I disagree, at least not in all our low-scoring matches so far; against Cardiff Sarr and later Femenia both put in some very good balls in to the box which were screaming for a sharp striker to tap them in. Ighalo was also excellent at finding the net even when he received the ball surrounded by defenders already. We do move the ball too slow in some halves, but a decent striker would have made more of the possession we've had.
Mentioned this elsewhere. It's bad enough that none of our strikers can beat a man but they can't even drop a shoulder and make half a yard of space to get a shot away. Not a single one of our Deeney, Gray, Peric, Murray appear capable of creating something from nothing, meaning that the only way they even get a shot off is if they get on the end of a perfect cross, pass or the ball luckily breaks to them in the box.
Yeah exactly, Joao Pedro is the only one of our forwards who has shown he can possibly do it, but even then it's only been once and he also struggles to even get on the ball enough in the first place to make something happen due to the lack of intensity in his game still (he appears to have the lowest average involvement in games per 90 minutes of all our players except Gray, Perica and Murray).
I think Hughes moves the ball faster and thinks quicker than any other player in our team, when he come on Saturday we started to move the ball quicker, which ultimately got us into better positions on the pitch. You are right about our strikers though.
The truth is we’ve needed a striker (that’s a goal scorer, not a ‘forward’) ever since Ighalo lost form at the end of 2015.
Am going to this and we re in almost exactly my old seats where I sat for Deeney Leicester goal. So whatever the result Im going to do a full happy clapper pitch invasion at the end, in honour of the clubs greatest moment where we won a, er, play off semi final.
Rotherham are a decent side, they try to play a bit of football but lack the quality. We've lowered our levels and anyone can beat us. Teams set up as if we are a threat, which we aren't, which creates a situation where nothing happens at all. I think Rotherham will beat us, to be honest.
Wanna bet? Biggest worry is, from watching a few of Rotherham’s recent highlights, that Ladapo is a bit of a handful and fairly decent in the air and with his feet - if he’s on his game, our CB’s could struggle again. On a wider note, I’m just increasingly ‘meh’ about this season because of what we are watching. I obviously want us to win every game - but when we do win, it’s quickly followed by worry for the next performance. We should beat Rotherham easily - but I suspect it won’t look that way should we win. I’m feeling very much like I was at the back end of last season - really hoping for a reaction after a poor set of results but sensing it won’t come.
Item No.1 for Rotherham match preparation: Get Garner off set-pieces and give them to Sarr. At least he can deliver a cross.
1-0 to Rotherham in another boring, ponderous Watford performance. We manage two shots on target. Rotherham take off two defenders and decide to play just two at the back. One is reading a paper and the other doesn't spill his coffee at any point. Ivic is excited at our attacking style. He promises to double the number of shots in future games. Watford announce the number of fans allowed into home games will be 4000. Due to the apathetic performances on the pitch, Watford reduce this number to 1500. The joy of football.
He was great in the game up there, if I remember correctly. I did have beer goggles on though for that game. Didn't Munari score the other?
Start Perica Start Hughes Drop Deeney Get Garner off set pieces Stop playing slowly from the back, give the players freedom to move forward with the ball and put balls through the opposition defence Stop passing sideways Close down the opposition quicker Get the front 3 moving about and offering options to the midfield
It all seems so obvious and easy what to do when you make a list. Let's hope someone in the management reads this thread.
He does seem to have been on decent form lately. Is he yet another Championship striker better than any our squad has at its disposal?!
I think it was Chumlax who made the point that spending £18m on Gray has mentally scarred the owners and affected subsequent decisions ever since. So much so that we’ve just completely neglected such a glaring and obvious need. I know it’s hindsight, but look at Toney at £5m, the £18m on Gray could’ve been spent on four separate lower league strikers with potential, they might not have made it in the PL or been good enough but they wouldn’t have been any worse than Gray and obviously now they’d be great in the Championship, worse case we wouldn’t have lost any money. Gray has to be the worst buy in our history for so many reasons.
It’s almost mandatory for people to say ‘drop Deeney’ but I say he’s our best central striker by a country mile. What I’d like to see though is a change in who plays alongside him. I’d like to see a 4-2-2-2 formation with Deeney and Perica as the two central strikers. I think they could compliment each other and I’d certain like to see what they could do given a run of games. Playing Capoue and Hughes in front of the back 4, then having Sema on the left and Sarr on the right, would be a very strong looking side.
Wouldn't be against that, something has to change, as long as Perica is involved. Strong side on paper but ultimately the style of football needs to change to make that side tick.
A sharp striker would help. But we could still utilise a support striker, if they had good movement and we committed midfielders to attacking positions so they were brought into play. We have no mobility from our main striker and no attacking intent from our wingers/ midfielders to get in the box, so our crosses inevitably go to the eight defenders parked in front of their goal line, rather than the one Watford player standing awkwardly on the penalty spot. We need someone who can: 1. score from the edge of the box 2. get on the end of a floated cross 3. commit to attacking the near/ far post and 4. has a bit of composure to thread balls in behind a deep line 5. deliver set pieces Hughes might help with 4, but really we are looking for a Gueds equivalent in January for 1/3/5. Perica might be the answer for 2 if he can get match fit, but if not, a quick striker who can use their movement to attack near/ far post would massively help our cross conversion.
I know it might sound odd but I’d like to see Capoue tried further forward. We’ve got no creativity and he can pick a pass. I appreciate that Hughes night now be able to provide that creativity, but it’s something I’d like to see. Probably wouldn’t work but you never know. So far Ivic has Capoue virtually playing in defence and then spraying 80 yard balls forward to the wings, seems a waste to me.
Please can the 2,000 who are fortunate enough to be going (I was rejected again) please not make too much noise as it clearly frightened the players on Saturday. The only player who seemed to benefit was Sarr who actually tried to run a bit when the crowd noise got up, albeit to limited effect. The fact that the last match was poor means in the minds of most Watford fans that EVERYTHING is bad and there is no hope. Not being able to remember more than 1 match or apply general context is a trait popular among us 'Hornets'. I fear come 10pm tomorrow we will once again be declaring ourselves champions elect with no recollection of ever doubting it. Prediction Watford 3-0 Rotherham Cleverley (23), Hughes (42), Deeney (pen 78)
Hughes has not been available to start yet, so you can't pin that on Ivic. And as for Garner on set pieces, again given that the club hadn't signed anyone else who can take them I can't see how it's Ivic's fault either. The only one of those where he's been able to make a decision are swapping Troy and Perica, though it's also only been 2 games so far where he's had both to pick from. Let's see how much longer he sticks with Troy, that's what we can judge him on.
