A 'languid' display from Watford that - very little urgency in defence giving Forest plenty of space to run with the ball whilst they were the opposite in giving us no room at all. Our passing was well off too - too short or behind the man a lot of the time. And as for the ref..... Still, a good point against a team with a 100% record - who hadn't conceded a League goal yet - keeps us in the top six. No mistakes next week at Blackpool please Mr Cassetti!
Decent game and good advert for the Championship. Another slow start and another ref making it up as he went along. However I think both teams will be in the shakedown at the end of the season. Expect changes on Wednesday and another tough trip on Saturday.
Errr...no, but you have a point about the defence. Still not very co-ordinated. I wonder if there is a language problem?
I hope not but fear you may be right - on a few occasions there appeared to be a lack of communication at the back. And it may only get worse when The Beast makes his debut... Strange isn't it - early days, haven't lost a game yet and here we are being critical. Times and expectations certainly have changed.
I like Cassetti a lot he seems like a really nice bloke and a good man to have in anyone's team but and it's a big but, he makes gaff after gaff, how many penalties, misplaced passes, fouls and general below standard play before Zola replaces him. Please please let the "Beast" be good
Just back from the game which, though far from perfect, wasn't the worst I've ever seen. I particularly enjoyed Fabbrini's performance...full of running, making himself available, running at defenders, looking as though he wanted to win. Anya caused a few problems on the right and at this level looks a threat. Almunia showed his experience when NF looked odds on to score. There was too much square passing in the first half, largely because the movement out of defence was slow. I'd be more convinced by Iriney's role if the central three defenders looked as though they were being protected by his presence. There's certainly the lack of an influential figure at the back and today defensive frailties were compounded by us getting caught in possession far too often. I hope Deeney isn't starting to believe his own hype. For me he didn't work hard enough today and those marking him had an easy time. Not for the first time he spent too much time complaining. No question a draw was a fair result. We did raise our tempo after the equaliser but looked vulnerable on the break. NF did what good away Champ sides should...concentrated, stayed organised, and applied pressure to the man with the ball. They should be there or thereabouts come the end of the season.
I too was at the game today and have to say a draw was a fair result, it was however a game we arguably should have won but could have easily lost. On the balance of play, I did think Watford pressurised the Forest goal more, but far too often it got too tight and intricate in and around the Forest area before Watford got crowded out. I think that some of the players are still getting up to speed, and once we start moving the ball quicker (as we started to do second half) we will be hard to live with. The referee made some very strange decisions, and let Forest get away with some very cynical challenges, which seemed to be their game plan as soon as any Watford player beat one of theirs. If that is the way Forest play, then I would expect them to pick up quite a few suspensions through the season. Almunia kept us in the game with some great saves especially from Miller where he got fingers on his shot to push it against the post when it was one on one (although Miller had pushed Cassetti in the back to win the ball) - fortunate to see the ball bounce back into his arms though
Good point Theo about Deeney and for me Zola bottled it today, any other player would have been subbed for not quite getting in the game and being involved. Maybe Troy has other things on his mind..............
Bit harsh and interesting how people see things differently. I thought Troy suffered from a chronic lack of service to be honest. Meanwhile, after shouting for Fabrinni to get a start I felt that too often he wanted to out dribble the entire NF defence and found himself going down cul-de-sacs. I think he needs to improve his decision making. That said he looks exciting.
I thought that a draw was fair result - against a good team and a good manager - they are going to be in the top few places at the end of the season and I can see us getting two draws against them. You cannot win them all and I would prefer we maintain a steady and realistic start.
Draw was fair overall - bit worried we weren't at the races 1st half again but Zola sorted that out and certainly both sides had their chances 2nd half. The ref was rather busy - maybe needed to clamp down earlier if he felt there was going to be a few tackles flying in. Great free kick from McGugan - a little sloppy in places with Casseti's poor play for the Forest goal and Deeney wasn't at his best. Clearly need to make sure we play for the whole game and Forest proved they will be a strong competitor at the top.
Another big plus point.......Sean Murray looked great when he came on, very very sharp I want to see more of him!
Agreed - a rather fine half hour or so that coincided with our best part of the game. Hope he gets more - lots more - game time.
I would have been happy with a draw at 13:00 and to score against them was an achievement in itself. However I suspect that if the ref had booked a few players early on, they would have had to cut out the cynical challenges and had to play football, which I suspect is too much for them. McGugan was bound to score, its the law of the former player but he seemed quiet other than that. Deeney didnt get the service he had been so was isolated for most of the game. Casseti is becoming a worry, he seems slower than ever and mistakes are creeping in, we cant be having that if we are to keep up a challenge. Almunia proved his worth yet again with two one on one saves. The atmosphere was phenomenal! We had a lot more people enjoying themselves and joining in with the chants. You could hear us for long periods on the tv. So thats great and we move on to Blackpool now!
Personally I would summarise as lots of pace, lots of skill but nowhere near enough final balls. I'm in the Deeney didn't get enough service camp as he only started to get more of the ball when he dropped further back. Fabbrini played well but I can't decide whether he just kept getting unlucky at the last turn or whether he is a ball hogger. Several times I thought of screaming pass only to then see him beat another man before then running into trouble. Overall pretty good for second home game against a very good side.
Completely agree. A big step up from Bournemouth especially after going behind. A great effort from the 1881 in particular which was much more noticeable. Find the 'we sing for Watford' song difficult to join in with but other than that great stuff.
