On top of what others have said, yes it was a fantastic performace against a very disjointed Chelsea. Capoue looked good for most of the match, Zeegelaar looked a bit more assured with Holebas behind him. Mariappa should be playing in a veterans' league given his age but he put in another commanding performance as did Prodl who played his best game this season by far.
There is absolutely nothing to add that hasn't already been said. What a way to set up the rest of the week. Whilst the last couple of months have been anything but fantastic, tonight was a perfect example of why I love the game and Watford. Can't recall hugging so many random people in my life following the 2nd, 3rd and 4th goals. Absolutely nuts. Janmaat's goal looked like we'd stolen it out of the Arsenal playbook of a decade ago, whilst Deulofeu's performance was just beautiful to behold. Pereyra's effort wasn't exactly poor either. Top performance from all involved on a cold night under the lights. Good atmosphere again too.
From ko each player looked like they knew their role. And Gracia chose the roles carefully. Janmaat poor in own half, dangerous going forward. Get him forward. Holebas unclear about the defence/attack balance. Clear instruction to be in a back three. Doucoure towered over Bakayoko & Kante. Fantastic 50m burst in second half forcing an excellent save. But my heart goes out to Richie. Most fouled player in the league. Has played continually for well over a season. A young kid with limited English who clearly felt the loss of a coach who speaks his language. I don’t think he was crying for himself. I think he was crying at the thought he’d let the team down. At each of the second half goals, he was the first into the celebration, sprinting half way across the pitch. Even if the football doesn’t quite work out, this guy is a future Harry the Hornet.
Believe it or not he is actually only 6 months older than Prodl, he is 31 just so younger than both Britos and Kaboul
That was a proper game of football over the last 14 mins. Both teams wanted to go for it. The Chelski, as the 'big team', having just scored and having the momentum and us too because we were genuinely 'pissed off' because we knew we'd had every chance to have 'put it to bed' way before that. Pretty much everything we all enjoy currently derives from the enormous global TV revenues. And what the global TV audience would rather see is some proper blood and thunder rather than a whole lot of '****ing about at the corner flag'. So BOTH teams should be congratulated that the match was fought properly to the bitter end in true sporting fashion and we should be congratulated that we were, on this occasion, the masters of that noble tradition.
As someone in their 50s with loads of stuff going on, it amazed me how long it took me to come to terms with losing at Chelsea this season. Not just not winning. But playing them off, how would RC put it, the bloody park & not winning. Being 6 up with 5 to play & still losing. (I’ve never played golf but on occasion who can’t help channeling Moor Park Richard?) So very nice to win 6-5 on aggregate & under such a humble, thoughtful, respectful coach.
That's a bit harsh as he is a pretty good footballer, still I suppose we would be favourites for the mascot relay race every year!
Unbelievable performance. Absolutely battererd them and we were well on top throughout. Amazing to see the difference some coaching can make. Our game plan was very clear, and everyone carried out their role to perfection. Loved seeing how fluid our formation is, and you can just tell that we had been working on our tactical discipline and shape. Playing on Monday gave us an extra few days to prepare and plan, hugely significant considering our injury list and Gracia still implementing his style. Early days yet, but there’s definitely cause for renewed optimism.
You’ve solved the age old philosophical conundrum to the trees thing! Yes! A ghastly, cheating, diving ****! (Until & unless he ever dons the yellow shirt & so becomes the apostle of Saint Fernando of Fessi.)
Agreed. I think that was exactly Ricky's sentiment. He had the chance to bend one in at the far post (with Courtois nowhere) similar to an effort from Delofeu, just prior to that, with Courtois far more in contention. And I think that got to him a bit. You could see it on the pitch too. So Ricky, if you're listening. Every forward player goes through a phase when nothing seems to hit the target. Equally, you'll have phases when everything does hit the target. We all love ya anyway! So, listen to Senor Gracia. Maybe not the man that brought you to our club. But a wise man nevertheless. He seems to have a lot of common sense. You are one of the stars of our season. Love it across the Atlantic eh?
We did play them off the park for the first half of the second half. Otherwise we didn't. If we'd stuck three away during that period of total dominance (rather than one) then we'd have been outasight. But we didn't. In our brief period of total dominance last evening (82-92 mins) we stuck three away. Nuff said.
Just goes to show these Fancy Dan Barca popinjays can still learn a thing or two from Watford. Deeney made that goal just as much as Dualflo.
Amazing performance. Goes to show how much Silva was holding us back. Gracia had us organised and motivated and it made us look a completely different team.
03.00. Sun comes at at 06.30ish. 4-1. I f.cking well love our football team. U'Orns. Benefits of retirement. Currently doing Reef - Place Your Hands ...
W.nkers. Eff off back to wherever you've come from. Harrods? Is there anyway we can stop toss.rs like this being able to sound off on the Vic. Rd.? Without getting a damned good kicking?
Deulofeu pointed to tell David Luiz he was going to put it in the ******* bag and then he did it. I have no voice left.
I know, I saw the interview. He also said he made himself small. He's lying. When they cut back to the studio the pundits panned him. The replays are very clear.
There was so much to love about our club again last night, passion, skill, organisation, commitment & much much more outstanding.
The header from Deeney to set that passage up was very good. He held his defender off before heading it at least 10 meters back into a gaping space between their defence and midfield that Doucoure ran into, powering forwards goal. The feeling of knowing that a Watford player was always going to get a tackle in, intercept the ball or that the ball was going to fall for us was something else and must be how the big teams fans feel every game. After our second goal it was like a training match for us, unbelievable.
