I'd have Zimmerman, Cantwell or Hernandez from Norwich. Ake from Muff (should never have let him go) Nobody from Villa.
It's a terrible indictment on our recruitment that Deeney has, apparently, been playing with a badly injured knee. Our manager would rather start an injured, useless Deeney than any of the options on the bench. When you consider the possibility of pushing Welbeck up front, that means Pedro, Pussetto, Gray, Pereyra all considered not fit for purpose. Ok pedro is one for the future, but the rest? We're in dire straits. Why is our squad packed with £50m worth of 'talent' that isn't good enough to come in when our striker is crocked?
I wouldn't go that far - you would not want either Masina or Dawson in the starting line-up? Even Kiko could be good if he can get his confidence issues sorted.
Will he? He's a relatively recent England international, if he harbours any hopes of staying in the international picture he can't be seen playing in the Championship, plus Bournemouth would need to sell as many of their assets as possible
Definitely need someone at RB, it's time to stick a fork in Janmaat. I like Kiko, he has his bad games like Tuesday, but is excellent going forward (works very well with Sarr) and has his moments defensively, I'd bring in a fresh face and let them battle it out. As for CB, it's a weird one, none of our current CBs are horrendous, but they're all fairly average Premier League defenders. I say get in one or two new faces, and say to them all that their place in the first team is up for grabs. Holebas for example was kind of going through the motions when he only had Zeegelaar to contend with, but improved when Masina came in, even if Masina himself wasn't a regular last season
In fairness to the club, he wanted to go somewhere else; I think the story was that he wanted to play centrally in defence or in the midfield rather than at left-back, back when our centre-back options appeared much more solid than they do now
Probably score a hat trick tomorrow now but he hasn't scored for ages .. I wonder if Man U will still be in for King? The 2 fullbacks at Norwich seem to attract interest - think Palace made a bid or two last summer for Lewis. Ofcouse like with Villa and Grealish these clubs probably won't get the fees they were hoping for now.
We did well with 10 men particularly to get that 2nd penalty as it seems Sarr wasn't playing.. https://www.watfordobserver.co.uk/s...tory/?action=success#comments-feedback-anchor
I think he saw himself as a CM. Howe bull$h1t him, said he could play CM, played him there for a couple of games then switched him to CB.
I view the result as a genuine miracle. I have no idea how we won that game. Amazed we got the 2nd penalty. It's hard to believe that just happened. But it did, so very grateful for that.
I'd still take even the Mazzarri season and this one over any of the seasons we didn't win promotion, with the exception of 2002/03 and 2010/11.
The championship can be just as miserable as the PL. you’ve obviously got more chance of having a good season and when you’re on form it’s great. But when you’re knocking about in mid table or around the relegation zone it’s more depressing than being in the PL, with far worse players and a terrible standard of football which you also have to endure twice a week.
What about Norwich's wing-backs? Aaron's and Lewis? Maybe too expensive, but definitely an area we need to strengthen.
Left back is surely more of a priority than right-back? An injury prone Janmaat is more useful than Holebas these days!
In Pussetto's defence, he isn't a left winger. He's played right wing, behind the striker or as a striker. But I still agree with your general point.
Norwich have had a terrible defence this season, so remarkable how highly rated these two and Godfrey seem to be. However so did Hull and that Robertson turned out to be decent.
Well the last two times after being relegated we've stormed the league for a whille then totally gone to pot haven't we ..
2nd half we were so much better, surely coincided with a lack of aimless long balls. Deeney in his form and playing with an injury surely questions need to be asked why he is starting every game. Also shout out to Kiko thought he was much better in the 2nd half and got forward a lot more which gave Sarr a bit more licenses and a different threat in an attacking sense.
Welbeck mm's from scoring, Deeney golden opportunity, Welbeck deflected over and concerted pressure in the 2nd half particularly? We've by no means been great but the last 2 games have seen a response. Just wish we saw this a few games earlier.
Well, that was predictably ****. We were all right in the first half, and paid for not making our dominance tell. But second half you came out and we didn't bother. Conceding our first penalty of the season for a daft tackle was bad enough, but two? Horrendous. Bruce wants shooting for starting Schar in midfield. I get that he wanted his physicality, but to be honest we'd have been better off with 5 at the back where he can be effective. Especially when we have natural midfielders available on the bench. (Even moreso when one of those natural midfielders is Matty Longstaff - a promising young midfielder whose contract is coming to an end and who doesn't believe Newcastle will give him the game time he needs...) Clear which team was playing for something. Hopefully I'll be back next season to give you beer, bed and burger tips for your away day to Newcastle. Good luck to you and good luck to Bournemouth. If your survivals mean Villa and West Ham go away, then happy days all round, right?
I'm not so sure about shooting Bruce. He's kept you up and this season I think that is really good, considering I think quite a few of your squad are poor by Premier League standards.
You re blowing in the wind if you think Zimmmerman is coming to Watford . But you never know as the times they are changing .
Think we've stayed up regardless of his tactical acumen. Our 'keeper has made more saves than anyone else, only Villa and Norwich have conceded more shots. We're terrible up front. Make no mistake, we're very lucky not to be in the bottom 3. We've a decent PL squad; ASM, Almiron are top half standard. Ritchie, Shelvey, Hayden, Longstaffs all decent PL level. In Lascelles, Fernandez, Lejeune, Schar & Clark we've 5 PL defenders of varying quality. Finally, Dubravka is a top half 'keeper. But Bruce plays Joelinton as a targetman when he's not. He fields ASM and Almiron too deep to be impactful. He combines our midfielders in bizarre setups (either no creativity, or no mobility). Our defence last season was a very good unit, this season they look like they've never met. Bruce is not a PL manager, but he's being rescued by his 'keeper and Saint Maximin.
Obviously I must bow to your superior knowledge about your team. But, from the outside, Rafa having gone and your early season dreadful displays and a general apparent consensus of low expectation of Steve Bruce, it looked like you were early relegation candidates. & that hasn't happened.
Outside of the big 6 and arguably Wolves and Everton most squads in the PL are much of a muchness, a fully fit and match ready squad with a bit of confidence and an average squad will do OK, then on the other hand a very similar squad with poor fitness and low confidence will continue to get poor results. In terms of ability within squads I don't see much difference between us, Newcastle, West Ham, Burnley, etc., our season is the way it is due to poor preparation for the beginning of the season and poor decision to bring back QSF.
Hey, remember when everyone thought that Wolves were just going to be selling all their best players at the first chance and they were just a glorified shop window for a dodgy Portuguese agent? Good times.