A point isn’t good enough in our situation. We’re running out of winnable games and we’ve now spaffed away three in a row - all of which we had leads in. Pearson’s subs were wrong the last few weeks, which is maybe why he was scared to change anything today despite us being well on the back foot for the entire second half. We had no threat and no possession. It was an awful own goal by Mariappa but you’re really inviting that sort of thing to happen when you allow your opponents to dictate the play so completely. I’ve lost a lot of confidence in Pearson of late and I really can’t see us staying up after another disappointing result.
Not only did Mariappa miss the chance to head it on the half way line,, he raced back to bury his chance under no pressure at all. No player awareness at all Hopefully that is his last game for Watford. Get him out of the club.
Deeney has reverted back to being an overweight passenger for most of the game, teams know they can push us high up the pitch as soon as he gets knackered after about 40 minutes because he offers zero threat. He couldn't even hold the ball up today, let alone make any runs. As soon as Mariappa got the yellow I kept thinking he needed to be subbed asap. Dawson was even warming up, no idea why he didn't come on. Pussetto is terrible. Pearson has to take a fair bit of the blame, it was clear from the last two games that due to defensive frailties this team can only function on the front foot. We can't afford to invite so much pressure as soon as we take a lead.
Why not a bad choice? Not saying you’re wrong but it can’t be written off as a good one either. We’ve lost 3 in a row from winning positions and also had the two awful cup games under his stewardship - what if they’d happened right at the start? Would people be so forgiving? I am with you on the players - there is something rotten in the mentality. I suspect it was the embarrassment of the cup final.
Maricrappa. Brainless. I want to see the fight exhibited by Pussetto in just winning a free kick. Probably a better full back. Then again the lack of recruitment at fullback is shown up. Deulofeu painful to watch with his delivery and bumbling about. Aside from Doucoure who was magnificent the rest looked uninspired, insipid and tired. More points thrown away in a game very low on quality the result counted. Pearson needs to look at why he decided yet again to sit back passively and let Brighton keep coming on and on. We barely created anything. Understandable after the recent matches but there is a fine line between a balance of attack and defence and overly passive. Welbeck may be fit but miles off any sharpness and lack of acceleration. A poor result. Need the break and Sarr back most certainly. We can with the right mindset get something at OT and hope Liverpool are distracted by the CL. But another result to dent the spirits. This run of three matches going ahead and dropping eight points may just be what costs us in the end.
Starting to see why Leicester were in a position to have to pull off a Great Escape in the first place.
We often confuse "Loves the club" with "good enough to play for the club". Not a lot we can do except hope we have Femenia and Sarr from here on in.
Supporting Watford is not good for your mental health. It is a chore to watch them try to hold on to a lead. Not feeling confident of our chances now. But life is strange.
Very lucky with a point. Back to the nervous Jekyll & Hyde Watford we know all too well. What is it with this group of players? Confidence consistently proves to be erratic from week to week. You don't know which version you're going to get. For me this is the most annoying aspect about supporting this group of players.
We had no pace up front,. It was lucky that Brighton were awful as well. I cant see a way out of relegation on the poor show tonight.
Oh this again?! For the second game in a row without him we took the lead and were winning until the 70th minute. Sure, it would help if we'd have had someone better than Pussetto to bring on towards the end of the match, but the games still could have been managed better with what was there.
Brighton won the game with their subs today and we lost it with the lack of ours. The subs should've been made at least 10-15 minutes earlier. Noticing it more and more now that Nige makes a number of mistakes with the use of his subs - whether that's switching to 442 (not today but has done previously) or being reluctant to make changes when they're desperately needed.
Brighton were terrible. I’d say they’re pretty likely to go down, based on that performance. They were better than us though.
He's like the physical power of Deulofeu crossed with the flair and pace of Jurado. He should be sharp when he comes on but instead looks like he's been walking around following shadows for the full 70 minutes already.
You alluded the other week that I should be apologetic about my initial criticism of Pearson? A few weeks on, does that still stand?
