Janmaat I thought put quite lot of effort in yesterday. As for Vardy showed great movement , reminded me of another quick striker with great movement, bring back the otter
At the end of the day it’s so easy for us to sit here and say Silva should have done this and should have done that. There are countless examples in football when a player comes in, does very well, and fans/media/pundits crucify the manager for not giving them an earlier chance. Tottenham should have played Harry Kane from when he was 18. Mackay should have played Deeney upfront instead of out wide in his first 40 or so games so for the club. Mazzarri and Doucoure (ok, bad example). My point is maybe those three players wouldn’t be the players they are today if they didn’t have to go through those challenging times. Perhaps the theories are right, maybe Silva didn’t play Wague and Zeegelaar earlier because he wasn’t satisfied with them as signings, but he has not so obtuse as to freeze them out completely. Zeegelaar has been allowed to stake his claim and is now clear first choice. Wague still has much to prove and is only one bad performance away from being called a “useless ****” by a certain action of fans.
Okaka plays, Gray doesn't, we score and win. Shocking that a so called up and coming Head Coach has taken almost half a season to realise this. Thought Wague and Carillo looked good, and Gomes was the hero once again. Deserves one pf those big flags I think!
I'm still a long way from being convinced that Zeegelaar can actually defend. Totally lost Mahrez for the header.
Can't be that daft if it's a view held by several other fans. Perhaps you meant you disagreed with that view? Made a huge difference in my opinion. His physical presence and the fact he actually has a first touch means opposition defenders actually to have to defend, giving other players around him more time and space.
As one of the few people who shone against Huddersfield, it's good to see we have a player who's able to keep on plugging away when the chips are down, unlike a number we’ve have over the last few seasons who only go with the flow and perform when we are on a good run and/or the weather’s warm. Far from suggesting he doesn’t want to be here (as someone oddly did after the Man U game, his only real stinker in a season when he’s otherwise been mostly really good) he’s shown commitment to the (sometimes lost) cause, with a desire to make things happen backed up by no little skill. With Kiko or Janmaat (forget his defensive qualities) to support him that side, we are as strong on the right as we’ve ever been, far more than our first two seasons back in the Prem.
The Okaka situation is very different but without some facts about what he did it’s difficult to say how unfair Silva has been. It appears that Silva did not give in to player power so fair play to him. Hughes had played in the summer so may have arrived later to training and was also stepping up a level so it seems reasonable not to be involved early doors especially the way we were playing. I seem to remember Hughes being ok with this. Zeegeler was bought in as cover without a great recommendation from previous clubs and many on here questioning why we bought him. He may not have looked that great in training to start with, maybe like Hughes, but has improved enough to warrant a starting spot. If this is the case then full marks to Silva.
Certainly would love to see a Gomes flag! Interesting but surprisingly negative debate regarding players and Silva today despite our result. Lots of revisionism, with Pereyra emerging as some sort of villian. Very strange? Also many of those praising Wague, Zeegelaar this morning were moaning when they were signed. Memories are very short I suppose. Do agree with those favouring a role for Okaka as he gives us so much more than Gray or Deeney. Hope some of the folk on here can cheer up by Saturday!
We are all assuming what is happening because none of us actually know. Maybe Silva has taken the Okaka issue too far but without knowing what actually happened we are purely guessing so nobody is right or wrong.
Yes, agreed, very unfair on RP as we all know he can be miles ahead of anyone in our squad in terms of quality on his day. Seems to be struggling for fitness still.
Why would Hughes, 0 games in PL, get picked over Capoue, 200+ games in PL? Where is the logic in that?
Yes, I did too, but it worked out for him. Good judge of the difference between a genuine foul and an imaginary one, which is not an accusation you can level at most of the rest.
There are good arguments on both sides re players frozen out by Silva. Okaka we don't know the facts, Hughes he probably got right. He may well have been right in not selecting Marv and Wague to start, but he was definitely wrong to be disparaging about them in public when they first arrived (getting his excuses in first) and not giving them some game time as subs when matches were already won or lost. They weren't even on the bench very often, so they didn't have a chance to get acclimatised to the Prem or for Silva to see how effective they were in match conditions
That first paragraph is completely ridiculous. Gray has played in many games where we have won and the whole team has played well. We did not win because Okaka played.
But Gray has played in plenty of games in which we’ve scored and won, far more than Okaka has. It’s daft logic.
