27/01/12 - WFC vs Spurs (FAC4): Poll,Preview,Discussion,Reaction

Spot on mate! Firstly, finally.....FINALLY Dyche decided chucking a couple of young lads in was a better idea than putting out the dull, **** poor wingers that are Yeates and Forsyth this season. Please keep Murray more involved in the match squad this season, this game was the first time we've looked anything like threatening going forward when I've seen us this season.

Also, Sordell has shown us what he's still capable of when he wants it and we're playing good football, so assuming he's still here next week, time to pull your finger out and start giving that every week Marv.

The performance tonight was the best I've seen from us by a mile this season, but at the end of the day we're out of the cup so it counts for absolutley fark all if we don't build on it (as said above). We'll have a bit of sympathy tonight but by the end of the weekend nobody except Watford fans will care about our 'brave' performance, so we need to make it count and pick up a few wins in the next month to secure survival, starting at Milwall on Tuesday. Come on orns!

 

Just got in, not from the match unfortunately. Watched it round a Spurs supporting mates house with copious amounts of Beer of course.

All I can say is “you made me proud Watford” apart from the result I thought we looked the better side .

My mate could not answer me when I continuously told him that we were the better side but say “but we won 1-0” (can’t argue with the result though)

To be honest I did think we would get hammered and shown up; the boy’s were not intimidated at all by our supposedly powerful neighbours.

For me it was the biggest night of the season and had hoped to watch it in the local Taverna, what did the have on, flaming BINGO! The whole village (mainly men, they love gambling) go there for the big event of the week!

Thank you Watford; let’s hope you can continue with last night’s performance, who knows what we can achieve.

Ron

 

I thought we were excellent last night, well played by all and a good team selection by Dyche. A shame that 20secs of switching off cost us a replay, or a little better finishing could have gained us the win.

Just watched the ESPN highlights and it shows 4 attacks on goal from each team, not a fair reflection on our game as according to the BBC we had 25 attempts on goal to only 6 by THFC.

 

The fact that Van da Vaart said we desreved to win and was very sheepish when picking up his man of the match award says it all for me. Dominated Spurs for long periods of the game and restricted them to a few long shots mainly. Very proud of our performance and looking forward to Murray being given a long run in the team. Loach though pah.

 

Loach is error prone and he clearly cost us a goal last night, but that is no worse than Deeney missing a sitter that any other outfield player could have converted. Deeney is crap in front of goal, always has been, but does a lot of other things well. Loach is error prone and always has been, but he still does many things well. Had Loach saved a routine shot and the rebound had fallen to anyone else but Deeney, we would be in the 5th round. Everyone seems to slaughter Loach but can't cheer and praise Deeney enough. It is clear where our problems lie. 25 shots at goal, but none converted. This really underlines our deficiencies.

 

we played so so well last night, and deserved so much more. the way we played, and the passion we showed, was quite amazing i thought. hopefully we can kick on now in the league.

 

Your post was the newest of lets execute a goalkeeper but lets forget Deeneys miss(and I am not trolling through 100 posts and reading them all),and how can you compare a miss from 6 yards and van da farts goal.In the 2nd half Loach made 2 good saves,one which was Walkers header that he managed to tip over the bar which looked a goal,and Parkers shot he managed to parry away.On what was a very good all round positive performance that made many people proud there is always those that continue to slate one player,and the boy can do nothing right.

On a lighter Note Does Garner receive a prize for clearing the Rookery stand with a shot that landed in the allotment?

 

Who else can clear the Rookery? Just ran in a straight line with the ball, looked pretty rubbish to me. Fluffed the chance at the near post, lost possession which ultimately lead to there first.

