Monthly Archives: November 2020

28th November 2020- Championship, Watford 4 Preston North End 1

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Another home game, another win – a sixth in seven games – and a best start to a season at Vicarage Road in at least 13 years. No wonder the fans are so desperate to have their name pulled out of the hat ahead of the return of supporters next week.

There are issues to be fixed on the road, the Head Coach and the players are aware of that, but this grand old place is becoming a fortress and no-one will look forward to coming here this season, especially when fans are drip fed back in. The win over Preston was the biggest of the season, the fourth time in five home games they had scored at least three goals and only Bournemouth have prevented a 100 per cent record. The 19 points the team have harvested from seven games eclipses the 2007/08 haul of 16 under Aidy Boothroyd.

That particular anticipated push for a swift return to the top flight fell away, but this one should, fingers crossed, have legs, especially as the team is expected to get better and more fluent. The depth of the squad should also play a part, particularly amid such a punishing schedule. It is doubtful there is a team without players of the calibre of Étienne Capoue, Will Hughes and Tom Cleverley and yet still able to field a midfield two with full and England Under-20 honours.

You also had Portugal youth international Domingos Quina playing as a makeshift left-midfielder and he chipped in with his first goal in nearly two years, and his third for the club, after nine minutes. Troy Deeney is slightly more used to finding the back of the net and he slammed in his 133rd for the club eight minutes after half-time from the spot. Not done there, the captain then was involved in a lovely give-and-go with Nathaniel Chalobah for the third that clinched it. It was needed as Preston had threatened to make it a tricky last half-hour when Tom Barkhuizen made it 2-1.

Deeney departed with 20 minutes left as his job had been done. There are plenty of battles ahead and there was no point risking him with this one won. It was one of those days when he would have got a rousing ovation from a packed house as he ambled off and milked it for all it was worth. He was just putting his warm jacket on and sitting back in his chair when João Pedro made it four.

The Brazilian was on after half-an-hour because of an injury to Andre Gray. It was a real shame we only saw the restoration of Deeney and Gray for a third of the match before Gray limped off with a hamstring problem. In their first outing from the off in more than 14 months, and only the 14th time they had been paired together, they looked menacing and set the tone from the front. It took just two minutes for Deeney to find his old sparring partner and for Gray to show the confidence to let fly. The effort smacked against a defender, but the intent was clear. Gray then returned the favour to Deeney three minutes later with a cuter pass.

Without the pressure of being the lone front-runner, you had Gray closing down the ‘keeper and harrying Jordan Storey on the touchline. The rest of the team fed off that energy, particularly James Garner who rattled into three tackles in quick succession, including an over-zealous one on Brad Potts that earned him a yellow card. This was the intensity Head Coach Vladimir Ivić had been demanding.

It was not all plain sailing. It never is in this division. Sean Maguire and Potts, with a much closer one, had chances before the home side scored first while Ben Foster had to save bravely and smartly with his legs from Patrick Bauer even after Quina had put the team in front.

The team lost a bit of momentum after Gray, fearing a recurrence of the injury he sustained against Tottenham Hotspur, trudged off somewhat disconsolately. The Golden Boys were still largely in control without even being dominant. They thought they had that buffer of a second goal before half-time, that one that allows you to relax a bit more, but Ismaïla Sarr had strayed offside in converting a Deeney header from a pre-rehearsed Garner corner.

There were four goals in 13 second-half minutes against Coventry last time out here and there was a similar flurry after the break again, this time in a six-minute spell.

Deeney smashed in a penalty, his 33rd for the club, after Sarr had been fouled; Barkhuizen pulled one back with a shot that deflected off Garner and then Chalobah scored the goal of the game after sweet exchange with Deeney. It could have been more. Declan Rudd prevented the now full-of-confidence Deeney from finding the bottom corner with a low save and then dived high to his right to deny Sarr from lashing one in from range.

The fourth goal that had been coming did arrive on 74 minutes when João Pedro tucked one in at the far post from a Garner corner. This was now the going over the team had been threatening to give someone. Now the task is to transfer a slice of this form to the performances on the road, starting at Forest on Wednesday.

