This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Comment’ series, this content strand is where the author of the article issues their personal opinion on the topic at hand….

Reading have slipped up over recent weeks after having a fairly solid start to the season.

The Royals have now picked up just seven points from their first seven Championship fixtures, and have suffered defeat in their last two fixtures, against both Charlton and Middlesbrough.

However, one problem that appears to be cropping up in recent weeks is the strange tactical/selection changes that José Gomes seems to be making.

The Portuguese manager has done a good job since arriving last December, and went on to keep the Royals in the division, but after spending money in the summer, he hasn't done as well as he'd have liked so far in the current campaign.

His starting XI on Saturday at Middlesbrough contained no out and out strikers with Yakou Meite and Lucas Boye heading up the attack. Many supporters will have been left baffled to have seen both of their new signings, Lucas Joao and George Puscas, sit on the bench.

It was a tight first-half but Reading had the better chances, and then after they conceded early in the second-half, they couldn't find a route past the impressive Darren Randolph.

Puscas and Joao eventually made their way onto the pitch, but spurned good chances and it's vital that Gomes finds out his best XI and fast. This is important in order to get some consistency within the side and their performances.

Against Charlton the previous week, Gomes decided to sub off both Reading full-backs when 1-0 down, bringing on two wingers. This caused the game to slip out of the Royals' hands and leave them far too exposed at the back, with Gomes even taking acceptance for the defeat after the match.

It's a sticky situation that they find themselves in, as they have clearly shown in previous weeks against the likes of Cardiff and West Brom that they have the squad to cause a lot of problems this season.

They just need a consistent side who can all learn to play together and build from that. With the strikers available to them, Gomes will have been very upset to have watched his side have 18 attempts on goal but fail to covert even one of them on Saturday.

The forwards need to step up, but the manager must stop chopping and changing otherwise they'll find themselves lower in the table before they get higher.