But I didn't go into it with zero expectation. Tbh I did expect us to win when I saw the lineup and even put us down to win as part of an accumulator. I just didn't automatically expect us to win easily and assume that Chesterfield were a walkover. The fact is we did win and i am personally estactic about that as i really relish being in the 4th round. Yes of course i agree we were poor for much of the first half and were lucky at times. I genuinely don't think I was saying that any critique or performance is entitled and if it came across this way I apologise. Did i say that? Criticism can be healthy. What I thought I said, or meant to say, was that to be expect us to automatically beat Chesterfield convincingly and easily was arrogant and disrespectful. Why on earth would one not take some positive out of the team one supports getting a positive result whilst still being able to acknowledge that things that could have been better? It's not all bad and it's not all good.
Ps You seem like a nice person with a healthy attitude to debate. However, to seek to compare me to HB1 is bang out of order. How very dare you.
Classic cup game, I thought we were playing Leicester in disguise for parts of the first half!! Glad we got over the line eventually. I think we just about edged it but wouldnt have had any complaints if they had forced the replay. Home or away to a big team next please, I fancy being the underdog next time.
I do find it frustrating that this team always needs a rocket up it's arse at half time, why can't the players get themselves fired up for the first half in most games?
Yup. It's odd as well, as having to chase games and throw 110% into it deep into injury time is only making things harder for them. We were sloppy on Saturday and could easily have been 2-0 up at half time if Asprilla and Kone had made the most of the Chesterfield defensive mistakes and put their 1 on 1s away. Would have been a different game then.
I think all of our attackers are guilty of holding onto the ball for too long instead of playing the simple early pass forward. It gives the opposition time to gain a few yards back.
There was one in the first half on Saturday where we caught Chesterfield backpedalling on the break yet took so long to pass the ball from side to side with zero intensity or purpose that by the time one of our players looked to make a forward pass they had all 11 men back behind the ball.
Sema is our most effective attacking wide player and the one most inclined to attack at pace. Martins and Asprilla are arguably more skilful but they are the most wasteful and guilty at slowing us down.
Cup games are often unusual affairs which the bigger clubs rarely care that much about (unless they're one of the big 4-6 realistically aiming to win the whole thing or the fixture is a local derby). The lower league teams often play out of their skin with the hope of causing an upset and maybe getting a lucrative later fixture, and freak results can and do happen. Before the game I also expected that we would win - but so did our players, and that meant our effort levels and intensity were way below par for most the match, and that was the key factor in them going ahead. I wouldn't say that to expect to win is necessarily entitlement, but the complacency can be costly. If you look at other ties in this round there were two Premier League teams yesterday in Luton and Forest who failed to win at home against sides 2 divisions below them, so it's not as if our performance and result were an outlier. Do the results mean we're hardly better than Chesterfield, or that Bolton and Blackpool are as good as Luton and Forest? No. In a league game you'd expect home wins probably 4 times out of 5, if not higher. You'd also probably expect the home teams to finish higher than the other team over the course of a full season 99 times out of 100. But going back to my first line - one off cup games are often unusual affairs, and I simply wouldn't get so worked up about them, or read too much in to them, one way or another; whether negative or positive. Their results don't always reflect how a team is doing in the league, and rarely do the results have any knock-on impact on a team's league performance. We're still 10th in the league having a decent season with usually motivated players. A below par cup game doesn't change that.
Healey's movement when Kone broke through was bizarre. He ran diagonally away from Kone, completely removing the option of a pass. He did look like he was running through treacle though so perhaps he just didn't back himself to beat the defender in a foot race. Ideally, we'd have wanted Kone to have been able to slide a simple square pass along the floor leaving Healey with just the keeper to beat from a first time shot.
Well, I'm used to being In The Line Of Fire as I do like to lay down The Gauntlet, but as long as the mods don't give me The Eiger Sanction, I'll be ok. I'm just waiting for Gino to sign a Million Dollar Baby or to go for Lady Godiva of Coventry. I'll expect Gino will ask Val to "Play Misty For Me", but hopefully Val will tell him he's a Star In The Dust. I think we need an American Sniper up front. He could be a real Magnum Force and will give us the Sudden Impact we need. Could do with The Mule doing all the Blood Work in midfield too. But we'll probably sign no one and just play The Rookie. Scott and Gino are little more than Space Cowboys and what they've turned the club into is really a True Crime. Gino just craves Absolute Power. Our players may Cry Macho, but it's really all a Coogan's Bluff. Hopefully Dirty Harry Hornet will sort them out though.