Watford batter Preston North End with attacking display

Watford produce impressive display to beat Preston North End

Vladimir Ivic wants improvement despite Watford win over Preston

Watford players rated after thrashing Preston North End

Nathaniel Chalobah delighted to score for Watford against Preston

Joao Pedro hoping to learn from Watford captain Troy Deeney

Vladimir Ivic calls Troy Deeney a leader after Watford win

Watford captain Troy Deeney marked his first start of the season with an inspired display in a 4-1 victory over Preston.The 32-year old scored one and created another to give the Hertfordshire side a comfortable afternoon at Vicarage Road.

Watford made it 19 points from a possible 21 at Vicarage Road this season, but had to overcome a side which boasted the second-best away record in the division, with all but three of their 16-point total earned on the road.

If we’re edging closer towards what things Ought To Be off the pitch, we’re suddenly ahead of the game on it. Today’s shuffling of the deck saw the fielding of the same 20 names that muddled their way to a point at Ashton Gate on Wednesday but with a critical switch bringing Troy in for his first start of the season in place of João Pedro.

https://www.soccerbase.com/matches/results.sd?date=2020-11-28

https://www.11v11.com/league-tables/league-championship/28-november-2020/

25th November 2020- Championship, Bristol City 0 Watford 0

https://www.skysports.com/football/bristol-c-vs-watford/teams/429855

Match-Report_-Bristol-City-0-0-Watford-Watford-FC Download

It wasn’t a classic and the fans were certainly not missing much by being absent from this one, but the Hornets kept the points tally ticking along this evening to ensure they are still bang in the mix for when, fingers crossed, they can return in some shape of form next month.

A first clean sheet in eight games and extending a nice little run to one defeat in eight were the big takeaways from this one that will not be featuring very high, if at all, on the end-of-season highlights reel. A point at a side who started and finished the night in third place is not to be sniffed at, particularly in a division that can resemble a game of snakes and ladders at times.

Watford could have won it with a header from Craig Cathcart in the first half or a well-hit one in the second half from Domingos Quina that Daniel Bentley saved superbly. They could also have lost it via a couple of chances in quick succession engineered by Antoine Semenyo, while a corner into the box late on forced Ben Foster into emergency action, so a draw was just about a fair result.

The evening also provided a good first test run of the four-at-the-back formation. It seemed to work well, with the Hornets enjoying plenty of the ball and controlling large parts of the game. It shows they have tactical flexibility, are agile and they should, all things being equal, only get more cohesive and fluent as the games and weeks race by. They’ve still not been anywhere near their best and are within three points of the second automatic spot. Vladimir Ivić could certainly not be accused of not going for it, with Troy Deeney, Stipe Perica and Ismaīla Sarr all in the front line by the end.

Ivić will have been pleased that the first half was more controlled than the free-wheeling first 45 at QPR on Saturday. With one less man at the back and more in midfield to help ball retention, the Hornets enjoyed as much of the ball as they had done in a game all season. They had 88 per cent of it after 10 minutes and that only dropped to 66 per cent at half-time, enabling them to dictate the play with 262 passes to the home side’s 136 and play it at their pace.

They didn’t do a great deal with it, generating five shots on goal without any on target, but the intent was there. James Garner was at the heart of most of what they did well. He fizzed one into Andre Gray that led to a snapshot for Sarr, and sent over four corners of varying danger. He also bent over a free-kick that Cathcart got on the end of with a header. The captain nodded it just wide, but the fact he slammed the post in frustration told you he felt he may have done better.

Quina vowed pre-match to play without any fear and he backed that up, turning and letting fly with one that moved all over the place and landed just wide, and almost putting Gray in with a slide-rule pass. Gray was also a whisker away from playing in João Pedro with a perceptive pass.

Foster did not have a single save to make in the first period, his main job largely to keep warm on a night he would call “fresh”. He still hadn’t been called into action by the hour mark, but would have been mighty relieved when Semenyo, after fine work down the left, fizzed one through the legs of Famara Diédhiou instead of straight into his path as the striker was four yards out and poised to score the easiest goal of his career. The lively Semenyo was posing City’s biggest threat and he nearly steered one into the far corner soon after.

