Merry Christmas to anyone that reads this! Thanks as well for the continued support on the blog even if you just read it I do genuinely appreciate it.
After a fantastic Christmas, Boxing Day rolled around and it was time to head to The Vic for a game against a Crystal Palace side who had a new manager in Sam Allerdyce. To be honest I wasn't particularly optimistic, particularly with it being Palace a side we tend to struggle against.
A quick Christmas pint to settle the nerves then I made the trip to my seat to find the people around me also not in optimistic mood. At least it wasn't just me for once!
Our fears came to fruition from the off with Palace in control and things weren't made better when Janmaat and Behrami went off injured early on.
Palace soon took the lead through Yohan Cabaye who broke the offside trap to slot past Gomes. Things didn't get better either really and we didn't test the Palace goalkeeper. To sum up our first half performance in one word it would have to be... gutless
The one positive is that we only went in at the break 1 down. Thanks to Gomes saving a penalty from Benteke. The manner of the poor back pass that led to the penalty pretty much summed up our first half performance.
The second half was slightly better as we took the game more to Palace but in the opening parts we failed to test the keeper.
When Prödl was hauled back in the area we were given a golden chance and Troy Deeney was handed the chance to finally score his 100th Watford goal.
He made no mistake as he smashed it into the Rookery end net. Somehow we were level.
Deeney has had an up and down career at Watford not one that needs going over but he deserves to have scored his 100th goal. Although poor in recent weeks he's been central to the success the club has had.
A Wilfred Zaha dive later (shock!) and the game finished. Although Harry The Hornets afternoon wasn't over as he mockingly dived in front of Zaha. Zaha was furious and had to be calmed down by a coach.
The fact that one bloke dressed up in a costume has annoyed a lot of Palaces fanbase is quite funny and the fact it's a talking point from the game highlights what a terrible football match it was.
Watford1-1 Crystal Palace
Man of the match: Britos- was our best defender today and much improved from previous weeks
Match rating: 3/10- poor game
Pogba v Capoue- I really should look at this properly. Capoue was really poor today by the way.
Harry the hornet rating- 8/10
Next match: Spurs (H) New Year's Day at 12:30. Great! *sarcasm*
Thanks for reading!
@Adzrowe on twitter
Monday 26 December 2016
Saturday 17 December 2016
Manchester city 2-0 Watford Sunderland 1-0 Watford
At the start of this week I was excited ahead of going on two away days in a week. Now anyone who knows me will tell you how much I love an away game but this is Watford and they'll always find a way to let you down.
They didn't fail to this week either...
I'll start with my trip to The Etihad for the trip to Manchester City
After getting to Manchester at 1pm for an 8 o'clock kick off I saw the main attractions of Whetherspoons and some other pub. Me and my mates headed to the ground in high spirits talking of how we could add to City's misery.
It wasn't to be...
From the moment we saw the team news we knew it was going to be a challenge. Particularly with giving Sinclair his debut.
Things didn't get better when Pereyra went off either. We found ourselves 1-0 down at half time.
A late ighalo chance summed up his season when he sent a sitter over the bar. City broke and scored to make it 2-0. Ah well that's football sometimes!
We had a good trip to Manchester and knew it was unlikely we'd get anything so I went home not too bothered. By the Thursday morning I think I was too hungover to really care about the football.
I was more optimistic about the trip to Sunderland and headed north for my second long trip of the week hoping for 3 points.
Again in true Watford fashion it didn't happen.
After a first half where we created lots I said to my dad at halftime "you watch they'll score".
For once it wasn't so nice being right but after 50 minutes Sunderland were ahead through a scrappy goal. Classic Watford.
That's the way game stayed meaning it was two defeats in a week for me on my travels. I salute the rest of the fans that travelled to both games alongside myself. But for I won't be able to do this forever so I may as well try to enjoy it while I can.
I currently am on the A1 just a few miles from Leeds but have a good 3 hours left of my journey. According to the Sat Nav anyway.
What we do for football ay!
But in truth on away days it's always a good laugh regardless of the result.
Up the Watford- here's to many more hopefully more successful away days in 2017!
You 'Orns!
Manchester city 2-0 Watford
Sunderland 1-0 Watford
Man of the week: Amrabat
Capoue v Pogba- Capoue was horrific today so I'll say they are both as overrated as each other!
Miles covered: 875
@Adzrowe on Twitter
They didn't fail to this week either...
I'll start with my trip to The Etihad for the trip to Manchester City
After getting to Manchester at 1pm for an 8 o'clock kick off I saw the main attractions of Whetherspoons and some other pub. Me and my mates headed to the ground in high spirits talking of how we could add to City's misery.
It wasn't to be...
From the moment we saw the team news we knew it was going to be a challenge. Particularly with giving Sinclair his debut.
Things didn't get better when Pereyra went off either. We found ourselves 1-0 down at half time.
A late ighalo chance summed up his season when he sent a sitter over the bar. City broke and scored to make it 2-0. Ah well that's football sometimes!
We had a good trip to Manchester and knew it was unlikely we'd get anything so I went home not too bothered. By the Thursday morning I think I was too hungover to really care about the football.
I was more optimistic about the trip to Sunderland and headed north for my second long trip of the week hoping for 3 points.
Again in true Watford fashion it didn't happen.
After a first half where we created lots I said to my dad at halftime "you watch they'll score".
For once it wasn't so nice being right but after 50 minutes Sunderland were ahead through a scrappy goal. Classic Watford.
That's the way game stayed meaning it was two defeats in a week for me on my travels. I salute the rest of the fans that travelled to both games alongside myself. But for I won't be able to do this forever so I may as well try to enjoy it while I can.
I currently am on the A1 just a few miles from Leeds but have a good 3 hours left of my journey. According to the Sat Nav anyway.
What we do for football ay!
But in truth on away days it's always a good laugh regardless of the result.
Up the Watford- here's to many more hopefully more successful away days in 2017!
You 'Orns!
Manchester city 2-0 Watford
Sunderland 1-0 Watford
Man of the week: Amrabat
Capoue v Pogba- Capoue was horrific today so I'll say they are both as overrated as each other!
Miles covered: 875
@Adzrowe on Twitter
Sunday 4 December 2016
West Brom 3-1 Watford
I write this on the train home from Nottingham where I've just watched my mates team Peterborough concede a last minute goal against Notts County to draw 2-2 meaning a reply will decide their 2nd round FA Cup tie. A great game for the neutral but a complete sucker punch for The Posh, who coincidentally were done by a ref, sounds all too familiar for me being a Watford fan!
Now back to our game, I would rant on about the result but I really don't have time or energy to be honest.
West brom did play well in the opening 45 but it was two sloppy goals to concede from our perspective. It's about time we learnt to defend set pieces!
However we did play a lot better in the second half and potentially if we took our chances we could have taken a draw. As it was we didn't and we were beat. Still 10th in the league though so no need to panic just yet!
I thought there should've been 3 red cards yesterday, one for Pereyra and one each for McLean and Rondon for The Baggies. I'm sure The FA will take a look at the incident though.
I'll finish this relatively short post on a sad note. Unfortunately life long Watford fan Ray Batchelor died on the way home from the match with what looks like a cardiac arrest. As someone who witnessed the polices effort to revive him they deserve credit for everything they did to try to save him.
Whatever the score everyone should return home from a football match.
Ray was well liked by many Watford fans and I'm sure he'll be dearly missed by many.
There'll be a minutes applause for Ray on the 81st minute next week against Everton so please pass on to anyone you may know attending the game.
Perspective...
RIP Ray
You 'Orns
West Brom 3-1 Watford
Man of the match: Amrabat
Away day rating: 5/10
Pogba v Capoue: Same as last week
@Adzrowe on Twitter
Next match: Everton (H)
Now back to our game, I would rant on about the result but I really don't have time or energy to be honest.
West brom did play well in the opening 45 but it was two sloppy goals to concede from our perspective. It's about time we learnt to defend set pieces!
However we did play a lot better in the second half and potentially if we took our chances we could have taken a draw. As it was we didn't and we were beat. Still 10th in the league though so no need to panic just yet!
I thought there should've been 3 red cards yesterday, one for Pereyra and one each for McLean and Rondon for The Baggies. I'm sure The FA will take a look at the incident though.
I'll finish this relatively short post on a sad note. Unfortunately life long Watford fan Ray Batchelor died on the way home from the match with what looks like a cardiac arrest. As someone who witnessed the polices effort to revive him they deserve credit for everything they did to try to save him.
Whatever the score everyone should return home from a football match.
Ray was well liked by many Watford fans and I'm sure he'll be dearly missed by many.
There'll be a minutes applause for Ray on the 81st minute next week against Everton so please pass on to anyone you may know attending the game.
Perspective...
RIP Ray
You 'Orns
West Brom 3-1 Watford
Man of the match: Amrabat
Away day rating: 5/10
Pogba v Capoue: Same as last week
@Adzrowe on Twitter
Next match: Everton (H)
Friday 25 November 2016
Why the Pozzo family don't deserve their media reputation
I had to write this for uni so I thought I would share it here too
The Pozzo family have come under heavy criticism on many
different occasions since they took over Watford in 2012. Many of the
mainstream news outlets give a very one sided, uneducated opinion about The
Hornets owners and the positive things the family have done for Watford are
never given any media attention.
