Got back at about midnight after the match. Absolutely fantastic end to the game, really enjoyable stuff (although it was hampered somewhat by a couple of idiots behind me who kept shouting "SHHOOOOOT!!!" and "FCUKEN CROSSSS UT!!" every time we got the ball) - the shouts of "cross it" particularly irked me when earlier on all we had was Hooper (and occasionally Wes) in the box whilst Watford had their 3 monstrous centre halves. Moving on, apart from the first 10mins or so, we did not "dictate the game" and I'm not sure why the BBC were saying Wes was having such a good game - he didn't. They pressed us sensibly and in numbers from the off and our passing when going forward was wayward - I'm certain that their initially excellent pressing and discipline played a part in our comeback as they looked knackered towards the end of the 90mins and completely spent by extra time. The introduction of Josh Murphy (although he had a great game) wasn't the turning point for me - I think it was when Fer came on. I was mentally pleading with Hughton to take Tettey off as he was shocking up until Fer carried him (encapsulated by a scything challenge from behind which I wouldn't have been surprised if he was sent off for) - Fer absolutely dominated the midfield (probably helped by how tired Watford were at that point). Once he was on, Redmond and Murphy actually started running with confidence with the ball and making Watford's wide men turn and defend, which they hadn't done at all for the first 75mins. This also gave us the option of an out ball (to maintain possession) or overlap to either Whittaker or Olsson as they no longer had anyone to worry about defensively with Watford's wide men worrying about Redmond/Murphy. Here are some ratings out of 10: Bunn - 8 Not much chance for the goals (you could possibly say he should have done better for the first goal). Made some cracking saves later on, particularly once we were ahead Whittaker - 6 Started out a little edgy and at fault for their second goal. Improved as the game went on Garrido - 4 Going forward he was awful - no urgency or invention. Rightly subbed at half time. R.Martin - 7 Both centre halves were generally solid, although the first goal was arguably avoidable for them. R.Bennett - 7 *see R.Martin's comment* Tettey - 4 I thought he was awful. Although he chased them a fair bit, I'm not sure he won the ball once in the first 70mins or so. His passing was poor for the most part and it seemed as though he flat out didn't want to move to receive the ball. Only looked more comfortable once Fer had come on. Johnson - 5 Not great really. passing wasn't all that good but showed a bit more movement than Tettey. Hoolahan - 5 Looked bright in the first 10mins, then faded. Sometimes tried to do too much in too little space. Bumped out onto the right of midfield when Elmander came on. Olsson - 6 Completely ineffective going forward whilst on the left side of midfield. Did a bit better once he moved to left back. Redmond - 7 Seemed to be reluctant to properly run at defenders in the first 70mins. After that, posed a tiring Watford all sorts of problems both cutting in and crossing from the right. Hooper - 9 (MoM - chosen over Fer simply as he was on the pitch for the full 120mins) Chances were very limited for the vast majority of the game. Took the two clear cut ones he had brilliantly. Barely put a foot wrong for me and constantly offered good attacking runs which we struggled early on to pick out. SUBS Elmander - 7 Did the 'dirty work' well when he came on and encouraged the team to press Watford more. Displayed a few good touches and took up good positions in the box to try and get on the end of crosses. Murphy - 8 Grew into the game as it went on and scored a great goal. Delivery was decent and caused the tiring Watford defence serious problems with his pace and dribbling. Fer - 9 Brilliant. Took the game by the scruff of the neck by doing what Wes, Tettey and Johnson weren't - making himself available in the middle of the park. His assist for the winning goal was sublime. Appeared to win the ball back more times in 45mins than Tettey did in the whole 120. His strength was too much for Watford as the 90mins came to a close.
Thanks for that JK, I agree with your assessment of those players, when I was following it on the BBC I was shocked at the amount of free kicks Tettey gave away, in fact one of them led to the first goal. Shame really, I thought lately he had improved. Garrido really sucks lately, I hope CH gets the message and excludes him against Stoke. So based on last night, who should feature against Stoke?
i wasn't able to see the match so thanks for the detailed ratings. it does strike me that we have a 'bassong situation' with regards leroy fer! he seems to be the man we need to build everything around in midfield. others seem to respond to playing alongside him. johnson against saints played remarkably well alongside the dutchman, howson at the weekend was great too, and now tettey appears to improve when fer is next to him. i still maintain that if we can get the best out of him we will see the best of other players too. i think he needs more license to roam and therefore he needs a holding man in behind him, be it tettey or johnson. delighted for young josh to make such an impact - he's such a promising player. i just hope people don't expect him to start from now on! hooper did what hooper does - give him a chance and he'll bag it more often than not but it was nice to see him feed off a through ball! we need to see more of that please but again, that could be down to fer being given a more free role to get forward. most of all though i'm pleased for hughton. it was pretty rough having to follow the match via twitter last night. when we conceded the second goal it was pretty awful reading. some people should really be ashamed of what they wrote. things such as 'i hope we concede 6 so he gets the boot'... these people simply don't love our club if that is their view. he's certainly not out of jail - far from it - but both he and the players dug in deep to secure a result and that is a good sign. i'm of the opinion that we needed a little bit of luck and maybe we got it with that last second equaliser. some players need to up their games and that remains the case but at least when they are playing poorly or are low in confidence they still had the heart to carry the fight to the opposition and for the manager. encouraging
Yes, the fightback is cause for hope. If a club really is on a downwards trajectory, you don't usually get that kind of fightback. Fer's through ball was superb. Let's hope for more of the same on Sunday.
