Away Form

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by hornetboy1, Jan 3, 2021.

  1. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    It's been largely glossed over, but this is our away form since that big 3-0 win at Bournemouth

    Aston Villa...1-2 L
    Brighton......1-1 D
    Man Utd......0-3 L
    Palace..........0-1 L
    Burnley........0-1 L
    Chelsea........0-3 L
    West Ham....1-3 L
    Arsenal.........2-3 L
    Sheff Wed....0-0 D
    Reading........0-1 L
    Derby...........1-0 W
    Wycombe.....1-1 D
    Barnsley.......0-1 L
    QPR..............1-1 D
    Bristol City...0-0 D
    Forest...........0-0 D
    Birmingham 1-0 W
    Huddersfield 0-2 L
    Swansea.........1-2 L

    It's utterly appalling. Even though we're now down a division, there has been absolutely no upturn in results.

    We've only scored 9, and have only scored more than 1 goal once (at Arsenal).

    P 19 W 2 D 6 L 11 F 9 A 25 Pts 12

    When you consider only the first 4 games were in front of away fans, it's extraordinary why our away form is so bad, especially when the opposite is true for home fixtures. We've been remarkably consistent at home.

    Under Pearson we were very good at home, and also have been excellent in getting positive results this season under Ivic and Munoz.

    Here are our home results during the same period of time.

    Man Utd.....2-0 W
    Aston Villa..3-0 W
    Wolves........2-1 W
    Spurs..........0-0 D
    Everton.......2-3 L
    Liverpool....3-0 W
    Leicester.....1-1 D
    Southampton 1-3 L
    Norwich......2-1 W
    Newcastle...2-1 W
    Man City.....0-4 L
    Middlesbro 1-0 W
    Luton..........1-0 W
    Blackburn...3-1 W
    Bournemouth 1-1 D
    Stoke...........3-2 W
    Coventry.....3-2 W
    Preston.......4-1 W
    Cardiff........0-1 L
    Rotherham 2-0 W
    Brentford....1-1 D
    Norwich......1-0 W

    There are some really good victories in that lot. Only 4 defeats. We even beat Spurs at home in a pre-season match (and Scunthorpe).

    P 22 W 14 D 4 L 4 F 38 A 23 Pts 46

    We've been consistently good at home for ages now, so why is there such a contrast between home and away? Answers on a post card.
     
    The Voice of Reason and Chumlax like this.
  2. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    I remember once under Dyche we won 7 in a row away from home...

    Probably the last decent run we had outside the promotion season.

    Maybe we have just been more lucky at home like v Blackburn, Stoke, Brentford and had the Pearson affect in those early home games.
     
  3. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

    Can't put it really down to luck. There have been some really good wins in that lot. You could say we would have beaten Brentford but for the winner to have been incorrectly disallowed, or the defeat to Cardiff would have been a draw had Perica headed home from two yards with the final touch, or the giveaway defeat to Everton after being 2-0 up and coasting, or that last minute goal against Bournemouth robbing us of a win. Quite a few moments have gone against us too, which could have made our home record even more impressive.

    But to have won 14 of our last 22 (16 from 24 if you include those two friendlies) is mighty impressive. Only 4 defeats and one of those to City. It's got to be more than luck. The extremes between home and away is vast and makes no sense.
     
    wfc4ever likes this.
  4. Carpster

    Carpster Squad Player

    To me it's simple. You attack your opponents whether you're playing home or away. We have not done this away from home at all this season.
     
  5. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    It is extremely odd, this comment probably won’t make a lot of sense but maybe it’s a mindset that although irrational, is actually fairly common across most clubs and not just us. So maybe most teams fancy themselves more at home than away (even though in reality it should be a negligible difference) and we just find it easier at home and harder away because of that.
     
