So, ten games in and Watford are in 13th, that is great given a load of new signings and 3rd adventure into the Prem. Here are the results from the games, after watching both 0-0 v West Brom and Southampton, then the following loss in the cup, I was a bit worried. I guess we are going to suffer worse this season though. Two wins on the bounce v Swansea then away to Newcastle definitely washed away any early goal threat doubts, the team looks like it is being built on a good defense, just need to take a few more chances to get more points on the board. Only City and Arsenal have beaten Watford by more than one goal, so thus far we are relatively competitive. Considering the amount of players signed, the team look like they are well drilled and that the spirit is there. Which are good signs, a great start but some room for improvement, I´d take 13th at the end of the season though! What do you lot think? Not going to comment on individual players as haven´t seen enough games really, but for those who have, who is a cut above/below expectations? 1 Man City 10 16 22 2 Arsenal 10 10 22 3 West Ham 10 9 20 4 Man Utd 10 7 20 5 Leicester 10 3 19 6 Tottenham 10 8 17 7 Crystal Palace 10 1 15 8 Southampton 10 3 14 9 Liverpool 10 -2 14 10 West Brom 10 -3 14 11 Everton 10 0 13 12 Swansea 10 0 13 13 Watford 10 -2 13 14 Stoke 10 -3 12 15 Chelsea 10 -4 11 16 Norwich 10 -7 9 17 Bournemouth 10 -10 8 18 Sunderland 10 -8 6 19 Newcastle 10 -10 6 20 Aston Villa 10 -8 4
I think it's a great solid start from a good group of players with developments in the wings and potential to kick on in second half of the season given what will probably be an interesting January transfer window. I'm thinking the Pozzo model has changed a bit for Watford and priority one this season is staying up solidly given that the revenues from being in the prem outweigh those of a quick transfer buck or two. I expect to see a few players shipped out to strengthen Ude and Granada with even stronger replacements coming in from the network which I'm guessing is way ahead of the game. QSF has lived up exactly to how good I thought he'd be in building this team, Joko was good but probably wouldn't have got the team this far this quickly and indeed wouldn't have attracted the signatures of the same caliber players. Even the under 21s seem to be improving at a rapid rate and it'll be interesting to see how the player pipeline develops by the end of the season. I'm still optimistic for a top 6 finish or at least sneaking into the top 10. It's not that we haven't created chances, our use of the ball when in possession has been excellent but that final ball has been sub optimal, when that's sorted expect to see the goal tally start to rush.. Ever the optimistic orn......
I am very happy Mex- and good thread btw so thank you. It has been strange because there was so much promise at Goodison on the opening day which seemed to dissipate a bit after the two home games. We didn't get a hiding from City and since then progress has been steady with some good performances. It's been a real learning curve for us as fans - we have had to be far more patient and accept that the team is developing with every game. Sure there will be dispappointments along the way but also some nice surprises as was the case on Saturday. Been impressed with Nyom, Prodl and Capoue and last season's big players all seem to be holding their own. I know many have been a biot peeved taht the emdia haven;t given us much credit but the bookies certainly ahve - we were 4/6 to go down at the start of the season and now we are 9/2. Sure it is no guarantee of anything but it is a big indication of just how far we have come in a short space of time. Roll on Saturday and let's go bursting some bubbles
QSF is turning out to be a great coach. Need to work on getting ball into goalscoring opps and taking them. Funnily that was our strength with Vydra and Deeney in the championship... .and Ighalo is so good. I do think Joka was so good for us too.. .and tactically brilliant with the ability to really change things around during the game
I'm amazed that I think we really should have between 1 & 5 more points (3 early draws could easily have been wins and we were lucky really against b'muff). This team/squad will definitely survive (which is the main objective) and top 10 is not unreasonable given spirit is maintained and we are lucky with injuries. The spirit attitude and sheer fun of it all is just brilliant. quique deserves a lot of credit for achievement so far. Ighalo capoue Nyom Cathcart and gomez have been outstanding (standout ?) players so far. Ig especially. Deeney has stepped up to Prem with no trouble at all. We could look a bit weak if Ig/deeney get injured. Anya, Watson Prodl look ok, Ake is coming on. Need Jurado to give us more invention when we cannot get scoring opportunities. Berghuis has been the major disappointment so far. The home grown U-21 players don't seem to be close to the first team at present. Hey ho - am looking forward to every game.
