Harper the most wonderful assist man in the world ever!

[Hoop Blah]

But you have Cisse and Harper in the middle - two holding midfielders......where is the flair, if Harps is holding then Matejovsky should be playing along side him, IMHO

I agree, to an extent.

I don't rate Cisse that much but it seems that he and Harper are the preferred partnership in the middle. I can understand why because Matejovsky hasn't really looked up to it in the games he's played either and although Cisse over seems a bit off the pace he is more disciplined and better defensively. I'd say Cisse is the one with more licence to attack than Harper though, but I'd like to see a Harper and Matejovsky partnership given a run.

We've never really had flair in the middle of the park under Coppell, it's just not the way his teams play, and so unless we find a real box to box runner like Sidwell was who can do both we're stuck relying on the wingers for creativity and the goals to support a recently misfiring forward line.

[Wycombe Royal]

Yep and Preston had more clear cut chances in those 20 minutes than they did for the 70 minutes Harper was on....horses for courses... says it all really!!!!

That is correct - 1 chance.

So no it doesn't say it all really.

[Negative_Jeff]

The defensive system we play makes Harper look a poor player as he sit's too deep.

Change the system and get Harper breaking forward and we will see a better contibution and goals from Harps as we did in the premier.

Harper does "get forward" but this is used as a defensive measure in order to close down the opposition high up the pitch. This approach was introduced by Graham Taylor at Watford and alongside a long ball game it was shite football but effective. Harper`s role requires high levels of fitness and mobility, so in our system he plays.
In general though Harper is not confident of his first touch, hence the reluctance to take the ball on the move because of fear of the incoming tackle. This in turn limits his vision to see the next forward pass...... which is why he doesn`t make many.

[boy1985]

I'm a real Harper fan but I can totally understand why people get frustrated with the way he plays. As Gooding said on the radio after Saturdays game Harper has so much ability on the ball but we never really see that come out.

For me that's a real shame as he can light up a game at times and he really is good on the ball. Whether or not it's just the system we play and the instructions he gets from Coppell to keep the game simple and get the ball wide whenever possible and not to take too many risks or if it's just his natural game to try and keep the ball instead of take a risky pass on (a bit of his Arsenal pass the opposition to death upbringing coming out perhaps?) I do think we need to unshackle him a bit.

It comes back to the old question of having the right player alongside him really. We've not had that since Sidwell but I do think Harper gets a bad press from Reading fans but it's probably because they can all see he has the ability to do so much more.

Having said that though, i was interesting to compare Harper with McKenna on Saturday. McKenna played just as deep, if not deeper than Harper, and played just as many sideways passes but he also go a lot more involved and was attempting to be a lot more creative around our box than Harper was theirs. His performance yesterday was exactly what I want to see from Harper and was perhaps the best creative holding midfielder we've seen at the Madjeski this season.

But you have Cisse and Harper in the middle - two holding midfielders......where is the flair, if Harps is holding then Matejovsky should be playing along side him, IMHO

Exactly, the problem is the attacking side of the midfield, something Harper has and never will be good at. He does his job and he needs someone next to him to open teams up. I can only think playing Cisse and Harper on Saturday was to make sure we didnt concede and hope we nick a goal. To be honest we've struggled in this area since Sidwell left because he was the complete midfielder and they arn't easy to find.

[Focher]

i dont think its a massive coincidence that our purple patch of scoring goals was when Karacan was in the team. I would have him in week in week out with Cisse, Karacan is the closest thing we have to Sidwell.

[TBM]

But we played with Harper and Cisse... so it really isnt Harpers fault... he did 'his' job

"his job"? - so you reckon Coppell is telling BOTH Harper and Cisse to be defensive midfielders?.....we need one of them to be more creative and get forward/pass forward - i personally feel Cisse is a better holding midfielder than Harper and Matejovsky is a better creative player than Harper.

[Wongle]

"Does your wife complain to your wallet for you being tight?!"

As someone who has to endure true muppets game after game regarding the Harper hating I feel compelled to reply to this post.

Every single game the gentleman (stretching the truth slightly) sat directly infront of me barrates and hurls abuse towards Harper's every move, no more so than against Preston where he was actively shouting at Dillon to replace him, and then proceeded to stand and boo further once Harper had been removed. As is common place among some of our supporters, those of a weaker mind around him also take part in this barracking whilst none of them can seemingly string together a plausible explanation of why he is so useless.

I am sure by his own admission he is not deployed in our colours as an attacking minded midfielder, he herds the opposition, closes down players and is by far the best player we have at distributing the play around the pitch. He does tend to go back first, however we maintain possession and generally build from that possession. Only 2 years ago we were feared for our blistering counter attacks and breaks from midfield, which I will remind you, Harper was a key part of.

