Here’s my take on this season. I believe we should be a 50 point-a-season side, but have been let down by our relegation fodder defence. Here is my list of key matches, where I think we’ve been either a bit fortunate or should have done better. Liverpool (h). After conceding to a really well worked Mane goal, Watford regained the lead and should have gone on to win, but we conceded two really poor goals to hand Liverpool a 3-2 advantage. Luckily we managed to get a point in the end, but had our defence not made these basic errors, it’s a game I believe we would have won. Many saw it as a point gained, but I look at it as two dropped. Arsenal (h). Watford were lucky to still be in this match after 60 minutes, but Deeney came on a changed it completely. Watford stormed back to win with a penalty and a last minute goal. I consider this win as a bit fortunate, so it’s two points gained. Everton (a). There’s no doubt about it, we threw away a victory here. Leading 2-0, then Gomes goes off and Karnezis comes on to have probably one of the worse matches of his career, along with Holebas. The Greeks let us down in this one, and were the main reason we lost it. Even then Cleverley managed to miss a penalty with the last kick. Such an unnecessary defeat. 3 points dropped. Chelsea (a). After going one down to a controversial goal, Watford fought back superbly to lead 2-1. Richarlison then had two inexplicable misses to make the game safe. Chelsea fought back well, but it was down to a tactical error from Silva, by taking off Deeney for Watson. This allowed David Luiz to dictate the final 10 minutes, and two really poor pieces of defending allowed Chelsea to win a game they didn’t really deserve. 1 point dropped (at least) Crystal Palace (a). Watford took an early lead then Deeney missed an absolute sitter to make it 2-0. At that point it would have been game over, as Palace were on a really bad run and morale was low. However, they were still in the game when Cleverley got sent off for a second yellow on 87 minutes. Could Watford see out the match? Of course not. More dreadful defending allowed Palace to steal a match they should have lost. Both goals scored in the final few minutes. 3 points dropped. Leicester (h). Leicester took the lead with a good Mahrez goal and looked likely to go on and dominate. Wague scored an equaliser a little against the run of play, and Watford scored a fortuitous second after it came off Schmeichel. We only had one on target shot all afternoon. Gomes made two outstanding saves in the final minute to preserve the win. So I would say this was a bit of a lucky win. 2 extra points gained. Swansea (h). There’s no doubt about it, this was another win given away. Winning 1-0, we had a perfectly good Wague goal disallowed, then Gray missed a 1 v 1 chance to have made the game safe, with about 10 minutes to go. This kept Swansea in a game they should have been out of. Yet more comical defending, not only gifted Swansea an equaliser, it gave them the winner and both of these goals occurred in the final minutes. 3 points dropped. Southampton (h). Trailing 0-2 at half time and looking like the team just didn’t care, we got a foothold with Gray scoring early in the second half. This lifted Watford, but we got very lucky with the equaliser in the final minute, as Doucoure punched the ball in. 1 point gained, when we should have lost. Bournemouth (h). Winning 2-1 I felt Watford were the better side, but we conceded another last minute goal, again down to really poor defending. 2 points dropped. Burnley (h). This one was a real shame. Watford played well in this game and dominated Burnley. We were deservedly winning 1-0, when the same old story occurred. We allowed Burnley to score two basic goals, through sheer stupidity at the back. Both goals coming within a couple of minutes of each other, to turn the match on its head. The only surprise was that it didn’t happen in the final minute this time. 3 points dropped. Huddersfield (a). Watford didn’t play particularly well, but then nor did Huddersfield. We defended well, restricting Huddersfield to zero shots on target, but then the dreaded final minute, and we concede yet another soft goal of comical proportions and gift Huddersfield an unlikely win. 1 point dropped. I’ve totalled these figures up and it comes to 13 extra points. I’m only looking at matches where we gained or lost points which I feel was more fitting to be the final outcome. I know we scored late goals against Swansea and West Brom which I’ve not included, but that’s because I felt we did deserve a point at West Brom and a win at Swansea. I’ve not included Spurs at home either, which could have been a win had the referee given Watford a blatant last minute penalty, but overall I felt a draw was about right. So if we add those extra 13 points to what we already have, we’d be on 50 points. There’s very little finger pointing towards the strikers, although there have been a couple of glaring misses which have contributed to not making sure an advantage became much stronger at key moments in games, but in the main, the defence has cost us these points. To get to the next level, we need to be a team capable of earning 50 points a season. I feel we are almost there already. Tighten up at the back, stop conceding basic goals that the opposition don’t have to work hard to get, then we’ll be a really decent side. We’ll still have the odd crap performance and we’ve had this several times this season, but over 38 games, it can be afforded.
