Of course you can only beat what is in front of you but let's not get carried away by today's result. Watford were always going to be there for the taking playing the entire game with 10 men after getting a guy sent off for... erm, I'm not really sure. We won the game comfortably in the end and doing so playing high tempo short passing, but the real test is if we can do it against 11 men. There were also a few things that concerned me today; namely wayward shooting, poor final balls and not getting in the end of the few decent balls we did put in. Some of this will come as the team gets used to playing with eachother more but there is plenty for Adams to think about. This time the team was more balanced and we were much better than last weekend (admittedly in vastly different circumstances) but I want to dwell quickly on the players. Whittaker and Garrido both saw plenty of the ball today and didn't need to do much defending but they weren't really able to get any quality into the box. This is something which will be very important to us for the rest of the season. Hoolahan looked very good today but I don't think he was actually any better than vs Wolves; just this time he had players around him who were also playing well and he was the main man so therefore we got the most out of him. Turner, Russ and Ruddy had a comfortable game by and large but had to be alert. We are lucky to have IMO the best goalkeeper and CB in the league. We didn't really need Tettey and Johnson screening the defence today but there ball retention was superb (again against 10 men) and they were vital in allowing us to keep the pressure on Watford. Tettey had a quiet game today aside from the goal but Johnson was very busy and should be a real force in the Championship. Grabban hasn't quite yet clicked into the team but he looked much more threatening today and got a great goal. If Adams can get him and the rest on the same wavelength he could be a real goal machine. Finally onto Redmond and Lafferty. Redmond was very lively today but his shooting and crossing must improve! It has been said countless times but he rarely connects cleanly with a shot (he must have had 10+ today) or picks out a man with a cross despite seeing plenty of the ball.As for Lafferty, could he be the next Grant Holt? What a shift from the big man! If I'm honest I thought we had signed an absolute donkey but he was easily the best player on the pitch today. I'd of liked to see him on the end of some balls in, but he was everywhere, making tackles, linking up with the others and all the while in what has to be an unfamiliar left wing role for him. The subs who came on couldn't have asked for a more comfortable introduction but it was nice to see Fer on the pitch and I really hope we fight tooth and nail to keep him. So a good performance against a luckless Watford side but plenty of work to do still.
We need to start winning away, for the past two seasons our form in that area has been atrocious, the teams that get results away from home get in the top six. Hopefully today will be a good confidence boost though we needed to get out that rut.
The only thing I would add is...how many times have we seen 10-men hold on for a draw, or even win? Lets not take anything away from this victory today, we pummeled them for the vast majority of the game, and you cannot say that they had given the game up after 2 minutes
Agree with the bit I've left in DM. How Lafferty failed to score - goodness only knows, but an awesome performance and a great acquisition by NA and co.
Johnson was the official MotM, but I'd also go for Lafferty, who dominated the left-hand side of the pitch as well as being very threatening up front (Darren Eadie also chose him as MotM). After the Wolves match, I feared that this would be another luckless season. Today balanced that out. PL rode his luck when Bolton and QPR had stupid sending offs, and City did that again today in great style.
I could only follow the first half before I got on a plane was a good scoreline to see when I turned my phone on (literally as the brakes were on). Obviously I haven't seen anything yet and only know what's on twitter and here, but generally 10 men can defend as hard as 11 if they accept they won't attack as much. For the 11 man team it can be harder than an open end to end match Hull away last year is a good example. So playing against 10 men shouldn't be dismissed. Also we were playing without several of our best players (Fer, Olsson, Howson and Hooper) all of whom (if still on our books come 1/9/14) will be important for us this year.
Interesting 3 nil against 10 men and the message is lets not get carried away. Last week away form home against a team with the winning habit, down to 10 men and we lose 1 nil and the end of the world is nigh.
i was not at the game yeterday(watching warhorse in the west end-missus did not look at the fixture list before booking!),but great to see us scoreing three goals. even against ten men. not wlways easy in itself. nice to see grabben on the scoresheet. wasnt sure about him last week. was lafferty as good as i have heard?
yesterday was much, much better than the total dross on offer the previous week. for starters, adams set the team up with a more natural balance to it. 4-2-3-1 is the way to go - lets not start fannying about with the pretty-much-useless diamond. yes it worked for us a few years ago but its a fatally flawed system. the red card obviously made the game a bit one-sided. for what its worth i had a very clear view of the incident and the decision was justified. the game panned out like a practice match. we completely dominated a watford side who went in to their shells and decided to relent their normal passing game for huge hoofs towards deeney's not inconsiderable frame. this played perfectly into turner's hands who mopped everything up with ease. the only time watford threatened were when we got a bit carried away going forward and pushed too many bodies forward with the prospect of more goals. personally, i've not got too much of a problem with that baring in mind we were 3-0 up - do it at 1-0 or even 2-0 against 11 men and it could backfire. lafferty was certainly the standout performer. i assume he is playing wide because of his excellent work rate but i would switch him with grabban. everything we played to the big man stuck while we struggled to get grabban into the game. it makes more sense to play grabban as the wider of the two and feed off lafferty. he is everything we were screaming out for last season - such a shame he's arrived 9 months too late but hey ho! johnson scored an absolute beaut but he played very well too, but then its no surprise he played well as he always plays well when tettey is in the side. again, that's a balance issue. we cannot rely on johnson to protect our defence on his own. redmond appears to be trying too hard. i think he could do with an arm round his shoulder at the moment. tell him how good he is but tell him not to try and do everything himself. there's a cracking little player in there just waiting to burst out but he needs guidance and i don't think he's been getting any. whittaker looked much more solid, helped by the fact he didn't have to do any defending! overall a decent performance and decent result - couldn't really have asked for an easier three points. getting the monkey off adams back was absolutely vital. as for fer (apparently) leaving, i think £8m is about right for where he's at right now. its the lowest amount i'd have relinquished his services for but contrary to popular belief i think qpr is a great move for the guy. he's virtually guaranteed games and if he's to fulfil his vast potential he needs to play games. he coasts games at the moment - he needs to dig a little deeper. three points against blackburn would set us up nicely for the derby next weekend and remove a little bit of the pressure. lets hope we get them!
You say that about 10 men making the game one-sided but how many times have we played against 10 men and not won the match?
