Entertaining, we scored three goals which is nice, but we were also comically bad defensively. I still can’t decide if we’re just a rubbish, mediocre championship team with enough to stay well clear of trouble, or genuine relegation candidates.
Completely different feeling to last season when we had points on the board but it felt undeserved. This season I think we would have at least another 5 points if it weren't for bad luck or stupid errors. Still very mentally weak when trying to hold on to a lead.
It's only just turned September. Last year we were in a much higher position but we were far more warning signs in our general play. You'll see the Forums reactions at the time saying as much. Where we are isn't a reflection of VI for me or our general performances and will right itself come the end of September to be a little more positive.
Mad game. End to end for 90mins. Would have taken a point before the game given its our toughest fixture so far, but feel a bit gutted not to win it having gone in front 3 times. Bachmann at fault for the first, Hoedt despite having a great start to the season, at fault for second, and Porteous for the third. Didn't think Rajovic looked great in his cameo against Blackburn, but hopefully those 2 goals fill him with confidence. Great press from Bayo to force the mistake for our third Martins looked bright and scored a cracker too. Can't help but feel we're a bit light in the middle of the park. Louza, Chakvetadze and Asprilla are all wonderful players, but finishing the game as those 3 in the middle feels very unbalanced.
Frustrating, we picked the one day we were relatively ruthless to have our worst day at the back for a long time! Still, I'd have taken that at 3pm, the aim for me this season is just to stay up and try to build something, more confident now than 3pm for sure
It's just inevitable. No surprise to see us 18th after 5 games. What happens once the injuries kick in? It's inevitable that we're going to struggle. There's nothing to be positive about. The penny just hasn't dropped for a lot of fans. I still see some thinking we have a chance of a play off or at very worse mid-table. We've got no chance of that happening. We don't have the squad depth to be anything other than bottom 6.
Well. That was a fantastic game of end to end football it had everything. A penalty save, a side chucking away lead not once, not twice but three times. A brainless OG from a player who should know better and two goals from a new number nine. We were all those things today. There is more bad than good from a performance and a fixture we would of very easily taken a point from. Our defending as of late has been pretty awful, and today Coventry were able to take full advantage of some really sloppy performances. Porteous was terrible today, some of his decision making was nowhere near what we expect of him. He was at fault for at least one of their goals (mainly the third one) and didn't even bother to get a gear advance to get to the ball first. Goal of the game has to be their second goal. If you wanted to sum Watford FC of 2023 up in a moment, that was it. Hoedt had idea where Bachmann was, but did a back pass into an empty net when there was absolutely no pressure on at all. You could not write some of the comedy errors out there today. Coventry are a decent side and they will punish mistakes, with their first goal being a the wall that wasn't a wall and Bachmann being beaten by the bounce. Views are going to differ here, but he had more than enough time to get across and save that, even if the wall could of done a lot better before hand. For some positives, Raj had a good first full game, he scored twice, almost got a very late winner with a header and got in their faces a lot. Bayo to his credit did well in the build up to our third goal and was his usual busy self. All three of their goals were easily preventable today, and Coventry are probably lucky to come away with a point themselves. But we shot ourselves in the foot today with some awful on the ball choices. It was good to see our Chillian back, but his poor tackle set up their first goal, and he looked a bit out of sorts today. Bachmann did pull off a few good saves as well, so in the end a point each was probably the right result on chances created, but the fact we lead three times and still could not hold on means just like in all our games this season bar the opening day, we get the minimum out of the game. Not really much more to say, there was effort as per usual, but if it wasn't for at least one of the above errors, we would be feeling slightly better about the game. Instead we move into the International break 18th place in the league. If we continue to concede the sort of goals we did today, we are going to really struggle this season, as most of you have rightly pointed out. I personally feel we have enough to not be in a relegation scrap, and scoring three goals today proved we do know how to score again. But VI needs to put a lot of work in before our next fixture in two weeks time. Concentration being one of the main things. Our squad is still relatively young but has enough experience to not get caught out like we did today. At least we didn't totally throw it away and lose, which is something I guess.
A point on the road against a team who reached last season’s play-off final wouldn’t usually be sniffed at BUT you simply cannot throw away a lead three times. Unforgivable. How ironic that at the end of a tortuous week of inactivity, our defence plays like that after we declined/failed to strengthen it. And our defensive midfielder costs us a goal at the end of a week when, yes you’ve guessed it, we declined to strengthen that position. Well done to Rajovic though. His first goals in 14 matches, ending both his personal barren spell and ours too. Martins got the goal he has deserved over the last few weeks. Ince definitely brings something to the table. Bayo good as the impact sub we all thought he’s better as. Plenty of energy off the bench. And in a season of low expectations, kind of fun to watch that today, despite some atrocious refereeing. That penalty award wtf? So not all bad. But seriously you can’t blow a lead three times. Two points quite literally handed away.
