Thanks **** for that - not perfect but a start, we seemed to play better and grow with confidence during the game. Thought Carrillo looked good, feel for Rich but he has to score at som point
Get in! A late Christmas present for all us Hornets on Boxing Day! Well done, that was hard fought and hard won. It's a bit annoying that Doucouré doesn't get credit for the goal but pleased for Wagué, a goal in his first Premier League start? Or did he start his one game for Leicester last season? Finally 3 points, COYH!!!
That is a REALLY good win, a competent and battling performance. I still think it should be Doucoure's goal.
Really enjoyable game and especially the result. Filled my knickers when Vardy got through one on one with Gomes in the first half but fortunately he fluffed it. Doucoure (despite one or two horrible errors!) was a welcome returnee and made a big difference in midfield. After a poor game last time out, Kabasele was back to good form. Ben Watson made the most of his limited ability and hit one or two peaches of passes. Excellent game for him. MOTM was Carrillo without a doubt. Lovely touch with the outside of the boot to put Richie through when he rounded Schmeikal and put it into the side netting. He was a constance menace to them and created most of our good stuff going forward. The double save from Gomes at the end made amends for last week. That's what you call a match winning save that.
The team instantly looked a lot better once Okaka came on. Prior to that we looked like we wouldn't score in a month of Boxing Days.
As we all already knew, just having Doucoure there in the middle of the park is absolutely vital. I was impressed by Carrillo today, and we worked better when Pereyra had gone off, which is a bit disappointing if not surprising, although that might have had a lot to do with Richy going back to his actual position on the left wing. Very nice 3 points, and hopefully we can build on that against Swansea. We still need a new striker, really. Okaka did alright, and better than either of the other two would have in the situation, but he didn't exactly set the world on fire. Cleverley worked hard, particularly in the second half.
As I didn't go I shall now Boo myself for 90 minutes. Well played Watford. Timely reminder you can play a bit.
Hey Malts, got a stat for you to check, how many different goalscorers we had this season? I believe its 13, most in the Prem?
Feels great to finally get a win, especially with next door neighbours both sides being Leicester fans.
Thought Kabasele was incredible today, and Gomes at the end. Carrillo, Cleverley and Wague looked good as well. Surely Okaka must start against Swansea.
I thought the referee did really well today. ...apart from booking Zeegalar at the end. That was daft.
Showed great resolve to turn it around and then hold on. I will therefore have to rant instead about the annoying people sat near me: They spout so much nonsense every week. Today’s recurring topic was how many players on each team were wearing gloves and how this would affect the game’s result. This went on nearly all game. There was also a strong assertion that “Okaka isn’t wearing gloves. He’s a big man”. He was wearing gloves. They don’t seem to be able to tell apart any of our non-white players either. One asked “Is that Gomes on the cover of the programme?” then exclaimed, as the seller walked by waving a copy with Andre Carrillo emblazoned on the front, “It is!”. My favourite moment however was when we were preparing a substitution and one person asked “Is that Capoue?”. Their friend looked over to assess the situation and confirmed, “Yeah it is”. “No it isn’t” I mouthed to my girlfriend just before Jerome Sinclair was announced to be entering the pitch. And what annoying fans are complete without some bull**** tactical analysis? They were outraged that we weren’t pressing higher up the pitch, despite the fact that everyone knows Leicester like to play quite direct, counter attacking football and were struggling at the time to play their way through a compact defense that wasn’t allowing any gaps for their forwards. That’s all I have to moan about today, given how happy I am to actually have won a game again!
Some thoughts on the game: - There were some greenshoots of recovery from our recent form, not exactly at our rampant best but we absolutely deserved to win the game. - We responded so well to going 1-0 down. It was a scrappy affair up until they scored, but we were on top for the majority of the game from that point onwards. - It's vital that we have a full squad available ASAP; today showed that getting even just a couple of players back (Zeegelaar and Doucoure) can make a big difference. Hopefully Kiko and Hughes are not far off a return. - Doucoure seemed to benefit from his enforced rest, and looked something like the top 6 midfielder we know he can be - The centre forward position remains a problem, but Okaka certainly staked his claim. Looked fit, hungry, and there was less of that petulant side to his game on show. Contrary to popular opinion I think Marco does believe in him and recognise his talents (could have easily replaced Pereyra with Gray). - Carrillo was my MOTM. I love a skillful player who puts a shift in for the team. - Finally, I hope this spells the end of our bad run. The body language of the manager and players tells me that their heads and hearts are still in it, it's vital that they take the confidence gained from today forwards.
It’s 14 I think and that puts us ahead of Man City. Here’s one back. Before today who was our last player to score against a former club? (Should have been Tom of course but for his woeful penalty)
Fair play to Silva, he did something that I’ve been critical of him not doing which is adapt. Of course his selection today was double edged, it was a statement to the owners about the players he needs, but putting that aside he picked a lineup and formation commensurate with our current situation and form. It’s funny how much difference a win can make, we all started to fear relegation, which we can’t rule out, but 15 points from the remainder of the season doesn’t seem out of reach.
