Reading manager Jaap Stam responds to Barcelona comparisons

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Not many managers at Championship level have been compared to Pep Guardiola.

Reading manager Jaap Stam has rejected any notion that the Championship high-flyers are attempting to copy the tika-taka traditions of a late-noughties Barcelona, GetReading reports.

The Royals have produced some of the most easy-on-the-eye football in the second tier this season, with the former Dutch international’s coaching experience at Ajax, the home of Total Football, bearing fruit at the Madejski.

Reading are currently third in the Championship table after Saturday’s 2-1 victory against Bristol City extended their winning streak to five games, with Roy Beerens’ spectacular, volleyed clincher against The Robins epitomising the belief and confidence flowing through a club that only narrowly avoided relegation to League One in recent seasons.

Reading have tallied the highest average possession in the Championship this season, as reported by WhoScored, with Barnet manager Martin Allen going as far as to compare Stam’s team to the Barcelona side of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquetts on Channel 5’s The Championship show.

However, Stam is paying no attention to such comparisons, rejecting the notion that Reading are modelling their gameplan on any side in particular.

“We’re not trying to copy a certain team,” said Royals’ boss in quotes reported by GetReading. “We’ve got our own way of playing.

“But if people are talking about us like that then I think it’s a good thing – because it’s us getting appreciated for what the guys are doing on the pitch.

“We’re always looking to create space so we can attack, create chances and score goals. We did that very well – especially in the first half.

“Maybe soon people can say Barcelona or City are trying to play like Reading. We play in our own style.”

While the Championship still has a reputation for rewarding solid defences and pragmatism, an image not helped by Middlesbrough’s tight-knit gameplan, the likes of Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth have proved that attacking football can have its rewards.