The momentum was slowly shifting the home side’s way so Ivić responded by sending for Deeney, who has a track record of changing the course of a game, often through the sheer force of his personality. It was probably no coincidence that his presence resulted in the first shot on target in the game, Quina letting fly with one that dropped his way just inside the box. Bentley did superbly to tip it over and it was really travelling and would have rattled the back of the net.

Foster responded with some agility of his own right at the end to preserve a point. Anything less wouldn’t have been fair. Neither would anything more.

Watford draw 0-0 with Bristol City

Watford and Bristol City play out goalless draw

Vladimir Ivic in positive mood after Watford and Bristol City draw

Watford players rated after draw with Bristol City

Ben Foster tells Watford players to be more clinical

City goalkeeper Dan Bentley made the save of the match in the 74th minute, showing great reactions to tip over a shot from Domingos Quina.

Vladimir Ivic’s visitors, who were without three unnamed players who have tested positive for coronavirus, tailed off in the second half as City forward Antoine Semenyo looked the most likely to make something happen.

This was football which deserved to be played behind closed doors. That old Shankly quip about closing the curtains if Everton were playing down the bottom of the garden. But there’s something lurking underneath that too, a sense of how football re-shapes itself when it isn’t so conscious of the public gaze. It’s hard to believe that Bristol City could be quite this cautious in front of a stadium full of their own supporters; unless the opposition is particularly illustrious, and sometimes even then, home fans tend to want to see their team do more than line up in defensive banks. They don’t touch the ball for the first two minutes, content to get their shape and sit tight. In real life, you just can’t do that without a rising restlessness in the stands.

21st November 2020- Championship, Queens Park Rangers 1 Watford 1

https://www.skysports.com/football/qpr-vs-watford/teams/429845

1-0

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Ben Wilmot’s recent 21st birthday marked his ascension from a boy to a man. The occasion also nudged open the goalscoring floodgates, resulting in a first for his country and now a first for the club.

Wilmot was disappointed with his contribution at Barnsley in the previous away fixture, believing he had two presentable headed chances to make up for his part in the Tykes’ early goal. He made amends here, if indeed he needed to, by side-footing in an early goal that really should have set the Hornets on the way to a second away win of the season and only a second on their travels in 14 attempts.

It didn’t quite work out like that, however, with QPR recovering from the early blow, steadying themselves and in fact finishing the stronger of the two sides. They equalised through Ilias Chair 13 minutes from time and fully deserved their point. They thought they had got all three right at the death but Lyndon Dykes, on as a sub, all-but punched a cross from Tom Carroll into the back of the net.

The Hornets will wonder how they ended up being a bit relieved to leave West London with a point having looked so threatening in the first half. They really should have put the game to bed in the first period and paid the price for not doing so. Still, they are right in the thick of things at the business end of the table and this might look a good point if three are collected at Ashton Gate on Wednesday.

The first half was a breathless, end-to-end-affair, almost like a game of Étienne Capoue’s beloved basketball. There were 15 attempts in the first 45 minutes alone, which was just one more than in the entire 90 minutes at Oakwell in the last road trip. You needed the interval just to catch your breath.

You half-suspected it might be an open and loose affair when the Hornets scored inside three minutes. Ken Sema, the assist king, was again the orchestrator, slinging over a low centre that Wilmot escorted into the back of the net from the closest of ranges. The defender probably couldn’t believe his luck. It was fitting his mate William Troost-Ekong, who helped him so much at Udinese, was first to the scene to congratulate on him on a first goal for the club. It was a nice moment.

There was an anticipation that the Hornets might kick on and establish a vice-like grip on proceedings thereafter, but you can forget that in this league and at this ground, especially if you remember that ding-dong in the FA Cup here a couple of seasons ago.

