Watford FC 0-3 Brighton & Hove Albion - 10/08/2019

Discussion in 'Match Day' started by Steve Leo Beleck, Aug 3, 2019.

  1. AupaAthletic

    AupaAthletic Academy Graduate

    He's a tennis player, and you'd be pretty crap if you couldn't change tactics in that sport, which I guess, is why he's numero uno.
     
    cyaninternetdog likes this.
  2. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Deeney said it was the best he felt going into a season and never had been more excited ...

    Opps !

    Foster seemed to suggest the players were complacent too .
     
  3. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    If her barge can get her home
     
    HappyHornet24 likes this.
  4. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    Deeney needs to keep his mouth shut and score some goals tbh

    At the moment he is Mr Mouthy Mcnotgoodenough
     
    AupaAthletic likes this.
  5. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Except after that cup final when he said nothing .
     
  6. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    Relentless negativity always p.sses me off. Period. I don't like being around negative people. Call it a life choice. They bring you down. What exactly is the point of it/them? The jury's out for some time yet on whether the opinion's correct or not.

    You have a very dry sense of humour. Sometimes funny. Sometimes boorish. Bit of a 'one trick pony' though.

    Bait. Offered. Not biting.
     
    Last edited: Aug 11, 2019
  7. kVA

    kVA Reservist

    we just need a manager who’ll mix it up up bit. Jockanovich did that.

    I remember one match where he could see it wasn’t working early on and made a sub in the first half.
     
  8. miked2006

    miked2006 Premiership Prediction League Proprietor

    Now United look good again, I'm going to take a bit of a backseat on here and support my glory club again GGMU!!!

    That said, I'll offer a few rambly comments on the match before I resign my fan status:

    We weren't as bad as the scoreline suggested. Brighton shaded it in terms of creating dangerous chances before the game got away from us (they had more possession and control but we know that Brighton are now a possession side). We started well but lost a few 50-50s, made some poor defensive mistakes and Brighton were incredibly efficient with their chance taking. If you played the game 100 times, Brighton would shade the match, rather than win it by three, on average. Another day and we would have had a penalty and had a chance at taking a draw.

    It's awkward to lose because the other team wants it more and that puts a bit of a spotlight on our manager. We need to win those loose balls and that is down to competitiveness, pride and determination rather than technical ability.

    I really like Potter and expected Brighton to finish above us this season. They have invested hugely in the club (they invested more than 70m the season before) and their finish last season was due to having a crap manager who failed to utilise the very good, technical players provided to him. As I mentioned in the Hughton thread, sacking him was the best decision they've made in recent times, despite what the media say about him being English and that all Brighton deserve is to survive (remind you of anyone!)

    Hughes is not a winger. You may think I'm insulting Gracia here, but I'm not. He should play on the right protecting the full back in defensive phases, and then in attacking phases float inside as a central playmaker providing Femenia overlaps. If Hughes is on the wing, it's generally because Kiko has failed to catch up with play. Whether the tactic works or is easily countered easily is another argument, but to assume Gracia thinks that Hughes is the Ryan Giggs of the right wing is just absurd.

    Javi Gracia has done well in tough jobs, so I'm still sticking with him. But he needs to avoid Quique's problem of being unable to change a game with impact subs and to get a reaction in the next game. I'm not saying we should sack him if we don't get a result in the next game, but if we don't act like this result hurts our pride, then I'll start to get very worried about the season ahead.
     
  9. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    ManU looked the second best team for much of the game vs Chelsea. One of the great things about football is that the best team doesn't always win unlike most other sports. If you don't take your chances you don't win. The confidence coming from that one "unfair" result can set Man U up for the next few games and instantly put pressure on Frank. Same goes for us. A 0-3 defeat is always possible in a fairly even game but the ramifications can be huge confidence wise when it's the first game of the season. I really hope the impact is to stick a rocket up the ***** of a few players who looked to be a little too comfortable/relaxed, and not to crush confidence and create fractures in the group.
     
    miked2006 and Happy bunny like this.
  10. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    Even a stopped clock is right twice a day
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2019
  11. Lloyd

    Lloyd Squad Player

    Anyone who has followed Watford for any period of time will surely be placing a large sum on us to beat Everton next week
     
  12. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

    Away to ..... Brighton!
     