Certainly agree for 10 minutes at the start you were on top but whilst there was pressure on us the threat wasn't great until Fer and Murphy came on. Good luck in the next round - looks like you've got a good goal poacher in Hooper there.
Erm... probably this I suppose: Ruddy R.Martin - Turner - R.Bennett - Garrido Howson - Fer Snodgrass - Elmander - Pilkington Hooper Providing Bassong isn't fit and Redmond could probably do with a rest after playing the full 120mins last night. Garrido retains his place simply because I wasn't that impressed with Olsson. Whittaker didn't do enough for me to get the right back spot. Neither Tettey or Johnson impressed me, so Howson it is. Hooper gets the nod over RvW. I'm not sure if I'd put Murphy on the bench - he's a very similar style player to Redmond so I'm not sure if it's worth having them both on the bench.
Ha! I just read DM's review of the players' performances on his thread - amazing how differently we saw Tettey's performance!
i still think we need a proper holding player in that team. i'd take elmander out and pop tettey in. i just think we look too open at the back without one and aren't quick enough to counter attack either as both central midfielders are having to defend at the same time.
Fair enough bor. I'd have probably agreed with you had Tettey not been so utterly rubbish in my opinion last night. I'll compromise by putting Johnson in there. In that case, who would you encourage to push on and support Hooper in the middle - Howson? Fer? A combination of the two?
After Saturday's performance, Howson has to play, I feel. With him and Fer, alongside a defensive midfielder, we can genuinely boss the midfield. I like Elmander and for certain home games he's great, but I think we really struggle in a 4-4-2 when we have either Johnson or Tettey in there, who are needed to protect the back four, but we have to carry in terms of passing. Johnson is at his best with two other central midfielders in front of him, where all he has to do is pass to one of them.
both. it will require the full backs to continue to push as well but they did that well on saturday (didn't see last night). i just think we need a safety net, especially away from home, to allow both fer and howson to play their natural game
I'd give Hughton a 9 for that game. The substitutions were perfect. Elmander on at half time led the team as nobody had in the first half. He encouraged the players to get forward and take the game to Watford. 2 nil down and we were desperate for something to lift us. Bringing on Murphy did just that. He then scored a superb goal that left everyone stunned. It took the players and fans a moment to work out what had just happened. Then the whole mood in the ground changed palpably. From that point our fans upped their game too. Then Fer came on for Hoolahan. You could see the fans were just about to start the 'you don't know what your doing chant' for Hoolahan going off until it was noted that the new hero, Fer was about to join the action. Fer was superb. Which I felt, really improved Tettey too. (Although Tettey was lucky to still be on the pitch). I think they are a pairing that get the best out of each other. (Johnson was having a bit of an off game to be honest). Watford crowded Johnno out of the game but they couldn't do that to Fer. Maybe Watford's tiredness came into it a bit as the game went on. They certainly looked down and out after the equaliser (literally), half the squad was lying on the ground having their legs stretched. Bunn was outstanding. Kept us in the game during normal time and made some brilliant saves at the end of extra time (after the goal) when it looked like Watford might just get one back and take the tie to penalties. Hooper is a striker and did what strikers do. Not many chances came his way but the one's he got he took. He could have had 3 if he hadn't been selfless and passed the ball wide to Josh Murphy only for Josh to blaze over the bar. All in all, a game that reminded me of why I love football.
Haha! Exactly. I think we all sort of 'half-cheered' initially thinking "S**T! He's gone and scored!" We were as vocal as I can ever remember after that point - seriously stark contrast to the atmosphere before the goal.
Not just Tettey's either, nor the overall impression of the game. The difference between your account and DM's illustrates exactly why I keep harping on about stats and the development of an objective way of assessing games and players' performances. As an example, there are great differences in opinion as to who dominated and for how long? How can those differences be resolved unless people agree about what constitutes dominance in the first place? Does dominance equal greater possession? More play in the attacking third? Or what? When Chelsea beat Barcelona and Bayern, did THEY actually dominate the game even though they had very little possession and spent most of their time defending their penalty area?
Am I the only one who finds that (and cardinal's post) incredibly sad. What on earth does "support" mean?
Well I certainly wasn't berating the team before we started playing well (unlike some, granted), but I admit I wasn't vocal at all on about 65mins. I challenge anyone to be especially positively vocal after watching 65mins of Watford run rings around us with 2nd string players on the pitch, whilst having to bear a 15minute period of 'oles' from their fans. It works both ways Robbie. The fans are indeed capable of lifting the players, but it also occasionally occurs that a piece of brilliance on the pitch can encourage the fans to be more positively vocal.
I'll try Munky. With the help of a dictionary (a present from carrabuh incidentally) it appears to mean "fully justified", as in "fully justified in creating a morgue like atmosphere, esp. at Carrow Road" or "fully justified in further depleting your team's confidence by failing to offer encouragement when they are struggling".
The crowd and players both started out strong and then there were periods where Watford's team and fans were the more dominant. Most Watford chants were met with a canary response but once we were 2 nil down we were all getting thoroughly miserable. Hughton's inspiration to send on Murphy was the first thing we'd had to cheer about for a while. And when he scored, the crowd went ballistic.
