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)
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