Probably going against the majority here but... In far less annoyed than I was Saturday. I saw a lot of potential with this formation, 4-3-3 seemed to suit us. The players also put 100% in which could not be said on Saturday. It was just our final ball this evening, we need to sort that out. My god we miss Hughes and to an extent Cleverley. Same formation next game please, and you know what? Start Troy. He held the ball up and caused a bit of chaos in their box, we just need to make sure players get around him more. Frustrating evening but a few positive signs imo.
Lacking in the final 3rd tonight. Apart from that a point against a side above us away from home isn't the end of the world. Aware we had a few players missing. Just need to do better away from home against the 'lesser' sides going forward in order to stay in the promotion places. Ivic will know this.
Not great by any means, but definitely not as depressing as Saturday, Bristol City are better than QPR and I wasn't confident about that midfield. Kept a clean sheet for the first time in ages too, Foster didn't have much to do at all (although a few times they did give us a big scare only to not quite get the final pass right). Capoue is out for 10 days now, but hopefully Hughes is back for the weekend, or else we'll be back to square one. I really thought we'd be at near full strength for QPR, I didn't think we'd have Hughes and Capoue out ffs
We are an extra touch on the breakaway, a backward pass with space ahead and a misplaced pass out of play when you had time, with a sprinkling of headless chicken and a touch of cloth, all wrapped into one ***** package. The championship is ******* terrible and we fit right in.
Positives: Garner wanted the ball and wanted to move it forwards, actually looked like the only leader out there. Quina had his best performance of the season but really should've scored. Kabasele was really good too. We didn't lose. Negatives: where to start? We don't look like scoring. Gray is appalling, he makes the right runs but can't do the basics as a footballer. Chalobah... wow. What a terrible player he's become. So, so sloppy. Pedro can't be starting games at the moment with the team misfiring, looks like a little boy lost. Speaking of which... Sarr. Again. £30m and is afraid of his own shadow. I don't know if we could've set up any differently given the players available but that was so, so disjointed. Also, huge black mark against Ivic for our set pieces. Every corner, City did something different. Sometimes stacked the six yard box, sometimes had everyone running to near, sometimes had them starting outside the box. We did the same every time. Garner's delivery is actually for the most part pretty good, it's whizzed in at pace but we don't get our head on anything. I get he's trying to get it low and flat into the six yard box but the number of times it's headed away unchallenged as we never have someone going across the near post is ridiculous. As for the two strikers that cost us £130k/week. You can either have the one that gets in the right positions but can't do anything with the ball, or the one that never gets in the box but is a better footballer. What a joke.
Remember when this season in "the best league in the world" was supposedly going to be exciting and fun? I've never had less fun watching football.
Who is this strawman "they" you speak of?! Not the posters on here who actually regularly watch our matches.
It's has been over ten games. And based on what I have seen there is no cohesion, no unity, no hunger, nor the technical ability or creativity to gain promotion. It has been particularly away from home worse than dreadful. The mistakes Gino and his bum chums have made are coming home to roost. 18 MILLION for Gray !!!!!
Yeh I think Norwich had to score late to beat them so they seem difficult to break down. Interestingly in that game Bristol has 6 shots on target. So credit to the Watford defence tonight.
And I actually feel sorry for him because he is clearly not a lone striker he cannot control a ball. Play him in a two, with balls to run on to nothing more or less!!
I'd have paid double that just to get the stench of his presence out of the club An absolute cancer, Ellington Mk2
Looked like an average Championship side with no quality up front. Ok in defence and tidy but lightweight in midfield.
Tread on the ball? Yes please. Hoof it up out for a goal kick? I'll have some of that. Left wing backs who take until 89 minutes to cross left footed? Genius plan, nearly worked. Chuck another forward on, for a forward. Risky but I like it.