As it is apparent a large majority of fans have forgotten, Harper is not the manager. Many of us stood outside the Mad Stad and pleaded for Coppell to stay so we clearly believe in what he can do for our club, and it is Coppell NOT Harper that picks the team.

If you have a problem with a player that is poor who does not opt to play but is selected by his boss, would it not make more sense to support the player and question the manager, rather than destroy the player at all costs.

If you don't like the way he plays, complain to Coppell and not the player.

[rfcjoe]

"Does your wife complain to your wallet for you being tight?!"

As someone who has to endure true muppets game after game regarding the Harper hating I feel compelled to reply to this post.

Every single game the gentleman (stretching the truth slightly) sat directly infront of me barrates and hurls abuse towards Harper's every move, no more so than against Preston where he was actively shouting at Dillon to replace him, and then proceeded to stand and boo further once Harper had been removed. As is common place among some of our supporters, those of a weaker mind around him also take part in this barracking whilst none of them can seemingly string together a plausible explanation of why he is so useless.

I am sure by his own admission he is not deployed in our colours as an attacking minded midfielder, he herds the opposition, closes down players and is by far the best player we have at distributing the play around the pitch. He does tend to go back first, however we maintain possession and generally build from that possession. Only 2 years ago we were feared for our blistering counter attacks and breaks from midfield, which I will remind you, Harper was a key part of.

As it is apparent a large majority of fans have forgotten, Harper is not the manager. Many of us stood outside the Mad Stad and pleaded for Coppell to stay so we clearly believe in what he can do for our club, and it is Coppell NOT Harper that picks the team.

If you have a problem with a player that is poor who does not opt to play but is selected by his boss, would it not make more sense to support the player and question the manager, rather than destroy the player at all costs.

If you don't like the way he plays, complain to Coppell and not the player.

Nope, and for that reason, I'm out.

[londinium]

But we played with Harper and Cisse... so it really isnt Harpers fault... he did 'his' job

"his job"? - so you reckon Coppell is telling BOTH Harper and Cisse to be defensive midfielders?.....we need one of them to be more creative and get forward/pass forward - i personally feel Cisse is a better holding midfielder than Harper and Matejovsky is a better creative player than Harper.

Matty is clearly and attacking midfielder and therefore better than Harps going forward but whether Cisse is better defensively than Harps is open to debate. I think the trouble we have encountered later is more due to teams playing 5 across the midlle not allowing either Harps or Cisse to get forward.

I dont think Coppell tells them both to stay back all the time but it wouldnt suprise me if he asked them to do the defensive duties first and allow the wingers and the full backs to do the majority of the pressing forward and supplying to the front two.

[Hoop Blah]

But we played with Harper and Cisse... so it really isnt Harpers fault... he did 'his' job

"his job"? - so you reckon Coppell is telling BOTH Harper and Cisse to be defensive midfielders?.....we need one of them to be more creative and get forward/pass forward - i personally feel Cisse is a better holding midfielder than Harper and Matejovsky is a better creative player than Harper.

That's pretty much exactly it.

We have two midfielders who's primary job is to stop teams opening us up. They can and do join in attacks but their main role is to cover the ground infront of the back four and stop the opposition playing.

Of the two Cisse is the one that seems to have the most licence to join the front two, but Coppell has always built teams with two midfielders who defend more than attack, two wingers and two hard working centre forwards who work the channels.

Look at his Palace sides with the likes of Pardew/Thomas or Southgate/Roberts as his main two midfielders, his Brentford side with Sidwell and Evans and now this team here with functional defensive midfielders...

[brendywendy]

Matejovsky made more forward passes in the 20mins he was on the pitch, on Saturday, than Harper did in the 70 he was on.....says it all really.

also gave the ball away more times too though, thats the dilemma

[TBM]

Matejovsky made more forward passes in the 20mins he was on the pitch, on Saturday, than Harper did in the 70 he was on.....says it all really.

also gave the ball away more times too though, thats the dilemma

But he took the risky pass and as stated, Preston only got 1 chance in the time he was on......if 4 risky passes lead to 3 goals for and 1 against, i'll be happy!

[Alan Partridge]

Matejovsky made more forward passes in the 20mins he was on the pitch, on Saturday, than Harper did in the 70 he was on.....says it all really.

also gave the ball away more times too though, thats the dilemma

Not a massive amount more on Saturday although usually that's a valid point. Matejovsky in the way he plays is to look forwards and at least try and create. You have to accept that he will absolutely give the ball away more times than anyone else, but the 2 or 3 times it comes off it will lead to a chance. That is infinitely better than making 25 complete sideways passes.

Reading's ball retention generally is really poor, something again highlighted saturday. As a team they seem completely incapable of keeping the ball for a couple of minutes and pass it around, it's 1 maybe 2 passes, back wards ball to a defender then lumped forward. It's sort of ok in this league because the other teams have nothing in the final 3rd, IF Reading were to go up and do the same in the Prem they'd get ruined.