 

I'm with Squibba. Didn't rate Garner at all. Someone in another thread called him 'feisty' but I'd go for 'petulant' myself. Too many moves broke down due to him either losing the ball or fouling Spurs players. and that was in the first half hour when the rest of the team were concentrating really hard on not giving away needless fouls and tiredness couldn't be an excuse. He also made a pathetic first half dive at one point which is something I hate from opposition or Watford players. Yes he did ok dropping deep to seek the ball but he just seemed unable to do a great deal with it. And although I can see why Dyche picked him for this particular match (namely that Iwellumo or Yeates in his place would have been too slow for 90 minutes) he just didn't offer anything that we didn't already have. I'll accept that some of this was down to lack of match practice/fitness and not quite being on the same wavelength as the others due to lack of time playing with them. I certainly hope he improves but if it was up to me I'd drop him for Tuesday and put Deeney back up front with Marv.

 

Deeney was better in the position he had last nigt. Despite that awful miss, he's not a good front man with sordell. Hopefully we'll play the same team tuesday night and will put as much effort in as well!

 

We didnt lose that game because of Loach, we lost it because we didnt take our chances

The more you see the goal the less bad the mistake seems, he could have done better but it was a good strike which bounced on a wet surface right in front of him

We just battered the 3rd best team in the country, focus on the positives for once, some of you will find anything to moan about

 

have no idea what game you were watching mate. his link up play was good, he tackled well and moved the ball around nicely. he set murray up for hitting the post rather than shooting himself. i thought it was a good game from someone who has not had match practice.

 

A very decent performance...some lovely football...played with much positivity. A credit to the club. Well Done.

However, what a pity our achilles heel for most of the season came back to bite us again last night..namely a lack of ability to score when we are on top..and our proneness to the occasional defensive howler, often (but not always) committed by our keeper. We could and SHOULD have got at least a draw last night, even a win, with some better calmness in front of goal. Another game that's escaped us in the post-Graham era. I feel proud of the way we played but also frustrated we let a golden opportunity slip through our fingers..and as a result, lost for the 4th week in a row. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh..but winners have victories, losers merely excuses.

Liked the side we fielded alot more last night. Murray was a real plus and great to see him given a go. Sordell could only have added to his value. Apart from the goal, we looked very solid at the back and Doyley had a good and disciplined return to the side. Buaben was raw but showed he has promise. Deeney worked hard but terrible finish after Murray's shot was pushed onto the post. Garner just looked like he was playing for a different side and not really fitting in alongside everybody else.

You know my thoughts on Dyche's signings this season and how I think he's bought badly. Last night, we started with only 3 of his transfers and how much better we looked as a result of not having the likes of Yeates, Forsyth, Iwelumo in the side.

 

End of story, there was not 1 bad Watford player on the pitch! Like Ron said, we completely battered the 3rd best team in the country!

Onwards and upwards

 

OK lets have a bit of realism here; yes we played well, but they played badly!!!

Having said that, if we can keep up that sort of form we should be able to survive in the Championship with our existing personnel, but a further note of caution, will the adrenalin be pumping as much in our league games, lets hope so

 

Did you not see that they played badly because we played well?? We gave them no time on the ball whatsoever, hounding them at every single opportunity. We were putting their lads under some serious pressure, which explained all the interceptions and missed passed. I was hugely impressed at our fitness levels and stamina last night, we never stopped running. We were like 11 terriers out there, constantly running. If you don't give the other team time on the ball, of course they will play badly.

 

The trouble is everyone gives that extra 10% because of the occasion, fans included. Watford's performance was a real tonic, but will they reproduce it against Barnsley next week? Will the fans be as fervent? Probably not. Last night was a wonderful cup match and Watford rose to the occasion, Spurs just wanted to get the job done and get out. That's pretty much how it panned out.

 

Any player who does not give the same 100% intensity on Tuesday night is cheating the club and cheating us.

 

No way would I play Garner, he is not good enough and never will be.

 

That's easy to say, but you are fighting with human nature. As a fan were you more up for it last night, than say Barnsley? If you are honest, I think we all were. It was a great occasion and the fans and players responded to it. We were playing a great Tottenham team. Bread and butter league matches do not get the juices flowing as much, and you just cannot replicate last night on a weekly basis. Players and fans all have the same emotions. So I don't expect Watford to play that well next week, however nice it would be.