The Pozzo’s succeeded Laurence Bassini as owners of The
Hornets in 2012 and have taken the club to the heights of the Premier League already
in their first four years in Hertfordshire. Before the Italian’s took over
Watford were a club with an owner who got into severe financial trouble and didn’t
treat Watford as a football club, instead treating it like his toy. I am almost
certain had Gino Pozzo not invested in the club then we would have gone into
financial difficulties and we would be a team much like Charlton who are in disarray
on and off the pitch.
Even from their first season The Pozzo’s have come under
media scrutiny due to the amount of loan signings that they brought in from
their other clubs Udinese and Granada. Watford had 17 loan signings in their
first season and Sean Dyche was sacked without being given a chance. Yet The
Hornets made the play off final and narrowly missed out on making the Premier
League in the owners first season. However, the only story the national press
were interested in was the loan players we had brought in, not that a team who
were mid table no bodies missing out narrowly on the Premier League.
Since that day at Wembley, The Pozzos have massively
improved the facilities at Vicarage Road and the training ground investing a
lot of money into the clubs infustructure for the future. They have taken us to
the Premier League and an FA Cup Semi Final. Yet the Pozzos reputation is all
about sacking managers and financial altercations that have since proved
nothing to do with them. They deserve a lot of praise of how far they have
taken the club and they will only take us further in my opinion. They said they’d
get us into Europe and I’m sure that one day we will play there.
Yes the Pozzo’s haven’t helped themselves with the amount of
managers we have had but the thing that is forgotten is the amount of success they’ve
brought to the club. A lot of the media nonsense about the manager situation is
over hyped too with many leaving the club rather than being dismissed (e.g.
Oscar Garcia and Bepe Sannino) However, the biggest media criticism which is
totally unfair is the fact Quqiue Sanchez Flores was dismissed, yes his first
half of the season was good but in the second half of the season if any team
went on the same appalling run we did then their managers would’ve also been
shown the door. They’ve brought in a man who has so far steered us to 8th
in the Premier League and has every chance to keep us there.
In an era where owners are ruining football clubs and taking
them to the ground, isn’t it time the media gave the Pozzo’s the credit they
deserve?
Leave your thoughts below…
Sunday 20 November 2016
Watford v Leicester
What a difference a couple of weeks makes as Watford saw off champions Leicester City at Vicarage Road yesterday (Saturday).
To be honest I was apprehensive about yesterdays game following the 6-1 drubbing at Anfield a couple of weeks ago. But once two o'clock came around and after a few pre match pints my optimism was back as I headed to my seat bang on 3 o'clock.
Its a good job I wasn't 30 seconds late!
A fast start was needed to get the fans onside and a fast start is exactly what happened. After The Foxes kicked off Watford won the ball back and within 33 seconds Etienne Capoue sent Vicarage Road into raptures. What. A. Start.
All credit to Mazzari because whatever had been said over the international break clearly had the desired effect because every single one of the boys in yellow looked up for a battle.
Roberto Pereyra seemed to have more freedom yesterday and boy his second in a Watford shirt was something special. His curling wonder strike sent many of the fans in my area into shock as it flew in to the net. Britos was voted Man Of The Match but for me it was the Argentine who deserved it.
Forgetting his goal, everything that was good in attack stemmed from the little magician, he nutmegged both Danny Drinkwater and Danny Simpson in the first half. He oozes class when he is given the freedom he needs in the team, with this in mind I would make no changes for the game against Stoke next Sunday just so Pereyra can work his magic.
The only blemish on a magnificent day for The Hornets was that it could've been more comfortable than we made it. Miguel Britos gave away a silly penalty after he fouled Vardy but from then on he didn't put a foot wrong. Mahrez duly converted. We didn't really look like conceding in the second half and Gomes really had nothing to do all day.
Sebastian Prödl was again a rock at the back and we look much more secure in defence when the Austrian is there.
A battle and a passionate display from The Hornets which ultimately was more than worthy for the 3 points that were picked up yesterday. We are two points better off than we were at this point last season and bar a few blips against Burnley and Liverpool we've looked solid under Mazzari.
The next couple of fixtures against Stoke (Next Sunday) and a trip to The Hawthorns to face West Brom (3rd December) are very favourable for The Hornets and this is a good chance to cement our place in the top half of the Premier League heading into the Christmas period.
Little old Watford 8th in the Premier League.
You 'Orns!
Watford 2-1 Leicester City
Man Of The Match: Pereyra (Britos officially received it)
Match rating- 7/10- drab in parts but a fantastic battle by both teams.
Capoue v Pogba- 6 (5 goals 1 assists) for Capoue and 2 (1 goal, 1 assist) for the 89 million pound midfielder
@Adzrowe on twitter
To be honest I was apprehensive about yesterdays game following the 6-1 drubbing at Anfield a couple of weeks ago. But once two o'clock came around and after a few pre match pints my optimism was back as I headed to my seat bang on 3 o'clock.
Its a good job I wasn't 30 seconds late!
A fast start was needed to get the fans onside and a fast start is exactly what happened. After The Foxes kicked off Watford won the ball back and within 33 seconds Etienne Capoue sent Vicarage Road into raptures. What. A. Start.
All credit to Mazzari because whatever had been said over the international break clearly had the desired effect because every single one of the boys in yellow looked up for a battle.
Roberto Pereyra seemed to have more freedom yesterday and boy his second in a Watford shirt was something special. His curling wonder strike sent many of the fans in my area into shock as it flew in to the net. Britos was voted Man Of The Match but for me it was the Argentine who deserved it.
Forgetting his goal, everything that was good in attack stemmed from the little magician, he nutmegged both Danny Drinkwater and Danny Simpson in the first half. He oozes class when he is given the freedom he needs in the team, with this in mind I would make no changes for the game against Stoke next Sunday just so Pereyra can work his magic.
The only blemish on a magnificent day for The Hornets was that it could've been more comfortable than we made it. Miguel Britos gave away a silly penalty after he fouled Vardy but from then on he didn't put a foot wrong. Mahrez duly converted. We didn't really look like conceding in the second half and Gomes really had nothing to do all day.
Sebastian Prödl was again a rock at the back and we look much more secure in defence when the Austrian is there.
A battle and a passionate display from The Hornets which ultimately was more than worthy for the 3 points that were picked up yesterday. We are two points better off than we were at this point last season and bar a few blips against Burnley and Liverpool we've looked solid under Mazzari.
The next couple of fixtures against Stoke (Next Sunday) and a trip to The Hawthorns to face West Brom (3rd December) are very favourable for The Hornets and this is a good chance to cement our place in the top half of the Premier League heading into the Christmas period.
Little old Watford 8th in the Premier League.
You 'Orns!
Watford 2-1 Leicester City
Man Of The Match: Pereyra (Britos officially received it)
Match rating- 7/10- drab in parts but a fantastic battle by both teams.
Capoue v Pogba- 6 (5 goals 1 assists) for Capoue and 2 (1 goal, 1 assist) for the 89 million pound midfielder
@Adzrowe on twitter
Monday 7 November 2016
Liverpool 6-1 Watford
Ahh football the only sport where you can travel 5 hours with hope get smashed 6-1 but still come home relatively happy!
Firstly I want to apologise for the lack of content on here in the past few weeks- I've had quite a few assignments so they unfortunately won (unlike Watford)
With Watford not playing Saturday I decided to take a trip to Peterborough to watch their FA Cup tie against Chesham. With my mate from Uni being a massive Posh fan It was a nice chance to sample what he watches week in week out. The less said about the game the better as it was dreadful and it left me saying "I'll never moan about Watford ever again"
Its fair to say that statement lasted less than 24 hours!
After an early start and a delayed train I had a feeling that it wouldn't be our day but as a football you have to remain optimistic so I spent the entire 5 hour journey trying to convince my mates we were going to take something from the game.
After the nicest chips with curry sauce and a cheap pint we found ourselves in the stand as the teams came out with the delusional optimism in the air as "You'll Never Walk Alone" was belted out by the home faithful.
Liverpool were quicker, stronger and faster than us and they raced into a 3-0 lead in the first half. Not that I saw the 3rd goal I had gone down for an early half time pint. Fuming at half time- I was having a rant before I was rudely interrupted to say that I wasn't allowed to moan as I hadn't followed Watford when we were terrible. After drawing out some poignant results from the past including a 3-1 defeat to Preston in 2011 the conversation came to an abrupt end.
The second half didn't get much better but do you know what it was enjoyable to cheer when we got a corner and sing "sexy football" after a string of passes- to say we were making the best out of a bad situation was an understatement. At least we fans made a good account of ourselves!
The game finished 6-1 and we trundled back to the train station laughing at what had just happened (its all we could do!)
All in all a decent away day, good company and a few beers. As for the performance well that doesn't matter.
You 'Orns!
Peterborough 2-1 Chesham United
Liverpool 6-1 Watford
Man Of The Match (Watford)- Amrabat- gives his all and looked genuinely sorry for what happened.
Away day rating- 7/10- surprisingly a very good day out despite the terrible result
Pogba v Capoue- Who even cares anymore?