[brendywendy]

Matejovsky made more forward passes in the 20mins he was on the pitch, on Saturday, than Harper did in the 70 he was on.....says it all really.

also gave the ball away more times too though, thats the dilemma

But he took the risky pass and as stated, Preston only got 1 chance in the time he was on......if 4 risky passes lead to 3 goals for and 1 against, i'll be happy!

but they didnt

he got no goals, and preston nearly scored one

plus they were hardly pushing to win the game at that point

[loyalroyal4life]

same harper debate.

some think he s shit and should be dropped, others think he is indispensible and then you have those that sit on the fence.

I for one think he should be dropped in favour of marek playing alongside cisse or even Bikey

[TBM]

But he took the risky pass and as stated, Preston only got 1 chance in the time he was on......if 4 risky passes lead to 3 goals for and 1 against, i'll be happy!

but they didnt

he got no goals, and preston nearly scored one

plus they were hardly pushing to win the game at that point

He was on the pitch for the last 20mins..........i bet you if he plays the first 60 or 70 mins and does it, it'll lead to goals due to our forward players being fresh.....THEN you take him off and bring on a holding midfielder to keep the score in your favour! Its simple tactics but as somebody said Coppell seems to be more in favour of 2 holding midfielders UNTIL he realises he needs a goal.

[brendywendy]

Matejovsky made more forward passes in the 20mins he was on the pitch, on Saturday, than Harper did in the 70 he was on.....says it all really.

also gave the ball away more times too though, thats the dilemma

Not a massive amount more on Saturday although usually that's a valid point. Matejovsky in the way he plays is to look forwards and at least try and create. You have to accept that he will absolutely give the ball away more times than anyone else, but the 2 or 3 times it comes off it will lead to a chance. That is infinitely better than making 25 complete sideways passes.

Reading's ball retention generally is really poor, something again highlighted saturday. As a team they seem completely incapable of keeping the ball for a couple of minutes and pass it around, it's 1 maybe 2 passes, back wards ball to a defender then lumped forward. It's sort of ok in this league because the other teams have nothing in the final 3rd, IF Reading were to go up and do the same in the Prem they'd get ruined.

totally agree with the 2nd paragraph
but for the 1st im not so sure

You have to accept that he will absolutely give the ball away more times than anyone else, but the 2 or 3 times it comes off it will lead to a chance. That is infinitely better than making 25 complete sideways passes.

i dont have to accept anything of the sort!
its better if we score from our chances, and the times he gives it away, they dont!

personally id like to see MM play-think hes great, but its just not that easy-when he has played its been more given away, than defence splitting assists IMO

[brendywendy]

But he took the risky pass and as stated, Preston only got 1 chance in the time he was on......if 4 risky passes lead to 3 goals for and 1 against, i'll be happy!

but they didnt

he got no goals, and preston nearly scored one

plus they were hardly pushing to win the game at that point

He was on the pitch for the last 20mins..........i bet you if he plays the first 60 or 70 mins and does it, it'll lead to goals due to our forward players being fresh.....THEN you take him off and bring on a holding midfielder to keep the score in your favour! Its simple tactics but as somebody said Coppell seems to be more in favour of 2 holding midfielders UNTIL he realises he needs a goal.

what happens when he gives it away and the opposition score, THEN what the feck do you do with only defensive midfielders to come on?

our system requires two pretty defensive CMs releasing our wingers and forwards when they have the ball.when weve played with one, with MM we have looked much more porous, and more likely to return to the inconsistent displays that saw us lose a few at the start of the season

[Alan Partridge]

The obvious solution is to play a 5 and have Marek in the side with no defensive role whatsoever! Might certainly be a tactic to use away from home where HArper and Cisse could do their stuff in the middle and have Marek just behind Doyle or Lita or Noel Hunt?

It is a difficult one, I agree that he does give it away that bit too much, i agree he's not the worlds best tackler but he's still a very good footballer. He's got the quality and more importantly the vision and confidence to look and play the ball forwards at every opportunity. Certainly at the minute the mdifield 4 for me isn't working and Marek must come into consideration for a run in the first team soon.

[TBM]

what happens when he gives it away and the opposition score, THEN what the feck do you do with only defensive midfielders to come on?

our system requires two pretty defensive CMs releasing our wingers and forwards when they have the ball.when weve played with one, with MM we have looked much more porous, and more likely to return to the inconsistent displays that saw us lose a few at the start of the season

You're clutching at straws now......i could ask you:

"what happens when we conceded with 2 holding midfielder???! All we have to bring on is an attacking midfielder, but according to you we'll concede again if we do??"

Catch 22 BUT the more pressure you put on the opposition (especially at home) the deeper they'll play so its unlikely they will score unless you invite them to attack which to me, is what Harper and Cisse are doing