Chaka would have been a better sub than Ince, need someone with pace that can carry the ball forward.
Can understand why he wasn't chosen tbf! A weird game, we were excellent in the first half, completely lost any semblance of control once Dennis went off, but it's not as if they were hammering at the door, apart from that fantastic save with his foot right after the second goal, I don't remember Bachmann doing much in that second half
Mince is a pathetic excuse for a player these days. Could have been a penalty on Asp by Amputate. Impressed with our organisation and spirit. Would have been delighted to have a point at 7.59pm so happy to be disappointed with that!
A great point in the end, awesome first half performance but Clevs went far too negative far too early considering we had controlled them so well in the first half. Porteus the warrior at the end there and Bachmann with two great saves.
Lots of positives there. Great first half but their stronger squad was the difference in the end. We looked very leggy in the last 20 minutes. Most importantly we looked a lot better organised both on and off the ball. That's got to be a big tick for Clevs.
Let's be honest that's a cracking point and for 70 mins went toe to toe with Leeds. Only thing I'd moan about is bringing Ince on over Chak or Martins. Just no outlet after that. But that's minor. A great performance and effort from the lads. Porteuous brilliant.
Good 1st half. Tried to sit and hold 2nd. Wrong move but to be fair nearly worked. 2nd half we reverted to the "press without pressing the ball" ********. When you try and stop the pass rather than try to intercept the pass. Gave them all the possession. Ref was terrible by the way.
We will survive this year, but if the Pozzos recruit poorly again we are down. No parachute payments and will likely lose one of or both of Asprilla & Kone plus Dennis. We don’t have any depth as it is and I don’t believe the VI control over transfers. I like Cleverley, but i think he needed to use the subs better tonight as I think we could have held on and won the game. Kone as centre forward was pointless and we really needed him to retain the ball with TDB & Kayembe. I like Ince, he is tenacious and can play the press game as well as be an option for the outball. Did Rajovic touch the ball? Bayo was gone for about 20 minutes before he was subbed. Im sure Rajovic could have atleast pressed with energy
Kone as a forward is a weird one, but in fairness to Clev, it's not the first time we've faded badly after Dennis has had to go off. I recall Rajovic touching the ball once, holding the ball up well in fairness to him, but he simply doesn't have the mobility to do what Dennis was doing
Some of the best football I've seen Watford play all season in that first 45. Some excellent link up play and pressing from Kayembe and Dennis, with Bayo playing the perfect folly. Opening goal was well deserved for all the hard work. Dennis has a crack and a decent save only for Bayo to lash in from about five yards out. Then Andrews totally loses his marker and gets sold on the dangerous side to allow Summerville to crack in a gem of an equaliser but a bit against the run of play it has to be said. However, we didn't go back into our shells and Dennis was somehow given the space he needed to crash in a brilliant goal just before the break, and to be honest that half time lead was about the least we deserved. On top of that, had Dennis got his angle right, he could made it 3-1. Second half was always going to be reacting to Farke's hairdryer of a HT team talk and it was very much back to the walls with us withstanding attack after attack. Although their equaliser came about not through any amazing piece of magic, but again, Andrews paid the price for some dithering and allowed Leeds in to level up again. However, it wasn't all on Andrews that time as Pollock was behind the pace also. Nothing Bachmann could of done, who actually had a pretty decent game again with some good saves to keep us ahead and level. I think TC will be more than happy with the result given the level of the opposition, but I do think he needs to look at himself a bit with his strange subs. Ince on instead of Chak? Who was available to play? Morris should of come on for Pollock at the break, and perhaps switching Kone' out for Livermore when Dennis went off early second half. Hope his injury isn't too bad, but he jogged off so that's encouraging. This was a free hit before the game and a point would of been unexpected considering our dire home form but I think the fans' were entertained for once and we gave a decent account of ourselves against what is on paper, the best side in this division. It would of been amazing to have held on, but the tiredness kicked in and we had put so much effort into that first half that most of the players' looked dead on their feet in the last ten minutes. Still, a really good performance overall and to score two against the best defence in the league is again another plus. TC has got us playing some good stuff at last, but he needs to manage the levels of players and make subs accordingly going forward. WBA away will come around very quickly on Monday. I just hope the players' get time to recoup before the game. Solid point and a great effort all around. Andrews had a nightmare though. Hopefully one he can out of his system quickly.
By far the better and more incisive team first half, took them by surprise. Clearly they adapted at half time and once the shock factor wore off their better players took over but we were still very disciplined and didn't really give up many chances until the equaliser. Good to see us mix it up and play 3-5-2, a formation that obviously can work in the Championship with the right players and game plan.
Andrews didn't have the best game of his life, but he's not going to play against players of that quality every week! Dennis was going to go off anyway, Clev has said that he's been nursing a groin issue over the last few weeks (is it the same injury he had in Turkey?)
