Post Match

It may be a few weeks before we see this new-look Hornets side at its fluent best, but they have picked up the very useful habit of racking up points while being in transition.

Watford play out goalless draw at Sheffield Wednesday

Ivic made one change to the team that beat Middlesbrough on the opening day of the season, with Glenn Murray replacing the unwell Kiko Femenia and Ken Sema dropping into the left-back position.

Vladimir Ivic happy with Watford’s clean sheet at Sheffield Wednesday

Watford players rated after draw against Sheffield Wednesday

The Owls got on top in the first half against their sloppy opponents but were unable to make their dominance count, with Tom Lees coming closest to breaking the deadlock when his unmarked header grazed the post.

Watford came on strong in the final half hour but Owls keeper Cameron Dawson made a pair of fine low saves to thwart Stipe Perica and Tom Cleverley.

So what have we learned?  Hardly news given Ivić’s reported stylistic preferences but we look an awful lot better at stopping the other lot than scoring ourselves.  But for our marking at set pieces we looked pretty impenetrable today, as you’d hope from that extremely proficient back three with Cleverley and Chalobah sitting in front of them.  Chalobah, as an aside, is becoming a candidate for that all-but-forgotten mantle of boo-boy, a role largely unoccupied for a decade or so but was excellent today, strong defending and effective supporting attacks.  Better.  All that’s stopping him dominating football games at this level is a need for a bit more assertiveness.

Hear the boys dissect Watford’s stalemate in Sheffield, which ended up being the classic game of two halves. The Athletic’s Watford correspondent Adam Leventhal joined Jon, Mike and Jason before and after the game to talk everything from transfers to tactics, as Vladimir Ivić continues to shape his Watford side.