Agree injuries are the biggest concern. I don't think we will ever see the madness that was last Season occur again for a very long time though. VI is notably rotating the squad a lot more too during games which should help.
The build up play for two of our goals was very good. They only gave us one goal, I think we gave away two and we were even generous enough to score one for them.
Not totally mad at that. It was entertaining at least, which we often haven’t been. Porteous had his worst game in a Watford shirt, Hoedt not much better. I’d argue one of their goals was a freak and the third was utterly preventable. Sema is not a LB. Whereas two of our goals were genuinely good phases of attacking play. I’d hope the freakish incidents are less frequent given previous evidence and the attacking play is sustainable. Jamal Lewis will make a big difference. Was nice to have options to bring off the bench and nice to see Val go for it at 2-2. 18th and 1 point from 9 looks terrible but for some reason I don’t feel as bad as it looks. Hopefully Gino sees sense. Lots of players not going away so a good chance for Ismael to spend time with them. Do feel the better pressing teams in the division may rip us.
Very good game to watch (if you're a neutral). Both teams looking to get the ball down and play. Today was obvious, or should be obvious, to anyone that watched that our lack of investment in our defence and holding midfielder will come back to bite us throughout the season. Sierralta was absolutely hopeless, but in fairness to him he shouldn't have been put in this position, he is not a good enough player to play as a holding midfielder! Hoedt played fairly well but cost us with his kamikaze back pass! Porto was shocking! He's a total liability. Pollock isn't good enough either. A shame really because when you move up into the rest of the team I thought they all played pretty well. Louza was excellent, linking up the play really well. TDB did quite well the time he was on. Martins was fantastic, just ran out of steam. Took his goal brilliantly. Ince was very good as well, great assist for the first goal and worked hard. Rajovic didn't really do a great deal BUT was in the right place at the right time to score two proper 'strikers goals' which we've lacked for many years now!! Comes to life when the ball is in the final third which is what you want from your striker. We just need to keep feeding him now! I'm sure with players like Martins, Louza, Asprilla and Ince around him he's going to score lots of goals for us!! I think when Lewis is fit he's got to come in at LB. Kayembe needs to replace Sierralta in DM role. Apart from that I think it's near enough a pretty strong line-up. Decent depth in forward areas, just not enough in defensive positions. All in all, i'd have taken a point before the game but definitely feels like 2 dropped the way it transpired! Quietly optimistic though IF we can be more street smart and less open!
Is the post title going to be changed to Coventry 3 -3 goal friendly Watford FC or does it only get changed when negative events happen?
I don't know if you'd say it was coming from Martins, but he did come close from range a number of times against Blackburn, keep it up Matheus! I think we've come across our striking formula now, not saying either of them are world beaters, I still think double figures would be a decent total for Rajovic, but him to start and Bayo to come on seems like it'll work well, Bayo has always played better for us from the bench
What a bonkers game. Though not completely unexpectedly - in comparison to the previous games where we played teams who basically parked the bus, resulting in us struggling to score while giving away few chances, as soon as we played a team who were more open and trying to attack we both score more, but also give more chances away at the back. End result, a chaotic 3-3, as opposed to a drab 0-0. Just ups and downs all throughout the game. Hoedt, who had perhaps been our best player at the start of the season and had been having a solid game, suddenly having a complete brainfart. Bachmann managing to save a goal from a penalty 12 yards out, only to concede one from a free kick from 30 yards away. Porteous also had a bit of a nightmare throughout the match, giving the ball away constantly and getting beating by Wright time and again. It should never have been a penalty against him in a million years though. A debut to remember for Rajovic still. He didn't really do very much outside the box and it's a shame he's not a tad quicker, but I suppose those things don't matter too much when you're in the right areas to stick the ball away. He did also demonstrate a bit towards the end what his highlights suggested - that despite his size he seems more confident finishing with his feet while not seeming the most consistent finisher with his head (which is also contrary to the long-winded observations of some other supposed observers of his play prior to his signing). Andrews and Porteous both seemed determined to not pass to Ince in the first half for whatever reason. It was quite bizarre at times. It took Sema to actually play him in eventually and he duly repaid the faith by showing he does have a bit of quality on the ball in the final third which we've been lacking at times this season. Martins finally managed to do what he should have been doing in recent games and actually finding the far corner of the goal with his finish. TDB was a tad underwhelming, and lost out too often against the physical Sheaf and Palmer in the midfield battle. Asprilla and Bayo suited to being impact subs. Not the worst point all things considered. Albeit Coventry weren't much cop really and ultimately we were our own worst enemies. It was also another game which we probably shaded just about and could have come away with more points from. But I'm still liking the attitude of the team so far this season, yes we've been sloppy and lacked quality at times, but we've not let our heads drop and every now and then there are some suggestions that when things start clicking a bit more we've got another level we can get to if we keep plugging away.
