Look, I know we all expected more after being 2-0 up after 15 minutes. But, I think we'll be OK under Ivic. We've only lost 3 game so far. Keep this up and we'll be in the mix for promotion. Winds me up when posters are calling for a manager to be sacked because they are not entertained. A win is a win in my book. Very pleased to see Perica up top with Troy. Even when Andre is back fit, I'd rather these two as our first choice strikers.
I enjoyed going back to the Vic more than I thought I would, but it was still pretty flat having on 2,000 there. That said, after the first 20 minutes the game sucked the joy out of most of the crowd. We did look better when Hughes came on, which highlighted how cack the midfield had been with the horror combo of Chalobah and Cleverly. Can't help feeling Vladball would work better with a more dynamic midfield. I did actually see Vlad waving the team forward in the 69th minute.
This is exactly what worries me. Ivic says all the right things. But he doesn't appear to motivate or influence the players one little bit.
Well that's a bit worrying isn't it? At least if it were a tactic from Ivic, you could say it was job done from his perspective, but if the players aren't listening to him, that doesn't sound good for him moving forward
If Reading win tomorrow they will go back above us into either first or second depending upon Norwich's result.
I'm still pro-Vlad, but it's not as if we're winning every game 1-0 is it? We've dropped a lot of very winnable points, which may or may not be mainly down to Vlad
I remember the season GT got us promoted via the play-offs. I remember during the season comments about our squad being the most honest group of players in the division. It was a team that really worked hard to make themselves a team greater than the sum of its parts and it used to win games and entertain. It was a team to make you feel proud. Compare that team to this current bunch.
So those on here saying that we have to see games out in the manner we did tonight are being directly contradicted by the managers own words? Interesting.
And yet you post relentlessly about this thing you are sick of , that you hate and despise . So very strange .
I think alot of why we are generally so much poorer in the second half of these games is that teams change their tactics at half time and decide to really come at us and close us down quickly which we don't appear to be able to deal with very well and frequently lose possession,either with poor passing or bottling challenges
See Vlads after match comments on the Official Club Site, because if what he is saying is true it is not his tactics that are at fault it's the attitude of the players.
I don’t see the likes of Troy and Sarr just thinking to themselves we won’t go for goals this half and sit back though. Rotherham changed their style and formation and we didn’t really cope that well. Fortunately the defence was solid and they were power puff.
Enjoyable evening being back at the Vic, think the crowd started off strong but faded after 20 minutes despite some excellent efforts of a couple of people on their own behind the goal, 3/4’s of the way up the rookery. Second half has been discussed to death and little to input on that front other than I hope Ivic has Sarr in training all week starting his runs 5 yard behind the last man. Final word - If you were on the fence about going to football while there’s still some restrictions - If you feel safe and are fortunate enough to be chosen, I’d fully recommend it, I was very much becoming disillusioned with the game in general in recent weeks, but a 6/10 win at home has rekindled something for me. Just a few thoughts is all.
So Murray has been outside of the group (Covid) and is now coming back. It's clear that he's not in Ivic's thinking. I don't think he should be written off out of hand though. He's not good enough to play on his own, but alongside Deeney or Perica, it may work. He has good movement in the box and can finish, which is something we chronically lack. I like what I've seen of Perica to a degree, but he doesn't seem like a finisher to me. In the last two games he's had two very good chances which he's fluffed badly. (header last minute against Cardiff and through 1 v 1 against Rotherham). Decent strikers take these, or at least get shots on target. I thought Deeney was great, especially in the first 20 minutes. Everything came through him. All our chances were because of his flicks or lay offs. Nice goal too. In fact both of our goals came because of good movement and anticipation. Capoue had a small issue, according to Ivic, so was why he wasn't included in the squad yesterday. The second half fade is something of real concern though, and I'm not sure Ivic has a handle on why this is happening. To me it looked like a deliberate tactical thing. We were happy holding on to the ball at the back, playing it sideways and back to the probing game they adopted against Cardiff, which just does not work in this league. It's just vanity play, to boost the possession stats and make you feel in control, when it's actually anything but. All it does is keep the opposition in the game and keep them interested. Had Rotherham pinched a goal, and they had good chances to do so, we would have done well to hang on to the 3 points. This style of passing around the defense has to stop. The way we played for the first 20 minutes is the way forward. Lots of energy, players making good movement and quick passing. If we play with that tempo, then this league will be a doddle for us. Play like we did against Cardiff or Rotherham in the second half, we wont win too many games.
