West Ham United 2-4 Watford FC - 10/09/2016

And that Ladies and Gentlemen is why football is quite simply the best game in the world.

Why 3pm Saturday is the best time of the whole week.

And why certain people shouldn't start pushing the panic button after just 3 tough matches of a long, long season.

A wonderful match. A wonderful comeback. Wonderful performances going forward. And 4 on the road in the Prem for the first time.

A match to savour and look back on as summer fades and shorter and colder days beckon ahead.

The real start of the Mazzarri era.

It's going to be fun!

 

We haven't seen such breathetaking pace and gile going forward for years, Pereyra drags the whole team forward and it seems everyone feeds off of his optimism and directness

 

Blimey even gave them a 2 goal start.

 

That... was amazing. Could have scored double too. Reminiscent of the Joka days. that turnaround would not have happened under Quique.

All the new boys look great - even Okaka although it looks like he's unfortunately done something to his hamstring. Excited by Success.

Ighalo looked back to early-last-season form and Deeney took his goal brilliantly.

Signs for this season are very positive. And I've even got Holebas in my fantasy team.

 

And just in case anybody thinks I'm blowing with the wind lol

 

That was incredible! Considering the quality of opponent, I can't remember a better performance in recent years. Wow. Keep that up and we're going to have a very good season.

 

I'll just leave this here, shall I?

Wow. Some people never learn do they? You'd thinks somebody in his position would think before they spout such nonsense. You look like a right numpty now don't you, Goldielocks? :happy1:

http://www.claretandhugh.info/dg-reckons-its-a-watford-win-or-bust-match/

 

First time ever we have had 4 different scorers in a premier league game!

 

A comfortable win over an admittedly poor West Ham outfit (that by all accounts fielded their strongest 11 today!! Jesus...)

Would have been nice to have scored a few more, but it just showed how dominant we were when we were still taking the pi$$ after having to see out the last eight minutes with 10 men.

Can't expect it to be as easy as that every week, but a massive improvement on the last few games.

As for Mazzarri, I couldn't ever imagine that happening under QSF, so I'm sold.

 

Mazzari whoah
Mazzari whoah
He puts the team out shyte
But then he puts it right

Well done Walter!

 

It was ****ing hilarious reading on the shoutbox at 2-0 down. Some people really never learn!

 

Amazing

 

Apparently we were 28/1 to win when 2-0 down did anyone have the bottle to take those odds if so WELL DONE!

 

Fantastic overall performance after a bad start.

Deeney and Capoue's strikes were brilliant, and Iggy created two goals, one for himself and one for Holebas with a PASS!

Capoue scoring, Iggy passing, players attacking...we'd have killed for this last season.

A great day. Can't imagine what a great atmosphere it was in the away end.

 

That was straight from the Napoli 2012 vintage.

 

It was quite surreal. Every time someone slagged off one of our players and called for them to be dropped they popped up and scored a second later!

 

That game had Zola written all over it. What fantastic attacking.

 

Iggy has just added £10 million to his price tag with that pass. He's now the finished article.

 

No - Janmaat could have scored only hit the post from 2 yards fml and lol

 

Holebas - can he take any more of this $hit

 

Cracking game from the Watford men. Relentless at goal once we got through the patchy bit when West Ham scored their second, never looked like giving up. Have to say it made me proud to see those vacant West Ham stands in the last 20 minutes of the game. Really fine stuff :sign15:

 

That was beautiful.

 

I've been completely anti the 3-5-2 formation and have expressed it several times on here.

Today I will take my seat, trust that Walt knows what he is doing and not think I know better than him.

Great game, destroyed West Ham's best 11.

Pereyra just dictated the play when he got on the ball. Vital that he stays fit.

Success looked great coming on, has pace and power, unlucky not to score.

Okaka looked good in his little cameo, unlucky not to be awarded the goal, I know it was offside but so often you see them given. Watch Wiston Reid's reaction when it goes, he thinks he's onside and he was the one marking him.

Kaboul had a solid game at the back

Deeney and Ighalo look like they love each other again and both have ended their drought.

Whatever Walt said to them at half time fired them up.

Let's see if we will be the first game in match of day or the Manchester derby.

Wonderful performance by the boys and all of a sudden the season looks totally different.

 

Looking forward to MOTD for the first time in a long time

 

Trevor Brooking?

I thought it was the renowned art critic Brian Sewll,must clean my specs!

What an extraordinary result and great for Troy and Iggy to score.

Didn't see that coming at 2-0 down I must say.

Trouble kicked off I hear from a friend at the game,I hope all travelling fans are safe.

Looking forward to seeing a player I coach who is a WHU and L*t*n fan!:sign15:

 

I thought Janmaat was outstanding today. Was everywhere. We now genuinely have selection headaches.

Pereyra is the real deal. Just looks so good on the ball.