Baffling reactions here. Amazing how little comprehension of this league there is in our fan base. It’s like people expect us to wheel out the Liverpool performance twice a week all year. Get a grip. Away to the third placed team, outplayed them and kept a clean sheet. Haven’t got the front line sorted yet but it will come. Decent run of home games coming, confident of a few wins. We will be top 3. Sorry, I meant to say “grrrr Pozzuhs out, Gray is gerbege, Deeney you are fat!!!”
If he'd had Perica or even Gray to lay the ball off to, we might have got somewhere. JP was a total waste of space.
16 points out of 18 at home. No cohesion, hunger, etc at Vicarage Road? Don't agree. And Gray's wages is what he negotiated for just like any player and their agents. Good for him and good for them.
First,I thought Quina was much better suited in that more advanced role and was unfortunate not to score.There was definitely more cohesion but still far too many wasted passes,even Foster was guilty. I thought Garner played well although his set pieces were erratic. Ngakia always impresses me and needs to play. Pedro some nice touches but spent most of his match in midfield. Their chap Caster Semenya was tricky. Now: I have always tried to be objective and try not to be personal but if Andre Gray ever starts a match again for us I shall seek out Gino and insert a large garden gnome into him. In nearly 50 years of watching Watford that has to be the most lamentable display from a centre forward and I saw Trevor Senior,Quinn and Kerry Dixon. When he managed to touch the ball he gave it to City and the rest of the time he missed it completely. His touch has always been poor but by heavens tonight he set a new level of ineptitude.We had 10 against 12 for the time he was on the pitch.'Playing' would be stretching it. Never,ever again PLEASE.
Real Jekyll and Hyde performance - dominated possession in the first half (although struggled to do anything meaningful with it) and didn't really give them a sniff and I thought we were going to be in control of the second half as well. But after HT we were completely the opposite - we still had most of the ball but they looked much more threatening and likely to come away with the points. So annoying that all of our players don't want to try and take on their players in 1 on 1 situations - multiple times Sarr could've attempted to take on his man but instead slowed things down and turned away and passed instead - what I'd give to have Semenyo who did the opposite and looked a real livewire and full of promise for a 20 year old. Quinas best game in a while and another forgettable performance from Chalobah.
This is one of the things which really confuses me - you call our squad a "shower of ****", and in the striker and central midfield positions we certainly do have **** options, yet you're also calling Ivic out for failing to "motivate" them?! Let's be honest here, based on what we already know from the last couple of years, there are no managers on Earth who are capable of "motivating" Troy to be quick and sharp, and "motivating" Gray to be able to control and pass a football. I still find it difficult to be too hard on Ivic for our attack being so blunt given who he has been having to play there. I'm sure he's aware that some of the players are sub-par for.
Postive that it's our first clean sheet since Derby. Perica looked good WHEN he came on. Defence solid enough but BC were there to be taken really. Players showed less passion than Deeney at a salad convention. Ivic needs to start getting into players heads more. We are creating nothing again away from home and these soulless displays are hard to watch. It's not bad of a point looking at where we both are at present, but it means Preston is a myst win, and they are better away than at home. Gray was useless, why does Ivic start him? Good formation though, we just need a clinical finisher and be able to test a goal keeper more than once per match. Thank god Swansea and Millwall drew, but we cannot draw our way to promotion with slightly better home performances.
I think I would start with Deeney and Percia with Sarr and Quina out wide for the next game. We need to win all our home games to stay in touch.
Genuine question, what were their sitters? And were they better chances than Cathcart's missed header from 5 yards?
I've been waiting for us to sparkle for a ten minute period in the last 10 games, tell me a good patch of attacking football we've had since Luton? I dont think wating to see signs of a decent team in patches whilst picking up points playing poorly is too much to ask. I've seen nothing.
Why not? To me it looks like a bang average squad with a couple of gems (Pedro and Sarr) who aren’t performing.
It's not that complicated. Our squad is full of ****s, with terrible attitudes. Badly scouted players on contracts which are terrible value. But despite that, Ivic still manages to underacheive beneath even my expectations. I don't think that sacking him will solve anything, but I think that playing ugly football on top of **** football is worse than just being ****. Ivic is a terd.
