Absolutely superb. From Foster's save in the first half, to Sarr's goal on the counter in the second. Every man played their part today, that was fantastic. Crowd sounded great aswell. It's not ever yet!
Pearson 7 points from 4 games, we only got 2 more from the previous 16, incredible. We probably needed the **** show after Javi with QSF to get him in the first place, but imagine where we’d be if we’d had big Nige from game 5.
Watford vs Aston Villa Highlights https://soccerhighlightshd.com/video/watford-vs-aston-villa-highlights/
Excellent performance. We gave them one chance all game and that came from being to casual in midfield. Apart from that we worked so hard. Kabs had a few mishaps and Mapps should never of even attempted to challenge when on a yellow. But damn we controlled the game with 10. Take a bow Nigel and staff for bringing some passion back to this club.
That was an absolutely superb win, and I loved seeing us be a bit nasty as well, niggling at them constantly and getting under their skin. Villa couldn’t handle the pressure we put them under. Villa played on when Targett was down, so no reason for us to put the ball out. If they had put the ball out, we don’t get that chance, so it’s completely on them. Capoue was absolutely majestic today. Full of desire, intent and quality on the ball when needed. He led by example and fought for the shirt and for his teammates. Sarr is our main attacking threat and he makes things happen with his direct running and speed. He’s clearly still got work to do, especially on end product, but he has the tools to become a frightening player. I think that the more he plays, the better he’ll get at picking out runs into the box after he’s driven to the byline. Kabasele put in another performance full of commitment and quality defending. This felt like the sort of Watford performance we’ve wanted to see all season long. Dominated possession, fearless in the tackle and plenty of intent going forward. Whatever Pearson has done to restore confidence is clearly making a major difference. Deeney was a focal point today, helping with build up play and getting involved. Could have hidden after a diabolical miss, but with confidence low, he kept pushing and really helped set the tempo once we were down to ten men. Doesn’t mean we don’t need an upgrade, but today was much more effective.
I noticed the Villa team didn't mind playing on when they had the ball. Its sour grapes from them to deflect the blame.
Excellent win, performance and attitude. Brilliant. Even lard arse shut me up for the day. Oh, and Mariappa is banned now. Bonus!
Well done to the new gaffer & team on doing the business again. Didn't play that well & still won such was this opposition. That's football. Have we really turned a corner, I think it's still too early to say but if we can somehow exploit Wolves & get the points, I think that will be the answer to that question. On paper probably never a better time to play them. Bournmouth forum now has a 'Howe Out' thread. Never saw that coming. Will be a spicy fixture when we play them in a couple of weeks & amazing to think that could be the game to take us out of relegation & put them in it. That would be the dream.
Dear oh dear Villa were bad. Pearson has got the team working for each other. We've got a chance. 2 clean sheets in both our wins and no doubt he had some input against Liverpool. Sheffiled are riding a wave. Dare I say it we have the new manager bounce.....
Great performance all round. And the intent after we went down to ten men to secure the win rather than try to cling on was key. This will be a massive confidence boost to the team. Grealish is very annoying. He could have picked up a few bookings today. A few needless yellows (Mariappa x2 albeit he didn't touch the player for the second, Sarr, Deeney) The only big negatives are the two injuries. I'm hoping they were taken off to be on the safe side, what with Wolves coming up in a few days.
Great win. I hope in the return game next month, we do exactly the same. Grealish is such a baby. Loved that our boys got right under his skin. Nasty wee little man.
We aren't in a position to take the moral high ground - we need to go full Eddie Howe dark arts if we want to stay up.
Nice of their player to do a Kabasele from a few years ago.. Wasn't a head injury so we were right to play on.
It's the intent. Yes he pulled out of the challenge but he didn't need to. A lesson learnt hopefully.
One thing I have to say I like about Villa is their forum. At the top of the thread they have a vote for player of game, the managers performance, and also the ref's performance. Is this something we could do? https://www.villatalk.com/topic/19738-ratings-reactions-watford-v-villa/ As you can imagine it doesn't make very pretty reading at all.
Absolutely loved that, we put Villa under massive pressure from the off and they just weren't going to be able to withstand it. We still were pretty wasteful in the first half (Deeney missed an absolute sitter just before he scuffed his first goal in). At the start of the season it was difficult to pick out a player or two who had had a good game. Now it's hard to find one who hasn't (answer this time: Mapps, completely needless). Sarr is glorious and I'm excited every time he gets on the ball. Notable this game was his workrate out of possession, tracking back, harrying, then breaking on the counter. Brilliant stuff. Another very solid game for Gerard, and Deeney was MotM imo. Shame Hughes got injured, and I hope Cathcart is alright. I really like the balance of this XI we've been playing so hopefully it's not going to be affected by injuries. Dare I say it... Wolves (H), Bournemouth (A), Spurs (H), Villa (A), Everton (H), Brighton (A)... some winnable games in there if we keep this effort up. 7 points from the last three games have transformed our season which was looking utterly hopeless. I love Big Nige. Edit: Holy *** some of our set pieces beat the first man?!
