Watford Away Post Match Thread 2-1

[Deeg67]

It’s no surprise the team basically looked terrible running a new formation after two days of training.  But what bothers me about that game was the lack of energy.  No movement in the box, lots of ball watching, ineffective pressing.  Where the hell was the new manager bounce?  Certainly not in our step.

 

Basically only Tielemans and Ricardo looked comfortable all day.  Maddison was terrible for 80 minutes but grew into the game at the very end, and Chilwell at least did his usual tireless running and got himself into dangerous positions.  Vardy was invisible all night but as usual, the only guy who seems to have an ability to finish.  Apart from that, nada.

[Golden Fox]

WTF is wrong with this place???

 

We've got a new manager, who (to the perceived non-FT wisdom at least) has a 10 game honeymoon period to see what he has got & to try out formations - with finishing position pretty much irrelevant - and are away against the 7th placed team in the Premier League - and make all the running in the 2nd half only to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. I think that's pretty good for where we are.

 

And yet this place is moaning about the players, moaning about the formation - all doom and gloom.

 

Yes, it was a disappointing result, but I thought we recovered from (another) poor first 5 mins and played well and should have won the game - its the start of a new area and I think was a pretty positive start, so lets all be a bit more upbeat!

[Blue 'n White]

5 minutes ago, Golden Fox said:

WTF is wrong with this place???

 

We've got a new manager, who (to the perceived non-FT wisdom at least) has a 10 game honeymoon period to see what he has got & to try out formations - with finishing position pretty much irrelevant - and are away against the 7th placed team in the Premier League - and make all the running in the 2nd half only to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. I think that's pretty good for where we are.

 

And yet this place is moaning about the players, moaning about the formation - all doom and gloom.

 

Yes, it was a disappointing result, but I thought we recovered from (another) poor first 5 mins and played well and should have won the game - its the start of a new area and I think was a pretty positive start, so lets all be a bit more upbeat!

we're English

[murphy]

11 minutes ago, Golden Fox said:

WTF is wrong with this place???

 

We've got a new manager, who (to the perceived non-FT wisdom at least) has a 10 game honeymoon period to see what he has got & to try out formations - with finishing position pretty much irrelevant - and are away against the 7th placed team in the Premier League - and make all the running in the 2nd half only to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. I think that's pretty good for where we are.

 

And yet this place is moaning about the players, moaning about the formation - all doom and gloom.

 

Yes, it was a disappointing result, but I thought we recovered from (another) poor first 5 mins and played well and should have won the game - its the start of a new area and I think was a pretty positive start, so lets all be a bit more upbeat!

It's another chapter in what is becoming a woeful season.  Our ambition is to be the best of the rest but we are currently the worst of the rest.

 

It was a poor performance, Watford coped with us easily and we were lethargic and toothless again.  We continue to underachieve, chuck games away and we are plagued by needless individual errors and personally, I am getting sick of having my weekends ruined.  It's fair criticism.

 

That's what's wrong with this place, in a nutshell.

 

 

 

 

Edited 3 March 2019 by murphy

[volpeazzurro]

15 minutes ago, Golden Fox said:

WTF is wrong with this place???

 

We've got a new manager, who (to the perceived non-FT wisdom at least) has a 10 game honeymoon period to see what he has got & to try out formations - with finishing position pretty much irrelevant - and are away against the 7th placed team in the Premier League - and make all the running in the 2nd half only to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. I think that's pretty good for where we are.

 

And yet this place is moaning about the players, moaning about the formation - all doom and gloom.

 

Yes, it was a disappointing result, but I thought we recovered from (another) poor first 5 mins and played well and should have won the game - its the start of a new area and I think was a pretty positive start, so lets all be a bit more upbeat!

I think people are genuinely worried basically. Having seen a re-run of the Brighton game highlights we should never have won that game either, the actual result just papered over the cracks. We can't keep blaming managers though and certainly not Rodgers, he's not been here 5 minutes.

 

Some of the basics are wrong. Schmeichel's distribution. Maguires slow and cumbersome forays up the pitch and not busting a gut to get back putting us under pressure, his poor defensive positioning. Absolutely poor or very little movement off the ball. Maddison's indecision, ball watching and needing so many touches on the ball, Vardy's overall lack of contribution bar the odd goal thank God. The disaster that is Iheanacho who couldn't stop a pig in a poke. There didn't even seem to be much energy out there today when trying to impress a new boss.