QPR were in no mood to play second fiddle or be cowered by falling behind inside 270 seconds. Craig Cathcart, captain in the absence of his mate Tom Cleverley, made a wonderful sliding interception to cut out a dangerous cross from Bright Osayi-Samuel; Capoue headed one off the line; Yoann Barbet had Ben Foster scrambling across his line with a free-kick from distance that dipped and swerved all over the place; Foster denied Dominic Ball, the former Watford Academy player, from close range and then Macauley Bonne should really have steered a far-post header on target when largely unmarked.

It wasn’t all QPR. Far, far from it. In between times and, as a result of various counter-attacks, Andre Gray headed instinctively wide from a Kiko Femenía cross; Troost-Ekong headed past the post from an uncannily similar position to the one he thumped in against Coventry City; Ismaïla Sarr had an effort he slammed at goal blocked; QPR ‘keeper Seny Dieng made a finger-tip save to deny Gray and then Sarr, for a player of his rich quality, should have scored after being sent clear down the inside right channel.

It was a wonder the teams didn’t go in locked at 3-3 at the break. It was that open.

There was no thought at the interval by either coach to lock things down, like most of the country right now. Within ten minutes of the second half, Ivić and his opposite number, former Hornets Academy Manager Mark Warburton, had thrown on two attacking players each in Troy Deeney, Domingos Quina, Chris Willock and Dykes.

With such a commitment to attack, it was no surprise to see Conor Masterson hit the top of the bar for Rangers and then Wilmot guide a header just wide. It felt like that wasn’t going to be the end of the scoring and so it proved, with Chair putting away a very well-taken chance past Foster. The Hornets just didn’t get going in the second half and couldn’t hold on like they did in the FA Cup quarter-final here in early 2019. There are, as always, plenty of hoops to jump through in this division.

Watford draw away at Queens Park Rangers

Watford have to settle for draw away at Queens Park Rangers

Vladimir Ivic left frustrated after Watford draw with QPR

Ben Wilmot’s second-minute opener – his first goal for Watford – gave the visitors the perfect start at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium

Ilias Chair’s late equaliser earned QPR a share of the spoils and denied Watford top spot in the Championship.

There’s been a degree of reflection and stock taking of the season so far during the international break. My own view for what it’s worth, as these reports have probably reflected, is that us getting to where we’ve got to without being particularly convincing is a Good Thing. If Vlad was giving the impression of thinking we were sorted there’d be a concern. This isn’t the case at all, and as such woe betide the division when we get our shit together.

Win your home games and draw your away games and you’ll be promoted, that’s what Jas has been telling us for the last ten years. But this away draw at QPR, after a poor second half performance, didn’t feel like a promotion pushing side. Jon, Jason and Mike gather to discuss the game, and hear from Vladimir Ivic in the post match press conference.

7th November 2020- Championship, Watford 3 Coventry City 2

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-coventry/teams/429836

1-0

2-2

3-2

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The Hornets served up a five-goal thriller for the second successive home game, producing the perfect response to those fans who regrettably missed the one three days earlier on Hive Live and leaving themselves in a wonderful position to launch a promotion bid of some substance.

Technical issues outside of the club’s control meant those Hornets suffering at home missed the cracker against Stoke City, but the team showed it was no fluke by doing it again, this time against Coventry and even more dramatically with all five goals coming in a madcap second-half. The fans might even need to watch a re-run to check this one unfolded the way it did. They’ll certainly have plenty of time during this month-long lockdown to do so.

There was absolutely no sign of the goal rush to come after a fairly lifeless first-half, which featured just one shot on target. Things then exploded into life in the second period, with five goals in just over half an hour. Ismaïla Sarr won it again, this time from the spot despite the presence of the 400th appearance boy and penalty king Troy Deeney on the pitch. It was that sort of afternoon when little made sense but the upshot is the Hornets are one point off the top and looking a real dangerous prospect now the goals are starting to flow, particularly at home. This is now the third time in four games they have found the back of the net three times and no other side in the league has won more points on their own patch this season. Not many will look forward to coming here, that’s for sure.