Ha ha, not much quality on the pitch today, it was that sort of game (apart from a great 3rd goal). But it doesn't matter. I've been banging on about it for months, This game is mostly in the mind and it was a terrific attitude today. A bit of belief and a change of mindset from "Blimey, let's just hang on to this lead..." to "Let's get some more and rub their faces in it". If you do that, get in their faces, get some movement up front, and pass the bloody ball forwards, then you create a bit of panic, cause mistakes, and even our forwards will get some goals. Well done lads, you've just reduced our margin to safety from 6 points to 4, maybe even 3 - in one game, with another 18 games to play. Don't listen to to the doom merchants and those that have already given up, just believe and we'll be fine.
Absolutely loved that. Sarr is making a big difference. Foster save in the first half was massive. Was the Deeney song aimed at anyone on this forum? We will need to find some new players in January as the squad is looking thin on the ground and we need to play every game like a Cup Final, which will inevitably lead to injuries. Smashing into my third beer since the final whistle
Oh what a night.... Later December in 2019.... What a very special night it seems... Nigel Pearson what a guy!!! Great win!! I am buzzing (pun intended). Deeney… what a performance from our captain today - getting the boys jeered up, getting the crowd up after every goal. Really good performance from everyone but especially Deeney, the new father boost has really spurred him on. Got to the ground and you could just feel there was a slight nervous around. This was a massive game - so rightly so. Delafoo close to giving us an early lead, but I thought we looked a bit nervous at the start. When Foster dropped that shot but thankfully gathered it in, we got more into the game. Grealish or "Grease Head" as a few of the people around me were calling him towards the end. was poor. He never really got forward and as he was their focal of attack - we kept him very quiet. Villa were very poor today, despite starting well. I was expecting more of a game from them. First goal was a great strike from Deeney. Across the goal, no chance for Heaton. We deserved it too after playing much the better and more high intense football. Love the celebration to, really nice to see some of the other Watford fans with cards about his new fatherhood too I am sure he appreciated it. Second half we upped the anti even more. But, Mapps…. oh dear. Two cards in less than six minutes? Poor. The real downfall of our game today. I thought taking Chalobah off for Cathcart was a good choice - filled the gap left by Mapps. He needs to learn from this, you cannot go charging in. Was it a penalty for our second? Yes. I don't get the Villa chants after it was given - Deeney was being played onside, and we have had players down and the opposition have gone through to score - so fairs fair. Penalty was smashed home, Deeney raises his arms towards the Rookery and Vicarage Road erupts again. We deserved it. Villa got hold of the ball more after that, but Sarr again then showed how good he is, great finish from the Frenchman and the score line was showing our dominance. Another blow followed though as Cathcart went off - but I hope it's nothing serious. Thought Masina did alright when he came on to replace him. That's two defenders lost in one game today - like I said I hope Cathcart's is a quick turnaround. Final whistle blew and you could tell how much that win meant to Pearson, the fans and the players. It's a massive win. Villa looked ragged for long periods but we pressed them into mistakes and they hardly had a sniff. Any shots they did have Foster kept them out well. Never felt to happy walking down Occupation Road after the game. Shook hands with a Villa fan outside who wished us the best for the season - I did likewise. I really missed the Shout Box today in second mind, but being there myself cannot be beaten. I think Emma Saunders lost her voice after the third goal. Still have to build on this win - keep picking up the points. Happy New Year.
Thought we were ****ed after Former Watford Hero Henri Lansbury's despicable **** dive for Mariappa's red, but the lord was with us, JUSTICIA. Sarr can hardly be praised enough; our chief and most decisive attacking threat, pace that pushes defences back and relieves pressure on the defence and the ability to finish chances like no other player of ours would, but also tracking back in the final minute and shithousing at dead balls to slow the play and run the clock down. Immense and mature performance from the 21 year old, give or take a hilarious overreaction to Grealish trying to kill him (SAF would convict).
Didn’t see all of it so can’t comment on performance, but what a result did see Sarr’s goal , and what an example of what we have been missing, nice straightforward , well taken , perfect looked like it was getting a bit agro , and did see Deeney smiling as he was winding them up sad thing is we now need the same result against wolves
Without doubt Villa were the worst team we have played this season. Apart from the one time they got near our goal in the first half they barely laid a glove on us, even with a man advantage. I’d be amazed if we didn’t finish above them. They made a big mistake sticking Grealish out on the left; surely he doesn’t usually play out there? Watford were terrific though. I was surprised there weren’t more changes but it was the right decision. I wonder if they can ‘go again’ against Wolves?
Capoue - my word. Must have pinged 6 or 7 the width of the pitch and 40 yards forward to Sarr's feet.