@adzrowe on twitter
Firstly I want to apologise for the lack of content on here in the past few weeks- I've had quite a few assignments so they unfortunately won (unlike Watford)
With Watford not playing Saturday I decided to take a trip to Peterborough to watch their FA Cup tie against Chesham. With my mate from Uni being a massive Posh fan It was a nice chance to sample what he watches week in week out. The less said about the game the better as it was dreadful and it left me saying "I'll never moan about Watford ever again"
Its fair to say that statement lasted less than 24 hours!
After an early start and a delayed train I had a feeling that it wouldn't be our day but as a football you have to remain optimistic so I spent the entire 5 hour journey trying to convince my mates we were going to take something from the game.
After the nicest chips with curry sauce and a cheap pint we found ourselves in the stand as the teams came out with the delusional optimism in the air as "You'll Never Walk Alone" was belted out by the home faithful.
Liverpool were quicker, stronger and faster than us and they raced into a 3-0 lead in the first half. Not that I saw the 3rd goal I had gone down for an early half time pint. Fuming at half time- I was having a rant before I was rudely interrupted to say that I wasn't allowed to moan as I hadn't followed Watford when we were terrible. After drawing out some poignant results from the past including a 3-1 defeat to Preston in 2011 the conversation came to an abrupt end.
The second half didn't get much better but do you know what it was enjoyable to cheer when we got a corner and sing "sexy football" after a string of passes- to say we were making the best out of a bad situation was an understatement. At least we fans made a good account of ourselves!
The game finished 6-1 and we trundled back to the train station laughing at what had just happened (its all we could do!)
All in all a decent away day, good company and a few beers. As for the performance well that doesn't matter.
You 'Orns!
Peterborough 2-1 Chesham United
Liverpool 6-1 Watford
Man Of The Match (Watford)- Amrabat- gives his all and looked genuinely sorry for what happened.
Away day rating- 7/10- surprisingly a very good day out despite the terrible result
Pogba v Capoue- Who even cares anymore?
@adzrowe on twitter
Sunday 23 October 2016
Swansea 0-0 Watford- my post match thoughts
If you're not going to score in a game than it is imperative that you don't concede, thats exactly what The Hornets did Saturday when they took a valuable point away from the Liberty Stadium.
Unfortunately I didn't get to watch the match, I was at work so this post will more be about the result than the performance. However from what I have been told it was very similar to Boro last week minus the smash and grab winner.
Personally I think its an absolutely fantastic point and one that I am sure 90% of Watford fans would've taken before the game. Bob Bradley's first home game meant that players and fans alike would be up for the game and would've seen having us at home as a decent way to get their first win since the opening day.
The fact we've kept back to back clean sheets impresses me greatly, a few weeks back I thought we looked very suspect in defence and may find ourselves struggling for points. However we look relatively solid and by all accounts the back 3 were excellent yesterday. All Mazzari needs to do now is to find an attacking balance to go with it so we can extend our unbeaten run.
I've kept this short because as stated at the top I can't really comment on something I haven't seen, but things are definitely looking up. Looking at the league table and to see our club in 9th is remarkable and we have a great chance to move higher when we play Hull City next Saturday, a side who on their last away league game shipped 6 to Bournemouth.
9th in the league, onwards and upwards
You 'Orns!!
Capoue v Pogba- both players had games to forget this weekend so it remains 5-1 to Capoue (4 goals, 1 assist)
@adzrowe on twitter
Unfortunately I didn't get to watch the match, I was at work so this post will more be about the result than the performance. However from what I have been told it was very similar to Boro last week minus the smash and grab winner.
Personally I think its an absolutely fantastic point and one that I am sure 90% of Watford fans would've taken before the game. Bob Bradley's first home game meant that players and fans alike would be up for the game and would've seen having us at home as a decent way to get their first win since the opening day.
The fact we've kept back to back clean sheets impresses me greatly, a few weeks back I thought we looked very suspect in defence and may find ourselves struggling for points. However we look relatively solid and by all accounts the back 3 were excellent yesterday. All Mazzari needs to do now is to find an attacking balance to go with it so we can extend our unbeaten run.
I've kept this short because as stated at the top I can't really comment on something I haven't seen, but things are definitely looking up. Looking at the league table and to see our club in 9th is remarkable and we have a great chance to move higher when we play Hull City next Saturday, a side who on their last away league game shipped 6 to Bournemouth.
9th in the league, onwards and upwards
You 'Orns!!
Capoue v Pogba- both players had games to forget this weekend so it remains 5-1 to Capoue (4 goals, 1 assist)
Thursday 20 October 2016
Swansea v Watford- Pre match thoughts
We travel to Swansea this Saturday looking for back to back away wins for the first time this season but a tough challenge awaits in South Wales for The Hornets.
The Swans:
Swansea come into the game in poor form and without a win since the opening day of the season when they beat newly promoted Burnley at Turf Moor. They have also lost 4 Premier League games on the spin, however they are under new leadership as Bob Bradley took over from Francesco Guidolin before their 3-2 defeat at The Emirates last week.
The Swans were much improved in their match against The Gunners and looked good in stages. Despite the positives they are still very defensively fragile and The Hornets will look to expose that through their attacking threat of Pereyra, Deeney and Success.
Swansea last 5 league matches:
Arsenal (A): 3-2 L
Liverpool (H): 1-2 L
Manchester City (H): 1-3 L
Southampton (A): 1-0 L
Chelsea (H)- 2-2 (L)
Swansea top goal scorers: Fer (4) Sigurdsson (3)
The Hornets:
Mazzari's men head to South Wales in the top half of the Premier League and know a win could see them move as high as 7th. Once again I believe Watford have snuck under the radar and Mazzari has made a very good start to life at Vicarage Road.
Last week the Golden Boys ground out a 1-0 away win at Middlesborough and they may have to do so again this week in what will be a hostile Liberty Stadium for Bradley's first home game. Issac Success impressed last week in the away win and he had got to start again this week as he could be the difference in a game against a bridle Swans defence.
Stat attack: Troy Deeney could score his 100th Watford goal this Saturday, he currently sits on 99.
Score Prediction:
It'll be a difficult game for Watford no question but I can see goals at both ends this week due to both defenders looking suspect. This week my prediction is a 3-1 Watford win.
Come on you 'Orns!
@adzrowe
Come back Sunday for my thoughts on the game...
The Swans:
Swansea come into the game in poor form and without a win since the opening day of the season when they beat newly promoted Burnley at Turf Moor. They have also lost 4 Premier League games on the spin, however they are under new leadership as Bob Bradley took over from Francesco Guidolin before their 3-2 defeat at The Emirates last week.
The Swans were much improved in their match against The Gunners and looked good in stages. Despite the positives they are still very defensively fragile and The Hornets will look to expose that through their attacking threat of Pereyra, Deeney and Success.
Swansea last 5 league matches:
Arsenal (A): 3-2 L
Liverpool (H): 1-2 L
Manchester City (H): 1-3 L
Southampton (A): 1-0 L
Chelsea (H)- 2-2 (L)
Swansea top goal scorers: Fer (4) Sigurdsson (3)
The Hornets:
Mazzari's men head to South Wales in the top half of the Premier League and know a win could see them move as high as 7th. Once again I believe Watford have snuck under the radar and Mazzari has made a very good start to life at Vicarage Road.
Last week the Golden Boys ground out a 1-0 away win at Middlesborough and they may have to do so again this week in what will be a hostile Liberty Stadium for Bradley's first home game. Issac Success impressed last week in the away win and he had got to start again this week as he could be the difference in a game against a bridle Swans defence.
Stat attack: Troy Deeney could score his 100th Watford goal this Saturday, he currently sits on 99.
Score Prediction:
It'll be a difficult game for Watford no question but I can see goals at both ends this week due to both defenders looking suspect. This week my prediction is a 3-1 Watford win.
Come on you 'Orns!
@adzrowe
Come back Sunday for my thoughts on the game...
Sunday 16 October 2016
Middlesbrough 0-1 Watford
Sunday afternoon... Sky game against a team looking for their first home win of the season... I thought this was going to be just like Burnley away a few weeks ago. But this Watford side are unpredictable and duly delivered a 1-0 scrappy away win.
Boro away was never going to be an easy game and finding our rhythm to play our best football was going to be a challenge. Admittedly we never really got playing our best football, but the strongest teams in this division always find a way to win- this is exactly what Walter Mazzari's men did.
Middlesbrough dominated proceedings in the first half but Gomes never really had to make a save and annoyingly every time we looked to try and force the issue our attacks were halted by a very scrappy Boro team desperate for points. The hosts should've been down to ten men with 35 minutes gone, Barragan who had earlier been booked for hauling down Success did so again but referee Roger East completely bottled it and warned the player instead of giving the second yellow card the foul deserved.
In the second half we looked to take the game to hosts but again struggled to find our flow and Troy Deeney was isolated which meant chances were at a premium for The Hornets. However with our first shot on target we took the lead- Success drove into the box and was brought down but a penalty wasn't awarded. Jose Holebas picked the ball up on the edge of the area and struck it into the top corner for his second of the season.
From then on The Hornets dug deep and won every second ball with commitment and desire. Boro attempted to pile on the pressure but the tenacious work of the defence and midfield meant that Gomes didn't really have to make one memorable stop. This is the difference this year, under Flores I am almost certain we would've crumbled but under Mazzari he insists the steely determination that was shown for the most part of todays game. Yes we didn't play well but we turned up to grind 3 points out in what ultimately was a tricky game.
