I guess this is aimed at all those lucky enough to see the team play over the past few weeks but is open to all. From listening to the commentries it would appear Matej has lost the form leval he was at in December/January which considering his age and the fact he missed most of last season with his knee injury is not that suprising. GT used to say that the younger players had to be managed carefully and played in a way that would not be detrimental to them over a longer term and that you could not be expected to play them over an entire season and expect them to maintain form. Now i know he is twenty and not seventeen but given his recent history perhaps he would fall into this catergory. My point is, given we will know the postion on Saturday prior to the Blackburn game given Hull play on Friday night and we may find ourselves nine points behind with only nine available should we rest Matej for two weeks until the play offs in the hope he is freshened up for them or do we continue playing him in the hope he recovers his form by playing through his dip?. How has his over all form been taking away his lack of goals recently? GFZ has tried him from the bench as an impact sub without success and has played him from the start recently as well. He has given us Watford fans such a treat this season (the break away goal away to Brighton just one) it would be a shame that he fizzles out for what may prove to be his last few games for us. Your thoughts please
Looking at the next two games in isolation, trying to keep our slim hopes of automatic promotion alive (being three points behind Hull after 45 games would be the stuff of dreams given the table right now), Forestieri is the player most likely to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Looking at the bigger picture, trying to give ourselves the best chance of succeeding if we end up in the playoffs, a 20 year old is more likely to benefit from a brief rest now, or maybe a behind closed doors game, and a possible dead rubber at home on the last day against a crap team, than he is to play himself into form whilst being touted in the media as a potential messiah (how much longer can I string this sentence out for?).
I think, a bit like North North, that it will depend on Hulls result. If they win I think the pressure on us will be lifted and we might get back to the way were playing which will suit MV, if we're still in with a shout FF is probably a better bet as he seems to have been coping with it better than most.
Slightly off the topic, but I have been wondering where he will be next season. Promotion for us and he will probably stay, although we don't really know how happy he is living and working in the area. No promotion and will Udi want him back? Will they want a player who showed what he could do at our level, but can he transfer that to higher? different style of football? Despite the reported interest in him in the January transfer window he has not added to but probably lost a bit of his value lately for a straight sell. The Pozzos only sell when they think that a player has reached his maximum value and then usually for a large sum. It was reported when he joined us that the club would have an option to buy him at the end of the season. Does that still apply?
Personally i'd have rested him for Millwall, perhaps even Peterborough...he's been off the boil for a while and from his body language, he's getting stressed about it. I can only assume that Zola is continuing to start him in the hope that he will score and get his mojo back, but it's not working. Regardless of the Hull result, i'd play FF, why drop the player on form for one who is obviously struggling, for whatever reason.
Fully agree with you H, he should have been on the bench and FF starting with Troy. Hoping that will be the plan on Saturday.
I'd go further, and rest him completely. It's not that he's doing the wrong things, by all accounts he gave Millwall's defenders a torrid time on Tuesday. But for whatever reason it's just not clicking in the way that he has grown used to. How to deal with this sort of situation is a subjective call. It varies among managers, and that's not specific to football or even sport. Personally I'm from the school of thought that the last thing you want to do to a 20 year old in that position is to throw him on after an hour and make him think that the game rests on him. By all means put young, talented players into high pressure situations and see how they cope: Zola has certainly done that more than Dyche ever did, or Malky ever wanted to. But the circumstances just aren't right this time. Vydra has nothing to prove in terms of talent or handling pressure, it's purely a long season with almost no rest starting to take its toll, mentally if not physically. The answer is a short rest.