 

Yes..

IF he can find somebody capable of scoring a goal or two when we are dominating a game

IF he can stop the defence playing well for 95% of a match, then conspiring to make a fatal error

IF he can stop signing and playing over-rated journeymen and gives more of our own home-produced players more of a chance

 

]How can you possibly conclude that when hes had less than a handful of starts for us?

Last night he played in the hole between midfield and attack (Scott Parker territory) and offered us a new facet to our game, linking play and offering us a chance to keep the ball on the floor when going forward. Yes he looked slightly rusty and lightweight but it was his first appearance in months and he was thrown in the deep end against perhaps the best midfields in the country (if not Europe).

Sometimes I despair at our fans :dismay:

 

Hi HB..I get your point and see where you're coming from. If I'm totally honest, for me last night was a bonus match ..I'm more up for the league and for finishing as high as we can! But I think I'm in a minority.

I don't want to appear a spoilsport because last night was very good and very enjoyable. But at the end of it all, we lost our 4th match in a row. We had a decent chance of a shock result..and blew it. Playing well won't keep us up. Playing well AND winning matches will. We've now got just 1 own goal scored in our last 4 matches..and a keeper still prone to the occasional catastrophic error. For sure, enjoy and capitalise on the many good things about our performance last night...but lets hope Dyche will also try hard to improve the shortcomings from the match too.

 

I enjoyed the game a lot, but the critic in me says to lose a game we dominated so thoroughly is a bit rubbish, whoever we were playing.

Our shortcomings were plain - we didn't close VDV down for the goal (perhaps Hoggy would have tbf) the keeper should have saved it and we didn't turn possession into goals.

That's been the story of the season really where we have matched most teams, but have come up short in vital areas. If we survive the season we'll learn from it and be a force next.

 

Re Spurs midfield, the best midfielder in England i.e Bale, was not playing and Modric was apparently ill according to the tax evader. I may be a bit harsh on Garner but I believe that there are better players in the club as Murray proved last night.

 

If we had Graham there or even Kightly i think it could of been 3-1

 

Fair enough if you dont like him as a player, but to say he 'isnt good enough and never will be' at this stage in his Watford career is very very harsh

 

But we don't have them anymore, so let's move on.

 

Agree with Ron that you can't really write a player off for the future, esp. when Garner's age. Fair enough to say he is not much good at the moment, which IMO he is not (another bad Dyche signing) but nobody knows how he will develop. Get his first goal and he could really kick on from there. After all, they said the Titanic would never sink!

 

For me me Murray and Hodson were the stand outs they were both superb.

 

My point being we were only 1 player with a bit of finishing quality off a good good win.

 

I was worried we would get torn a new one but when I heard a few whispers about the team being mixed up and what it was going to be it made me a bit more confident.

It's all been covered already but everyone was superb. First view was that Loachy didn't do well with the goal but I've not seen a replay and a few people who watched it on the telly said it wasn't a 'howler'.

To a man they were brilliant, and kudos to Dyche for having the guts to mix it up a bit.

Like most others, I'm a very proud hornet after that.

 

My thoughts exactly. As soon as I saw the squad I was much happier about the game.

 

Glad I'm not the only one Moosey. Sure, the performance was great and there was a lot of guts on show, but to lose after absolutely dominating for most of the 90 shows there is a massive shortfall in our goalscoring.

Also, someone said Dyche got everything spot on, but I thought we looked markedly poorer once Yeates came on.

Having said all that, it was a great game, just missing the goals. Loach's blunder was criminal, but we had enough chances to win 2,3 or even 4-1. Can't put it all on Scott's shoulders.

Given we don't have a single person at the club capable of playing alongside Marvin, the loan striker formation looks the best option. Both Garner and Deeney can perform better when not actually part of a front 2.