Luis Suarez, I believe. But I don't think Deulefeu is anything but injured and recuperating, at the moment.
Guessing it's going to be Chalobah that he's talking about as injured last week but didn't want to give details away. Did well when he came on as sub but Dele-Bashiru alongside Cleverley and Garner looks lightweight. Crying out for an older head/more experienced defensive midfielder who can put their foot in. That and a left back will be the two positions i think we're trying to strengthen.
He's really impressing me, Mr Ivic. Dare I say it, he could be the best coach the Pozzo's have ever hired at Watford. Ok, most of them ended in abject failure, so it's not too much to live up to, but a couple did well for us for a time and his fellow countryman Jokanovic left with his reputation and stock high. I like the way he speaks with almost naive patience and honesty to the questions he's being asked. He rarely ducks a question and often expands. Maybe he's new to all this and hasn't had time to create that armoured coating that all coaches seem to have when faced with questions. I think if you're straight and respectful in your questions, without them being loaded, then he will be open with you. That's how I perceive him. Maybe once we get back to the Premier League and he's faced with the national hacks, the guard may go up, but for now it's good he mainly faces just the local press who only really have a genuine interest in Watford issues. Anyway, he openly stated we are looking for two new players, and that's if no one else leaves by the sounds of it. Obviously, as he admitted, one of those positions is LWB, but he didn't expand on the other position. Now maybe in his head he thinks Capoue has gone, so we'll be bringing in one more central midfielder, which would make sense to me. Garner and one other, to replace Doucoure and Capoue. Alternatively, if Welbeck, Suarez and maybe even Deeney do go, that leaves us light up front. We'll only have Perica, Murray and Gray as outright strikers. Pedro and Sarr being converted to strikers, but their strengths are wide forwards and really should be used as such. It's all gone quiet on links though. We're not even being linked to any incoming players which could hint at the mystery position. He said he's done at CB, and I can't imagine we'll be looking at GK or RB. Personally, given the options I think it's likely to be a CMF player, but maybe a striker if we lose Suarez and Welbeck, as seems to be the case.
Its like football manager 10 years ago when I'd pick a squad and reserve team squad, 18 months would go by before I'd realise I had the 2005-6 top goalscorer and pots accidentally sat in the reserves not playing and hadnt flogged him off after all.
I don't think he's naive at all, I think he's the opposite. He's unfailingly polite but you can tell he thinks loads of the questions are ******** (which indeed they are). And if another journalist has already asked the same thing, he's not going to bother repeating himself.
Lets not forget the new young Guinea striker who is coming in January and looks **** hot, and isn't there a possibility that Coucho will be available in January too.
I have no issue the owner can find good young players. They seem to be pretty good at this type of deal, however, they never land the plane. They usually mess up when they sell. They sell at the wrong time or for low fees. They are no Dan Levy for sure.
Tbh it's probably a little too early to be relying on a 17 year old who has never played outside Guinea (if he even has a work-permit as I'm not sure how he's got one unless he has dual-nationality)
Are Reading a pressing team? I thought it was really odd that Luton didn't press us high up the pitch, when that clearly caused us problems against Wednesday and Boro. The fact that they sat off and let us play, played into our hands.
My guess is any team that is a pressing team is going to be in trouble this year with the rate of games
I don't understand why all teams don't emply a pressing tactic. Ok it's tiring and needs to be a co-ordinated process but it's so effective.
Yep. So many goals during our brief unbeatable winter were directly as a result of the press. Especially at this level, the reward is at best a tackle and attack and at worst a hoof out of play.
I think I can explain that in two words.....Ismaila Sarr. I don't think many teams will press too high up the pitch with his pace available to us, even if he doesn't score or influence the play that much his presence will mean teams sit deeper against us.
It was very noticeable against Luton that whenever he got the ball their LB would drop instantly and not put pressure on him - any other player on the ball they were much quicker to press.
Sure was. Every time he got the ball you could see them panicking and filling their pants. Quite hilarious, really.
Last time I went to Reading we lost 4-0 under Rodgers. It was a Friday night, bitterly cold and I can’t remember us getting near there box let alone score. I sat behind a some awful chav woman who kept shouting ‘Hunts a c**t’ over and over again as if she was the first human being to realise the two words rhyme. Its all I could hear on the way home stuck in my head whilst I navigated the M25 in the pouring rain. The kind of game where you ask yourself is it really worth it, there must be something better I could be doing with my life! 0-1 Watford (Sema)
Various reasons . Vardy for example has pace to burn so the counter attack will get the results for him . Also , if you press high up the pitch then that leaves you open to the counter. It's ok if VVD is your CB but our clodhoppers need adequate protection.
Presuming that Chalobah is out injured.... Foster Ngakia Cathcart Kabasele Wilmot Sema Cleverley Garner Quina Pedro Sarr
Because it is far easier to execute a low block than it is to play with an effective press. The squad also need to very fit to press not just for 90 minutes, but 90 minutes two times a week for an entire season. Pressing us was very easy when we had Glenn Murray up top with Cleverly behind him. Lets see what happens when a team tries to push up high and press against Sarr.
If they’re missing Ejaria, Lucas Joao and Swift, there are no excuses for our clean sheet streak not to continue. I hope Ivic names as close to an unnamed team as possible. If it ain’t broke.