The first half only ended all square thanks to a goal-saving tackle from Christian Kabasele. Maxime Biamou, lurking at the far post like all good No.9s, looked certain to the roll a delicious low centre from the right into the back of the net, but the Belgium international defender produced a wonderful smothering, sliding intervention to deny Biamou the chance to beat Ben Foster from close range on 36 minutes. It was right up there with the defensive contributions Kabasele has produced since signing from Genk more than four years ago.

Biamou had a couple of chances before that, one from distance that flew over and a header he nodded wide from a Ryan Giles cross. That flurry of chances was reflective of a nice spell from the visitors who made of a mockery of the difference in places between fourth top and fourth bottom. They were very progressive, very neat and tidy and weaved some nice attacking patterns.

The stats made it look like the Hornets made the most of the running: 51 per cent of the ball, seven shots to the visitors’ five and winning the corner count six-nil but they never ever had things all their own way and managed to engineer just the one shot on target in the first 45 minutes – and that came right at the end of the half when Tom Cleverley forced a flying near-post save from Marko Maroši after hitting one with the element of surprise from a short corner.

There were a couple of low crosses across the face from Sarr, a neat reverse pass from the restored James Garner and a trademark cross-field pass from Étienne Capoue, this time to Ken Sema with his left foot, but the attacking fluency was not quite there.

Coventry were at it again at the very start of the second half, forcing a smart tip over from the airborne Foster with a rising drive on the angle from Callum O’Hare. Something was needed to spark the Hornets into life, a bit of inspiration, and it was Capoue, that multi-talented midfield operator, who provided it. He unfurled another of those cross-field passes, again with his weaker left foot. It was played with such weight and precision that Sema was able to take it in his stride, push it past his man with his first touch and punch it across the face of goal. And there was Gray, the arch poacher, to bundle it home.

You hoped the Hornets might kick on from there and either pull clear or shut the game down, but they did neither. Coventry got a second wind and scored twice in 60 seconds through Gustavo Hamer and Tyler Walker to completely turn the match on its head.

You wondered exactly where the game was heading at that point, just which way it might swing next. The next goal was going to be prove decisive and fortunately for those of a yellow persuasion, it came for the home side when William Troost-Ekong rose at the near post to head in a Garner corner. What a time to net your first goal for the club. Fortunately for those of a nervous disposition, that was the end of the scoring for a while, but only a little while.

There was one more turn to come and it proved a decisive one. Sarr won a penalty for the second successive match, this time via a hand ball from a cross he attempted to clip over O’Hare, and stepped up to take it, despite the imposing presence of Deeney on the field. What a script that would have been on his landmark appearance for the club, to ram in the winning penalty against a team from the Midlands, but Sarr was having none of it and rolled the ball in like a seasoned spot-kick taker with seven minutes to go. And that’s how it stayed. Everyone probably needs the international break after this bonkers game to get their breath back.

RELIVE: Watford go second in the Championship with win over Coventry

Watford beat Coventry City to move up to second in the Championship

Vladimir Ivic felt Watford were not amazing in Coventry win

Ismaila Sarr struck an 83rd-minute penalty to secure the win, after William Troost-Ekong had equalised following a Coventry comeback.

Andre Gray gave Vladimir Ivić’s side the lead shortly into the second half with his first goal for almost exactly a year, only for Gustavo Hamer to equalise for Coventry with a header from 25 yards out. The Sky Blues then went ahead a minute later as a long ball was flicked on to Tyler Walker to thrash home his first league goal of the season. Their advantage only lasted two minutes before James Garner’s corner was headed in by centre-back William Troost-Ekong for his first goal since joining Watford from Udinese in September.

Today was a good day. On a bad day, maybe we don’t get that equaliser and the game disappears into a miserable, frustrating defeat. On a bad day, maybe James Garner is pulled up for his challenge in the box prior to the penalty – a coulda rather than shoulda been a foul. But definitely a coulda. But today was a good day. Troy was on by this stage, half the man he used to be but twice as mobile for it; despite this Ismaïla Sarr picked the ball up and rolled in his third strike in four games. At almost exactly the same time, news broke from the United States that the racist, misogynist, narcissistic, malevolent manchild in the White House had finally been disposed of, and a great big party started. Today was a good day.

