Can Matej Vydra reignite his goal-scoring form during the second half of the season?

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When Matej Vydra arrived at Reading for a whopping £2.5m loan fee for just a single season, there was massive expectation on the Czech international to recreate the form that had seen him gain a fearsome reputation as a Championship goal-scorer during his time at Watford.

This was particularly needed at the Madejski as Reading had really struggled for goals during the previous season and the fans were crying out for a proven 20 goal a season man. However, in Vydra’s 18 appearances so far this season – he has only found the net twice.

Vydra’s goal-scoring figures before his arrival in Berkshire speak for themselves, having notched 36 times in his first two seasons in the Championship. There were a fair few disgruntled Watford fans who were frustrated to see Vydra go back to the Championship rather than assist in their Premier League campaign and it is fair to say that the service that is offered by Reading is significantly different to what the Czech is used to.

He currently has to settle for scraps at the Madejski and with reliance on shooting from outside the box and rarely getting through on goal; it is hard to get a good run of goal-scoring form together and build up his confidence.

Despite a disappointing output in front of goal this season, Vydra is clearly a player that is incredibly clever and sharp on the pitch and his work rate is fantastic. In Reading’s recent 1-0 win against Bristol City it was Vydra who chased back and made an amazing sliding tackle to win the ball back before quickly starting a move which led to Reading’s winner in the dying minutes.

Reading manager Brian McDermott went as far as to say that it wasn’t just Nick Blackman who was a match winner that day. However, while his play outside the box was perfect, it was inside the box that the Czech international was struggling. You can’t help but feel that if he was wearing a yellow shirt he would have fired in a hat trick against Bristol City.

Vydra has been described by some fans of Watford as a player who can look disinterested and struggle with his attitude when things aren’t going his way, but he has shown a great maturity and his work-rate has certainly impressed many Reading fans.

The 23-year-old is playing in a system where he perhaps does not feel entirely comfortable and he is also not alongside the likes of Troy Deeney who was always able to bring the Czech international into play and create space and opportunities for him. Reading do have the likes of Orlando Sá and Hal Robson-Kanu who are capable of winning headers and holding the ball up but aren’t anywhere near as efficient in this department as Deeney.

It is the opinion of many Reading fans that Vydra is a player who is simply playing a higher wavelength than the rest of the squad, and is making intelligent runs and creating space that the rest of the team just aren’t taking advantage of. Troy Deeney recently tweeted saying about how frustrating it was watching Reading while Vydra was playing, as they simply aren’t using his pace to put him through on goal.

This is a similar scenario to another Czech international that arrived at Reading during their time in the Premier League – Marek Matejovský. A sharp and clever central midfielder who was seeing space and opportunity where the forwards simply weren’t; one moment that stood out to me was when he had the ball at feet and was physically pointing at where a player should run. This is a similar feeling that you get when watching Matej Vydra in a Reading shirt.

With many sides swooping around current top goal scorer Nick Blackman during the January transfer window, there is a chance that the hope and expectation that Vydra will start firing in goals will reach even higher levels than in the first half of the season. Brian McDermott has compared the struggles of Vydra so far this season to what happened to Shane Long during his time under the current Reading manager’s original tenure in Berkshire.

You can expect to see McDermott put his faith into his loan star as he will no doubt understand the quality of a player like Vydra as he remains a player who despite his young age would be an asset at any team in the Championship. It remains to be seen as to whether the Czech international can rediscover his form as we enter the second half of the season, but it will be the hope of Reading fans that his goals could be the ones that fire them into the playoffs.

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