We again face another tough away match to Swansea next weekend but if we can suck up the pressure and be clinical when a chance arises there is no doubt in my mind that we can pick up another valuable 3 points. We will have to be better on the ball and show a bit more of an attacking threat next week but with the pace and power of Success and Deeney then we can cause a shaky Swans defence lots of problems.
A great result and a determined performance.
You 'Orns!
Man of the match: Isaac Success
Match rating- 4/10- boring game for the neutral but 3 points boosts this from what would've been a 1/10 if we had lost.
Pogba v Capoue- Capoue still leads the way but Pogba doesn't play until tomorrow.
@Adzrowe on twitter
Thursday 29 September 2016
Bournemouth fans thoughts ahead of Saturday
I caught up with Bournemouth fan Chris to get his opinion on a range of different topics ahead of this weekends fixture at Vicarage Road.
1) What do you make of Bournemouth's start to the season?
Chris: Funnily enough, 6 games in, we have collected the same number of points as we had at the same stage last season - although until the Everton game, the mood around the ground seemed more depressed and disappointed for some reason.
From the point of view of the stands, the first few performances had not been of the same standard. The starting eleven has largely been the same as last season, with the addition of Jordan Ibe to replace the outgoing Matt Richie, and the much reported arrival of Jack Wilshire, who has begun quietly getting on with the job behind the striker in midfield.
2) What do you make of Watford's start to the season?
1) What do you make of Bournemouth's start to the season?
Chris: Funnily enough, 6 games in, we have collected the same number of points as we had at the same stage last season - although until the Everton game, the mood around the ground seemed more depressed and disappointed for some reason.
From the point of view of the stands, the first few performances had not been of the same standard. The starting eleven has largely been the same as last season, with the addition of Jordan Ibe to replace the outgoing Matt Richie, and the much reported arrival of Jack Wilshire, who has begun quietly getting on with the job behind the striker in midfield.
Chris: I think Watford fans will be more than happy with their start to the season. There are goals in the team - Capoue has found a comfortable spot in this season's fantasy team - and I think if Ighalo starts doing the business again, Watford will have another good season.
I can't really comment on the recruitment, because it just seems to be another batch of foreign players that I am unfamiliar with, but I think that keeping hold of key players like Deeny and Ighalo was worth 3 or 4 signings in itself.
3) What are your thoughts ahead of this weekends fixture?
Chris: For me, after the Everton game, anything could happen. After our loss against Preston there was a lot of negativity about the place. Some deluded fans that, unfortunately, the premier league is known to breed, were even calling for Eddie Howe's head at one point.
It sounds daft, but because we were so bad against Preston, and the mood was so down, I was certain than we would beat Everton. That is how football works sometimes.
It sounds daft, but because we were so bad against Preston, and the mood was so down, I was certain than we would beat Everton. That is how football works sometimes.
I bring this up, because I expect Watford fans will be pretty disappointed about the loss away to Burnley - although, Burnley away on a Monday night was always going to be difficult.
My thoughts are that if Bournemouth stay tight and keep a clean sheet, we will always have a chance of nicking a 1-0. Our defence from set-pieces has improved massively this season, but we do have a habit of losing the ball in the wide areas - particularly Jordan Ibe.
I am always wary of Watford. My thoughts ahead of this weekend's fixture? Optimistic nerves.
I am always wary of Watford. My thoughts ahead of this weekend's fixture? Optimistic nerves.
4) Watford and Bournemouth have had similar journeys to the Premier League, What do you make of the transformation of both sides in the past few years?
Chris: If I am honest, I had no interest in football until I studied at the University of Hertfordshire, and lived with a bunch of massive football fans - one Leicester, one Charlton, most Arsenal, and a few Watford.
It was that year that AFC Bournemouth were in big trouble. When I was home one weekend, I decided I would turn up for a match if only to donate £20 to a lost cause. We lost 0-1. The gate was about 3200. The players were playing for free, we had winding up orders coming from all over the place, we had no ground and we were second bottom in league 2 with minus-17 points and a transfer embargo. (We were saved bottom by, I believe, Chester, who had minus-30 points...)
The next season I got my season ticket, and was present for the league 2 promotion that, in all honestly, felt the best of the three.
6 years later, and we're in the Premier League.
6 years later, and we're in the Premier League.
Money came into it, eventually. It wasn't until someway through our league one promotion season that it appeared, though. Eddie Mitchell, bless his cottons, didn't have 2 brass farthings to rub together.
We picked up Harry Arter for 4k, Marc Pugh for 10k, Eunan O'Kane for a handful of beans. Matt Richie was the big-money signing, at about £200k. What Max Demin did was mainly clear the legacy debts.
Contrary to popular belief, we weren't paying big wages - for example, in the year we won the Championship, Lewis Grabban left for Norwich and Quadrupled his weekly wage overnight.
Bournemouth and Watford had similar championship promotion campaigns. I think both teams won football matches playing 'the right way', being positive and creative.
I think most Watford fans were there when the club was last in the premier league, and that unfortunate belief that the club had a god-given right to be there might have set in, whereas a few more Bournemouth fans would have genuinely expected to lose 18-0 at Charlton and then bottle the playoffs. In terms of infrastructure and attitude, maybe Watford were better prepared for the premier league. I think getting relegated would hurt Watford fans more than it would Bournemouth fans, most of which are just happy to still have a club to watch every week.
5) Eddie Howe's name has came back up after the recent departure of Big Sam, how confident are you that you'll keep hold of him?
Chris: I think this is a non-starter. I have no doubt that he will manage England one day, but he knows that it will ruin his career if he takes it up now, with a pool of bang average players not giving him much hope.
I do, however, think he is more likelly to take over at Arsenal at the end of this season, meaning we will go down the season after that.
That said, EH has only really had a decent stint at managing Bournemouth.
Bournemouth fans will always give him extra time and patience - and would be happy for him to stay as manager if we got relegated back to league 2 in 3 years.
EH also knows that other clubs would not offer him the same time and patience, and sometimes it is that rare relationship that makes things happen.
I mean, AFC Bournemouth are in the premier league for christ's sake. Jose Mourinho could not have got these players from league 1 to the big time.
6) Thoughts on the so called derby between Watford and Bournemouth?
Chris: Oh come on. It's not a derby. It's a rivalry... maybe?
Our championship promotion season was great, because it was so close.
Our championship promotion season was great, because it was so close.
I think the fact that we are a very small, tin-pot outfit, attracted a lot of hate from fans of bigger clubs who simply cannot understand why they are not winning football matches - as if match attendance figures have anything to do with it whatsoever.
Watford had a unbelievable season which resulted in promotion, but the media were admittedly obsessed with the AFC Bournemouth story.
As a result, twitter was a bit of a war zone, not helped by some feisty matches between the two clubs - including the quickest sending off ever (never a red card, which made it even better).
On twitter its a derby - not in real life.
That said, the nerves I feel before Watford matches isn't like just any match. Losing hurts that little bit more, and winning feels that little bit greater.
7) A score prediction?
Chris: 0-0 would not surprise me. Neither would 3-3 or 6-0 either way.
I honestly expect 1-1 (Deeney gets on the end of a Francis mistake to cancel out a Callum Wilson Penalty).
I would hope for a 0-1 win though - depends how Watford react after Burnley!
Thanks very much to Chris for providing me with the answers to the questions!
For what it is worth my prediction for the game this weekend is a 2-0 Watford win- we will bounce back!
Follow me on twitter @Adzrowe
Tuesday 27 September 2016
Burnley 0-2 Watford
I am going to have to keep this short because I couldn't think of anything worse than reliving yesterdays events.
Burnley started the better and deservedly led when Jeff Hendrick headed in from a corner, where the marking was I am unsure but it was a defensive horror show for The Hornets as Hendrick had a free header at goal, a chance that he was always going to take.
We offered very little going forward and couldn't break down an organised Burnley midfield and defence, when we did receive the ball we couldn't get a hold of it for long enough to create anything. Odion Ighalo looks a shadow of the player he once was and his first touch last night was beyond atrocious. The creative players in our team were stifled by The Clarets who didn't give them an inch of space. We unsurprisingly went into the break a goal down.
Despite changing to 4 at the back at half time we didn't improve enough to really threaten to take anything out of the game. A second for Burnley soon followed as Michael Keane rose above a statuesque Watford and headed past Gomes for 2-0.
The one positive and this player MUST start Saturday is Issac Success, he ran and drove at the Burnley defence clearly showing what we were missing because they didn't know how to deal with him. He most certainly was our best player and he only played roughly 30 minutes.
The game finished 2-0 to the hosts who to their credit were deserved winners on the night, Sean Dyche had them set up perfectly to deal with our system and you can't fault the work rate and effort of his side. I have seen some people saying our players "weren't trying" which in truth is complete rubbish, they just weren't good enough (that doesn't mean they werent trying though)
However for only Gomes and Deeney to be the only ones to clap the supporters (again these are reports) is quite frankly a disgrace. To sell 1,400 tickets for a Monday sky game is fantastic and the least that could be done is to thank the travelling support. What would've been better mind you is a performance and 3 points.
We move on to Bournemouth at Vicarage Road, be sure to read my preview for the game when i release it either Thursday or Friday.
I never manage to keep these short!
We go again!
You 'Orns!
