Good solid display after the break - Chalobah and Docourae excellent. Britos seems to have said sorry for his moment of madness. Could have nicked it at the end. Not really Gray's type of game once we went down to 10. New guy did ok in difficult circumstances.
Still think he would have done better than Britos did today! Mason is an actual left back for starters, not a makeshift one like Britos. I also highly doubt that Mason would have been stupid enough to go in 2 footed like that and tear up Silva's game plan as a result.
Kabasele and Doucoure MOTM jointly That counts as 2 points dropped against a very one-dimensional team. They will go down, in a Middlesbrough stylee
Are you kidding? He was definitely one of the better players today and would've walked off with an assist had Gray buried his low cross. If i'm honest, people like yourself are booing Amrabat whenever and wherever, even if he performed better than others just to get 'likes' etc.
As soon as Amrabat wasted the attack and they went on the counter I could see Britos getting sent off. Absolute idiot. Point in the circumstances not a disaster. Brighton remind me of us under GT and Boothroyd. I'll be surprised if they stay up based on that - not scoring against a team with 10 men. Liked the fact we still looked to attack when we could. We'd have tried to shut up shop last year and lost
Happy with 5 points from 3 games. Expected the draw last week and the win this but that's football. Lots of positives today. This and the Liverpool game shows the team can fight and have heart. Bournemouth showed they can dominate teams when everything clicks. Lots of skill and speed on show today. Such a contract to last season. Still very positive about this season. We're going to be hard to beat and win enough to make the top half based on what I've seen so far.
He said he'd been a fervent defender of amrabat. Me, on the other hand, if he scored a hat trick, I'd still find something to moan about. Hate the ****.
Good point in the end. Britos is a complete f**king moron, terrible challenge from a thoroughly average player. Gray was worryingly awful.
It felt like towards the latter half of the game, Richie Rich was the only one able to grab a goal. Looks like the signing of the season thus far, You could argue Chalobah and Kiko are in the same boat however. Britos lost us that game in my humble opinion. The boys did well to salvage a point.
Absolutely. There's only two players currently in the game I'd like to see have their careers totally finished by one brutal tackle - the other being a certain slag now plying his trade at Villa Park - and this guy.
Double whammy for Britos today, an absolutely awful tackle that deserved a sending off and then his replacement for his usual position in Kabasele has an absolute top class performance putting in his best performance so far in a Watford shirt. The game was ours for the taking at the start, Amrabat easily had the beating of the left full-back and was putting in a decent display making numerous chances and so was Rich on the left side as well. Bruno got booked and his was heading for an early bath himself before Britos changed things. From then on, with so much of the game left, we were on the back foot. It was important not to lose today against a side who really do lack quality up front and in defense and will surely be down the bottom at the end of the season. I just love our central midfield pairing now, so good in winning the ball and keeping possession, and helped the defense massively. In fact with Rich, Femenía, Doucoure and Chalabah, we have some excellent footballers now. Britos was huge negative today and deserves to be out for a while now but I also will add Andre Gray had a really poor game. I know when you go down, you tend to play a bit more direct but he was so flat footed today, he was not making many runs into the the channel, and the one time he did, he had a decent chance, nor being the first line of defense, was he closing down enough. We needed Okaka today or a fit Deeney. I am sure if Cathcart had not been injured, Troy would have been on a lot earlier. I think Gray will do well with a big man alongside him, but he almost lacked the intelligence the make those runs and I caught Silva and the coaching time yelling at him numerous times to get in the right positions. It will come in time I am sure. The other new boy Carrillo looked quite light-weight at first but I must admit, he done well, was not afraid to stuck in and held his own. Not too sure if he will be a starter all the time but good option to have off the bench. With Gibbs coming in, I am happy with the squad. We would have lost games like today last year.
Christ if Brighton had a decent center forward we would have lost heavily. Luckily they were toothless up top. Chalobah and Richarlison are fighting it out for MotM. Chalobah was everywhere battling for the team and Richarlison looks a real threat. Femenia battled well as did the two centre halves. Felt Gray had a tough time today as had no support. I would liked to have seen Okaka on at half time just so the ball stuck. We looked very shaky today to start off with but grew into the game more the second half.
No he wouldn't have been close enough to him to foul him - he looks decent going forward but his positional sense is all over the place. He got rave reviews against spurs at home when he came on after 70 minutes and lost his man about 3 times. If we had bought him, everyone would be saying "not good enough", but because he is "one of our own" *TM, he gets away with it. He was shocking against Millwall who were League 1 at the time. He needs a full season in a tough league.
That was a point well earned. Britos cost us any chance of a win with his brainless challenge. He let everyone down today and I'd be surprised if Silva trusts him again anytime soon. We were a non-entity in an attacking sense, and just clung on hoping our luck would hold out, which it did. Brighton had plenty of shots and were unlucky with hitting the post twice. Still, it was actually an absorbing match and I came away with a feeling that was more like a win, because I just couldn't see us withstanding the constant pressure. Towards the end it looked like Brighton had run out of ideas and it was Watford who looked more likely to steel a winner. There were some very good performances out there today though. How good is Chalobah?......wow he massively impressed me today. Wonderful signing. I was hoping our wonder-kid would shine, but I suspect he will be a little inconsistent. He did some good things but was quite quiet throughout. I'm disappointed by what I'm seeing from Gray. He runs around a lot but is not a central striker. He cannot win a ball in the air or hold it up. He needs to play off another striker, like Deeney, to get the best out of him I think. It was good to see Carrillo. He did have one good run where he showed his pace. I think he'll be a good signing for us. Kiko and Kabasele had very good games also. We needed them to step up and they did. The team has a bucket load of potential, but today was ruined by Britos. It was a case of hanging on in there and try to keep a clean sheet.
