Maybe they might have done but Big Sam didn't seem to let them attack and set their team up to sit back and hit us on the break.
At 0-0 he was about to bring Schneiderlin on and shut up shop. Absolute disease to football and a **** of a man to top it all off.
I reckon @Lloyd would have also have been fairly contented after looking at Pickford’s big arse for 45 mins.
Not a great game, but a wins a win and 3 much needed points. What stood out was that we were prepared to go toe to toe with a physical side and battle for our three points. Okaka changed the game when he came on, Gracia got his changes smack on tonight. As for the streamers, nice idea, but bloody annoying to be looking through a stream of ribbons for the first 45 minutes. Just glad I don't have to get them down
That is one of the most dismal cast iron 0-0s I have ever seen. But we won 1-0 and Deeney scored from open play. I'll take that to the bank. Made all the sweeter as my boss is an Everton fan who hates Deeney!
Strange game as the goal was so much better than the game itself, I was expecting a messy scramble with the ball trickling over the line, not a stormer from Troy!
Thought Big Sam (or crooked tosser that should never have been allowed back into football) comments after the game wher interesting, rated Deeneys goal, accepted they were **** and couldn’t hit a barn door. On a different point , I know it makes sense but I hate seeing a team take the ball into the corner and holding onto it for six mins, yes it was the sensible thing to do but would rather we just kept attacking
Nonsense. Win the game, **** everything else. The irony of doing that to one of BFS's teams made it doubly special
I thought it was the right thing to do. It was one of those games where getting a goal seemed so bloody unlikely, so protecting it was vital. I'd rather that than 4 mins of them pumping the ball in the box
Have just redirected my funds previously allocated to awaydays in next seasons championship, to booking next seasons European tour . Can people advise, is Ryan Air better or worse than EasyJet?
Genuinely, some of our football I most enjoyed in the mid 90s was watching Gifton Noel-Williams' incredible ability to keep the ball in the corner to wind the clock down to a win.
Mariappa is turning into a bit of an unsung hero at the back. I honestly thought he was signed purely to make up the numbers, and certainly never thought he'd become a regular starter. In hindsight Gino was probably wrong to cash in when he did, especially since centre half has never been a position we've had much luck with over the last 6 years.
Can’t really complain about the game overall as it was pretty tense for both teams, neither side wanted to lose and perhaps that paid a lot towards the quality (or lack of) towards the football on show. I’ve given Deeney a fair amount of crap and deservedly so for his overall performances this season but tonight after a very Deeney like start he grew into the game more especially when Okaka came on. Great goal the best quality of the game, and I think we just about edged it and deserved to win. Everton were pretty poor and despite starting better than we did they faded badly but could of snatched a point right at the end. My MotM has to be Mapps tonight though. He made some quality blocks at crucial times and played very well, although he did play a few poor passes at times. A good and much needed win after last fortnights awful West Ham display. It will mean even more if we can build on it by beating championship bound West Brom next Saturday. Finally thank you to people in the shout box tonight great company as always.
I don't know why the actual game is getting a bad write up We won a lot of balls, seemed more disciplined in holding our roles, worked more as a unit Not try to 10 touch walk the ball in the net but attack and open their defence It wasn't a goal fest no (should of been 2) but this Watford compared to what I saw at west ham is night and day and seemed more like the side that levelled Chelsea More of this but with better end product and we could get another three points next week
I agree about not liking it, we nearly came unstuck as we handed them a throw-in due to a foul throw only for them to break-away up the other end, win a corner and very nearly score in the last 10 seconds. Our luck was in and the ball stayed out!
Quality goal from Troy, but I thought it was another poor performance from him overall, unfortunately. But as long as he’s scoring, I suppose it doesn’t really matter!
Only just got home after being at the game and then darting off to a work event straight after - so will give my in depth viewpoint tomorrow - but I will say a couple of things briefly. Kiko - Maybe the most underrated signing of the Pozzo era. We give him credit but he is literally a level above any full-back we’ve had since Gibbsy. I don’t say that lightly. Troy - Giving the answers to people who are happy for him to go. May be the first goal in open play blah blah blah but how much do you think that Pardew/WBA would give to go back and pay the money for him rather thank gamble on sicknote Sturridge? Troy scores goals in the PL - however they come. That’s priceless. Okaka - I’ve been one of, if not the most, vocal of his critics on here. Unfit. Clueless. Etc etc. Without any excuse, I apologise. I still have my opinion and thoughts but tonight he rammed them back at me. Unplayable. Bravo.
I cannot watch Javi's interview without smiling. I love this man. Great performances from Prodl, Jolevas and Doucoure. Capoue also an honourable mention. Delofeu was different class. Hope he isn't injured badly. Kiko was fantastic after he came on. Okaka offered something different too and set up the goal. Glad to see Deeney score at home again and do so without flipping off his paying supporters this time. Pereyra gave little value and Richarlison ran down cul de sacs until subbed off. Lots made of the poor quality of the game, but as a wfc fan i thought we dealt well with the Everton anti football and defended with strength. We look so much more focussed and strong and the 5 minutes we piddled away at the end with corner faffing was nearly as enjoyable as the goal. The game was set to be a war of attrition because of Everton's game plan, but we triumphed which imo shows how far we've come since slither.
You're joking! Poor performance? The only thing that stopped him scoring at least another couple was poor decisions from Kiko and Pereyra when he was well placed for tap ins, and general crap delivery into the box from others. His movements off the ball were excellent today, and reminded me of the Zola season Troy. I'm sure Javi has had a word with him and hopefully we'll see the benefits in the form of more goals in the remaining fixtures.
Where did that comparison spring from? Maybe he is 'too' slow, which I would disagree with completely (not quick maybe, but slow/too slow, IMO, no), but if you have to display his deficiencies by comparing him to a very different, stylistically, player who happens to be one of the best players in the world, then I think Caps must be doing something right. Quite a compliment really. Will you be reviewing all Watford's players in comparison to the best players in the world in their positions? Is that how far we have to go these days to demonstrate the failings of players who are currently playing well for the team? For the record: IMO, Capoue practically always knows what he is going to do next when he gets the ball; I believe it is shown by the movement he makes, and the way he looks for a turn or jink to give himself space, I am also very surprised that anyone would say he is naturally a sideways/backwards player. Not saying you are wrong, just letting you know why I am surprised by your comments.
Great win at a very important time. I had the bizarre experience of watching the game on my phone, with about a minute of a delay, with twitter updates telling me what was about to happen. Just to let you know, it all ended well.
I thought Sam's comments were interesting too. Gave me the impression he was making a point to someone, probably his board. To paraphrase "Troy had something we lacked", and the fact that he gave that much weight makes me wonder if the January reports that Sam was after Troy were true, but he wasn't backed up in the market, and he now wished to highlight that 'mistake'. I don't imagine Everton were particularly keen to get involved in another transaction between themselves and little old Watford.
I usually despise that kind of play, but for some reason I actually found myself enjoying it today. Very strange.
