Decent game not just the win but played well You can say second team of a championship squad but going into Southampton next week would rather this than a sloppy draw or loss
Downside is that stoke have a rest the weekend before we play them - will give their new manager time to work with the players
Minor observation regarding those highlights, do the BBC just turn up and sit in the second or third row to film them?
Not like it's ever helped us them having a ***** manager and piss poor, out of form team up til now, to be fair.
Nice of us to make it a reasonably comfortable game this time! The positives: We played good possession style football. Bristol sat back and invited pressure on (Not a slight against them, just how they set up) but this time we were much more decisive and focused moving it around with effective 1-2's and playing it down the wings. Our crosses were much more dangerous. Kabasele and Wague are an effective defensive unit with being strong, athletic CB's with some pace to burn when needed. Out of our available CB's they're the best pairing available. Janmaat looked much more like the player of last year, balancing his offensive and defensive duties well. His crossing is still iffy but his overall play was much better. Hopefully this is the game he needed to get back to it. Zeegelaar like Janmaat looked more solid. Tracked his runners better, but still needs to work on marking his man better. Still an upgrade on Holebas in LB. Didn't really notice him at LM/LW. Midfield was to be expected given who we fielded. Moved it well enough and won the ball well enough. Pereyra had a slow start but grew into the game as it developed. Still think he's got something of a mental block going into tackles but he looked more effective going forward. Unlucky to see his effort smack the underside of the bar, could've been a GotS contender. Carrillo was superb. My MotM. Deeney scored and assisted. More incredibly was that his goal wasn't a penalty. Still looked ineffective at times to me, but it's a good base to build upon. Worked hard up front but still likes a lunge or two when tackling. Start Okaka and bring Deeney on after 60-70 mins. The negatives: We have two other good quality goalkeepers, in theory. Tonight would have been one of the best games to give either of them a full debut or else what's the point of them being at the club? Gomes can't play every game. Speaking of Gomes, he didn't do anything wrong. BUT, his kicking was below par even by his standards. Ironically he distributed it well under pressure a few times but under no pressure or from goal kick he kicked it out of bounds or to a Bristol City player. One flap at a corner in the first half (Which was called up for a foul anyway) is the only other thing I remember. Personally would have rested him so he was fresh for Soton. He's not going downhill but we can't rely on him forever as much as the club and Silva would love to. The Miscellaneous: Capoue had a mixed game. Slows it down more than Watson does (Which is an achievement in of itself) but then produces a fine finish and solid work in the 2nd half. He won the ball and passed it on which lead to a sequence of good quality chances saved or blocked. By far the most infuriating player in a Watford shirt. He receives the ball. Has space ahead of him... and passes it back where it came from 2-3 seconds later. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy My dog is happy. Not because of the game; God no, he just missed us.
A decent performance with 10 men & Capoue. Capoue has this nack of slowing every attack down and letting a defence get back into formation. It was really a game of why pass it side-wards when backwards will do. Never the less, a wins a win and only 3 more wins to Wembley !
Janmaat and Marv looked very good because they had hardly any defending to do. I liked the Holebas-Marv combination down the left because both can put in crosses without having to turn back onto their right foot. Troy started slowly but played well in the second half, with an excellent near post goal (almost tepeated) and a good assist for Capoue's goal
This result will have shown Man City that the giant killers of Bristol can be beaten and will give them some hope in the Haribo Cup match.
Pleasing in quite a few aspects. Not least because a win was imperative to boost everyone's morale. RP and AC Men of Match for me.Some of our players,notably Janmaat, seemed to be much more vigorous and vigilant,albeit that he had Norwich manager all to do. Chas got a rest. No discernable injuries. Clean sheet. No need for the noose tonight.
I'm really, really not convinced about this - Holebas was reckless at times, and sometimes lazy in tracking back, but at least in general he had a clue what his defensive job was meant to be, unlike Zeegelaar thus far.
A pretty decent performance today against a sub-standard Bristol City. Pleased to see Carillo have another good game, and that Deeney and Capoue got on the scoresheet. Annoyed with Silva though for bringing on Richarlison. Why? He needs a rest. He's played virtually every game so far this season. Instead he should have brought on Gray for 20/25 mins and put him upfront with Deeney. Today was as good an opportunity as ever, but I fear that Silva's arrogance got the better of him.
Was that the attendance? I guessed 13,270! I’m off to do the lottery (obviously subtracting 9 from each of my preferred numbers).
Well that was easy. I think it was more down to City having four academy kids and other reserves playing in their team today. They sacrificed the FA Cup for a futile attempt against the other City in their semi final on Tuesday, which is understandable to a degree. Watford were always in control, but did labour in possessing. Played too much in front of City without really breaking into a sweat. Second half was more open though and we did create a few chances. Scored three goals and hit the underside of the bar, although even against this side City should have scored at 2-0 down which would have made the game a lot more nervy. It was a routine win but really it should be looked at exactly as it is. This was not the City side that tore us apart in August and is not the one that's doing well in the Championship and is not the one that will be battling Man City next week. Still we are in the next round, but our big match is next Saturday.
They made nine changes before the game in August and only seven today so not sure what point you're trying to make here.
The difference was, we had to play our best team to beat them. We had a much weaker team last time we played them and they destroyed us.
You say that but me dad is a man United supporter who takes great pleasure in running Watford down Leicester 2 - 2 united Watford 2 - 1 Leicester United 1 - 2 Bristol city Watford 3 - 0 Bristol city I may have pointed this out to him immediately via phone after the match
Oh the agony! Barry behind me didn't attend so had he taken up his ticket you'd have been spot on RD!
Marco Silva press conference: “I respect the FA Cup, I respect our fans, I respect the club. Anyone got directions to Stoke?"
You can only beat what’s in front of you. It was not for us to worry about Bristol City’s attitude towards this tie. It was up to us to deal with the matter in hand, and we did so comfortably.Especially when losing becomes a regular habit in the league, any victory should be savoured. And personally as an old traditionalist I say well done to Marco Silva for taking this tie extremely seriously with a very strong starting eleven. This isn’t about comparing today with the League Cup tie. It’s not about fretting about the resumption of the league next weekend. Today was about winning a cup tie and progressing into the next round, to give us all something to be pleased and happy about. Job done.
I'm happy whoever it was Bristol City's first, second or U23's team, 20 shots, 11 on target and 3 goals! No injuries! Job done! Into the next round and onto Southampton on Saturday, all in all a good day! Oh and Luton took most of the town to Newcastle and lost their Cup Final
Again wow! We managed to beat the scraps that a Championship team put together from reserves, youngsters and blooding new players #giantkillers