As I said during the game, stupid challenge by Britos who can have no complaints (controversial opinion, I know). Really cost us a game which we had a good chance of all 3 points in. Gomes made a stunning save second half to deny Knockaert. Wouldn't have been able to stomach that. Fairplay to Cleverley for slotting in at right back. Obviously wasn't comfortable there but tried his best. Really cementing his place as our version of James Milner. Gray ineffective against their two big centre backs. Worked hard, to his credit, but got no change out of them whatsoever. Doucoure was good but not quite at his imperious best; Chalobah the more impressive of the two today and my MoM. Was impressed by Kabasele who got stuck in and won a few big challenges. Richarlison wasted a couple of counter attacks which just showed his naivety imo. I would like to see him run in behind full backs more instead of always asking for it to feet. A disappointing day for sure, but if you're offered a point when you have to play for over an hour with 10 men you take it.
Anyone else feel that Deeney coming on felt like a bit sad? He seems a shadow of his old self now. He got a great reception but simply no spark for the 10 minutes he was on.
Agree with most of that! We cannot judge players or the coach after today when playing for over 70 minutes with 10 men! Today was about damaged limitations and to come away with a 0-0 and still be undefeated after 3 matches is a massive improvement from last season. Yes, Britos was a **** but the players really put a shift in and got a result! In my view its well done guys!
What on earth was that indirect FK about? New rules? The commentators said from the 4th official that the ref was not 100% his high foot kicked the Brighton players head so gave the indirect free kick for dangerous play, if he had kicked his head or the ref was 100% sure he had kicked his head then it would of been a penalty
I thought he done a job won some free kicks taking the pressure of our defence using his experience, think playing with 10 men the game suited Deeney more than Gray.
Silva made a terrible mistake today by picking Britos at left back. We've seen before that he isn't a left back and gets caught for pace too easily. When that happens he does something reckless. No complaints with the red card. It was an idiotic tackle. Silva should have selected Mason from the start and trusted him. We've seen that he can do a job when called upon. I don't think he's ready to play week in week out but he should have played today. We always ran the risk of being down to 10 men in a game that we should have won. That's said the rest of the players put in a big shift to earn a point and each point in the Prem is one nearer the magic 40.
He's not the Deeney of two years ago, for sure, but he's coming into the season late. He looks short of fitness which is understandable, but we do still need him. His hold up play and winning free kicks is better than either Gray or Okaka and it was vital in a game like today. I think Silva would have liked to have brought him on sooner, but was down to just one substitution after only 50 minutes. When you're down to 10 men, you cannot afford to make a tactical switch early when you have only one sub to use.
I think if its not a clear goal scoring opportunity then why should it ever be a penalty! All fouls like that should be in direct free kicks, he was never gonna score was here?
re Not sure you can really blame the selection of Britos. You can blame Holebas for his ridiculous red card in the match before, for putting the club in that position in the first place. Knockaert is a dangerous player. We all know what he's about. He loves to dive and cheat. He's built a career on it, but we couldn't really afford to have Mason up against him. I like what I've seen of Mason, but I think today needed a more senior pro. Britos has played left back before, so was not a bad choice on paper. Of course no one could have predicted Britos would be quite so reckless and it's easy to question a decision in hindsight. But I think he made the right call in the circumstances. That comes to another point. We've done so well in the summer window, but I really hope we've not lost sight in needing another central defender. Britos is now banned for 3 games. Cathcart and Kaboul are crocks, Kabasele is inconsistent and Mapps isn't really at EPL level anymore. Central defence really needs a clear out and reinvestment.
I can't believe there are people who actually think Mason is Premier League standard and should have played today over someone like Britos who has experience of playing in that position and doing a decent job. Thought the abuse Amrabat got today was embarrassing. He started the game well and then as soon as he misplaced a pass the crowd immediately got on his back. There was one point where the crowd were loudly groaning and having a go before he even made a pass at one stage, which clearly isn't going to help his confidence or concentration. The need for some Watford fans to have a player to get on the back of is really weird and is clearly detrimental to the side. No doubt that once Amrabat is out of the side they'll move on to Gray.
90 minutes out of Mason or 24 minutes out of Britos No brainer for me, even if Mason isn't the polished article
I agree. I felt a bit for AG as it really didn't suit him but he kept going. Nothing more to add about Britos apart from that was the decision making of a cheese sandwich.Utterly dismal. Heroic performances all over the pitch but especially Chalobah, Kabasele and Cleverley. Lord knows what the free kick was all about. Certainly a hard earned point and I hope Britos donates his wages to charity this week.