Let's be honest, we've turned into 45 minute wonders...nothing left in the tank for the 2nd half. Capoue should have been replaced after 70 minutes. We need Kiko or Janmaat back so Mapps can go back to being token homegrown on the bench. Forgot Perreyra was playing. Deulofeu didn't seem to want it today. That was frustrating.
Apart from the Doucoure goal, we were atrocious. I worry about Pearson’s game management. We were so lucky to come away with a point. I personally think Pussetto looked half decent when he came on, he got stuck in, more than ******* Bobby P did for 80mins.
You can’t really say ‘oh this again’ when you’ve posted your comments about Deeney. You’ve been very outspoken against Deeney for the past couple of years and have gone at him again tonight - despite his form and being the most in from British striker in the PL for the past 3 months before today. Be critical of Deeney today. But not sure you should be trying to call out other people’s ‘agendas’.
Watched the second half on BT Sport wish I hadn't bothered. Positives? Good first half, just about shaded it and great goal from Doucoure' so props to him. Good stop from Foster early SH from the FK, Deeney seemed to revert back to his old ways though. Rancid SH performance A G A I N. Why do we just turn up for 45 mins atm? It's soul destroying to watch a full 90. It's like the players go in at half time, unzip their skin and come out back to front. Brighton probably should of won it like Everton and Villa did, but I am at least somewhat thankful it wasn't a third straight defeat. Mapps, great servant to the club and I have a lot of respect for you as a player for our club and what you stand for - but today that performance was League One level at best and the OG just capped off a tragic display. You should be nowhere near the first team in selection but how can we not pick you when you are all we really have? Our defence is sub standard and has been for five years really since promotion. It's like trying to squeeze juice out of a dead orange - it can only work for so long. Delafoo was poor today, didn't really get going and tbf didn't really look like he cared. Deeney was a passenger which is a shame because he has been really good of late. How many more leads are we going to throw in the bin due to comical and downright lack of thoughtfulness in seeing a game out? EIGHT POINTS down the crapper. EIGHT. That's a lot. Villa I can forgive due to fatigue most likely - last week was a comedy of errorrs by Cathcart and tonight was just a below average performance against the sort of side we will be playing next season in the Championship. Pearson has ran out of ideas - we have not performed for a full 90mins since Bournemouth. It's a real shame. Nobody to blame but several players I don't give a toss attitude. We are down. Expect zero from OT - they may be inconsistent but at least they win games. Liverpool will be a massacre at the Vic with this backline. Whatever goodwill Pearson had drilled into them since Leicester has well and truly gone out the window. I have to begin to think even if we have a squad capable of getting out of this, do they really care? Gino certainly doesn't either in respect to having five years to improve a backline that most of our U23s could fill. I'm fed up with chucking away points. It's not going to stop - it's Watford. We love to gift wrap goals. Can't type anymore for this - anger getting in the way.
Agree with paragraphs 1,2, and 4, but judging Pussetto to be "terrible" after a few minutes, in a new club, in a new league and in a new country, is possibly the most ridiculous thing I have read on here for a while.
Personally I think once you put it in the context of where we were when he was hired you can safely rule him out as a bad choice. Whether he’s good enough to save us is a slightly different question. Probably not, but then I’m not sure many could. I’m happy to discount the Tranmere games. His brief was clearly to throw the tie. I imagine the higher ups were more annoyed about the replay than if we’d have gone out on the day at home.
We will stay up. 12 games left, 8 winnable, 2 could go either way, 2 are pretty much nailed on to lose. I’m still confident we get out of this. 2 weeks break. Players can relax, recoup, see a psychologist, and be ready to smash United and Liverpool. Sarr will be back, Femenia and Cleverley also. 5 wins out of 12 games needed, still doable.
The most telling thing for me was the body language and look in Foster’s eyes in his post-match interview on the pitch. A man who can usually find a jokey positive in anything looked mentally destroyed. Could only just bring himself to defend Mariappa’s calamitous own goal - and even then it was by a barest of margins.
How dare you. They built us a new stand. A ******* new right back that doesn't blast into his own goal under no pressure like a **** is a lot to ask.