Score: Burnley 2-0
Man of the match: Success
Pogba v Capoue: Pogba wins this week but it remains 4-1 to Capoue
Match rating: 2/10
Burnley started the better and deservedly led when Jeff Hendrick headed in from a corner, where the marking was I am unsure but it was a defensive horror show for The Hornets as Hendrick had a free header at goal, a chance that he was always going to take.
We offered very little going forward and couldn't break down an organised Burnley midfield and defence, when we did receive the ball we couldn't get a hold of it for long enough to create anything. Odion Ighalo looks a shadow of the player he once was and his first touch last night was beyond atrocious. The creative players in our team were stifled by The Clarets who didn't give them an inch of space. We unsurprisingly went into the break a goal down.
Despite changing to 4 at the back at half time we didn't improve enough to really threaten to take anything out of the game. A second for Burnley soon followed as Michael Keane rose above a statuesque Watford and headed past Gomes for 2-0.
The one positive and this player MUST start Saturday is Issac Success, he ran and drove at the Burnley defence clearly showing what we were missing because they didn't know how to deal with him. He most certainly was our best player and he only played roughly 30 minutes.
The game finished 2-0 to the hosts who to their credit were deserved winners on the night, Sean Dyche had them set up perfectly to deal with our system and you can't fault the work rate and effort of his side. I have seen some people saying our players "weren't trying" which in truth is complete rubbish, they just weren't good enough (that doesn't mean they werent trying though)
However for only Gomes and Deeney to be the only ones to clap the supporters (again these are reports) is quite frankly a disgrace. To sell 1,400 tickets for a Monday sky game is fantastic and the least that could be done is to thank the travelling support. What would've been better mind you is a performance and 3 points.
We move on to Bournemouth at Vicarage Road, be sure to read my preview for the game when i release it either Thursday or Friday.
I never manage to keep these short!
We go again!
You 'Orns!
Score: Burnley 2-0
Man of the match: Success
Pogba v Capoue: Pogba wins this week but it remains 4-1 to Capoue
Match rating: 2/10
Sunday 25 September 2016
Burnley v Watford preview
The Hornets travel to Turf Moor to take on Sean Dyche's Burnley in the Premier League Monday night. Mazzari's men will be look to secure their third win in a row after impressive victories against West Ham and Manchester United.
The Clarets come into the game after a relatively solid start back to life in the Premier League with 4 points from their opening 5 fixtures and a notable home triumph over Liverpool. However they are without win in their last 3 Premier League fixtures, but this is most certainly not an easy fixture for the Golden Boys as Burnley will see this as a must win game after their dip in form.
Team news:
The Clarets will be without star striker Andre Gray after he was suspended for 4 matches after homophobic tweets he posted in 2012. He will be gutted to miss the game, particularly because of his connection with our rivals Luton Town. They will also be without striker Ashley Barnes.
The Hornets will miss Right wing back Daryl Janmaat after he suffered a shoulder injury in last weeks win over Manchester United. Jose Holebas and Younes Kaboul also reportedly face late fitness tests. With that in mind we could see the introduction of Chelsea loanee Kenedy into the left wing back position and a return to the side for Nordin Amrabat.
Stat attack:
Troy Deeney could score his 100th goal for The Hornets Monday night as he currently sits on 98 following his goal from the spot last weekend.
My Prediction:
1-2 Watford- If we lose its my fault I never get these right!
Come on you 'Orns!
@Adzrowe
The Clarets come into the game after a relatively solid start back to life in the Premier League with 4 points from their opening 5 fixtures and a notable home triumph over Liverpool. However they are without win in their last 3 Premier League fixtures, but this is most certainly not an easy fixture for the Golden Boys as Burnley will see this as a must win game after their dip in form.
Team news:
The Clarets will be without star striker Andre Gray after he was suspended for 4 matches after homophobic tweets he posted in 2012. He will be gutted to miss the game, particularly because of his connection with our rivals Luton Town. They will also be without striker Ashley Barnes.
The Hornets will miss Right wing back Daryl Janmaat after he suffered a shoulder injury in last weeks win over Manchester United. Jose Holebas and Younes Kaboul also reportedly face late fitness tests. With that in mind we could see the introduction of Chelsea loanee Kenedy into the left wing back position and a return to the side for Nordin Amrabat.
Stat attack:
Troy Deeney could score his 100th goal for The Hornets Monday night as he currently sits on 98 following his goal from the spot last weekend.
My Prediction:
1-2 Watford- If we lose its my fault I never get these right!
Come on you 'Orns!
@Adzrowe
Sunday 18 September 2016
Watford 3-1 Manchester United
What a day!! Normally I am very annoyed when we don't play at the regular 3pm Saturday kick off time but today was a great opportunity to show everyone just what we are made of. Boy did we take it as myself and 19000 other Watford fans were treated to a world class performance from the Golden Boys at Vicarage Road. Jose Mourinho and co were left stunned by The Hornets and suffered their 3rd consecutive defeat.
The game started with both sides looking for an early goal, United particularly knew an early goal would calm any pre match jitters following their defeat in the Europa League Thursday night. But it was Watford who came closest to scoring in the early exchanges after Prödl's back post header was nearly turned in by Deeney who was sliding in. Then a golden chance fell for the Golden Boys, David De Gea dropped a high ball after miscommunication with Chris Smalling leaving a tap in for Ighalo... somehow he missed. An empty net, a gift that wasn't taken many could have been critical to say that was Watfords chance gone but Mazzari's men are made of sterner stuff and weren't going to let that chance effect them. De Gea made up for his earlier mistake a few minutes later when he tipped away a powerful Deeney header, up the other end 89 million pound man Paul Pogba cracked the bar from distance, it was most certainly a warning for The Hornets.
Minutes later the opening goal came and it was the hosts, Britos stole the ball off Martial and slid it through to Janmaat who cut it back for who else but the best French midfielder on the pitch Etienne Capoue who slammed it past De Gea into the Vicarage Road end net. The goal sent The Vic into raptures but there was still work to be done to consolidate the lead before half time you could see Walter knew that through his muted celebration of the opener. Despite some relaxed passing that led to United chances, Watford saw the half out going in 1-0 up at the break. The words "good half" would be a huge understatement.
The second half saw a drop in tempo as United tried to break through to level the game. Despite the obvious pressure from the visitors we still looked comfortable without making too many clear cut chances. In typical fashion with one of the Red Devils only chances in the early parts of the second half, Rashford tapped home after a deflection fell to him. Many, myself included thought we were going to crumble at this point and the game would fall the way of Zlatan and co. How wrong was I!
Someone who I haven't mentioned yet provided the pivotal moment in the match, a ball crossed in found Zlatan Ibrahimovic who powered a header towards goal, Gomes dived across and got a hand on it to tip it away and keep the scores level. That was the wake up call we needed and fresh legs were due in a tiring hornets team, I thought the game was crying out for Success but Mazzari chose Zuniga, today I realised its a good job I'm not the manager.
Zuniga came on and took a free kick and ghosted into the box to slam Pereyra's cutback into the Rookery End net sending the stadium wild with some of the most exuberant celebrations I've seen at a home game in a long time. Now we just needed to hold on, but this is Watford the team who love to concede a late goal. Good job we have a leader like Troy Deeney in our side who proved why is he worth every penny of that rejected transfer fee, he hustled Manchester United all game and they couldn't handle it. Deeney held the ball in the corner for two minutes and the game was all but up.
United sent one last ball forward that was instantly returned up field finding Success who ran past two, slid the ball to Zuniga who was brought down by Fellaini... penalty!!!
Deeney smashed the penalty home with the last kick of the game to seal a famous afternoon for The Hornets. 6 years ago on this very day we beat Millwall 6-1 something then we thought would stay as one of our great days but now we get to play and beat teams like Manchester United... What a time to be a Watford fan who knew in 2010 that we'd be a Premier League team with a side full of international stars, I certainly didn't.
I bloody love you Watford! You 'Orns!
Watford 3-1 Manchester United (Attendence: 21,118) yes 21,000 at Vicarage Road who would've thought it.
Capoue vs Pogba- 4 goals to nil so far! Yes this is going to continue all season!
Man Of The Match: Prödl- was absolutely quality his best performance in yellow to date, he firmly placed Zlatan in his back pocket.
Match rating- 9/10- we conceded and as a Watford fan we have to find some sort of negative... even today!
@adzrowe on twitter.
The game started with both sides looking for an early goal, United particularly knew an early goal would calm any pre match jitters following their defeat in the Europa League Thursday night. But it was Watford who came closest to scoring in the early exchanges after Prödl's back post header was nearly turned in by Deeney who was sliding in. Then a golden chance fell for the Golden Boys, David De Gea dropped a high ball after miscommunication with Chris Smalling leaving a tap in for Ighalo... somehow he missed. An empty net, a gift that wasn't taken many could have been critical to say that was Watfords chance gone but Mazzari's men are made of sterner stuff and weren't going to let that chance effect them. De Gea made up for his earlier mistake a few minutes later when he tipped away a powerful Deeney header, up the other end 89 million pound man Paul Pogba cracked the bar from distance, it was most certainly a warning for The Hornets.
