It was a tale of two halves for Reading United on Friday night’s 2-1 home opener loss against NOVA FC, as Casey Moore’s side skid to a 0-3 start to the USL League 2 season. After Ryan Becher headed home the opening goal inside the first 10 minutes, Reading continued to dominate the first half and were unlucky to see some quality chances drift just wide of the post. NOVA began to take control of the game in the second half and notched home two goals in a span of 14 minutes to rally back from a goal down to grab a win on the road. 

With 0 points from their opening 3 matches to start the season, Reading United will look to tweak some things around ahead of Friday’s home match against Philly Lone Star to get the back-to-back Eastern Conference champions back on track. Here’s 3 takeaways from our home opener and how we could look to improve for next week’s matchup:

Wingback Formation?

In just the opening 3 matches of the USL League 2 season, Reading United have already conceded 9 goals, the joint-second highest total across the league, which springs some concerns about the Reading backline. The first half was a solid display of defensive solidarity, but NOVA ultimately found their way through in the second half and piled on more pressure for a Reading side still without points in the Mid-Atlantic Division. After a much improved display in the wide areas to generate quality attacking chances, perhaps Casey Moore and his coaching staff will look to implement a 3-back formation with wingbacks. As a team that traditionally plays a 4-2-3-1, a wingback formation would add another centerback to help add reinforcements to the back line and spread it long enough to cover the wide areas. Wingbacks would also be helpful to catalyze attacking moves out wide, which Reading did very well with against NOVA last night. Perhaps a 4-2-3-1 → 3-4-1-2 tactical switch is what Reading needs to kick start their season?

Give Hollinger a Strike Partner?

He may be scoreless so far this season but Ike Hollinger has shown his quality as the lone forward for Reading United this season. Reading has not been overly prolific on the scoresheet this season but the La Salle forward has made his presence known with his hold-up play and ability to get in behind. The Mountville native made several great runs to get in behind against NOVA and showed in the past two matches that he has a hold-up element in his attacking repertoire as well. With a midfield in the 4-2-3-1 that tends to drop in defensively, Hollinger can find himself isolated at times leading the line; perhaps a withdrawn strike partner is what he needs to help combine in the attacking third and bring others into the build-up.

Keep Controlling Possession

After struggling to maintain possession against West Chester United on Wednesday, Reading had a much tighter grip of the game in terms of possession against NOVA FC and showed the greatest attacking intent when given time to build out from the back. Casey Moore and this coaching staff can be pleased to see Reading’s positive play when controlling the flow of the game and will certainly look to maintain that grip of the tempo against Philly Lone Star on Friday.