The next 10 games is way harder than the 1st 10, So I think its possible to get 10+ pts . That would set us up nicely for the last 18 games . Getting clean sheets if you are a top 6 side is easier than if you are mid to bottom half side. Most of the credit for that must go to the way the manager has them playing .Only clean sheets guarantee pts
So long as we are still a good distance ahead of the bottom 3 before our Christmas fixtures then we should still be doing ok.
I think we have done really well so far, but I do have a worry in the back of my mind and that is what happens if Deeney and/or Ighalo get injured/suspended? At some point you would think that will inevitably happen. It seems after ever game pundits make a point out of how good they work together, and rightly so. However, it doesn't feel like we have an adequate replacement for when this happens. I could be proved wrong when we are forced to play one of our other attacking players from the start, but without the known quantity of Vydra or the X-factor of Forestieri, I am a bit worried. Are our second string forward line as strong as it was last season? Who is the impact player from the bench when we need to turn a game around? Having said that, I think our defence and midfield looks much more solid, just need a bit better final ball and we could push into the top half.
Its funny but after only 10 games we are thinking of possible a top 10 finish ,and if our management bring in 2or 3 players in jan to strengthen our attacking options then anything is possible BUT the aim as we all know is 17th or higher.
Fair point F1 - we have been lucky with injuries unlike some other club we hear about (and ourselves on previous Premier league campaigns) Might be a credit to the fitness and medical staff though - since the Pozzos have come in we've had a decent injury record and Deeney/Ighalo seems to be pretty fit anyway. Hope I've not jinxed it! (Abdi must be due a knock!) Will people have raised expectations now we won at Stoke?- remember we had the Newcastle win then the Palace game which was flat so need to just be consistent.
We are a bit light up front aren't we? But maybe Flores is not worried as he will then put one of our 3 number 10's not playing in their position, into their right position!
I think it was the overall performance at Stoke that has raised expectations. They played as poorly as we hassled them and the penny looks to have dropped going forward. How good the cover is for our front two is open to question for sure but it is midfield creativity that has been our stumbling block. maybe Prödl for Britos to mark Andy Carroll but otherwise more of the same. COYH
Reading others comments, we don´t really know how good Oulare and Ibaro (excuse spellings) are, unless you´ve seen them play or train yet. Given they are just support strikers, aren´t they? Now, with only one up top, how many strikers do you need? Sign another good one after Xmas would be amazing. However, just another bench warmer, with only one place up top available....
I still think Vydra would have offered us that something extra..... shame about what may have been his attitude... erm.... do we still have Dyer?
From what I saw of Vydra in pre-season I wouldn't play him even in the championship. For sure he used to set the field alight with a great eye for the play and his speed and finish but all three seem to have deserted him. We're not in the luxurious position of being able to rotate strikers but I believe we have talent sitting on the bench that will slot in just fine when needed.
Probably due to the way he was played....... pre-season is not really fair to go on.....I think the way QSF set up the team was not good for him.... too lightweight.... not a natural defensive player..... BUT so good on the counter....
Not so good on the counter if he's not got the speed he had or the vision of where to be. He seemed isolated from the team which has to be something to do with attitude. You can't disassociate attitude from the effectiveness of a player. I think both Ibarbo and Oulare will fit in if called upon and provide better options than Vydra. Indeed Jakubiak seems to be coming along nicely and might get a place in the near future.. Having said that we're half way to the transfer window and will probably pick up another couple of strikers, it'll be interesting to see who we have in the squad for 2nd half of the season....
Adebayor maybe an addition?! Not too sure I would be keen on that, but who knows. After being out of the game perhaps his attitude will have changed. Or not...
Deeney doesn't seem that keen: http://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/sp...s_linking_Adebayor_with_Watford_move/?ref=rss