Minutes later the opening goal came and it was the hosts, Britos stole the ball off Martial and slid it through to Janmaat who cut it back for who else but the best French midfielder on the pitch Etienne Capoue who slammed it past De Gea into the Vicarage Road end net. The goal sent The Vic into raptures but there was still work to be done to consolidate the lead before half time you could see Walter knew that through his muted celebration of the opener. Despite some relaxed passing that led to United chances, Watford saw the half out going in 1-0 up at the break. The words "good half" would be a huge understatement.
The second half saw a drop in tempo as United tried to break through to level the game. Despite the obvious pressure from the visitors we still looked comfortable without making too many clear cut chances. In typical fashion with one of the Red Devils only chances in the early parts of the second half, Rashford tapped home after a deflection fell to him. Many, myself included thought we were going to crumble at this point and the game would fall the way of Zlatan and co. How wrong was I!
Someone who I haven't mentioned yet provided the pivotal moment in the match, a ball crossed in found Zlatan Ibrahimovic who powered a header towards goal, Gomes dived across and got a hand on it to tip it away and keep the scores level. That was the wake up call we needed and fresh legs were due in a tiring hornets team, I thought the game was crying out for Success but Mazzari chose Zuniga, today I realised its a good job I'm not the manager.
Zuniga came on and took a free kick and ghosted into the box to slam Pereyra's cutback into the Rookery End net sending the stadium wild with some of the most exuberant celebrations I've seen at a home game in a long time. Now we just needed to hold on, but this is Watford the team who love to concede a late goal. Good job we have a leader like Troy Deeney in our side who proved why is he worth every penny of that rejected transfer fee, he hustled Manchester United all game and they couldn't handle it. Deeney held the ball in the corner for two minutes and the game was all but up.
United sent one last ball forward that was instantly returned up field finding Success who ran past two, slid the ball to Zuniga who was brought down by Fellaini... penalty!!!
Deeney smashed the penalty home with the last kick of the game to seal a famous afternoon for The Hornets. 6 years ago on this very day we beat Millwall 6-1 something then we thought would stay as one of our great days but now we get to play and beat teams like Manchester United... What a time to be a Watford fan who knew in 2010 that we'd be a Premier League team with a side full of international stars, I certainly didn't.
I bloody love you Watford! You 'Orns!
Watford 3-1 Manchester United (Attendence: 21,118) yes 21,000 at Vicarage Road who would've thought it.
Capoue vs Pogba- 4 goals to nil so far! Yes this is going to continue all season!
Man Of The Match: Prödl- was absolutely quality his best performance in yellow to date, he firmly placed Zlatan in his back pocket.
Match rating- 9/10- we conceded and as a Watford fan we have to find some sort of negative... even today!
Friday 16 September 2016
Watford v Man United preview
First of all I want to apologise for not writing a report on the West Ham game. It has been my university freshers week and I have either been in no capacity to write or I have just simply not had the time!
I won't go on too long about last week but for me the will to win The Hornets had at 2-0 down was remarkable when on another day (under Flores perhaps) we would have crumbled losing the game by 2 or 3. We really took the game to West Ham and once we got one back i really thought we would get back into the game exploiting the hosts shoddy defending. Deeney and Ighalo found their spark again linking up well throughout and as for Roberto Pereyra he may well be my favourite ever Watford player despite only playing a game and a half thus far.
The one negative from last week is that we can't afford to be giving teams a 2-0 head start before actually turning up. This week for example we have to come out of traps fast and take the game to a Manchester United side who come to the The Vic on the back of a 1-0 loss to Feyeonord in the Europa League last night. All the pressure is on The Red Devils and they'll be looking to not lose any ground on rivals Man City in the title race. The visitors have England captain Wayne Rooney back in their squad after he was rested yesterday. I don't need to go into detail of some of their star players but with Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic likely to play The Hornets face a tricky fixture.
Personally i am reasonably pleased with our start baring in mind that many pundits/fans (me included) had us down to have nothing at this stage so to have four points from a streak of tough fixtures means there is certainly cause for optimism heading into a slightly nicer looking set of fixtures after this Sunday of course. Looking back to last Saturday, it was great to have two strikers to come on and influence a game when we subbed off Deeney and Ighalo. Success in particular ran with power and pace at The Hammers defence, meaning if it isn't going well this Sunday then changes can be made to change the game.
The Sunday lunchtime kick off, live on BT sport should be an intriguing encounter. If we can get anything from the game it will come as a welcome bonus and would secure a more than solid start to the season. A tough game is certain but i am confident we can at least give United a good game. I will write a review of the game this week (Promise!)
Score prediction: 1-2 loss i reckon this week but as long as the performance is there i'll be happy!
Let me know your predictions for the game.
Come on you 'orns!!
@adzrowe is my twitter handle if anyone wants to follow me.
I won't go on too long about last week but for me the will to win The Hornets had at 2-0 down was remarkable when on another day (under Flores perhaps) we would have crumbled losing the game by 2 or 3. We really took the game to West Ham and once we got one back i really thought we would get back into the game exploiting the hosts shoddy defending. Deeney and Ighalo found their spark again linking up well throughout and as for Roberto Pereyra he may well be my favourite ever Watford player despite only playing a game and a half thus far.
The one negative from last week is that we can't afford to be giving teams a 2-0 head start before actually turning up. This week for example we have to come out of traps fast and take the game to a Manchester United side who come to the The Vic on the back of a 1-0 loss to Feyeonord in the Europa League last night. All the pressure is on The Red Devils and they'll be looking to not lose any ground on rivals Man City in the title race. The visitors have England captain Wayne Rooney back in their squad after he was rested yesterday. I don't need to go into detail of some of their star players but with Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic likely to play The Hornets face a tricky fixture.
Personally i am reasonably pleased with our start baring in mind that many pundits/fans (me included) had us down to have nothing at this stage so to have four points from a streak of tough fixtures means there is certainly cause for optimism heading into a slightly nicer looking set of fixtures after this Sunday of course. Looking back to last Saturday, it was great to have two strikers to come on and influence a game when we subbed off Deeney and Ighalo. Success in particular ran with power and pace at The Hammers defence, meaning if it isn't going well this Sunday then changes can be made to change the game.
The Sunday lunchtime kick off, live on BT sport should be an intriguing encounter. If we can get anything from the game it will come as a welcome bonus and would secure a more than solid start to the season. A tough game is certain but i am confident we can at least give United a good game. I will write a review of the game this week (Promise!)
Score prediction: 1-2 loss i reckon this week but as long as the performance is there i'll be happy!
Let me know your predictions for the game.
Come on you 'orns!!
@adzrowe is my twitter handle if anyone wants to follow me.
Friday 9 September 2016
Who would I start v West Ham United
We travel to London Stadium to face West Ham United as we look for our first win of the new season. A difficult game is in store for The Hornets, as the hosts have star players Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini returning. With this in mind here is my predicted starting XI for the game
My team is as follows (3-5-2)
Gomes
Britos
Prödl
Kabasele
Janmaat
Holebas
Behrami
Capoue
Pereyra
Deeney
Ighalo
I replace Amrabat for Daryl Janmaat as I think we need a defensively minded player to deal with the threat of Payet. This is harsh on Amrabat as he's started the season well but tactically it may benefit The Hornets to have a defensively based wingback. This doesn't knock our threat going forward either as the Dutchman can be a threat in an attacking sense through his crosses and overlapping play.
Roberto Pereyra is a must in the starting team tomorrow and will be our creative spark. He was our best player in the last match against Arsenal and will look to add to his debut goal in tomorrow's clash. I think having this creative player may bring the best out of our front two as well as they focus on doing what they do best- scoring goals. With someone their to create chances it wouldn't surprise me to see one of the front two on the scoresheet tomorrow.
It's set for a thrilling encounter in East London. I personally think we may struggle and a point here will be an excellent result.
I keep getting stick about my match predictions but again I'll try to be optimistic. I'm going for an exciting 2-2 draw tomorrow.
Come on you Orns!
@Adzrowe
My team is as follows (3-5-2)
Gomes
Britos
Prödl
Kabasele
Janmaat
Holebas
Behrami
Capoue
Pereyra
Deeney
Ighalo
I replace Amrabat for Daryl Janmaat as I think we need a defensively minded player to deal with the threat of Payet. This is harsh on Amrabat as he's started the season well but tactically it may benefit The Hornets to have a defensively based wingback. This doesn't knock our threat going forward either as the Dutchman can be a threat in an attacking sense through his crosses and overlapping play.
Roberto Pereyra is a must in the starting team tomorrow and will be our creative spark. He was our best player in the last match against Arsenal and will look to add to his debut goal in tomorrow's clash. I think having this creative player may bring the best out of our front two as well as they focus on doing what they do best- scoring goals. With someone their to create chances it wouldn't surprise me to see one of the front two on the scoresheet tomorrow.
It's set for a thrilling encounter in East London. I personally think we may struggle and a point here will be an excellent result.
I keep getting stick about my match predictions but again I'll try to be optimistic. I'm going for an exciting 2-2 draw tomorrow.
Come on you Orns!
Saturday 27 August 2016
Watford 1-3 Arsenal
I'll keep this short because i feel too annoyed to write about the game. Also I'm in the pub and don't want to seem unsociable!!
Basically the game started and Watford chased shadows for the opening 10 mins. We were struggling and referee Kevin Friend didn't help matters when he gave a penalty after a shove on Alexis. Controversial to say the least but if you play with fire you'll probably get burnt. Surprise surprise Cazorla scored and they led.