  6. EB Hornet

    EB Hornet Reservist

    If you’re like me and play local park football then you’d know that home advantage can be huge - but that’s because the pitches are so different- slopes (not like the vic - genuine mountain climbs!), pitches that look like they are for 10 year olds they are so small, then the complete opposite and what seems like a polo playing surface, you have pitches that never drain so are all but bogs etc etc.

    But for the pros? Travel, familiar surroundings, I suppose a percent here and there but to the degree we are seeing? Seems very strange doesn’t it.
     
  7. Chumlax

    Chumlax Squad Player

    I'm being very cod and pseudo here, of course, but to me the only thing I can think is that it must be symptomatic of the general weakness and malaise in the entire mindset and psychology of the team/dressing room, that has often been conjectured and discussed here. I suppose the way/reason it would manifest would be that any interruption, any extra effort required or digging into reserves of determination or collective spirit at all, and we just aren't capable and collapse in the attempt?

    Bear in mind that, as a study I posted on here a few days ago demonstrated, home advantage has been devastated by the pandemic and subsequent lack of fans in stadium - in light of that, this set of results is absolutely fuc king laughable. Genuinely pathetic, in a time when it's hard not to find yourself overusing the word. We're singlehandedly trying to restore the equilibrium; how charitable of us.
     
  8. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    The players have mentioned about the length of the grass and things like that away from home tbf, I'm not sure if it 'should' be a factor at this level, or whether it's just sour grapes...
     
  9. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    Maybe I'm being naive here, but maybe we will give it more of a go away from home under Xisco? We were **** yesterday, but maybe that was more because Swansea are good, and because we actually had something to defend from quite early on? Maybe away against the Championship rank and file we'll attack more?
     
  10. lutonh8a

    lutonh8a Squad Player

    I thought under Ivic we were playing for a draw 9 times out of 10 away from home. I know we didn't against Swansea but I hope that we attack the weaker teams in the chanpionship away from home under Xisco, if we do I imagine we will gt results. We didn't have a platform to really attack against Swansea as we basically conceded the middle of the park and couldn't build an attack.
     
    wfc4ever likes this.
  11. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    Watford were generally poor away when I became a fan in 2000, but that was totally transformed in 2005/06 when we only lost four away games all season, one of many factors that made that such an amazing one.

    To indicate how pathetic our away form has been in contrast so far, in order to match 2005/06’s away record we’d have to win 9-10 out of our remaining 12 games and average nearly 3 goals a game, a run that would beat even the second half of 2014-15 with a weaker squad. Hmm, don’t see that happening...
     
    SkylaRose likes this.
  12. SkylaRose

    SkylaRose Administrator Staff Member

    Remember beating Burnley 7-4? Millwall and Leeds 6-1? We can perform away from home, but the overall effort from the current crop is atrocious. Be it manager motivation or tactics, our home form alone will not get us Playoffs, let alone the top two, which grows more distant each week.
     
    GoingDown likes this.
  13. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    This is the dilemma of playing a 4-4-2 with two out and out wingers. You are likely to be outnumbered in central midfield, so you have to really commit to the formation and attack with purpose (home or away), ultimately trying to outscore the opponent. If you are half-hearted about it you are likely to come unstuck against the better teams.
    Of course, for it to work you have to have decent in-form strikers...
     
  14. Supertommymooney

    Supertommymooney Squad Player

    I think we trialled 4-4-0 in the Swansea game.
     
  15. Loyalhornet

    Loyalhornet Reservist

    I’d be interested to hear the bedwetter theory on this. Given that everything is caused by the ‘toxicity’ of the club from top to bottom ( whatever that actually means ) why is this toxicity less potent at ho e than it is away ? Shouldn’t it be the other way round ?
     
  16. LondonOrn

    LondonOrn Squad Player

    I think the way many of the opposition teams play has something to do with it. Yes, playing in front of no fans should make a difference, but old habits die hard, and our strong home form is largely due to the fact that teams are used to playing a more passive style and are less quick out of the block. When we play away, we are facing teams that play more aggressively and we struggle to deal with that over the 90 minutes.
     

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