Good summary. I think what it demonstrates is that with a decent defence, which can surely be achieved, we are solid mid table PL team; add a decent striker, Europa contenders.
I didn't, and won't, read the original post - because, correct me if I'm wrong, I thought that there are still four games until the season is over...
My season summary is shorter: Mix of good signings and ****** signings ****** defence Quality midfield Quality wide players ****** strikers ****** medical department Snake PG tips monkey Overall score: 5/10
I agree. It seems simple, but like everything, it probably won't be quite that easy. I expect both Richarlison and Doucoure to go in the summer. We can cope without Richarlison just fine, but Doucoure would need replacing. However, I think this summer could be one where we sort everything out. The interest in Richarlison and Doucoure is so high, and if the quotes for transfer fees are correct, then that could be £80m in the transfer kitty, over and above the summer budget. Of course some of that would be directed towards stadium development, but I suspect a large portion would be ploughed back into the squad. Deulofeu I suspect will be a big summer target, but would be a real coup if we signed him. A Dawson type central defender and a Gibbs type left back would be ideal, plus, as you say, a quality striker (which will probably be the hardest part)
Agree with most of this but not a 'Gibbs type' left back as I feel he is a very limited defender, does little going forward and isn't particularly great at the back. A 'Kiko style' left back should be where we look, especially if the Silva style of play is what the owner is insisting on, long term. As for Deulofeu, all of the physio work that we are doing with him points to a long term signing otherwise we'd have sent him back to Barcelona. It will be, as always, a shot in the dark with a striker. There aren't any obvious candidates beyond getting Cucho a permit (unlikely according to Duxbury), although I still feel there's a good striker in Andre Gray fighting to get out. Add to that Penaranda and the full recovery of our long term injury players and I think there's a potential top half squad. Although I'm not convinced Gracia is a potential top half coach.
Kind of agree that this thread should have been posted after Man Utd but it does show that we are not as far away as you might think when you read comments from fans on social media. I don’t agree with all of it especially the Arsenal game but that’s a matter of opinions. Just simply seeing out a game would have seen us with about 45 points now with a couple of winnable Home games to come. I’m not convinced by Gracia but on the flip side I’m not sure any of the goals can be completely attributed to him, the photo provided by HB1 vs Burnley I would suggest backs that up. I said on a different thread, that we need a new defender who is a leader as well as a solid defender to take over from Deeney. Deeney has been great for us but I never felt he was an ideal captain plus I always prefer a defender as captain as the whole game is in front of him.
I'm not drunk enough to want to review the wreckage of this season yet. Best way to summarise quickly. Watch the heartbreak kid with Ben Stiller. That's Watfords season.
Started well lots of confidence and had us dreaming of Europe despite getting thumped by City undeservedly. As usual Xmas rolled around and in typical Watford style we went utter crap. Silva had a lot to do with this however but the team still need to shoulder some of it. Gracia comes in has a little run of form then we down tools again results wise. However in some of these games we played well but Holebas plays volleyball in his spare time. End is in sight now and we should be ok to stay up but next season is going to be much much harder unless we improve.