You make a perfectly reasonable point in your first sentence, then go on to make a statement in the second that completely goes against the good sense you just established. Without the facts, you cannot know either way what happened, and by siding with Silva as you do above, you are being even more biased than those who have suggested Silva may have been unfair, because you make the assumption that Silva has been fair and has resisted an attempt by Okaka to exert player power over him, despite that never having been mentioned anywhere. Silva says he did something. Okaka says he doesn't know what he did, but has made it clear his first preference is to play for Watford (as stated in his first outbursts about the matter and by turning down Wolves to fight for a place). He was an Italian international less than two years ago, and the guy wanted an oportunity to play in the World Cup Finals. What Okaka has proven is his professionality, no matter whether it is subsequent to whatever issue caused Silva to get upset (seems likely, yes this is speculation, to be his refusal to go to Wolves and take up a place in a squad where he 'doesn't fit in'), and fairly or not, he appears to have come out of the mess with more credit than his head coach, who has only proven how stubborn he can be, IMHO. I say it again. I hope Silva is learning a lesson from all this.
Do you not think that an experienced coach who watches players train with the first choice players every day should have a good idea how good they are and whether they would slot in? I would have thought that was one of the most important parts of the job for the coach of a 25 man squad. Did Silva not guess that Holebas may get injured or suspended? It was blatantly obvious to everyone else. Did he not suspect that with Cathcart, Britos, Prodl, Hoban, Janmaat, Femenia and Kaboul being injured, injury prone or likely to get suspended, he may have to rely on Marriappa, Kabesele, Zeegelar and an effectively untried Wague as his only defenders when up against the likes of Vardy and Mahrez - and in a couple of weeks, Aguerro, Silva, De Bruyne - Jesus! From what you say, you think it is fine to only introduce players when they are needed/forced (Hughes) through injuries, etc, it is pretty poor squad management as far as I am concerned. I also think that introducing other players into the first team increases competition and improves performance all round.
We’re not talking about QSF here, playing Capoue on the left wing rather then playing AG, playing Jurado despite no assist or goals, absolutely refusing to pick certain players and playing his favourites out of position are we? All he’s done is tried to stick with what is obviously his preferred 11 when he can, and generally trusted the players with the most PL experience ahead of those without. I hate Holebas, but he gave him a chance ahead of players who have never played in the PL, he completely wasted that chance so now he thankfully will probably not get near the team. He stuck with Gray and gave him a chance but now he doesn’t start, he stuck with Peyrera whenever he could but he’s started to lose faith in him and look at other options. Do you honestly think he should just be rotating the team every week just for the sake of it, especially when we were winning? Everyone would be up in arms if we won a game and then next game he gave games all the new players and we lost.
Because he's a better footballer, perhaps? And he's far more suited to playing as an attacking midfielder than Capoue? Chalobah had only made 1 Premier League start (in a dead rubber) prior to this season but I presume you were ok with him starting ahead of both Watson and Capoue and their hundreds of PL appearances at the start of the season? I can't believe you seriously think that players should be picked ahead of others purely because they've played more Premier League games. In your own words: "where is the logic in that?"
I couldn't agree with you more on that. It is pure speculation, though we each put our reasons for thinking it. It is what the forum is for.
Chalobah was very highly thought of and a lot of PL teams were after him. Capoue has done it at the top level although clearly not often enough where as Hughes had not. We will never know if he would have been a hit from the start but he did very little in the Bristol City game to suggest he would. Maybe hadn’t looked up to speed in training. Proven over unproven is the logic.
To me, there are stark similarities, though not on the same grand QSF scale. Silva's not playing players out of position in the same manner, but then he has a better squad and trusts more of them, and for all that he seems to have an issue with a few players, he is perhaps managing the rest of the squad better than QSF was. The similarities are that when the two wish to prove a point - QSF: 'I am inwincible and my way is the only way', and; Silva: 'Gino, you have provided me with an indequate squad and I'm going to prove it'; they are equally as stubborn as each other, and it seems possible it has been to the detriment of the club. Silva is better than QSF, that doesn't mean he does share some of his more negative traits. I think they are probably issues for most driven, forthright and capable managers; I image also that the best of them are the ones who learn lessons from those traits.
Hopefully against Swansea we start with Okaka & Wague, we will win easily and could do so by a fair few.
Okaka has grown in size since the last time I saw him! He was blowing by halftime ))) nevertheless he made an impact; I do like him but please don't anyone think he is the answer because he isn't.
Speculation, but I think it is likely that Okaka was told he wasn't required (the reason given to him mentioned by Silva), but in the face of no top flight move, and the then possibility of Italy qualifying for Russia, he refused to go to Wolves in order to do everything he could to get himself into the team at Watford. Given Silva's comments on the transfer dealings, I think he will have been peed off that Okaka chose to stay and fight, which may have blocked another incoming player, and certainly took up a slot in the 25, and so decided to prove to him that he wasn't needed, when actually he was. Pure speculation, but to my mind, it seems to fit with the Silva MO that has been showing itself over this first half of the season.
He's the answer until we get someone decent in up front. Hopefully not another dud like Gray. I'm looking forward to having someone that will be the first player on the team sheet with a decent first touch and the ability to finish. Fed up of alternating between two **** strikers while one is put to the side for egotistical reasons.
