Yes mate, I was down in row EE in the red block of seats - right down the front. I thought Caulker was pretty good, he certainly notably impressed me, anyway. I think it's just because he's a bit of a defensive powerhouse. He does get turned sometimes and he's a bit of a tanker once he has been. I thought Graziano was huffing and puffing but couldn't get 'in' to the game. Not a bad call for Koeman to withdraw him, in any case. I appreciate that the guy tries hard and runs around a bit but I just can't bring myself to like Shane Long (from a footballing perspective). Seems a top bloke off the pitch, mind. Ultimately, we were pretty solid defensively (I liked the way the back three worked together), but rarely looked too threatening. It was all a bit too direct and predictable, no chance Long or Pellè were going to score so I was just hoping Caulker or one of the others would get on the end of a set-piece. It wasn't to be.
Ah, polar opposites! Had I known I might've popped up. Didn't think the atmosphere was all that much (from either side), although I thought their walk-out to the end full of flags was superb. Got a good photo of it. Just one of those games where the whole thing seemed a bit 'huff and puff', fans and players alike. Vicarage Road still lacking atmosphere.
Let me remind you Tom that every game is a must win, or not, depending on ambition. Norwich is no more important than any other. If you mean you'd love to see a return to winning ways I can only agree. But this time it looks as if the new and incomplete additions do need time to settle in. Do also bear in mind that we are only 2 points adrift from the 3 games of last season when we popped out of pre-season like Jack-in-the-boxes.
Is that steward paying some sort of homage to you and are you some sort of royal personage, a secret you have been keeping from us all this time?
I am disappointed with the start, but only in the sense that I would like us to have won all 3 games by lots of goals.....not in a melt down way (if you understand what I mean). Ron seemed happier with yesterday's performance, presumably because he felt we were better defensively and if you get that right you always have a chance of a win. This is after all how we were set up last year....a good defence was our major strength. We are missing those that left....we all knew how good they were. New players will not be direct replacements....they are different and have to be accommodated. This is where Ron will earn his corn.
Exactly, 5 at the back is a very forgiving formation for individuals. In theory if you make a mistake then there should be someone on hand to cover. A few more training sessions and the return of stronger individual players (Bertrand) and I expect us to better a bit more adventurous again.
I thought we were poor 5 at the back and still looked shakey, if we'd played Everton again we'd have got beat worse than 3-0. Happy with the 0-0 and a point in the end though even if the game was soooooo boring. Also why since long is fast can he not knock a ball past someone?
No one seems to be giving any credit to Watford; is that because, after 3 seasons in the PL, we've all become big time Charlies? Anyway, they may have lacked a bit of quality, but they pressed us hard in midfield, and seemed to win most of the 50/50 balls. I think that's the reason our forwards got no service - we couldn't get hold of the ball in midfield, and had very little sustained possession. It's very hard to get a passing game going when you have no time to pick a pass; the fact we didn't was in large part down to the way they pressed us. They were very physical, only just the right side of dirty, but give them credit. They're a hard side to beat, and have proved that already. Too much flapping going on among some of our supporters imo, but I suppose that's nothing new. Win a couple on the trot and the talk will all be about the CL, and taking on Barcelona .
Not really. I always like to give other teams credit, but i didn't think they were especially good I'm afraid. No shots on target at home.
I know they had no shots on target. My point was the way they pressed us, won every 50/50 ball, and stopped us playing.
No shots on target, but we allowed one of them a header from a yard out. Scary. We will always had trouble with teams like this. No problem with them playing like that....you get points how you can. However, we need to be able to break down these teams. On paper, we have exciting forward players, but we need to get the ball to them.
Yeah I hear you, but I honestly thought they were very average. They'll annoy a few points out of people playing like that, but they won't stay up.
I'd agree that the game was poor. It felt like both managers had set their teams up not to lose rather than go out and win the game and that's what we ended up with. If I'm honest I expected a bit more from Southampton as I thought you'd really go for it which may have opened things up a bit (not that I'm blaming them for that!). Both training grounds will be quite busy this week I suspect...
Is anyone else surprised by the lack of playing time for Juanmi at the moment? We currently look woeful going forward and his pace and spark could be what we need? He looked good whenever I saw him for Malaga last season and I was surprised we managed to sign him for such a low price. As much as I admire Long for his effort, he is technically not a very good footballer. His career goal scoring record for a striker is testament to that.
Maybe people realized that giving Burnley and Blackpool credit didn't turn out so good In all seriousness, I didn't think Watford were very good at all. They did work hard, but they didn't have to work too hard to stop us doing anything. Walking back with my Watford ST holding mate, he thought it was good to take a point from one of the top half sides. I did tell him that we won't be top half if we play like that too much. He also noted, wisely, that Deeney was excellent in the Championship, but will need to speed up his reactions if he is to succeed in the Premier League - he couldn't believe how quickly he was blocked when about to shoot.