 

People are starting to see relegation form albeit we should be safe this season.

[Foxaholic ME]

33 minutes ago, murphy said:

It's another chapter in what is becoming a woeful season.  Our ambition is to be the best of the rest but we are currently the worst of the rest.

 

It was a poor performance, Watford coped with us easily and we were lethargic and toothless again.  We continue to underachieve, chuck games away and we are plagued by needless individual errors and personally, I am getting sick of having my weekends ruined.  It's fair criticism.

 

That's what's wrong with this place, in a nutshell.

 

They lost  5-0 at Liverpool we drew 1-1  there under Puel  thats whats wrong

 

 

 

[Woof]

My take is very simple - we were not great, but neither were we terrible and we were within a nat's whisker of a point against a team , who remember, are above us in the league.  I saw some small changes today - Madison for instance was much more in the face of his opponent than previously.  Onwards an upwards I hope 

[Gamble92]

1 hour ago, Deeg67 said:

It’s no surprise the team basically looked terrible running a new formation after two days of training.  But what bothers me about that game was the lack of energy.  No movement in the box, lots of ball watching, ineffective pressing.  Where the hell was the new manager bounce?  Certainly not in our step.

 

Basically only Tielemans and Ricardo looked comfortable all day.  Maddison was terrible for 80 minutes but grew into the game at the very end, and Chilwell at least did his usual tireless running and got himself into dangerous positions.  Vardy was invisible all night but as usual, the only guy who seems to have an ability to finish.  Apart from that, nada.

All night?

 

It kicked off at midday

[Gamble92]

53 minutes ago, murphy said:

It's another chapter in what is becoming a woeful season.  Our ambition is to be the best of the rest but we are currently the worst of the rest.

 

It was a poor performance, Watford coped with us easily and we were lethargic and toothless again.  We continue to underachieve, chuck games away and we are plagued by needless individual errors and personally, I am getting sick of having my weekends ruined.  It's fair criticism.

 

That's what's wrong with this place, in a nutshell.

 

 

 

 

Your 2nd paragraph has some decent points but to suggest we are the worst of the rest is laughable.

 

Is being the best of the rest a lucrative enough aim for this group of players? I think thats where a big problem lies for us.

 

When we get to 20-30 game mark and we don't look like going down and are miles off the top 6, then i think this team just let games pass them by and a loss doesnt bother them too much.

 

That could be an old guard mentality still too. Why would you commit everything to trying to get 7th when you've won the league and think youre bigger and better than the club? 

[Mickyblueeyes]

Losing that game was a real kick in the teeth. Not only because of the late goal but I thought neither side, on the balance of play did enough to win. 

 

We have problems. However, we also have a lot of positives. The unfortunate thing is the positives run alongside the negatives which effectively cancel out the good things about this side at the moment. The thing is, the problems can be rectified so I we need to persevere with the vast majority of this squad.

 

to do this we need:

 

a) a captain. Someone experienced and calming on the field. Preferably in midfield or cb. Whether it be that claiming experience voice after we’ve scored (see seconds after the Brighton goal when we were at 6/7’s. or in the last few minutes of games. Our experienced players are just not offering that at the moment. We had a fairly experience defence today, not one took the lead in organisation and that includes Kasper.

 

b) coaching and lots of it. Technically, these young players have a lot. They’re, gifted. Unfortunately, more often then not, they make the wrong decisions. For me, with his background, Rodgers and his assistant are the perfect fit for that. 

 

c) a mini clear out. Our bench is far too weak to change a game. I wouldn’t mind three or four really good players coming in the summer to address. No need for a major overhaul. 

 

d) sign tielemans permanently. If we don’t, someone else will.

 

e) time - something not on offer in today’s game but these players need time. They’re young and need support and guidance. If we can get results in the meantime, afford them the time to develop.

[murphy]

20 minutes ago, Gamble92 said:

Your 2nd paragraph has some decent points but to suggest we are the worst of the rest is laughable.

 

Is being the best of the rest a lucrative enough aim for this group of players? I think thats where a big problem lies for us.

 

When we get to 20-30 game mark and we don't look like going down and are miles off the top 6, then i think this team just let games pass them by and a loss doesnt bother them too much.

 

That could be an old guard mentality still too. Why would you commit everything to trying to get 7th when you've won the league and think youre bigger and better than the club? 