Watford came back into the game and did show promise but despite a lot of positivity from other supporters I think we were still pretty poor. At this point I decided I'd had enough of watching such a poor performance and went for an early half time pint. Next thing I know we've conceded 3 and are 3 down at half time. Classic.
I returned for the second half and was fortunate enough to see Watford snatch a goal back through new signing Roberto Pereyra. He was a bright spark on a pretty dismal day for the Golden Boys.
We put pressure on but didn't find a second, the game finished 3-1.
Final score: 1-3
Man of the match: urmmmmmmm
Match rating- 2/10
@@Adzrowe
Basically the game started and Watford chased shadows for the opening 10 mins. We were struggling and referee Kevin Friend didn't help matters when he gave a penalty after a shove on Alexis. Controversial to say the least but if you play with fire you'll probably get burnt. Surprise surprise Cazorla scored and they led.
Watford came back into the game and did show promise but despite a lot of positivity from other supporters I think we were still pretty poor. At this point I decided I'd had enough of watching such a poor performance and went for an early half time pint. Next thing I know we've conceded 3 and are 3 down at half time. Classic.
I returned for the second half and was fortunate enough to see Watford snatch a goal back through new signing Roberto Pereyra. He was a bright spark on a pretty dismal day for the Golden Boys.
We put pressure on but didn't find a second, the game finished 3-1.
Final score: 1-3
Man of the match: urmmmmmmm
Match rating- 2/10
@@Adzrowe
Friday 26 August 2016
Watford v Arsenal preview 27th August
Watford take on Arsenal this Saturday at Vicarage Road, with both sides looking for their first win of the season. The visitors are under particular pressure after a slow start that leaves them 5 points adrift of the league leaders. The Hornets themselves suffered a shock cup defeat to Gillingham in midweek and will be desperate to pick up their first 3 points of the season.
Mazzari's men were desperately unlucky not take at least a point against Chelsea last time and they will know that if they can play like they did for the first 70 minutes last week then they can cause a fragile Arsenal defence problems. Star strikers Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney are yet score a league goal and are under pressure to find the net to kick start their campaigns. Ettienne Capoue is in fine form and is The Hornets only goalscorer so far this season, he will be hoping to have a consistent season and to continue his goalscoring form.
Arsene Wenger is under pressure from Gunners supporters and many feel that his time as the clubs manager is up. This could majorly play into Watford's hands as they know if they can score an early goal then the atmosphere in the away end could turn sour. The London side leaked four goals at home against Liverpool on the opening weekend and they are crying out for a centre back to sure up their defensive line. Troy Deeney will be licking his lips at the prospect of coming up against an unconfident Arsenal defence as if he can bully them like he did in The FA Cup last season then we could see a win for the home side. What they lack in defence Arsenal clearly make up for going forward with star player Mesut Ozil set to return to the squad for the game. Alexis Sanchez will be key to putting pressure on the Watford defence who themselves look suspect when put under consistent attacking pressure.
Watford could give debuts to new signings Roberto Pereyra, Younes Kaboul and Daryl Janmaat against The Gunners Saturday but it would be 'almost impossible' for all three to start according to Watford 'Head Coach' Walter Mazzari. Arsenal yet again have had a reasonably disappointing transfer window with Granit Xhaka being their only major signing in this window.
The pressure is on at Vicarage Road and it will be interesting to see if either side can pick up their first win of the new Premier League season.
Score Prediction- 1-0 Watford
Mazzari's men were desperately unlucky not take at least a point against Chelsea last time and they will know that if they can play like they did for the first 70 minutes last week then they can cause a fragile Arsenal defence problems. Star strikers Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney are yet score a league goal and are under pressure to find the net to kick start their campaigns. Ettienne Capoue is in fine form and is The Hornets only goalscorer so far this season, he will be hoping to have a consistent season and to continue his goalscoring form.
Arsene Wenger is under pressure from Gunners supporters and many feel that his time as the clubs manager is up. This could majorly play into Watford's hands as they know if they can score an early goal then the atmosphere in the away end could turn sour. The London side leaked four goals at home against Liverpool on the opening weekend and they are crying out for a centre back to sure up their defensive line. Troy Deeney will be licking his lips at the prospect of coming up against an unconfident Arsenal defence as if he can bully them like he did in The FA Cup last season then we could see a win for the home side. What they lack in defence Arsenal clearly make up for going forward with star player Mesut Ozil set to return to the squad for the game. Alexis Sanchez will be key to putting pressure on the Watford defence who themselves look suspect when put under consistent attacking pressure.
Watford could give debuts to new signings Roberto Pereyra, Younes Kaboul and Daryl Janmaat against The Gunners Saturday but it would be 'almost impossible' for all three to start according to Watford 'Head Coach' Walter Mazzari. Arsenal yet again have had a reasonably disappointing transfer window with Granit Xhaka being their only major signing in this window.
The pressure is on at Vicarage Road and it will be interesting to see if either side can pick up their first win of the new Premier League season.
Score Prediction- 1-0 Watford
Tuesday 23 August 2016
Watford 1-2 Gillingham
I'll keep this relatively short because to be honest I don't want to have to relive this game ever again and I'm sure neither do any of you.
Anyway here's my take on the game
Firstly the league cup clearly didn't captive the imagination of the fans tonight with only 7000 hearty souls making the journey to Vicarage Road. Seen suggestions that we should have the opening cup game on our season tickets, a suggestion which could be worth it in order to boost attendance to games such as tonight.
On to the game and the players did very little to reward the fans, The Hornets showed a lot of endeavour in the first half but didn't test The Gills keeper too many times. Anya in particular saw a lot of the ball on the wing but many wayward crosses from both sides of the pitch saw a lack of chances. Watford didn't find the breakthrough and went in at 0-0.
The second half started very similar to the first with Watford having the ball and not doing anything much with it. As frustrations grew on came Odion Ighalo and with his first shot he scored putting The Hornetd infront. Now time to kick on and get a second! Of course not.
Again we sat back and let the opposition come on to us and with little under 15 minutes to go The Gills grabbed an equaliser after a long range curling effort flew past Pantimilon. The scores stayed level and extra time was needed.
Extra time was just completely terrible and The Gills took the lead after comical Watford defending allowed Dack to get infront of his man and squeeze the ball past Pantimilon. Ah classic Watford.
The score stayed that way until the final whistle and Watford embarrassingly crashed out of the cup at the first hurdle. It was terrible to watch at times but Gillingham deserve a lot of credit grew into the game and took their chances. On the balance of play they seemed more threatening in the final third. I for one wish them luck in the next round.
Anyway that's enough. On to Arsenal.
Watford 1-2 Gills
Attendance- 7004- (850 away)
Match rating- 4/10
Probably the last time we will see Vydra too, a bad night all round
Anyway here's my take on the game
Firstly the league cup clearly didn't captive the imagination of the fans tonight with only 7000 hearty souls making the journey to Vicarage Road. Seen suggestions that we should have the opening cup game on our season tickets, a suggestion which could be worth it in order to boost attendance to games such as tonight.
On to the game and the players did very little to reward the fans, The Hornets showed a lot of endeavour in the first half but didn't test The Gills keeper too many times. Anya in particular saw a lot of the ball on the wing but many wayward crosses from both sides of the pitch saw a lack of chances. Watford didn't find the breakthrough and went in at 0-0.
The second half started very similar to the first with Watford having the ball and not doing anything much with it. As frustrations grew on came Odion Ighalo and with his first shot he scored putting The Hornetd infront. Now time to kick on and get a second! Of course not.
Again we sat back and let the opposition come on to us and with little under 15 minutes to go The Gills grabbed an equaliser after a long range curling effort flew past Pantimilon. The scores stayed level and extra time was needed.
Extra time was just completely terrible and The Gills took the lead after comical Watford defending allowed Dack to get infront of his man and squeeze the ball past Pantimilon. Ah classic Watford.
The score stayed that way until the final whistle and Watford embarrassingly crashed out of the cup at the first hurdle. It was terrible to watch at times but Gillingham deserve a lot of credit grew into the game and took their chances. On the balance of play they seemed more threatening in the final third. I for one wish them luck in the next round.
Anyway that's enough. On to Arsenal.
Watford 1-2 Gills
Attendance- 7004- (850 away)
Match rating- 4/10
Probably the last time we will see Vydra too, a bad night all round
Monday 22 August 2016
Watford v Gillingham (EFL CUP) 23rd August- Match preview
The Hornets face The Gills in the second round of the EFL cup at Vicarage Road on Tuesday night, in a match that gives Walter Mazzari his first taste of English cup football. Gillingham beat Southend in round 1 to earn themselves a tie against a Premier League outfit. It is a certainty that the league one side won't come to make up the numbers and know if they can progress it could be on of the shocks of the round.
Watford:
It is almost inevitable that there will be wholesale changes to the Watford starting line up so that new players and fringe players earn there chance to force their way into the team for the upcoming league matches. Despite the changes it won't be a weak Watford side and there will be plenty of quality, most heading to the game tomorrow will be hoping to see Matej Vydra given a full game to show his quality and we may also see the introduction of Jerome Sinclair to the team. If these two are given a run out then it certainly adds a different look to the side as the pairs pace could cause The Gills backline problems. In other team news Ben Watson returns from suspension and could return to the midfield for the tie.