  13. Harrow Orn

    Harrow Orn Squad Player

    Yes. Get Joka back now!!!!
     
    kVA likes this.
  14. domthehornet

    domthehornet Moderator Staff Member

    Honestly, they were awful, the drumming was out of kilter with the other group with competing songs throughout the first half. The drum then moved back to the core group and wasn't heard throughout the second half, neither were the fans who stood there silent which was a shame.
     
  15. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    A 3-0 defeat away at Brighton is hardly the end of the world. Told you we shouldn't have agreed to the switch ! A 3 point banker if we'd played at home. FFS Gino.
     
    wfcmoog likes this.
  16. Harrow Orn

    Harrow Orn Squad Player

    Yeah, I barely heard anything from the 1881. If it's a group to sing non stop regardless of the result, then they weren't doing a good job.

    That being said, I don't think many other fans would have joined in. We needed something from the team, something to get behind, but there was nothing.
     
  17. leighton buzzard horn

    leighton buzzard horn Squad Player

    It was turgid to watch and Brighton made it look very comfortable.

    Doucoure looked disinterested.
    Femenia looked lost.
    Dawson looked hapless, maybe league one standard OAP Mariappa isn't as bad as reported on here...
    Success last season looked crap in his brief appearances. In his brief waddle out on Saturday he looked crap and fat.

    We'll still be fine and finish mid table, Brighton will be in a relegation battle.
     
  18. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    Are you for real? You got fired for having an opinion on an Internet forum?
     
  19. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Now I've had a couple of days to digest the events of Saturday afternoon, it's clear to me, we were underprepared mentally for the game.

    I'm sure they look at all the analysis and say to themselves, this squad is in physical peak condition, but that's not enough at the elite level. All teams start the season in peak physical condition, it's not a massive advantage now. You have to be at this level or else you just cannot even compete.

    What I've noticed at the tail end of last season, and the beginning of this one, is how unmotivated we look collectively. How easily beaten we appear to get when going a goal down. That mental toughness, which served us so well at the beginning of last season is gone.

    We're not making covering runs, we're not getting into the correct positions, too many players are passing responsibility and ball watching. It's happening all over the park. Who's leading this team? Where is the collective desire?

    You can forgive silly mistakes, if the players are obviously busting a gut in the rest of their performance.

    We lost on Saturday because of an attitude. If this does not massively improve, we'll be relegated, maybe with even the lowest ever points total. My god, if we hadn't made those two signings on the last couple of days of the transfer window......would anyone have any hope for us right now?

    I was shocked at how off the pace we were against Sociedad. I think that even surprised Gracia because his post-match comments indicated a lot of work needed to be done.

    To illustrate the attitude, we can just look at the goals conceded. I counted 4 mistakes, one after another, which led to the opener. Mistake No.1 - Dawson casually plays the ball straight to a Brighton player when under no pressure. This allows Brighton to advance and clip a decent ball into our box.. Mistake No 2 - Holebas gets underneath the ball instead of heading it out for a corner, it glances off him to a Brighton player waiting at the far post. Mistake No.3 - Doucoure slices the ball into his own goal. Mistake No. 4 - Dawson allowed Murray to get in front of him, so had Doucoure left the ball, Murray would have had an easy tap in anyway.

    That's 4 mistakes. Mistake number 2 and 3 are more forgivable, because players are reacting to a moving ball. Slices and misjudgements happen. But Dawson's part in all this less so. The one I find more irritating is the lack of awareness over Murray getting in front of him. He allowed the same thing to happen for Andone's goal as well.

    It's unfair to just concentrate on Dawson though. The second goal, Capoue was the other player in the centre of defence at the time. He just ball watched and didn't make a run with the Brighton striker. Brighton had TWO players at our near post when the cross came in. Dawson was in between both of them, but no one else was close.

    The third goal, came because no one put pressure on Dunk when he brought the ball forward. He was allowed to move up the field and pick his pass.

    We were like the for virtually the entire game. We had a little spell in the second half where Kiko was putting in a lot of effort and chasing one or two lost causes. This is where that great Gray chance came from. Kiko chasing a lost cause, but that attitude was lacking for the vast majority of the match.

    We will probably still lose at Everton, but the attitude and desire has to be very high, and that has to be maintained throughout the season. If not, we'll be down in the bottom three for sure. If we show the "Dunkirk" spirit for the rest of the season we'll be ok.
     
    Chiswell likes this.
  20. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Is it too early for a "Relegation watch" thread ?
    Personally I still think we can escape the drop, but I'm asking for a friend.
     