What I am saying is that there are three mini leagues within the PL.  The top six, the relegation battlers and 'the rest'.  The mid table clump of teams, 7th-12th, Watford, Everton, West Ham, Wolves etc.  We are sitting at the bottom of that mini-league except for Bournemouth.  'Best of the rest' is a common phrase that is used so often I thought that it didn't need explanation.

 

I think that you have misunderstood what I have said as it's a fact that we sit around the bottom of our group, it's not a 'laughable' comment.

 

 

Edited 4 March 2019 by murphy

[Tom12345]

Arguably we were more defensive than it had been under Puel the last two months.

 

We had an extra defender - fine - allowing Chilwell and Pierera to roam forward more. But the overall attitude was worst with players going for backpasses all the way from the final third to our half on quite a few occasions. We were going to lose the ball anyway, so why not have a go.

 

I can sense Rogers edging for a summer spending spree, but I hope he tries to develop what is there already at the club.

 

Got a lot of work to do.

[yks]

10 hours ago, st albans fox said:

Suspct you should wait a while before dismissing the new manager and lauding the old one .........

There is nothing against Rodgers in the message you quote, only against the fans who thought our players were excellent and underperforming, when they are decent and were overperforming.

Edited 4 March 2019 by yks

[Deeg67]

1 hour ago, Gamble92 said:

All night?

 

It kicked off at midday

Not Japan time it didn't!

[ozleicester]

6 hours ago, Milo said:

I’m just saying that the players have been abused for a year and it will take a bit of time to get them back. 

 

No drama, no bollocks, we’ll be fine. 

 

But of steel, bit of guile and all good. 

 

Enjoy the ride, don’t look back. ?

imo 

 

the players have got away without any questioning for years now...probably since the win.

 

We have blamed manager after manager....finally its becoming apparent that the players must shoulder the blame as much or more than anyone.

[Dan LCFC]

It's so Leicester it hurts. Every single bad habit that's polluted this season was on show today. Early goal conceded check (and were lucky to not concede before that), late goal conceded check, significantly beating our opposition for possession but not for chances created or goals scored check.

 

I'm not blaming Rodgers. I think he took a risk with the formation and while you can't say it worked, the entire plan behind it was skewed, as per usual, by going behind early.

 

Going behind early just totally scuppers everything about the game from our point of view and we do it with such frequency that it's barely possible to even analyse us anymore.

 

Their winner too is absolutely laughable. The amount of ****ing times we gift goals away makes me wonder how on earth we've never been in serious relegation danger.

 

There is potential in this team but we are so far off reaching it at the minute. Anyone slagging Rodgers off for the bad habits that have polluted us all season when he's been in the job 5 minutes are having a laugh.

 

Use this 9 games to let him identify what needs to improve and how he aims to improve it.

 

But my god we are ****ing infuriating.

[Gamble92]

1 hour ago, murphy said:

What I am saying is that there are three mini leagues within the PL.  The top six, the relegation battlers and 'the rest'.  The mid table clump of teams, 7th-12th, Watford, Everton, West Ham, Wolves etc.  We are sitting at the bottom of that mini-league except for Bournemouth.  'Best of the rest' is a common phrase that is used so often I thought that it didn't need explanation.

 

I think that you have misunderstood what I have said as it's a fact that we sit around the bottom of our group, it's not a 'laughable' comment.

 

 

Your original quote was theres a top 6 and we are aiming to be best of the rest but we are the worst of the rest. 

 

Sorry that i didnt know you'd created your own little mini leagues within the league. It is common knowlege at all to do that. Who the **** is the established 7th-10th teams then? Lets see if you get it right for the end of the season.

[bpfox]

SACK RODGERS NOW, BEFORE ITS TO LATE.

NO only kidding, but he has a lot of work to do, we played to much going wide and backwards, need to have more going direct and much faster, and front men need to be running into space not standing flat footed, will beinteresting to see what players he wants to bring in, but we do need another top class forward and a midfielder with a old head on his shoulders to lead the way.

[ThaiFox]

4 hours ago, Golden Fox said:

WTF is wrong with this place???

 

We've got a new manager, who (to the perceived non-FT wisdom at least) has a 10 game honeymoon period to see what he has got & to try out formations - with finishing position pretty much irrelevant - and are away against the 7th placed team in the Premier League - and make all the running in the 2nd half only to have defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. I think that's pretty good for where we are.