Healey's run there was awful. I still think Kone had enough time to put it away but when I watched the highlights back I was ready to lay into him for not playing the pass either but as you say it was really never on.
Generally, I think, you are a bit harsh on the players. But you are right here: And that's why I think it's a coachable thing; Just repeatedly tell the wingers and wing backs 'Cross the ball' and practise doing it, combined with appropriate runs and positioning by the forwards.
Exactly. We all see it being effective so I struggle to understand why they don't do more of it. All I can think of is they are scared of losing the ball, and possession has become an obsessive in the game in recent years but it is to the detriment of taking risks and exciting football. You are right it is coachable and so I hope that in the coming weeks we see an improvement. In fairness to VI there have been a number of areas in several players where coaching and improvement has been evident so I live in hope he will do the same with Martins and Asprilla. Get the ball, find a yard, get the ball into dangerous areas - and don't be frightened of losing the ball.
Kone was through. He should have shot one or possibly two strides earlier. It's a besetting sin of the Watford forwards.
On this one though a large reason Martins and Asprilla look so ponderous in the first place is because keeps insisting on them playing inverted for large chunks of games. They're rarely on their 'right' side to beat a man and whip a cross in. I'm not sure crosses when cutting back inside will suit Rajovic as much either. Totally anecdotal but I reckon they require more movement as they're easier to predict as a defender.
Yeess...But Watford, this season, seem to have turned around a habit of starting well and fading and conceding in the last 10 minutes (lack of fitness and gumption) to coming on really strong in the last 10. It has begun to be a pattern and long may it continue. I suspect most professional players don't deliberately go out to swing the lead, but it is a pretty much subconscious thing. They all are probably glory hunters and don't want to end their careers breaking a leg against Chesterfield and it all tends to become easing off by fractions. And, of course, "Everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team": Chesterfield had the opposite feeling and were not a bad side.
I've only just noticed but surely our opponents name is spelt incorrectly in the thread title ? Is this not going to be corrected ? Has no-one else noticed ? Chester United's fans must be absolutely furious at the lack of respect.
I would love Wigan to dump Manure out the Cup tonight. It's possible, I mean we beat Arsenal, Bradford won at Chelsea and Shewbury knocked out Everton. Goldbridge is insufferable at times but I do like it when he winges and moans when they lose. Good entertainment.
What I don't understand is the basic telegraphing of it. If a tennis player always tries his best shot - a pass up the line, the opponent stands there waiting for it. If a spin bowler always bowls googlies the batsman wait for it and pick it. All Martin's or Asprilla have to do is be able to deliver a cross early on with their wrong foot. We don't need to have Raj heading it in and it doesn't need to be John Barnes-esque. They just need to do it once to show the defender that they're prepared to try it. At this point the defender can't simply position themself to cover that one action by the winger. If Martins never tries a left foot cross, the defender can face up the pitch, ready to step inside with Martins when he tries the inevitable. If he thinks Martins might go outside? Well he's got to concede position slightly the other way and that might then be enough when Martins pretends to go outside again and actually cuts in. Our version of changing it up is to switch them so then they always go outside! Talk about making it easy for the defender!
I guess the danger is that they try the odd cross with their wrong foot and it's dreadful ! Crowd get on their back, teammates get on their back for losing possession, and the FB is even more sure that it's very safe to push them down the line every time. Do we know that either player can even put in a semi decent cross consistently with their wrong foot ?
Of course, you and the others are excluding the very real possibility that they are doing exactly what they are told to do by the manager. If not and they lack the basics in comprehension, you’d wonder why they are picked, let alone command potential transfer fees of £15m+.
Well it doesn’t need shoehorning in, as we all know Gran Torino is an anagram of Gino rat ‘orn, which I think is very telling.
I don't think you can accuse Asprilla of lack of comprehension, given the number of Callyesque killer balls he's delivered. When he started playing for us I thought he was two-footed. Was I wrong or has he stopped using his right because he's made a mess of it a few times?
It don't need to be good, it can go off for a goal kick. You're just planting the seed in the defenders head. Also. I could put in something resembling a cross with my wrong foot and I'm not a professional footballer.