As sluggish we started against Birmingham was as lively as we started today. Leeds were just not at the races at all in the first half and much of the second, which certainly helped us, but at the same time that was generally a sharp performance with some positive play until we started to lose energy and players late on. It's difficult to pick out a top performer as there were a lot of very good ones. Kayembe was excellent in the first half and might just edge the MotM award. TDB was very good on the ball again today and was freed by not having to play as the 6. Dennis was shaping up to have another perhaps overly selfish performance where he took one too many touches a few times, to yet again repay his selfishness with a really good goal from it. Bayo had his best game for us in ages and that was a very impressive and confident finish from the kind of chance we've often seen him fluff. Porteous continued where he left off against Birmingham with another all-round very good defensive performance. He seemed to be relishing taking a leadership role in the defence and stuck to his task well. Pollock and Sierralta were also pretty solid at the back. Even Lewis had a good game defensively overall. Andrews was probably again as with every game since his return the weak link at the back, albeit I won't be too harsh today as he was up against the best attacker in the division in Summerville (who was basically their only major threat the whole game). Kone looked like he was still basically in Canada when he came on; when Dennis went off it wasn't just that we'd lost him but it seemed we basically dropped to 10 men. Based on that I was pleased that ultimately we managed to hold on for a point. But on the subject of Dennis going off early again - if you've got a dodgy groin then is it the best idea to be celebrating a goal like that?! His landing didn't seem completely comfortable. The ref was terrible. We should have had a pen for sure for the standing on Asprilla's foot. Asprilla won the ball first, then Ampadu came in late and trod on him. I'm not sure how it's particularly debatable, but the tw@ Don Goodman on Sky's co-commentary was more than happy to agree with the ref on basically every decision. Thankfully it didn't really matter in the end. Not sure how Summerville got away without a yellow card in the first half for the shove on Kayembe's neck either. There's still a bunch of games left, but Cleverley seems to have the tools to stake a reasonable claim for the job come the end of the season.
Chak clearly can't have been close to fully fit. He was probably celebrating a lot. Kone was so off the pace he basically wasn't there, yet he was somehow deemed more fit to play than Chak was, which I think is enough to demonstrate that Chak certainly must not have been up to it. I don't think Cleverley "went too negative", I think we just ran out of energy. As per my reply to cyan above, I'm not sure what more Cleverley could have done with his subs. Kone was playing in attacking midfield and I suppose tasked with pressing, which should suit him fine enough, but I'm not sure it's Clevs' fault that he was so terrible we were basically playing with 10 men after Kone came on. I also don't think it's Clevs' fault that Bayo was knackered and Rajovic is also currently pointless. Usually I'd say that I think Ince is terrible and should never be used, but he at least touched the ball a few times today, which was more than Kone and Rajovic!
Hope we enjoyed our cup final, we won't see the like of that game at the Vic for some years. Shame Andrews was so ruthlessly exposed and regularly left for dead in being so - I blame Val, of course. I imagine he was somewhere in a dark room, bloodshot eyes affixed to the screen, sharp pin driven into a lifeless felt facsimile of our Ryan again, and again, and again. Dennis the wonderboi as ever. A great point that in the end means nothing. It's an interesting one - we've seen these kind of 'shackles are off', 'the King is dead, long live the King', responses to a new coach so many times before, always short-lived before the inevitable slow disintegration. Could we have hit some magic with TC managing to coax such energy, discipline, and spirit out of this ragtag band, or is it just QPR in August all over again? My money's on the latter, although obviously the mythical former would be the preference. Farke and his cohort surrounding the referee after the game to complain and whine and mutter and carp and grumble was laughable, given the ref may as well have been wearing a rose on his breast. I also think it would be much funnier if Leicester fail to make autos, so in that sense a sad lining to this creditable performance is the help we have just given them in salvaging it. Oh well.
I thought we had no chance before kick off but that was the best I've seen us play all season. It was going to be difficult to keep the intensity up all game but I do feel like we tried to slow it down and cling on far too early. Leeds were bound to pressure our goal and eventually score. Either way I would have ripped your hand off for a point. It was such a relief to see us play more direct and get in their faces. Val would have had us passing round the back all night. Playing long balls can be effective at this level when you get on the end of it!
Definitely was an excellent performance for 60 minutes or so before we got tired and they started to dominate. Summerville was a threat all game . Think we lost a lot of momentum when Dennis went off - not sure Kone was the answer ( Presumably Georgi wasn’t deemed fit enough ?) Lewis , Porteous, Kayembe and TDB played very well whilst Bayo had one of his best games .
Also Leeds 1st goal was offside!!! Had there been VAR it would of been deemed offside on TWO counts!!!
Might be wishful thinking of course, but one advantage Cleverley has is that he was one of the lads just a year ago, I don't think any of the players will pack it in under him
Thoroughly enjoyable, that one. Particularly impressive performances from the oft much maligned Bachmann, Porteous, Pollock, TDB and Bayo. Dennis with a fantastic goal but Kayembe was the true star tonight - the best player on the pitch for my money with today a highlight of what has been a strong season for him. Mid-table now well and truly sown up. See you in August!
Wasnt overly optimistic before the game and given how poor we were against Brum I would have taken a draw tonight. Having said that its hard not to be disappointed with how we fell away second half, sat back far too much and seemed to invite pressure. First half, thought we were really good. Started on the front foot,played with energy, looked to be positive with the ball and looked organised. Should have had a penalty and while their equalizer was very well taken there was a hint of offside. Second half we never seemed to have the same energy and positivity or much forward momentum after Dennis went off.
Lewis had the opportunity to clear the loose ball easily with his sadly non-existent right foot after the eventual scorer of the equaliser initially miskicked. He had almost no chance of doing so with his left, and only succeeded in returning the ball whence it came.
Absolutely. Summerville for the push, Dan James for the flying tackle in the second half and Porteous toward the end for his barge, for starters. The ref was poor
It was tight, but without VAR, you can't really complain about borderline decisions like that not going your way