 

And yet this place is moaning about the players, moaning about the formation - all doom and gloom.

 

Yes, it was a disappointing result, but I thought we recovered from (another) poor first 5 mins and played well and should have won the game - its the start of a new area and I think was a pretty positive start, so lets all be a bit more upbeat!

I agree with you. Plus the hate and bitterness towards Kasper is way over the top. Do people not remember his saves, the years of service, not to mention the two excellent saves against Brighton which WON us the match? If he'd let both those in, but not made a mess of that last minute clearance we'd have one point instead of three.

 

 

 

 

[TeaMen Tom]

Just thought it was more of the same. Team probably deserved a point - but unforced giveaways, breakdowns at key moments etc do them in again. I think it's a tough combo of having one too many young players on the pitch and a couple of guys in the back being a little too long in tooth.  But it's nothing new. Even with a new manager.

 

While I like 3 in the back, I don't like Wes being in the middle of that. Looking forward to Rogers putting his stamp on this. I think that with the right touch and some good work this summer, the team will be a lot better come the fall.

Edited 4 March 2019 by TeaMen Tom

[Babylon]

4 hours ago, Tom12345 said:

Arguably we were more defensive than it had been under Puel the last two months.

 

We had an extra defender - fine - allowing Chilwell and Pierera to roam forward more. But the overall attitude was worst with players going for backpasses all the way from the final third to our half on quite a few occasions. We were going to lose the ball anyway, so why not have a go.

 

I can sense Rogers edging for a summer spending spree, but I hope he tries to develop what is there already at the club.

 

Got a lot of work to do.

Not even arguable really...

 

 

[Lesta2014]

Disappointing result and the two goals conceded were very poor! Formation wasn’t too successful but I can see it be successful going forward. Remember Rodgers has only had 2 training sessions. We kept the ball well although at times we played too safe. There is a lot of work for him to do here. He’s got the rest of the season and then all summer to get us how he wants. A full week of training under Rodgers and fingers crossed we see a good performance against Fulham next week and all the players are literally playing for their future between now and end of the season so it’s up to them to perform! Stay positive everyone we have the correct gaffer in charge!

[AlloverthefloorYesNdidi]

1 hour ago, Babylon said:

Not even arguable really...

 

 

You couldn't fuchin write it

[st albans fox]

5 hours ago, yks said:

There is nothing against Rodgers in the message you quote, only against the fans who thought our players were excellent and underperforming, when they are decent and were overperforming.

My point being that you cannot make any assumptions based on the first game under a new manager apart from the fact that he clearly hadn’t  got a mindset that the team should just ‘play as they like and go for it’ under his guidance. 

 

If we are buying into this being a longish term project then that’s what we should be doing ...... not knee jerk reactions ...... the game stats clearly show that BR didn’t want to lose his first game in charge and given the choices he had (at the extreme ends - go fo it or be safe), he chose the latter.  trying a different formation .... maybe felt a plus point of that was his inclusion of Wes which might help him with the older players ....... he can always point back at that if  he doesn’t select him in future.  The reaction in my house was wide .....my eldest smashing up the sofa whilst my youngest hardly reacted at all .....i’ve seen it too many times before and have perspective at my age ......one result never ruins my weekend unless the game really matters ..........having watched us throw away the play off final at Watford in minute 90 I’m not going to be overly affected by the same thing when taking the standing of the fixture into account. 

 

So anyone expecting the remainder of the season to be ‘exciting’ is likely to be disappointed (though that’s not a certainty as he might stumble onto a formation that really works ).......... the price of this will hopefully be an efficient side and squad for next season with the added benefits of winning more games than we lose! 

[PloTok]

8 hours ago, Golden Fox said:

WTF is wrong with this place??? <snip> Yes, it was a disappointing result

You've answered your own question right there (at least for some, me at any rate) Not that "disappointing" really covers it! People vent when they're pissed off, it really is as simple as that. 

 

And the nature of the defeat pissed me off big time. We'd done all the hard work and then gave it away in a moment of thoughtlessness. Yes, it happens, and no you can't blame Rodgers or the tactics or the shape or the team for such things... but not all of us can be instantly philosophical, shrug our shoulders and manage our disappointment quite so neatly. Call it a fault if you like but others would call it a proof of passion. 

 

Right, I've got a remote control to try and fix - a bit of electrical tape, some wire and a bit of card should do the trick.