Entertaining game for the neutral, aggravating for the supporters of both clubs. Hoedt’s goal was so ridiculous from a person who gets paid to play football. He played for Holland (I think). Porteous has had a conversion from a decent defender to a cry baby in a very short period of time. (Hopefully a once off). A mistake ridden game, results in an entertaining spectacle. In fairness, we scored 3, which was a problem before today’s game. Raj grabbed two which can only be good for his confidence. Other positives were Ince and Martins. If we cut out the dreadful errors in defence, we have a chance of having a decent season. Otherwise, we are in bother. If you analyse their goals, the first is from a free kick (after Sieralta gives the ball away cheaply) that is so far out and they are scored so rarely, the 2nd was a **** up of YouTube endless repeat view status, and you would hope will focus the defenders’ minds in future when playing the ball back and the 3rd was a good goal (although Porteous needs to be tougher and marking was non existent). All issues that VI can work on. Thought Bayo and Raj linked up well for their brief time together. As with most score draws, mixed emotion, but a point on the road against a good team is not all bad.
No chance were in the playoff mix, but I’m still undecided if we’re just a mid table team or will be in the relegation mix. For me there is currently enough evidence to support either, but I’m baffled by anyone who has genuinely seen evidence to support anything higher than mid table.
He's no Maldini, but surely this is a bit too much? He's been excellent for us this season, he's allowed one bad game surely. Also not sure about Kayembe, he started last week and didn't help us in that role (in fairness, I think he's more of a box to box number 8 rather than a defensive midfielder), we're just stuck with 3 highly flawed options until January (or unless we dip into the free agent market, in which case they'll probably still be getting up to speed by January!)
It wasn't - he also had plenty of shockers towards the end of last season, but people had their blinkers on.
It’s the realisation we’ll have injuries and will not be able to cope with it. Even with a full strength squad we cannot beat relatively weak opponents. God knows what we’ll do once the injuries kick in. For me, it’s just blindingly obvious. I’ll get stick for saying it, as always, but once it really starts to unravel, people will start to agree no doubt.
The own goal was an all-timer. Hoedt should try and get the rights to it, he’d never have to work again.
That was as a bit crazy . Lots to be encouraged by and lots to be discouraged by. Sone calamitous defending , particularly by Porteous in the first half and others joined in second half . The free kick cov scored from was largely down to Porteous initial fannying around losing the ball . I thought Coventry were the better side first half and Bachman kept us in it. We were pressing well but lacked some control . Second half I thought we were the better side and looked more dangerous than cov but threw it away gifting them goals . Martin’s was excellent and he’s clearly got that goal in his locker. I thought TDB also has a decent game . Can’t fault Rajovic as he got his 2 goals one and excellent finish and showed some decent touches. Asprilla excellent and unlucky not to be involved in a goal . Georgi also looked a threat. Ince showed That bit of composure we have been lacking to lay on the first goal . So after being worried where the goals were gonna come from i’m a bit less worried now but more worried about the defence. Strange as we’ve looked very solid up until now but Coventry were pressing a bit more than other sides we’ve faced. Nevertheless an entertaining and full blooded match so not much to complain about effort wise from the players.
Then again if we had won we would have been 10th and 3 points off the playoffs. Doesnt mean anything after only 5 games. Theres been plenty of positives and encouraging signs and likewise areas that need work.
Typical. We get a few goals for once but then throw it away . Might be one of those seasons . Good to see Rajovic get two.
Beautiful, beautiful chaos. Great game to watch, even if Val will be fuming with how open we were. Thought Sema was very good. Superb pass for Rajovic’s first. The big man done ok and got better as it went on but looks very much to be a goal mouth poacher, which is fine. We need that. Horrible brain fart from Hoedt but full credit for fronting up to the fans and being pretty much the first over at full time - that took a bit of bottle.
Frustrating, should be going home as winners but too many defensive calamities. Before the match I'd have taken a point but to be in the lead 3 times shows that we are still weak mentally.
