Javi Gracia - Valencia Cf

I can see he takes part of the blame for the second part of the season but surely he takes some credit for the first half

 

The opening 2 games at home were 0-0 draws and we were playing his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation. QSF only switched to 4-4-2 because he couldn't drop Deeney or Ighalo once Ighalo started scoring, and if you look at all of their goals that season they made most of them for each other out of nothing. No fancy build up play, just Deeney winning a long ball and setting Iggy up or vice-versa. You could argue that QSF's defensive set up was the basis for those two being allowed to create chances for each other, but really he got lucky. Once Ighalo's goals dried up we had nothing to offer, and it's telling that our most creative player (supposedly) didn't get an assist to his name until the FA Cup Semi Final.

 

4-2-3-1 would work now!!
I thought he did a decent job and I just find it difficult to blame him when things didn't go well but don't give him credit when it does. If it was as easy as just hitting long balls to Deeney who set up Ighalo, then everybody would be doing it. Somebody else said something similar to that but can't think who!

 

So much the same as Gracia when his 4-2-2-2 was found out?

 

But this is the point I think people are making. Gracia had squad options that allowed him to try different things - and he ignored those options until it was too late.

QSF had nothing even close to good options. Yes it got turgid. And results went on the slide. But take a look at the squad available...

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/watford-fc/kader/verein/1010/saison_id/2015

I really struggle to see what could have been changed.

 

I think it was practical but ugly. No point in having wingers when TD & Ighalo scored so few headers. Playing 2 up front meant 2 attacking wingers would have seen us lose by a cricket score. So the 2 widemen where just additional midfielders...bang it up to Troy and Odion and they can sort something out between the 2 of them...
Where the hell is RookeryDad ????

 

If we’d put Berghuis, Ibarbo or Diamanti out wide, we’d have been hammered every week. Anya? No way. Awful.

The only player that theoretically could and perhaps should have played more was Forestieri.

 

....and other than THAT GOAL, he created nothing for others. Every other move he either shot or lost the ball.

 

Cricketing knowledge good.

Forestieri knowledge bad.

 

All of this was made even more frustrating by the fact we were safe in the league so the risk of trying to be more adventurous was minimal.

 

Several people have posted this.

What wingers are people referring to?

Berghuis, Ibarbo? Total dog *****. They were so dog ***** we went and bought Amrabat.

 

I miss Amrabat

 

RD has indeed been 'posted missing'. As has indeed been our correspondent from the South China Sea. Kelso returns and admits it. 424 returns and denies it.

Humanity eh?

 

Like Del, he created panic and was occasionally spectacularly entertaining. They perform the same function, but Del does it better, even if equally inconsistent.

 

Who Quique claimed was a striker. He went on and on and on about him being a striker. Striker striker striker he said.

He wasn't.

 

Also safe to say none of those would greatly improved the team, particularly going on subsequent careers. Fessi aside.

 

Amrabat was shocking.

He was very good at one thing though, concealing his arm against his body, grabbing hold of the opposition players shirt and hauling him over so it looked like he’d fouled him and not the other way round.

 

A limited player at this level. He did have spirit and fight: You got your money's-worth in effort. But not good enough for the Premier.

 

Looks like he's going to be the next Valencia boss. Fair play to him.

 

So it looks like he's gone from one idiotic owner to another.

 

Good luck to the cheeky ghurner. Beautiful old city and a great beach. I worked there twenty + years ago.

 

An owner who's cutting costs drastically, a bit like Malaga, who Gracia took to two mid-table finishes against all odds before he took the Rubin Kazan job. Best of luck Javi, I'm sure you'll do well there!

 

Berghuis could have been recent, just never got a chance.

 

If he was any good, he'd have gone to a big club.

 

Not necessarily. Under a manager who played attacking wingers he could have been an asset. Remember QSF only liked Troy and Iggy going over the halfway line!

 

Berghuis wasn’t liked by successive managers and has only done it in the Dutch league. Consistently good stats, yet no club has taken another punt on him...

Jahanbahksh at Brighton is a carbon copy.

 

Still think he was underused

 

Just QSF actually