reversed the roles of Knibbs and Wing, with the latter being played much further forward, meaning we lost that hybrid right-back role from him.
The Royals then went six unbeaten in the league, including tough fixtures against Oxford United, Lincoln City, Peterborough and Wigan Athletic, where it was refreshing to see us almost recognise our inferiority to some of those teams in terms of players at our disposal, and not try to impose our heavily possession-based football too much.
We came behind to gain points in five separate games in December, an encouraging indication of the direction the club was heading on the psychological side of things.
January
Abbey played his final league game for Reading against Exeter on New Year’s Day, in yet another model example of ball progression from defence by him and Bindon. Craig remained the preferred defensive midfielder into a forgettable away loss to Wigan, but was shunted for Charlie Savage ahead of a home win over Derby County.
Mukairu grabbed a goal, and Reading successfully shepherded the game out by changing to five at the back late on. We intelligently coordinated when to attack and when to sit back, doing both excellently, in a masterclass of smash-and-grab football.
Reading vs Derby County: Button; Yiadom, Bindon, Holmes, Dorsett; Wing, Savage; Azeez, Knibbs, Mukairu; Smith
Playing Savage instead of Craig allowed us to play that 4-2-3-1 more comfortably, enabling Wing to do what he does best, operating deep on the pitch in build-up. However, this did mean our wingers had to drop in a little bit too, which was evident in our end-of-month draw against Leyton Orient.
February
Craig was reintroduced on derby day at the Kassam, but Reading struggled to create much, only clinching a point through an Oxford own goal.
Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan was given one of his first starts on the left wing against Stevenage the game after, and the young forward was very effective in hold-up play, as well as dropping into the right positions to receive the ball. He and Femi Azeez played narrower that night, to counter Boro’s compact midfield diamond.
Reading had not quite yet mastered the art of breaking down a low block on a cold Tuesday night in Fleetwood though. Playing against a 5-2-3, we got peppered on the wings and were limited to chances from outside the box by the Cods. Selles’ side had all the possession at the back but gave the ball away a lot any further up than that, against a passive but intelligent opposition press.
Inconsistency cost us at top-of-the-league Portsmouth, and a lack of ambition nearly hurt us at home to Port Vale, except for some astute substitutions, namely Savage and Elliott, injecting some imagination into the side and helping us score two goals in the final 15 minutes.
To cap off a decent month, the Royals lost 3-2 (again) to Shrewsbury, showing great attacking prowess, particularly with the in-possession rotation of Yiadom and Wing, but were punished by defensive mistakes.
March
At Carlisle, against one of the league’s weakest sides, Ehibhatiomhan on the left was given the licence to drift inside a lot, while Azeez generally stayed wide, which was effective as he delivered a lot of high-quality crosses from the right that day. A Wing/Craig double pivot was used to not great effect at home to Wycombe, hence Savage’s return to the XI for the trip to Derby.
We worked hard to make ourselves competitive, playing one of the league’s best teams away from home, adapting our style of play to be more counter-attacking than possession-based, and showed our young defensive partnership in Mbengue/Bindon can hack it against top players.
Facing an immobile, low press in Lyle Taylor and the rest of the Cambridge team next up, Reading did very well to hit four. The movement in midfield to break down the Us was exemplary, the finishing spectacular. Compound that with some poor opposition and you’ve got a demolition job at the SCL.
April
Our defence was far from perfect however, as was demonstrated on Easter Monday at Bolton Wanderers. We were almost a little overconfident here, and underestimated Wanderers’ ability to play through our press, and their experienced physical defence generally dealt with any aerial threats with ease.
A more attacking yet defensively resolute iteration of the 4-2-2-2 returned against Bristol Rovers, who were very out of form at the time, therefore the perfect opportunity to experiment. Knibbs played left of Sam Smith up top to make this happen. There was a heavy emphasis on patience in build-up among the two holding midfielders too: Wing and Elliott.
In the final three games of the season, our pressing structure began to change slightly, with Smith generally sitting back more to cover passes into midfield and our wingers being the main aggressors. This worked very well against back threes in particular as it gave us a better man-to-man ratio in the centre of the pitch.
Reading showed plenty of character to come back from behind to beat Blackpool on the final day, and there you have it folks, the season is over.
Enjoy your summer everybody, try not to miss domestic football too much!