He did. He cupped both (though it appeared to be to hear the tannoy announce him as the scorer). He looked visibly as if a weight was off his shoulders.
I do feel Rich needs a bit of time out of the spotlight. He's been far better in the last two games, mainly because the responsibility has been on the older and more accomplished Deulofeu. He's on something like his 9th month of consecutive games, and he's still running his knackers off. Very impressive from the type of player you wouldn't expect it from.
Great result, one swallow doesn't make a summer nor guarantee an escape from relegation but it's a step in the right direction and a performance I think we all needed, well done lads, get in!
After the Swansea game, the supporter who sits next to me said " I don't know why we bother putting ourselves through this every week! " yes it was bad, I reminded him towards the end of last night's game, and said that's why we put ourselves through it! Now onto West Ham, and please keep this run going!
The best thing is that we have confidence and team spirit back. If that level of performance is the new norm I cannot see west ham or everton keeping up with us.
Oh troy you silly boy. 4 games, maybe 5 ban. Our club captain put in a good shift tonight. Now he is going to be banned for the gesture to Chelsea fans. Silly.
One thing Gracia has seemed to of rubbed out is conceding scrappy late goals. Hazzard’s was a screamer, so not counting that. Every time the ball came near our goal, we looked assured and in control. Positioning was good and no silly challenges. Well done.
From the Chelsea forum - That aside Mike Dean has been horrible tonight letting the Chelsea players continually get fouled and bullied. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Oh didums, did the big bullies from Watford tackle your primadonas and not just stand around and let you play? What a bunch of over entitled knobjockies.
Some random musings, mostly on Silva. I’m not getting carried away here, it’s just one result, but under Silva post Everton we didn’t have ANY good performances, so it’s fine to look at this result in isolation forgetting what might happen over the rest of the season. This result goes to highlight just what a limited manager Silva was/is. Looking back at the early part of the season when we’re nicking results at the death just highlights his limitations more than anything else. He doesn’t know how to set up a defence, he doesn’t know how to adapt to the opposition. The article quoting him as being a ‘cheque book manager’ makes absolute sense now. We’ve all been worried about our awful defenders and frustrated that we haven’t strengthened in the window, well the truth is ability is only half the story. They may have limitations but a good coach can still set them up to work as a unit, a good coach can study the opposition and pick a formation to get the best out of them. Silva’s approach would be to spend money on defenders and leave it up to them to sort it out, Gracia can make something out of what he has through proper coaching and tactical nouse. It’s refreshing that we finally seem to have manger who makes allowances for the opposition, Silva just blindly went into each game with the same stubborn attitude and we got slaughtered every week as a result. The annoying thing is I think that at a top team with good players Silva will do well, because he will have players of high enough quality that can defend better on their own, and midfielders who can press and pass and take the pressure off the defence anyway. However with a team like us he will always get found out because he’s a one trick pony. Finally a word for our owners. While some of our peers sack their managers, flail around for a month or so not having a clue what to do before appointing a has-been from the merry-go-round, ours pinpoint somebody who nobody has ever heard of but can parachute in and perform everything the previous manager couldn’t do. Absolutely amazing.
What an unbelievable night, one of my favourite in the prem yet! Every single player was fantastic, who on earth would have thought we’d beat champions Chelsea with Holebas and Marriappa at CB! Karnezis did pretty much everything asked of him which in the end wasn’t a lot he had to do and couldn’t do much with Hazard’s strike. The defence was brilliant and very ably assisted by those in front when doubling up on Hazard, Moses and Giroud. Even when taking big blows to the head they didn’t get fazed and the composure on the ball was brilliant, they always seemed to know when to pass it out or when to hoof it clear. The midfield were immense, Capoue was at his best which can still be frustrating but no more frustrating that the fact he is capable of being a regular with the right mindset. Zeegelar was great and supported Holebas and Richarlison equally well and was very economical with the ball. Janmaat was superb, a couple of tame wasted shots but then an absolute quality goal. I’ve personally always been a fan of his and think he’s a very good asset to have, he’s not right for all situations but pushed further up the field with less defensive responsibility he is perfect. Doucoure is just far and away our best player, he is absolutely priceless. The front 3 were sensational, I don’t know if it was the tactics from the manager or the fact of having better player in Deolefeu up there but both him and Richarlison were closer to Deeney when needed which as we know he’s at his best with a partner near him. Richalison was brilliant and great to see how much he cares, if he really finds his composure and decision making on point he’ll be a world beater. Deeney was immense, if he can find that form again he’s guaranteed to start and the goals/assists will come, the 2 quick lads around him make his life so much easier and even though he was blowing towards the end his gut busting run to create space for Deolefeu’s goal was brilliant. Deolefeu if he keeps that up we’ll have no chance of getting him permanently, love his attitude. He doesn’t seem afraid of hard work and doesn’t come across as a big time Charlie who thinks he’s bigger and better than the club unlike how Niang seemed. I hope he falls in love with the club and wants to come full time. I was worried when we took Richy off for Pereyra as I thought we’d miss his pace and work rate but what a top quality finish from Pereyra, again showing he has all the ability in the world he just needs to find fitness and consistency with it especially as finding a place for him now isn’t a given. Baffled how there’s any debate about the penalty and baffled by Courtois interview after the game, when a goalkeeper comes rushing out and doesn’t touch the ball in anyway and goes through the players path what can they expect to happen? If a defender goes sliding across, doesn’t touch the ball and touchers the attacker there wouldn’t be a debate. Genuinely wouldn’t have said a word if that was against us. What a night, hats off to Gracia. He’s saying everything right and has more than steadied the ship. It’s incredible how 1 big win can have you looking up the table suddenly, IF we get a result against West Ham at the weekend there’s no reason we can’t push on and play with freedom for the rest of the season.
