Foster, while never being a particularly good footballing goalie, used to have a mighty whack on him, which seemed to fade away the longer he was with us, is there something we're neglecting in training or something? Then again, it could be a coincidence as Foster might just have been...occupied with other things shall we say!
https://twitter.com/secondtierpod/status/1627783865405243393?s=20 You can see in this video clip there’s only one other WBA defender near the line and you can see his head in the very bottom of your screenshot. It’s clear he’s well in front of Sema at the point the ball is played. Quite happy to concede the officials are dross but they did get this one right.
As caught out by what was going on as we were ! I mean did Bachmann really complain trying to cover up his error ?
I didn't see him complain, and he's complained for the flimsiest reasons to try to get goals chalked off before!
Yes but does Chalobah rather that lol? He left a Prem team to go to the Championship, he clearly wants minutes. I’d love Ronaldo as a back up striker, moot point if he doesn’t want to be it!
Pleased Prutton made a t1t of himself. He never predicts a Watford win. If it was down to him we’d be bottom of the table. He must be a closet Shatter.
I thought that Griffiths fellow was very impressive for them. Very green but made an incredible save from Pedro and a fine one from Davis.
The first half was dull but certainly impressive from a statistical perspective. We should have been home and hosed by half time after having a lot of control and quite a number of chances. It was definitely turgid but very controlled. 64% possession and 11 shots to 3. While not exciting, that for 90 mins against a play off chasing in form side like WBA would have been impressive. But that second half was poor. We let WBA take the game by the scruff of the neck and were fairly fortunate that they didn’t capitalise more. Bilic did nothing to change the game and made no subs until 80+ mins (to remove players returning from injury and cramping up). We had one of the best midfielders in the division on the bench and were crying out for more control and he was only brought on to replace the returning Sema late in the game (and created a number of chances/moves in his 10 or so mins on the pitch). I’m delighted to get a win, and as a spectacle that was thrilling (especially for neutrals) but that is a result that seemed in spite of Bilic rather than due to him.
Deeney in his prime, but although Davis is not good he probably has the edge over Deeney these days, purely because he is younger.
Disagree about the Sema one but if we're doing this it's worth adding Gaspar would almost certainly have been offside from the through ball for our opening goal if there was VAR in the Championship.
Thought Morris did particularly well against Wallace who is very direct and one of the better wingers in the champ. We looked the better side and missed 3 very big chances - or two if you chalk pedros chance as a very good save. WBA best chances predictably came from set pieces. Bachmann is a terrible keeper. Shot stopping good but the rest is dreadful. Goal kicks have back spin which gives advantage to defenders. Shouts “away” pretty much before a ball is kicked…even on in swinging corners. Kone will be a good signing once settled and matured. Wins the ball well but not used to having to move the ball quickly given the speed difference of MLS to champ
I believe he has a stammer. Just one more reason to love the guy. I have to say, I thought he was crap, and he is at the higher level, but in the Champ I'd have him over Sarr any day of the week.
I thought Kone was excellent yesterday, best I've seen him play. On another note, I don't miss VAR. Despite offside errors I'd rather have errors and be able to celebrate goals instantly. VAR does nothing for supporters at the game.
Good call. We need a proper, self assured, loud, dominant captain in this team. He’s settled in well, especially coming from a foreign country.
The law is two defenders, it makes no reference to the goalkeeper and there was two defenders level between Sema and the assistant referee
Well if that is good football and a good performance then I am done ….. until we scored we barely passed the ball forward, had no intensity and no movement - Hoedt was arguably the only one trying to force forward passes …. Then we improved a bit but it was a thoroughly dull first 45 mins. The second half while more entertaining for the neutral I think we were a disorganised shambles at the back and some of our decision making on the ball is frankly woeful and we lose the ball too easily in dangerous places. I thought Morris had his best game although he did leave Hoedt exposed a few times - Porteous was decent, Sema did well too - I don’t think anyone else was consistently that good tbh - and that’s the point, everyone had moments / periods of the game where they played well - but also had too many periods where they were poor or anonymous - we rarely see the team play well - it’s all individuals and to that end that points to us being badly coached / poor tactically …. I was really pleased when we appointed Billic … but I am far from convinced about him now and don’t see him leading us into any sort of form that will take us to the prem via the play offs
Whenever I've heard him speak I've thought he had some difficulty or condition. He's completely committed isn't he? If we had a few more like him things would be better, albeit possibly incomprehensible!
Exactly. Did Helguson have same kind of thing back in the day? I seem to remember so. Or was it just language related?
Helguson did yes. I spoke to him a couple of times for the old legends site and his stutter was much worse than King Ken's. Lovely bloke though and the heart of a lion. Loved him in a Watford shirt.
I do think both Hoedt and Porteous look to either pass or carry the ball forwards out of defence - much more than any of our other central defenders do. However it also requires movement from the players further forward to put themselves in a position to receive the ball. There was a moment in the first half where Choudhury was stood stock still with the ball and the whole of the team in front of him was also either stood still or walking slowly. You wonder what they do in training.
Some good spells, some spells where we couldn't put two passes together. A few committed performances (Porteous, Hoedt, Gaspar, Morris, Pedro, King Ken) and a few lame duck performances (Sarr, Davis). Overall it was a belting game of football and great entertainment even if the quality wasn't always there. I had multiple whatsapp messages after the game from pals commenting on what a great match it was to watch. I know a few of the stats brigade are going divvy over it and will not hear any other opinion other than 'Bilic has got to go' but it was a competitive and entertaining game. If Davis could finish it would have been a comfortable win as well.