 

Gomes - actually not a lot to do
Janmaat - OK
Holebas - OK, got caught a few times with Antonios strength but not his pace.
Back three - OK, Kaboul with some class.
Behrami - Good
Capoue - I took the two point price rise and sold him in FPL, might buy him back
Pererya - Comfortable, links up well could have scored.
Deeney - Knows the role he plays so even if he has a bad game, contributes. Ipswich at Home goal recreated.
Ighalo - I think he's been good this season. Typical goal and also an assist.
Okaka - Enormous potential to add something to our team. A top three of Deeney, Success and him away at a poncy team like Arsenal would be fun to watch.
Success - See Okaka, a little less Afinkenwa to him though.
Prodl - Solid like an Oak tree.

 

"I'm forever blowing doubles....."

 

West Ham fans up in absolute arms. Blaming the owners, the new stadium, everything.

Didn't see them complaining too much when they got handed it all.

 

Told you Lanzini was a lightweight :naughty:

 

Fair play to WHAM - I think their second is definitely a contender for goal of the season.

The Deeney and Ighalo double finally pays off.

How serious is Okaka's injury? I hope it's minor.

 

Amazingly today was only the 3rd time both Troy and Iggy have scored outfield goals in the same PL match (Villa away and Norwich away being the others, which also finished 4-2 but not in our favour!). If you include penalties, it's the 5th time. 4 of those occasions have been away.

It's only the 3rd time we have ever won at West Ham in the league, but two of those victories have been in the PL.

Today was the first time we've come from behind to win a PL game on the road.

Robert Pereyra has now won twice at the London Stadium this season!

Today was the first time we have scored 4 on the road in the PL, and the first time we have scored 4 full stop since beating Bolton 4-3 in our promotion year.

Ighalo has scored 3 times in his last two starts v West Ham (he didn't start at Upton Park last season as it fell just before the cup semi)

In our 4 matches this season, 5 if you include the cup, every side has scored. There's not been a clean sheet on either side.

 

Ladies and gentlemen - witness a historic moment, first away game won from behind in the Premier League (surprised Malt hasn't already beaten me to it)!

I'd been reasonably optimistic up to now, as I felt apart from second half against Southampton we'd played well and given as good we could get given such a tough start, and with much more attacking purpose and strength in possession than in the last few months under Flores, and West Ham was our best chance of getting something before the fixture list eases up. But I'll admit it wasn't looking so bright when we were 2-0 down and at times totally outclassed - West Ham were really good going forward, and harried us well when we had the ball, Capoue wasn't his usual bustling self, and Holebas was a bit ineffective and couldn't create much under pressure. But there'd been moments of attacking promise with the three chances Iggy had early on, and as long as we got something back before half time, there was always a chance. Then Iggy and Troy score the two that expose West Ham's glass jaw, and we complete the spectacular comeback second half!

Some thoughts regarding our standout players:

Ighalo - he's received a fair share of harsh criticism this year, chiefly that when he isn't scoring he isn't much use to the team. But that was the problem second half of last season - he wasn't scoring because he wasn't doing the things that made him so great during 2015, namely finding space, creating his own chances, bamboozling defenders, linking with his team mates etc. A real transformation today from the dejected player who couldn't hold onto the ball, pass to a team mate, shoot from outside the six yard box with any conviction. It helps that he's learnt to play with more awareness and less selfishly (as witnessed by his assist to Holebas) but he's proved that he doesn't need Pereyra or Deeney to help him out, and with more goals scored from midfield than we managed all of last season, if our front two continue this kind of form, we should improve on last season significantly.

Deeney & Capoue - their two goals for me are contenders with Guedioura's thunderbolt for goal of 2016. Actually, I thought all our goals, defensive mixups or not, were excellent both in the delivery and build-up, and all of them from open play!

Pereyra - must already be signing of the season, if not in the Watford modern era, really gives us the impetus in attack we've been severely lacking since the New Year.

All the substitutions were spot-on, with Success a handful for the West Ham back line, and Prodl still showing his importance in the centre of the back three, with one of his customary last ditch clearances preventing the Hammers making it 3-4 and a nervy last few minutes. And 13 shots on goal, 8 on target from 42% possession - when was the last time we saw that in a top flight away game?

Great time to be a Watford fan both on and off the field. New job after being in the wilderness for some time, new season ticket, potentially our best season for 30 years, doesn't life feel good sometimes?

 

What a game. The third goal - starting with Kaboul charging forward from the back - is the best team goal I've seen us score for a while. Clearly Bobby is the man that we need to link attack and defence.

Positives:
-Kaboul and Janmaat both look very good additions.
-Iggy running at defenders and scaring them. Started terribly, and should have done better with the early chances, but seemed to have his mojo back after the first goal and set up two good chances. James collins will be happy if he never has to see him again.
-We looked equally as strong with the subs on, and our two first choice strikers off the pitch. Finally we have some depth and extra attacking options.
-Bobby P

Negatives
-Tony Gale ****ing off Antonio for 94 minutes.
-As against Arsenal last week, it seems like we need to go behind before we pull our finger out.
-hopefully nothing to serious for Okaka