Watford FC 1-2 Manchester United - 15/09/2018

I don't like him as a footballer because of what he does on the pitch. He's a weak link.

 

so today great hold up play, 89% passing accuracy, and a sublime finish not good enough for you.

Just admit it, you just don't like him.

 

Well it was always going to happen at some point, but it's nice in this season full of tedious victories to have a little variety. It's been far too many months without seeing an 'L' next to a Watford result.

Seriously though, this was the acceptable face of defeat. We went down fighting, throwing everything at them and only a wonder save from De Gea denied us a point.

We had a bad 15/20 minute spell in the first half, when United took total control. During this period of the match they looked a class above us. We couldn't get near them, and they carved so many good chances. Foster kept us in it with at least two brilliant saves and half time couldn't come soon enough.

Having survived that onslaught, I had a feeling the second would be different. The next goal, as always when it's 2-0, was vital. If United got it, then it could have been a painful afternoon/evening, but it was "game on" once we scored.

This is when United are vulnerable. They go into their shell in such moments, and it opened the door for us. In the end we probably should have got a point, but the turnaround was excellent. This shows we're going to be a very hard side to beat at home. If we play like today's second half level, then only the very best or luckiest opponent, will come away with 3 points from the Vic.

The crowd was excellent, and I got myself a nice black t-shirt, courtesy of the club.

Now we've lost a game, it may open the door for one or two other players to come in. I thought we missed a Richarlison/Deulofeu today, so I still think we need a little more quality up front in order to really progress this season.

Personally, for skill, I do not think this current team is as good as last season's. We've lost Richarlison, and Chalobah, Deulofeu and Cleverely have not been involved. That's a big hit on quality. Where we've improved is tactical discipline, fitness and commitment. This is all down to good coaching, so hats off to Gracia once more. Even in defeat, the team was still doing good things. That 15 minute spell is a big reminder, that you cannot drop below these high standards we've set. If you do, you will lose, it's that simple.

It rare for the majority of the crowd to clap off the team after a home defeat....but today that happened, and that speaks volumes of what the fans think of this current side.

Btw, big congrats to Paul Merson for getting his first score prediction correct.

 

And to suggest the save from Pogba at the back post was routine is comical - it was a great save.

He had a very good game today and has been fine all season.

 

I said exactly the same to my dad

 

I think, sadly, it was the correct result overall. United were on top for 2/3 of the game so I think a 2-1 result was fair. However considering that Pogba alone costs pretty much the same as our entire squad you can't feel too disheartened at all by this result and our level of intensity will certainly cause weaker sides a lot of trouble.

Thought we did well keeping Lingard and Sanchez out of the match however Fellaini was just too strong and big for our team as was Pogba.

Thought the refereeing was a bit questionable at times with a chunk of decisions not going in our favour.

At half time I thought we might finish the game losing by 6-0 and this is something that certainly could've happened under the snake last season but we showed great character to fight back and finish the game strong despite being ultimately unsuccessful. Hope to see Gerard back soon as I feel he would've been in a prime position to come on and really cause havoc.

 

I wonder why we are average first half, and decent second half. Is it Gracia tactics i.e. keep it tight for 45 then go for it, or players not doing what they are asked to do. Dunno.

 

Disappointed but proud.
It seemed we lost our composure after the first goal and were still nit picking with all and sundry and conceded the second.
Nearly squeaked a point and the spirit and tenacity were so encouraging.
Good atmosphere again,the media are even noticing I hear.
I must have really upset the family behind as they have sent Barry to sit next to me for the last two games. Non stop babbling,mainly against Dean,Young and Gray. Spits more than a camel and most of it landed on me!

 

Agree to disagree. For me he's improved immeasurably from last season, and has two quality goals to his name

 

This is a very likeable Watford team. Imagine 6/7 years ago saying United would be hanging on, time wasting and relying on their Goalkeeper to beat Watford?

Thought Dean was piss poor, we didn't lose because of him, but there were about 4 yellow cards not given to United and 3 mins injury time is a joke.

Can't really fault any of the players. It's going to be a lot of fun watching Watford at the Vic this season.

