Javi Gracia - Valencia Cf

Discussion in 'General Football & Other Sport' started by wfcSinatra, Sep 7, 2019.

  1. domthehornet

    domthehornet Moderator Staff Member

    The problem was that he stuck with players that were not performing and showed no willingness to change.
     
  2. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    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
     
    folkestone orn likes this.
  3. R4E

    R4E Reservist

    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.
     
    Arakel and domthehornet like this.
  4. Knight GT

    Knight GT Predictor extraordinaire 2013/14

    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!
     
    folkestone orn and Burnsy like this.
  5. domthehornet

    domthehornet Moderator Staff Member

    QSF did well to set the team up as he did but our only tactic for the season was to lump the ball up to Deeney and Ighalo. When that failed to work he didn't change anything in the final half of the season. Watching the same team week in week out using the same awful tactic was dirge.

    It may be different this time as he has a far different squad but from what I have seen I don't hold out much hope.
     
  6. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

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

    domthehornet Moderator Staff Member

    Yup. Gracia did attempt to rectify this with different formations though as shown at the West Ham game and Newcastle this season. He took the risk and lost his job for it but at least it was an attempt to change.
     
    M0zzie likes this.
  8. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    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.
     
  9. domthehornet

    domthehornet Moderator Staff Member

    I agree the squad was atrocious but we had wingers we could have utilised rather than Abdi and Jurado out on the wings for the large part of the campaign. We were desperate for a bit of pace and guile yet we were stuck with the same old.
     
  10. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    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 ????
     
  11. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    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.
     
    La_tempesta_cielo_68 likes this.
  12. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

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

    domthehornet Moderator Staff Member

    Didn't we have Amrabat as well from January?

    The thing is when both Deeney and Ighalo were bang out of form he didn't change a thing even when we went behind in games, it was the same formulaic attack that was easy to defend against once it was figured out. There was no attempt to change to a different style.

    Hopefully QSF has learnt from his past experience.
     
  14. GoingDown

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    Cricketing knowledge good.

    Forestieri knowledge bad.
     
  15. R4E

    R4E Reservist

    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.
     
  16. Several people have posted this.

    What wingers are people referring to?

    Berghuis, Ibarbo? Total dog *****. They were so dog ***** we went and bought Amrabat.
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2019
  17. Markoa$

    Markoa$ Squad Player

    I miss Amrabat
     
  18. CleyHorn

    CleyHorn Reservist

    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?
     
  19. Happy bunny

    Happy bunny Cheered up a bit

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

    GoingDown "The Stability"

    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.
     
  21. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

     
  22. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    Also safe to say none of those would greatly improved the team, particularly going on subsequent careers. Fessi aside.
     
  23. a19tgg

    a19tgg First Team

    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.
     
    kVA and wfc4ever like this.
  24. Forzainglese

    Forzainglese Reservist

    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.
     
  25. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Another slow winger - we do seem to like them !
     
  26. hornetboy1

    hornetboy1 First Team Captain

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

    Carpster Squad Player

    So it looks like he's gone from one idiotic owner to another.
     
  28. Good luck to the cheeky ghurner. Beautiful old city and a great beach. I worked there twenty + years ago.
     
  29. Hogg-DEENEY!!!

    Hogg-DEENEY!!! Squad Player

    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!
     
  30. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

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

    GoingDown "The Stability"

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

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    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!
     
  33. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    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.
     
  34. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    Still think he was underused
     
  35. simpleMASH

    simpleMASH Reservist

    Just QSF actually
     

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