It will be interesting to see how many changes Mazzari makes for the game and i wouldn't be surprised to see a completely changed starting XI with the depth within the squad. The players shouldn't need much motivation with some players playing to prolong their Watford careers.
Gillingham:
Gillingham have made a solid start to their new league one campaign and have only lost one game from their opening four. However that loss came Saturday and in crushing fashion too as they went down 5-0 away to Scunthorpe, so they will be hoping to reward their travelling fans with an upset on Tuesday night. Despite the relatively strong start, The Gills haven't kept a clean sheet all season and could easily be venerable to the strong attacking options Watford have on offer.
One player to watch will be Jay-Emmanuel-Thomas who has scored 3 goals this season and will be a threat to The Hornets defence with his powerful attacking style.
The Gills crashed out of the cup at the second round stage last season suffering a 2-0 loss away to Championship Birmingham.
Last time we met:
The Hornets last faced The Gills in the league cup back in 2007 a game where the Golden Boys came away with a 3-0 home win. That game was played in front of just 7,000 fans and is a clear sign of perspective to how much we have grown in 9 years.
My score prediction- Watford 3-0 Gillingham- A relatively comfortable home win but it may take some time for the game to come to life.
Watford:
It is almost inevitable that there will be wholesale changes to the Watford starting line up so that new players and fringe players earn there chance to force their way into the team for the upcoming league matches. Despite the changes it won't be a weak Watford side and there will be plenty of quality, most heading to the game tomorrow will be hoping to see Matej Vydra given a full game to show his quality and we may also see the introduction of Jerome Sinclair to the team. If these two are given a run out then it certainly adds a different look to the side as the pairs pace could cause The Gills backline problems. In other team news Ben Watson returns from suspension and could return to the midfield for the tie.
It will be interesting to see how many changes Mazzari makes for the game and i wouldn't be surprised to see a completely changed starting XI with the depth within the squad. The players shouldn't need much motivation with some players playing to prolong their Watford careers.
Gillingham:
Gillingham have made a solid start to their new league one campaign and have only lost one game from their opening four. However that loss came Saturday and in crushing fashion too as they went down 5-0 away to Scunthorpe, so they will be hoping to reward their travelling fans with an upset on Tuesday night. Despite the relatively strong start, The Gills haven't kept a clean sheet all season and could easily be venerable to the strong attacking options Watford have on offer.
One player to watch will be Jay-Emmanuel-Thomas who has scored 3 goals this season and will be a threat to The Hornets defence with his powerful attacking style.
The Gills crashed out of the cup at the second round stage last season suffering a 2-0 loss away to Championship Birmingham.
Last time we met:
The Hornets last faced The Gills in the league cup back in 2007 a game where the Golden Boys came away with a 3-0 home win. That game was played in front of just 7,000 fans and is a clear sign of perspective to how much we have grown in 9 years.
My score prediction- Watford 3-0 Gillingham- A relatively comfortable home win but it may take some time for the game to come to life.
Saturday 20 August 2016
Watford 1-2 Chelsea my post match thoughts
I think the majority left Vicarage Road disheartened this afternoon, well apart from the 2000 Chelsea fans opposite me. However from a personal perspective there are a lot of positives to take from the game despite the disappointing late defeat at the hands of a fortunate Chelsea team. Here are my 5 key points from todays clash and my reflection of this afternoons encounter.
1. Subs cost us dearly today
We seemed to run out of steam after scoring the goal and when fresh legs were badly needed they didn't come at the right time. The 3 central midfielders for The Hornets had a tough battle against a class Chelsea midfield pairing of Matic and the energetic Kante (I'll get to him later) and changes were due perhaps just after the goal. The two mistakes that Guedioura made optimised the tiredness in the team where his loose ball which ended up at the feet of Cesc Fabregas allowing him to send a match winning pass to the eventual goalscorer Costa. Even if Doucoure and Zuniga were subbed on slightly earlier then the energy levels in the middle of the park would've been refreshed in enough tine to encounter the inevitable pressure that Chelsea put on us. Mazzari will learn from this I believe and if we are leading against Arsenal next week I'm sure there will be better placed changes than the ones today.
2. N'golo Kante
For me this could be one of the signings of the summer if the Frenchman's display today is anything to go by. He won't score many for the Blues but what he will do is run and put pressure on the opposition players which will lead to mistakes. His energetic midfield display was world class and for me the game was won in the midfield, his display will go unnoticed by many most weeks but he certainly improves a Chelsea midfield that lacked pace in the middle last season. The introduction of Fabregas also had a major influence on the result and the combination of the Kante and himself did benefit the creativity of Chelsea's attacking play something Matic doesn't offer.
3. Deeney and Ighalo
It is way too early to cast a major opinion on their start to the season particularly just two games in against two quality opponents but today they again looked majorly off the pace and at times the link up play that was so successful last season went missing today. Talking of Success, Issac (Apologies for the terrible pun!) will be a welcome addition to the attacking line up and most certainly add something different with his pace which was lacking in the final third today. I am almost certain Deeney and Ighalo will find their form but if they do continue to struggle it would be most welcome to see some fresh faces up front
4. Amrabat and Holebas
Yet again we found that we were most certainly missing a trick with these two last season as their opening two performances have quality. Amrabat offers pace and direct running and gave Ivanovic a torrid time this afternoon, I thought he was perhaps my Man Of The Match. He also offers defensive qualities too, he tracks back and gets stuck in which only benefits us on the break when he picks the ball up in a defensive area. Holebas wasn't quite as good today but again offered an attacking wide role as well as his defensive duties. Time will tell how Holebas fits into Watfords plans but on his first two showings he certainly at least gives competition to new wing back Brice Dja DjeDje and beats Ikechi Anya every day of the week to that starting slot.
5. Capoue
Yet again Capoue was a cut above the rest and even without his goal he still looked the most composed player on the ball in a yellow shirt today. He is playing with a freedom that he never did under Flores and you can certainly see he is more suited to his role in Mazzari's team.
Overall we move onto the Arsenal game next Saturday and again we have a chance of picking up points against The Gunners who will be desperate to relieve some pressure and get their first win of the season.
Onwards and upwards after the first 6
Final score- Watford (Capoue) 1-2 Chelsea (Batshuayi; Costa)
Match rating- 6/10 (poor first half, came to life in the second`)
Adam Rowe (@adzrowe)
1. Subs cost us dearly today
We seemed to run out of steam after scoring the goal and when fresh legs were badly needed they didn't come at the right time. The 3 central midfielders for The Hornets had a tough battle against a class Chelsea midfield pairing of Matic and the energetic Kante (I'll get to him later) and changes were due perhaps just after the goal. The two mistakes that Guedioura made optimised the tiredness in the team where his loose ball which ended up at the feet of Cesc Fabregas allowing him to send a match winning pass to the eventual goalscorer Costa. Even if Doucoure and Zuniga were subbed on slightly earlier then the energy levels in the middle of the park would've been refreshed in enough tine to encounter the inevitable pressure that Chelsea put on us. Mazzari will learn from this I believe and if we are leading against Arsenal next week I'm sure there will be better placed changes than the ones today.
2. N'golo Kante
For me this could be one of the signings of the summer if the Frenchman's display today is anything to go by. He won't score many for the Blues but what he will do is run and put pressure on the opposition players which will lead to mistakes. His energetic midfield display was world class and for me the game was won in the midfield, his display will go unnoticed by many most weeks but he certainly improves a Chelsea midfield that lacked pace in the middle last season. The introduction of Fabregas also had a major influence on the result and the combination of the Kante and himself did benefit the creativity of Chelsea's attacking play something Matic doesn't offer.
3. Deeney and Ighalo
It is way too early to cast a major opinion on their start to the season particularly just two games in against two quality opponents but today they again looked majorly off the pace and at times the link up play that was so successful last season went missing today. Talking of Success, Issac (Apologies for the terrible pun!) will be a welcome addition to the attacking line up and most certainly add something different with his pace which was lacking in the final third today. I am almost certain Deeney and Ighalo will find their form but if they do continue to struggle it would be most welcome to see some fresh faces up front
4. Amrabat and Holebas
Yet again we found that we were most certainly missing a trick with these two last season as their opening two performances have quality. Amrabat offers pace and direct running and gave Ivanovic a torrid time this afternoon, I thought he was perhaps my Man Of The Match. He also offers defensive qualities too, he tracks back and gets stuck in which only benefits us on the break when he picks the ball up in a defensive area. Holebas wasn't quite as good today but again offered an attacking wide role as well as his defensive duties. Time will tell how Holebas fits into Watfords plans but on his first two showings he certainly at least gives competition to new wing back Brice Dja DjeDje and beats Ikechi Anya every day of the week to that starting slot.
5. Capoue
Yet again Capoue was a cut above the rest and even without his goal he still looked the most composed player on the ball in a yellow shirt today. He is playing with a freedom that he never did under Flores and you can certainly see he is more suited to his role in Mazzari's team.
Overall we move onto the Arsenal game next Saturday and again we have a chance of picking up points against The Gunners who will be desperate to relieve some pressure and get their first win of the season.
Onwards and upwards after the first 6
Final score- Watford (Capoue) 1-2 Chelsea (Batshuayi; Costa)
Match rating- 6/10 (poor first half, came to life in the second`)
Adam Rowe (@adzrowe)
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