Reading Performance 'Shocked' The Boss!

Last updated : 01 November 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor


 
Allardyce: "I wouldn't say I was shocked by the performance at Reading, but we were disappointed because some of the players do not seem to have grasped the fact that you cannot play the same way in every single game.

"Every game needs different qualities to win it and we have to learn that playing and beating a team like Tottenham, who allow you to play football, is not going to be the same as playing a side like Reading who play in a completely different way.

"For the foreign players, especially, that is something they have to learn as quickly as possible, but of course it's going to take a little bit of time.

"I don't think there is any league in the world which has more diverse styles than the Premier League.

"You can play Arsenal one week, who play one way, and then a team like Reading the next that play in a completely different way.

"That can be hard for foreign players to adapt to, but it's our job to get them to learn these lessons as quickly as we can.

"Of course it takes time for a new team with so many defenders from abroad to gel and get used to the variations in English football, but we are trying to speed up that learning process as much as we can.
 
"We are very happy with the bunch of players that we've got and we are ecstatic at our home form, but the away form is a big concern for us at the moment.

"It's not just a problem for Newcastle this season, it's a deficiency which has been a problem for this club for many years and it is something we have to put right if we are going to be successful.

"We can't keep relying on home wins the whole time, we have to start picking up points on our travels. Once we can do that we will also play with more confidence away from home.

"We've not played well away from home since the games at Bolton and Middlesbrough. We played 4-5-1 in both those games, but we don't really have the players available to play that way so we've gone to 4-4-2.

"It's something we are looking at closely because our next away game is at Sunderland and we don't want our supporters to go there and leave unhappy.
"It's the biggest game of the season for both Newcastle and Sunderland supporters and we don't want to let ours down."