  21. Harrow Orn

    Harrow Orn Squad Player

    Whilst I do agree with your post, I disagree slightly with this. I agree with the attitude being poor. It was horrendous and their body language was terrible. But that was not the sole reason.

    Javi got his tactics horribly wrong. Brighton had three center backs and as such we decided to play a narrow formation? This doesn't make sense. Playing so narrow just made life so easy for Brighton
     
  22. AndrewH63

    AndrewH63 Reservist

    From todays Guardian - I think it is a fair summary of concerns expressed:-

    When Watford lost seven of their final 11 league games last season it seemed reasonable enough to cite their FA Cup run, and insulation from the relegation zone, as the major factors behind their slump. None of that applies to their confused, sluggish performance against Brighton though and Javi Gracia was right to offer no excuses afterwards. “We need to improve,” he said.

    His centre‑back, Craig Cathcart, dismissed suggestions of a hangover from last season but the biggest concern might be that their dip actually began around March. Gracia has done a fine job, and opening days have a habit of throwing up strange results, but when these sides met a year ago Watford won with ease and they will be wary of discovering that, in the Premier League, the price of sliding backwards is usually exorbitant.

    Saturday’s meeting with Everton, the kind of club they were more than comfortable measuring themselves against last season, could be telling. Nick Ames
     
    EB Hornet likes this.
  23. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    Yep. It was a drunken rant for which I was once famous ...
     
  24. Relegation Certs

    Relegation Certs Squad Player

    Yes, my PM inbox contains some evidence of said rants..

    But getting sacked seems pretty outrageous. Must have been an awkward conversation!
     
  25. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    Blimey. That bad eh? After just one match?
     
    GoingDown likes this.
  26. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Your good lady friend also became briefly famous..... :)
     
  27. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    There was a bit of argy-bargy on my part for a couple of days then it settled down. I had 'previous' and had been warned indirectly twice. I was pretty insulting towards Gino if I remember correctly. My big mistake was to identify myself as a club employee and then have a go at the owner! I was also, as it turned out, completely WRONG!

    I wasn't desperately disappointed in the longer term though. I'd been an ever present for over 2.5 seasons and was probably becoming a bit jaundiced with it all by then anyway.
     
  28. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    Which one? Oh yes. I remember now. Her from the Isle of Bute?
     
  29. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    If we play with the same attitude, lack of work ethic, desire or whatever you'd like to label it from Saturday for the rest of the season, then yes of course they'd be relegated. I don't think there's even a debate to be had about that. Obviously, we'll all be looking for a massive upshift in attitudes next Saturday. A couple of senior players have already questioned the team's attitude.

    Fortunately I think that drubbing will do us some good. At least I hope so. There's no hiding from a result like that. Had it been only 0-1, then they could have got away with it, but not when it's so clear cut as the result was.

    Brighton didn't even have to sweat for that result. All they had to be was organised, professional and patient. Picking us off on the break as they know how vulnerable we are at the back.

    If we had shown a strong mental desire to win, we probably would have.

    There are games in the Premier League that you have no chance of winning, there are games where it's a long shot you'd win, but then there are games that you only lose if you're not quite right. Brighton was the latter. We've messed up a banker home win. In a league that I suspect will be tougher to get points off from at least the top half of the league clubs, it's unforgivable really.
     
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  30. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    I wasn't picking up on the potential for relegation. It was your mention of the lowest ever points total that seemed way o.t.t. Derby County, 11 points, 2007-2008. Really?
     
  31. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Possibly. That's not the bit I remember :).
    Anyway good to have you back. You can never have too many birdwatchers. We are to the forum what RBs are to WFC.
     
    CleyHorn likes this.
  32. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Why not? Brighton have to be considered one of the weakest teams in the league, and they beat us in second gear. If you extrapolate the performance for another 37 games, with the added effect of confidence erosion, then we'd be lucky to get into double figures.

    Of course, I'm not saying anything like that will happen. The manager would be sacked long before that. Players would be signed in January etc, etc. But, for arguments sake, nothing changed and it was all left unchecked. I think it would be very probable we'd only get a single figure points total.
     
  33. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    If you extrapolate our form from Saturday over the whole season, we'll end up relegated with 0 points and a -114 goal difference!
     
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2019
    Knight GT likes this.
  34. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    In the same way, it's really disappointing that we didn't win the league by a record margin last year. Disappointing times.
     
  35. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    That could happen!

    But I'm not saying this will happen.
     

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