Match Thread: Watford v Tottenham Hotspur

the home fans rocked it last night...very rarely a let up for 94 minutes, and at least for 15 minutes after the game...it was buzzing Very happy Hornette still this morning, just a huge huge shame we couldn't put one or two of our 26 chances away!

 

Excellent article

 

I have always liked and admired Henry Winter as a writer - now i want to have his babies

 

My thoughts from last night:-

- We started fast and did not give Spurs much time on the ball
- Great set-up from SD
- Murray and Garner were absolute quality - coming into the team like that against a team of the quality of Spurs and playing like that was heart warming. I just SD keeps them in the team now.
- JE & Prince awesome
- I have to put my hand up and say Lloyd played very well - I am not his #1 fan, but credit where credits due
- Our finishing was abysmal
- Spurs fans were almost silent - with half as many fans, Bradford made twice as much noise in the last round.
- They had a rather fine IPA on in my usual watering hole!

We can say as much as we like how well we played and how poor Spurs were - but if we cannot score goals we will continue to struggle. This was a huge opportunity to create another one of those classic nights where we outplayed a team of super-stars and progress into the next round, but we failed to take the opportunity. Oh well, looking forward to seeing how SE reacts regarding the team set-up.

 

So, what exactly was going on last night!?

 

Thoroughly enjoyed last night...even if the result was less than we deserved. Credit to SD, the line-up raised one or two questions before the game but he got it absolutely right. Spurs did help by allowing us time and space in midfield, but every Watford player was up for this one and there were none of the usual lapses of concentration. What was most impressive was the fact that we rarely gave the ball away. I think Garner helped in that department, not because he can pass but because he makes himself available so there were always easy passes to be made. Remarkably for such a small player, he won balls in the air too. I'm still not convinced Deeney is a wide player, though he does give his full back a lot more protection than Yeates. Eustace, for someone who didn't look worth his place a week or two ago, was magnificent, popping up everywhere with runs, clean tackles and effective passing. Hodson and Doyley both had excellent games - I wouldn't pick Dickenson on Saturday on the evidence of this - and Mariappa looked, unfortunately perhaps, every inch a premiership player. A shame Loach couldn't stop the goal - he had a good game otherwise, looking more confident than of late. Let's hope we can carry all these positives forward to next Saturday.

 

I think we should play a similar team vs Millwall.

Doyley in for Dickinson...for me Dicko has been playing really badly and Doyley isn't left footed but he can still do a better job, and he gets forward better.

Garner and Murray brought that attacking flair and spark to our team which we have been completely void of in recent times. I think when Hogg comes back in it will be tough.....and I don't want to replace Eustace as I think he really adds an all round presence and work rate to our team.

 

Good analysis as usual W_Y. I was very impressed with the youngsters Garnner and Murray..... our passing was excellent and some great moves to the wings which were successful on nearly every occasion. One goalkeeping error lost it for us. We had so many chances to score... we needed just one to go in. Buaben needs to be told what to aim at when he shoots!


My estimation of SD has gone up significantly both in terms of great team tactics and a really good interview post-game.

ESPN coverage.... which I secretly added to my package ( don't tell Mme ) ..... was very good too.

Well done Watford

 

On that performance I don't think Murray can be regarded as anything other than a first team player. One that needs to be nurtured and frequently rested, sure, but he's in the mix.

Less sure about Garner to be honest. Can't fault his commitment, but he did nothing that Deeney wouldn't have in his place, and neither looks like the solution to the current goal drought. Iwelumo and Sordell are the only people to have featured regularly who I feel are capable of improving our fortunes in the 18 yard box, even if the Scot hasn't done it so far.

 

I was interested to see on the Watford facebook page last night that Garner was being labelled as 'useless' and 'awful', as I thought he was pretty good.

I also have hope he could be a decent goalscorer for us. If you look at his stats from when he was at Scunthorpe on loan last season (who of course were struggling and eventually got relegated), he has proven the he can find the back of the net on a consistent basis:
Apps- 17 (1), Goals 6. For a team who were struggling at the depths of the Championship, that's not a bad record in my opinion. If he is given a run in the side, along with the creative spark that is Murray (and still the possibility of a loan signing), I think he could be good for us, and bag his fair share of goals in the remainder of this season.

 

Unfortunately I couldn't see the game last night but I think it's fair to see that Watford have a lot to be proud of. Good to see Sean Dyche get some credit for once, I also questioned the decision to start with Murray and Garner, but they both seemed to play very well. We always knew that Murray had bags of potential, it was just a case of when the management team felt it was right that he made the step up to the first team squad.

Its amazing that we managed to play a team of Spurs quality off the park last night, considering they had Parker, Van der Vaart, Modric, Adebayor, Defoe and Dawson start. Yes Redknapp played far too narrow a team which played into our hands, but credit must go to the 11 players in yellow shirts on the pitch. Unfortunately, we didn't quite have the cutting edge to take one of our chance, which is the hardest part of football. Congratulations to Spurs and good luck in the next round.

Generally I think we are short of a winger and a striker to play with Sordell. I agree with the assessment that Garner would have played no different to Deeney, and I just think we miss a cutting edge to our play that would see us convert all our draws into wins. I am unsure what sort of striking partner Sordell needs, more of a fox-in-the-box like Graham, but I don't think we will find someone of his quality again! However, finances are tight so we will probably have to rely on loans. I was a fan of Iwelumo at the start but I have started to lose belief in him.

Either way, we must take the positives from last night. I still don't think we are amongst the worst three teams in the division, and I am pretty sure we will survive, with OR without Mariappa, who was superb for us last night.

 

The impression I'm getting from the media (reliable source of information that they are) is that Harry literally turned up at the stadium having not been to training all week or spoken to anyone at the club at length, wrote down 11 names on the team sheet, and told the players the system on the night.

He's not the sort of manager who would be complacent or disrespectful towards Watford, and clearly he takes the cup seriously. The only explanation I can think of is that he went out of his way to play down the court case, completely disregarding the fact that Kevin Bond was in a better position to handle those things.

 

Watching the Brighton Newcastle game,it struck me the condition of the pitch.It looked great.
Now watching the Spurs Watford game,it seemed players were falling down all through the game.I wonder,do they allow cows on their pitch during the week?
The Spurs passing was blooming awful.Maybe that was the reason........

 

Sorry NNW that must be bollocks - 'onest 'arry under oath stated that he could not write!

 

No, Spurs were ****...you won, get over it...

 

Saracens play at Vicarage Road, too.

I don't think the pitch was too bad, though I did notice a lot of players falling over, too.
Didn't look like Loach got much purchase when he was trying to save van der Vaart's shot, either.
I'd say that poor team selection and tactics were at fault for the performance, rather than any problems with the pitch, though.

 

Yep, rugby not cows. Although two or three of their players have been described as beasts.

 

At that time of night, at this time of year, any pitch will be slippery due to dew/rain/snow.

It is advisable to wear boots with studs rather than carpet slippers.

 

More likely the pressing that your players weren't used to. A couple of your fellow on-line fans tried to convince us that Spurs are perfection when it comes to the passing game, but it sure didn't look like it.

 

Not remotely interested in how Spurs played - we were one or two touches away from a faultless performance. Also, the twelfth man was brilliant last night - if the Rookery made as much noise at every match just imagine what an effect it would have on the lads.