 

Nobody thinks Gray is an outstanding technical player ,but he is doing the basics so much better now., whilst contributing to our forwatd movement . If he continues to do this and weighs in with 10-15 goals this season I would be very happy with him . We are Watford not Man Utd . We won’t get a Lukaku or an Aguero so I think most of our fans can appreciate this although some clearly have unrealistic expectations .

Also I can probably name a significant no of players who I’ve seen at Watford over the last 30years who were worse than Gray so don’t get this claim at all

 

Valencia alone could have had several yellow cards today but like you say Dean was very lenient on him. Likewise Smalling was tugging shirts all over the place yet was never blown up for it

 

Disappointed not to get a point our second half display merited.
We are not a small team but utd a team of giants and Deeney/Gray failed to get anything out of fellaini/matic.
Bearing that in mind thought Success should have come on earlier and Chalobah would have brought a bit more energy/creativity to the midfeld.
Bearing in mind man U arguably the biggest club in the world their kit was absolutely hideous.

 

Good write up

 

Requatched?

 

Was that the guy who got called over by the stewards for a chat just after half time? If so, he does that every game to such an extent I'm now pretty convinced he only knows 4 words in English. Literally every sentence from kickoff is 'you ******* ****' with the occasional 'you ******' thrown in for some variety.

 

United dominated us physically and moved the ball quicker than us in the first half. While we were the better team in the second we didnt create an awful lot of clear cut chances. A draw was probabley a fair result on balance over the 90 minutes but cant have many complaints with the result. Proud of the team for their second half showing and have to say I love the never give up attitude of this team.

Doucoure, Holebas & Cathcart the pcik of the players for me. Foster also deserves a mention for his saves in the first half though his kicking is abit hit and miss.

As for United dont think they will get anywhere near winning the league this year.

 

That does sound a bit like me but thats not where i sit

 

Baby vomit.

 

Although i'm not particularly vocal myself, I don't really have a problem with people swearing out loud. I'd rather have a "swearing" atmosphere than people stood/sat there in silence. I think as long as it doesn't happen in the family stand and isn't racist or discriminatory, then there isn't really a problem apart from looking like a bit of a t*t if it's all you say.

 

There was a period in the first half where we couldn't keep the ball, made a few mistakes, conceded 2 and looked like we might get tonked. However that didn't happen and the way we forced them back was very encouraging. I thought man utd were very good, fellani was excellent, sanchez is such a good footballer and pogba and lukaku are beasts. With a bit of luck we would have got some sort of result there.

It's interesting that we again looked strong to the end. Do we go easy in the first 45? I think we do, if we're level at half time I'm lumping on at the bookies. Maybe if i was criticising Watford today I'd say that we were half a yard off them compared to the second half, but actually if we commit, get caught out in the first half we go in 3 or 4 down not 2. In the 2nd half man utd didn't know whether to go for 3 or stop us getting 1.

Mike Dean wasn't terrible but mysteriously lost his yellow card for a long while. And there were more than 3 minutes. He is a fussy attention seeking ref which makes him irritating.

 

Dean was his usual arrogant self but he did book Matic, not Capoue. Gray did well today and we did ourselves proud.

Fulham is a big game and should be an entertaining one on and off the field

 

Feels wrong to criticise, and I'm not, but there is a lesson to be learned here, Mourinho put in bigger more powerful midfield and nullified our 4222 for long periods. TBH it seemed pretty obvious he would do. Today might have been the day for a slightly different formation to try and find space out wide.

 

Second home game of the season for me, the first was against Brighton, the difference in the overall atmosphere and vibe around the ground was huge. Not one of cockiness or arrogance, but one of confidence and belief. It was great to see us compete with a view to win rather than a 'free hit' mentality. Made the delays on M4 heading up worthwhile. If kabasele's effort went in then I might have been on the pitch with my trousers off.

 

Gray my MOTM. Never thought I'd ever utter those words.

Fair play to him he held the ball up well and put himself about well.

 

Oh and I won Harry's 50 50 today too.


421 quid. Nice.

 

I didn’t pick up on this and it was only my Spurs supporting betting friend who pointed out how bad he was.

 

I may have to watch it back as, at first, I thought the same as you, but actually now I think of it, Man Utd had a very potent 15-20 minutes where they made their superiority count. Outside of that it was a very even game and we finished stronger.