JAAP STAM says Reading can still “show a lot more” despite easing past Barnsley 3-0 on Tuesday night at Madejski Stadium.
The Royals climb up to 16th in the Championship and are now three games unbeaten following draws with Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield Wednesday.
But Stam still feels his side can perform better.
Here is what he had to say in the post-match press conference.
On the victory…
I’m very pleased with the result. (The performance) wasn’t as good as the last couple of weeks. Sometimes that’s what you expect from teams as well, not playing your best football but still winning your games, which is very important and which we had last season quite often as well.
I already said it in the past, sometimes when you win a game it looks good in everything what you’re doing. I think at times we still created opportunities, we still were a threat going forward, scored three goals. But in how we can play, you can see after the game as well that from Saturday the players looked a bit fatigued, not as fresh and sharp as the last game.
But that’s not a problem because sometimes that happens and in games, especially in the Championship, you really need to work hard and really need to dig in deep to get results, that’s what we’ve done and of course we’re very happy with that.
On what parts of the performance he felt could’ve been better…
We’re always very critical in our performance in what we can do. We’re always look to details and talking about details and what we need to do better, what we can improve. In how I look at the game, I think we could’ve done better but because of certain reasons of how our players feel or are not fresh enough, in my opinion I think we can show a lot more. And I think in the opinion of the team as well.
We always want to create a lot of chances and dominate more, but today in the second half we still have possession a lot, you go forward, you are a threat, you score three goals which of course we’re very happy with, we always want to score more if that is possible, we don’t want to give anything away. I think we didn’t give a lot away, only in the second half.
At half-time they make three subs and play basically straightaway with two strikers up front and played a bit more direct and of course there is always that threat then when they go forward what can happen. They had a couple of shots and a couple of situations in the box where you’re anxious in what is going to happen but overall in how we defended as a team, we did very well.
We defended very well, put a lot of energy into it and worked very hard so that’s very positive. A clean sheet and scoring three goals, so we are happy. But we raise the bar and we set certain standards in what we can do and that’s what we need to do. I think only by doing that you can improve and hopefully get more results.
On Joey van den Berg’s goal…
He tries a lot in training and quite often he’s very close. And we always say to the midfielders or defenders if you have that ball and you have space in front of you, you can drive forward and you get into a situation where you think you can have a shot, just do it. He’s got the ability to do that and that’s what he’s shown today.
When he got that ball it was a great run forward and you saw in the beginning he was still looking for that pass to get somebody else into a certain position but eventually when you get so close to the edge of the box then I think you need to take your own initiative and have a shot yourself which he did and I think a great goal for him as a player but also very good for the team as well to get that second goal.
On naming an unchanged side for the first time this season…
It’s about what players do we have available, how do players come out of the previous game, are they fit? Because a lot of times we’ve played in the past and after the game the players had certain problems with a groin or a hamstring or an ankle or a knee that we needed to make changes. It’s not that we don’t want to play the same 11, of course you want to do that. But the good thing from our team is that basically everybody knows what they need to do when they play in a certain position.
That’s how we work and that’s what we did last season as well. But if you’re looking to play certain players and they’ve done well then you want to keep that up and hopefully that brings results as well. But if there are injuries then you’re forced to make changes. That’s how it’s been the last couple of months to be honest.
On the impact of substitute Bodvarsson…
He’s been out for five or six weeks with an injury, didn’t have a lot of training because there’s no time to do that and you can’t risk it by giving him a lot of training because the games come fast. Sometimes you need to look at the minutes you can play these players. Jon Dadi when he came on, you could see he was very eager to do well. He worked very hard, keeping up that ball, making runs in behind and winning the first ball and then somebody else can get the second ball and being a threat going forward and that’s what we’re asking from the subs that when they come on the pitch they can be decisive as well.
On Kermorgant going straight down the tunnel after coming off…
I think Yann with his injury when he comes off he needs to have treatment straightaway because if he sits on the bench he cools down and everything gets stiff so straightaway after when he comes off he goes in, has treatment, a little manipulation and movement on his groin to settle it as good as possible.
On if McCleary has started light training…
That’s true. I think this weekend is still going to be difficult for him but he’s been out on the pitch already so that’s a very good sign.