My review: Woohoo, sexy football, hunky manager, start the Europa League thread! Haha, he's never going to want to sign for Everton after 12 games, enjoy your relegation battle you losers. These injuries are a bit **** aren't they? He's an arrogant snake, and a one trick pony, doesn't know what he's doing. Yes! We sacked him, good riddance. Javi is a quiet, unassuming tactical genius and Deulofeu has been sent from above to save our season! Well that's an annoying injury. The Premier League's boring, Gracia is clueless, we need to replace the whole squad. These injuries are a bit ****. Fin.
Too long to read but cutting to the chase, where do we finish and do we go down ? Would be useful if you could extend it to cover the first part of next season too so we can all make decsions over season ticket renewals etc . cheers.
Post #10 is an illustrated version, so you didn't have to read it. I seem to have offended a few people by writing a lot of words, so I was just being thoughtful.
My season review is a question I ask myself at the end of every match. Do I remember the opposition keeper doing anything at all? Everyone's jumping on the defence but seriously, the attack has been absent all season. The midfield goals will possibly keep us up.
I agree with you. The strike force have got away with a lot of criticism this season, because the defence is so appallingly bad. That tends to take the headlines and glosses over what occurs at the other end. However, we have still managed to score a decent quota of goals. We are 8th in the Premier League scoring charts. I can only recall three matches where big misses have cost us a win. These are at Chelsea, Palace and at home to Swansea. Of course if those routine chances been taken we'd most likely won at Chelsea, Palace and beaten Swansea......9 extra points. We operate with only one striker, so in that system, everyone has to chip in. This we have done very well. We are top in terms of goal spread-out across the side. We've had 16 different goal scorers this season, which is more than even Man City. This doesn't mean we can't improve. Okaka, Gray and Deeney have all been poor in terms of strike rate, and we do need better in this area. Gray has missed a lot of big chances this season, so has Okaka. Deeney not so much, but then he doesn't get many chances in the first place.
US tv stream was trailing a stat pre-match today that we've broken the Premier League record with 4 times in a season losing a game in the 90th minute or later. Record breakers!
4 points from Bournemouth/Swansea/Huddersfield/Brighton/Stoke/Palace/Burnley and Southampton at home isn't very good really... It's a wonder we are staying up!
Disappointing. The platform for QSF's 45pt haul was us being flat track bullies and getting a healthy points haul against our rivals in the bottom third. It's the simplest formula for success.
I think that every team will have had a similar haul against the "big sides." Two 'shock' wins and a couple of draws is pretty much standard from what I can see against the big six.
I’m not going to detail all the games because I can’t be arsed but Holebas has been directly at fault in a dozen conceded goals, whether it be caught out of position, not challenging at the back post, or by lying on the turf pretending to be dead
I'm not accepting your prognosis, but he has probably been directly responsible for preventing even more goals than you claim he has been responsible for
Won 10 games - 11th highest in the league. Not bad. Lost 17 games - 2nd worst in the league. Awful. 42 goals scored - 8th best in the league. Good. 60 goal conceded - 2nd worst in the league. Awful. -18 goal difference. 13th in the league. Not bad.
A very interesting read HB. Thanks and well done for compiling. Over the first few matches of the season it looked as if we were the ones who were getting the late goals and points, but it didn’t take long for us to fall back to oh so familiar bad habits. Personally I view Everton away as the real nadir of the season, the one moment out of many where things really started to nosedive. I believe we’ve had more first-half goals in our matches than any other side this season, and I could be wrong but I think we’ve had more in the last 15 minutes too than anybody else. Points are points of course against everybody, but this season has also been characterised by our failings against the lower sides, whereas the last two seasons we generally achieved our staying up by beating teams near the bottom. This year we’ve taken just one point and failed to score against Stoke, ditto Brighton, 0 points v Huddersfield, lost at home to Swansea, failed to beat Saints at home, lost at West Ham and got just one point from Palace. Happily at least we played Brom before Darren Moore took over and revitalised them. Yet for the second season in a row we’ve beaten both the defending champions and defending FA cup holders and not lost at home to three sides who’ve been competing in the Champions League this season. Funny old game.
