Expert analysis there, Theo. Chalobah has a range of passes that no-one else can replicate in midfield. Anya was excellent , especially in the first 15 minutes--I thought we were going to run away with it, and the way he set up the chance for Vydra was superb. Deeney worked so hard , and made the second goal. As for Forestieri--he is as much fun when he is falling over as when he is scoring goals. Sometimes he plays the game on all fours. Bond is a revelation--no worries at all about him replacing Almunia for the rest of the season if needed. My only worry is Zola's admission that the team are "feeling the effect" of playing 36 games--with 10 to go! He must have certain players in mind. Doyley has the stamina--do Chalobah, Abdi, Cassettii and Vydra?
I would be surprised if Watford are feeling the effects of the campaign more than other sides - after all we have a larger squad than most and did poorly in the cups so did not play many games there - unlike Leicester who really do seem to be flagging now
Leonardo--I know that people say "It is the same for everyone" when things like number of games played, poor weather conditions etc are mentioned. But so many of our players have never experienced the rigours of a full English Championship season before--and most of them were not playing regularly in Italy, Spain, wherever, before they came to us--it is new territory for them, even for Zola as a manager who has to juggle his resources over 46 games. I hope they are all enjoying it.
Mind you most if not all have played in all the games. Zola does seem to "manage" them well one or 2 errors like Brizzle but by and large has shuffled his pack pretty well , thus most of our players will have played less they would have done in the last few seasons. At the end of the day they are meant to be professional athletes so I dont really buy this getting tired business , I do buy into players coming in and out of form and that I suspect is what we are seeing rather than players being tired.
Remember the bloke Danny Graham? He used to score loads of goals, but in bursts. You cannot expect any player to get a couple of goals every game.
Agree about the tiredness, Roger...46 games makes for a long season. That said, I'm sure the team will feel less tired if they're winning!
And Ian Grant in the Bhappy blog makes a good point--our team is so inexperienced in the English Championship that they do not realise that they are supposed to get nervous and anxious at this point in the season, and approach each game as an ordeal. They still think that they should be showing creativity and flair--even enjoying themselves. Naive, or the best approach? No need to ask Forestieri what he thinks.