And if the players attitudes aren’t right, then it still comes down to him. One or two poor attitudes, then it can be nipped in the bud one way or another. But a whole squad of bad attitudes who react badly time and time again to his tactics/team-talks...that’s on him.
First half we looked good-plenty of good work across the back/middle with pace, playing Femenia in a lot and then switching to Sarr. Should have been further ahead on balance of play/attacking threat. Then the highlighted bit-we just couldn't find the right pass and none of Sema,Sarr, Deeney or Perica could find space or hold the ball up when they did. Ok it was Rotherham but as others have said they have run other fancied teams close but are on a poor run now however our back 4 looked good-Ngakia stood out. We looked better when Hughes came on so Ivic tried to change what was clearly not working. Was odd to see Sarr caught offside 3 times in 3 minutes as we tried to play the long ball over the top of their defence. I enjoyed being back seeing us play live-I hoped we could score kicking into the Rookery 2nd half but not to be-also thought the atmosphere was good as was seeing a few familiar faces (through their masks). I also realised how much seeing my team play live means to me (I cant really get into watching on Hive) indeed it reminded me-being of mature age-of some of the night games in particularly the 75/76 season where we would regularly get under 4,000
What was very noticeable was that when Rotherham pressed, Kabasele and Ekong did not have an outlet they thought they could use; when Chalobah dropped back between them it made no difference, just added a third timid centre back. Hughes came on and gave them an outlet who would drive at the opposition. Capoue would have been an asset as he has the confidence and ability to pick the long cross pitch passed out of our half. Chalobah is not the player to have when the opposition starts pressing. Also - what a bloody awful ref.
Two of those were def not offside. The lino looked a tad on the large side and was prob just guessing as he couldn't keep up.
Kabs was probably our MotM, but Ngakia was hardly involved and gave Rotherham their best chance in the match from being careless at the edge of the box.
I said as much in the style of play thread, what is the inevitable conclusion of indefinitely passing the ball back and forth between your centre backs and defenders? I mean in the history of football has anyone successfully just completed passes back and forth for 45 minutes? The inevitable conclusion is that sooner or later, after 5,10,20,100... passes one will be misplaced and the opposition will get hold of the ball. This is a very dangerous place to lose the ball as the only thing between them and the goal is your goalkeeper. Of course if you attack, then you will on most occasions lose the ball, but you will do so about 100 yards up the pitch with a lot of distance to travel and a lot of your players between the opposition and the goal. It’s an idiotic tactic and I cannot for the life of me understand what they think they can possibly achieve by doing it.
Yeah I agree I didn't think a couple of them were offside, was good to see him try and play on the shoulder. Looked like he was being played on in the first half as well when Ekong played him through.
I think people need to be realistic about this season. I personally think Ivic is doing a good job. I read a piece in the Athletic this week about the championship, Managers make the point that building momentum is much harder without fans and one manager said they literally play, then recover, then play again without proper training sessions. He said they signed a player on deadline day and they've had one training session with him so far. I think that is why we're not seeing great football. It's not just Watford, it's every team. Probably only Brentford fans would be happy with their current run, and they're hardly storming the league. I think Ivic is a pragmatist who has taken everything into account, and decided on making us solid first and foremost. I can't blame him for that, especially when we've only lost 3.
Will Hughes gives me hope. It's been a dark year clouded by a pandemic and relegation. We are now vaccinating for the former and I believe Will may be the cure for the latter. He's one of those rare players who has both quality but also dependability. Someone who when on the ball you relax a little bit and are temporarily released from the constant stress of watching the team you support. At best he will produce some quality and affect the game positively, at worst you at least know he won't do something monumentally stupid. Players like this make such a difference especially when our other midfield options do not fall into this category. I have to think back to players like Abdi and before that Tommy Smith 2.0 who had similar relaxing qualities. If we keep the albino ninja fit I think he will make all the difference. Final thought and as I said a few weeks ago I think Sarr is crying out for a rest. His game is a high energy game and yet I think he may have played more minutes than any other outfield player (if not very close). I don't think there's a lack of attitude or effort, I think he is utterly knackered.
