Says it all when your disappointed to lose 4/2 at the Champions. Very good attacking performance. They have a habit of scoring late against us too!
Full Time: Chelsea 4-2 Watford Chelsea get the three points and Watford get credit from all quarters, but no points. Sometimes that is how things go.
Missing the chance to make it 3-1 and Pereya going off was the turning point. So disappointed to concede with only 3 min to go.
I thought bringing Watson on was an odd decision - I'd prefer to have seen Capoue. Although the marking for the last two goals was poor - I did think that the back three played remarkably well - especially Kabasele. They leave me wondering where Prodl will fit in when he's back from injury - it would be unfair on any of them to be dropped to make way.
We went toe to toe with the champions and were unfortunate not to leave with at least a point in the end. We should have gone 3-1 up and put the game to bed. If we keep playing like the last few games we will easily finish top 8, and I don't think I am being ridiculously optimistic saying that. We are the best team outside the established "big 6" so far this season.
I have been watching closely our friend Holebas, and have come to the conclusion that he seems happier this season than last. No he doesn't smile a lot still, but some of the anger that seemed to be his constant companion appears to have left him. His work rate up and down the wing is quite amazing, his long throws add something to our game, and some of his in swinging corners create panic and disorder in defences. For some reason there just seems to be a lot more to his game now. One on one with an attacker you don't feel it inevitable that the card is about to come out. A great improvement in my opinion.
Fermina was good too. Still can't believe those missed chances, my wife laughed when she watched them commenting bribery might have been the only reason he missed. Have to let him off for the other goals mind. I seriously hope Pereyra's injury isn't serious. Anyone know any updates on that? As couldn't find anything.
Having watched the game live and then MOTD highlights twice I think Silva surrendered our advantage by taking off Deeney and allowed Conte to win it with his substitute Batshuayi
Somebody said they saw him getting into a taxi unaided.. Mind you we do seem to have a habit of thinking nothing is wrong but then they later get ruled out for ages! I think everyone is happier this season - results and performances help of course.
A great performance, especially for 70 minutes... and says something about this team to take it to Chelsea and be disappointed not to take anything away from the game As mentioned above, I think it was the Richarlison missed header and then Pererya's injury that were the turning points. Deeney off didn't help either. No fault with Richarlison though, he's young and will learn from this! Don't like to moan about referees but thought the officials were poor. The corner that never was and Rudiger probably should have got a second yellow. Almost every set piece that went into the area he pulled up for a foul. Richarlison got plenty of criticism last week but wow Morata fell over a lot. Every time the ball was played to him he seemed to be looking for fouls... Performance means nothing though if they can't follow it up against Stoke!
From today's Guardian. If you fancy compiling a list of the Premier League’s most watchable players, Richarlison should be near the top. Watford’s Brazilian forward is the sort of player to make defenders’ hearts sink, a man who over the course of 90 minutes will dive, dig and irritate, and then create something from nothing and make the opposition look thoroughly foolish. Arguably his two remarkable misses against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday make him even more entertaining: a player around whom there is always attention, action and drama. Still, for his team’s benefit if not the rest of us, his finishing must improve. “I think we did 90% to win the match,” Marco Silva, the Watford manager, said after Chelsea turned the match around. Richarlison was responsible for that errant 10%.
Here is a link to an interview with Holobas last week in The Express: http://www.express.co.uk/sport/foot...-yellow-cards-managers-and-clothing-Exclusive
I think we need 10 games to get a feel for our ‘status’. But honestly, I’ve only seen 2 teams definitely better than us so far-Citeh & Spurs. If everything works in our favour(injuries, average luck, keeping everyone) we have as good a chance of top 4 as the other 4 ‘top teams’. Am I dreaming?
It certainly was a surprise move. I don't even know why Deeney had to come off - if MS wanted to shore up the defence, he could have moved Deeney back into a back four in order to sit on Batshuayi & moved Richarlison up front (which he did anyway). I know he prefers zonal marking over man to man, but when needs must...
My colleague who supports Chelsea said that we were the better side, Rudiger should have been sent off and that he is generally a liability. He could have been sent off before half time. If you look at the footage from our equaliser, as the throw is coming over he elbows the WFC player behind him (TD9?) in the chest. After that the focus is on the ball, so I'm not sure how both of them are on the deck behind Courtois.