Yes 13 and puts us first. Teams with 12.. Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, Man United. Teams with 11.. Bournemouth, Liverpool, Newcastle, West Ham.
Just when you least expect it, Watford come through.. Much, much better today! Great game as well. Gomes balances it out over a season. Costs you one game, saves you another. Great save from Ulloa header at the end. Very surprised Vardy missed that 1 on 1. Can see why Kiko starts over Janmaat. Solid going forward but he does not enjoy defending. At fault for Leicester's goal and just a bit unreliable when tracking back or marking his man. Did make some vital contributions though and not the worst rotation option. Tough job as well I have to say, I thought Albrighton & Chilwell looked really threatening together. Kabasele was excellent and probably my MOTM. Agile enough to chuck his body in front of stuff. Much better understanding / chemistry with Wague than Prodl. Wague for a Prem debut done really well. Good in the air and pounced quick to score. Looks a decent addition in what was a desperate position for us. Zeegelar was excellent down the left. SOO much better than Holebas. We praise Holebas for his attacking play but Zeegelar can do that just as well and defend better. Cleverley was probably the worst play on the pitch. Maybe he needs a rest? Gave the ball away soooo many times. Can't wait for that Chalobah & Doccoure pairing to return. Doccoure great. Few sloppy things but we're so much better with him on the pitch that I daren't complain. Watson done his job to be fair. He's past it but could've been worse. Carrillo was excellent. Finally! I've been one of his biggest critics, glad to see him have an impact. Close second for MOTM. Pereyra was just weird. Few in the crowd got on his back for jumping out of challenges and something really wasn't right with him? I don't know if he doesn't want to be here? If he just hates winter or he was carrying a knock? Not sure but it was odd. Poor Rich, he's desperate to score. He should've struck it low and hard for the first sitter, went round the keeper instead and like Rashford & Lingard who did the same last week, he missed. The second one he did the right thing and hit the post. Think he's carrying this mini drought, let him play against Swansea then rest him against Man City and Bristol City. Okaka made a difference. Not because he's excellent but he's just a bit less **** and more useful than our other strikers. We were tidy before he came on but once he did I think there was a proper focal point and gave Leicester's CBs something proper to worry about. Slimani had a decent audition. Would loan rather than outright buy. Vardy gives you a heart attack every time he's on the move. Other than that they were pretty ordinary. Not sure why they wanted to pick a fight with Gomes at the end? With Kiko, Chalobah, Hughes to return and new signings, maybe, just maybe we're about to turn that corner..
Also, not being sexist in any way but the female lino was genuinely shocking. Missed multiple offsides, foul throws and even incorrectly gave a GK when it was corner only to be overruled by the referee. Agree with ZZ ref was excellent, didn't notice him.
A win and improved display - just what Santa ordered! Fairly solid defensive performance and Okaka certainly added some presence up front.
Think if Vardy had scored that sifter we would’ve been in for a shoe in. Great important result today against a team that’s let’s be honest better than ours almost player for player
Can't believe how fast the first half went, what great entertainment. The players looked like they were playing for Silva today and that's what matters. I like what Squibba said, Okaka is less sh*t than our other strikers, spot on.
Great result. A win against Leicester is neve easy, let alone after our recent form. We weren’t at our best overall but a lot better than the last 2 games. Carrillo caused a lot of problems and their defence couldn’t handle him.. I do think the dip in form was a mixture throwing games away, injuries, and at the end a massive lack of confidence. You could see the change after we scored the goal in in confidence. Playing Richie up front didn’t work but I guess you have to try things out, we looked better as a testament when Okaka come on - not that he was amazing but Richie was rarely getting the ball up front (and isn’t always the best of finishers) COYH!
My Internet crashed after halftime but We won so I’m really pleased. Thank you guys for the second half info. Got to beat Swansea now to garentee at least a top 10 end of year finish. I’ve given Silva Sone decent stick over this week but today he really came through and went with a risky formation and strat but it worked. Many of us can still and will have doubts about his commitment to the cause but today he put himself in all our good books with a much better performance against a good mid table side. Anything but a win against the Swans would be painful though but we need to keep positive and hope this first win in six games is a real turning point. Overall much better today and much much better than the last two games especially.
We fully deserved that, I think Leicester looked like we did against Brighton - clueless. Some really great performances in there today, I thought Wague and Carrillo were very good in particular. The ref was great but the lino was absolutely clueless. I know it’s a great gesture to remind everyone we live in the 21st century but she is not ready to be an official at this level. There were 4 of the most obvious foul throws you could get in the 2nd half and she didn’t flag a single one. First win iv seen this season, let’s hope we can capitalise on a poor Swansea on Saturday.
Not a great graph for those doom-mongers on this forum but after 20 games this is the 5th highest in the league we've ever been after 20 games in our entire history. If we had 2 more points it would be our 3rd best starts.