Last night's game must be the first for a long time we didn't suffer any new injuries, anyone know how long Kabs will be out for (I know that's not a fair question to ask after last nights result, but I don't seem to have read any info on his injury)
It's put the fear of God into West Ham fans: Sunday- actually fancy us to rectify last season's season turner. Two up to lose by two devastated our season. Just heave fatboy Deeney into the air twice in the first 5 mins. I know we're bare bones but.... Us 2 them 0. Last night- I think all Moyes can do is park the bus because they will absolutely tan our hides with the pace and power they have up front. I will be surprised if its not a convincing win for them but we need to stop leaking goals because GD may be worth a point. Christ, it looks like very dark days ahead of us.
what a night! I'll be honest I was pretty close to flouncing out as soon as hazard scored. I felt our collapse was inevitable, then that ending.....I cant remember a more exciting match in recent times (since the prem anway...). All the players that people dislike on here were immense (apart from gray, natch). Janmaat can only play in a more forward role and yet again he comes up with a goal. An essential squad player for us. Holebas was supreme. The keeper must be our number on. Got down quickly and held on to shots - something gomes can sadly no longer do. Capoue was back to being the rolls royce player he was under QSF. Deeney was strong and made the space for our ace players. Pereyra finally came good.....what a match. And the best bit of all? It highlighted what an overrated sack of **** silva truly is. HA!
Last night really showed up how limited Silva was/is as a Head Coach, it's infuriating because had he not been such an egotistical ***** we could be doing very well. I imagine the last remaining Snakey fanboyz are seeing the light. Deeney looked great last night, and it all it took was playing someone else up front and having Deeney play a bit deeper - glad to say I was very wrong thinking Okaka was a better option than he was! Doucoure, Capoue and Deulofeu absolutely bossed that midfielder - fantastic display. Absolutely loved Janmaat's goal, fan-*******-tastic. Gracia is a tactical genius.
So a win on Saturday would see us to 33 points. Lose and we still stay 11th! We are the 9th top scorers in the Prem this season but thr 4th worst for goals against. It's certainly been entertaining!
"Kelsohorn is staying up, Kelsohorn is staying up, and now you'd better believe us..... and now you'd better believe us.... Kelsohorn is staying up"
Such a good goal. He created something from nothing, fashioned the 1-2, and kept control and his head in a packed penalty area, before a very tidy finish. Very possibly goal of the season in my book.
It's indefensible for a Captain to be so immature. Such a great team effort thugh last night so we move on, unless the FA charge him of course! Him getting bans for a silly scrap with Allen, a silly foul and now potentially an offensive gesture are all stacking up now.
Not gonna do a full tactical analysis but my view on the match: Obviously Gracia got things very very right with his tactics last night - Richarlison and Deulofeu had the job of swarming into central midfield when we were out of possession - to which Chelsea had no answer as it meant Bakayoko and Kante were well and truly overwhelmed. This forced errors - including the Bakayoko sending off, the decision was potentially a bit harsh but would've definitely happened later on in the half anyway. I said to my friends before the game that I reckon we'd try to target Cahill as Bournemouth did with such success, I smiled when I saw that Deulofeu would be up against him as Cahill stood no chance in that battle, a well deserved MOTM and a goal and assist (for the penalty) on top. Holebas at CB was a bold call but he dealt with everything superbly. Karnezis did everything that was expected of him, reckon Gomes is gonna lose his spot. Doucoure is an absolute machine and is crucial to us - no player would be a bigger loss right now. Please don't get injured. We're now 6 points off relegation and 6 points off Europa League, with the tactical versatility that we haven't seen at the Vic since Joka, I'm gonna say we're gonna be fine - a win and a draw from our next 3 games will put us in a very healthy position.
Relive those moments again through Jon Marks. http://wfc.net/17-18/goals/Chelsea_h1.mp3 http://wfc.net/17-18/goals/Chelsea_h2.mp3 http://wfc.net/17-18/goals/Chelsea_h3.mp3 http://wfc.net/17-18/goals/Chelsea_h4.mp3
Most likely cos we had Gray on the bench and were only going to play one up top - our bench was pretty balanced. Pererya = wing or CM Carrillo = wing Gray = Striker Ndong = CM Lukebakio = wing Bachmann = Keeper Mukena = Centre-back
What is it with Janmatt and scoring worldies against Chelsea. Unbelievable performance from us weeks after looking the worst side in the league. Gracia has turned the confidence around and instilled fight. Delofeu on his day looks a world beater, how have we got him?! Doucoure and Capoue were imperious and Mapps bossed Hazard all game. And to think we still have key players to come back!
Another thing I noticed last night - first half both Deulefeo and Holebas appeared to go straight for goal from corners. New tactic to unsettle defences from set pieces?