4th November 2020- Championship, Watford 3 Stoke City 2

https://www.skysports.com/football/watford-vs-stoke/teams/429824

1-1

2-1

3-2

Match-Report_-Watford-3-2-Stoke-City-Watford-FC Download

In a very uncertain world, fans can head into the latest lockdown with at least a degree of confidence that their beloved team is getting back on track.

After two disappointing results and below-par performances on the road at Wycombe and Barnsley, home comforts proved something of a reference point this team needed to rediscover its bearings. This sort of come-from-behind win, especially when you leave it very late to floor a very decent Stoke team, is the sort that builds confidence and belief. The very nature of the league means you are going to have to recover from a goal, or even two, down at times this season so this formative group now know they can do it.

They are also turning Vicarage Road into something of a fortress. It’s now four wins from five at home this season and the last time the club did that was in 2014-15. And we know what happened then.

If this season is to climax in a similar thrilling fashion, and their is an awful long way to go, Vladimir Ivić knows he needs to address the slowness of starts to games, which stretches all the way back to Project Restart, and greater concentration at set-pieces. They gave another team the headstart, again from a ball from the right, and had to dig deep to muscle their way back into this topsy-turvy contest and win it with some brilliance from Ismaïla Sarr.

It was another poor start by the Hornets, only this time at home. A slick short-corner routine involving Nick Powell and John Obi Mikel resulted in Steven Fletcher guiding the ball into the net from the closest of ranges. The only consolation at the goal coming so early was that it gave the Hornets 88-and-a-half minutes to muster a response.

It look a while and the portents didn’t look great for a bit, but the tide began to change when Cleverely, leading by example, outmuscled Tommy Smith on the touchline in front of the stand named after the club’s greatest ever manager. GT would have loved the way Cleverely chased down a lost cause to win back possession, and, as it so often does, it set the tone for a shift in momentum.

Cleverley wasn’t done there and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, much like the club captain on the bench has done so often during the past ten years. Out of nothing really, Cleverely picked up possession on the edge of the box, took a couple of touches to engineer a bit of space and then let fly with one that crashed off the underside of the bar. It was, at first glance, a bit like the one his former England teammate Frank Lampard unleashed against Germany at the 2010 World Cup. Only this one wasn’t quite over the line and needed João Pedro to pressure Angus Gunn in the Stoke goal to take it over the whitewash.

Cleverley celebrated frenziedly and was making doubly sure referee Andy Davies, under pressure from the opposition, didn’t chalk it off. He knew the team needed it, especially after the last two results.

The goal had a galvanising effect. Étienne Capoue made one of his typical sliding interceptions to cut out a pass from Harry Souttar and then piled into Powell. Christian Kabasele executed a smart recovery tackle on Fletcher; Ismaïla Sarr could have made it two from a Ken Sema pass and then Cleverley and Chalobah each went close with headers, both from Kiko Femenía crosses. It was much more like it and the Hornets went into the break with a head of steam.

The momentum continued after the break and they got their noses in front on the hour. Sarr’s nimble feet and a short burst of pace drew a foul from Gunn. The referee might have procrastinated over the first goal, but this was an easy decision to point to the spot. João Pedro assusmed spot-kick duties and rolled the penalty into the bottom left-hand corner.

Ivić then made a double change from a position of strength, replacing the overworked Cleverley with the youthful James Garner and João Pedro with Andre Gray, not worring one iota about the fact the Brazilian had just tucked in his fourth of the season. This is a squad game.

Gray nearly put daylight between the two teams by steering in a header from another delicious Femenía cross and he probably wished he had when Powell equalised with nine minutes of normal time remaining. But just when it looked like they might have thrown away two points, up popped Sarr to slam in the winner. It was the sort of goal that would have seen the Rookery End erupt. It was just a crying shame there were not more in here to witness the drama with their own eyes.

These are very strange times, but thankfully there are players of the calibre of Sarr to provide a bit of welcome cheer.