*** Match Ratings - Watford ***

[One Teddy Maybank]

Quite enjoyed it today. I really did feel we were the better team, but just lacked a predator in the box.

Felt our fans were superb, as usual Watford's were pathetic.....

Stockdale - 6 - no chance on the goal. A couple of sloppy passes put us in trouble today. Good save at the end.
Bruno - 7 - Provided cover on countless occasions, great performance
Dunk - 7 - Another good display
Greer - 8 - Great display by the captain, proper leadership
Bennett - 7 - Actually defended today
Ince - 7 - Surprised he was taken off, passed the ball well, just wondered if he was shattered.
Gardner - 4 - Lazy, limited effort, the amount of times, players just ran past him. All he wants to do is take free-kicks.
Crofts - 5- System doesn't suit him. Just hope his knee is ok.
Colunga - 5.5 - Buzzed about in the first half and takes up intelligent positions, a little surprised he was withdrawn.
Texeirra - 5.5 - Can't decide would have given him 4/5 for the first half, 1.5/5 for the second. So wasteful and very light, but at times sublime
COG - 6 - held the ball up well, looked better than CMS did in that role. Trouble is looks a million years away from scoring

KLL - 7 - Game changer, Watfor were so afraid.
Holla - 6- Did ok
Paddy - 6.5 - mazy dribble, just lacked a finish.

Hyypia - 6 - substitution of Ince was odd

 

[minkymorgan]

COG higher than Tex ?

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

COG higher than Tex ?

Yes for me, thought Tex was dreadful in the second half as above. COG was holding the ball up and bring others into play throughout.

 

[big nuts]

Difficult to rate on a stream but Bruno & Lua Lua stood out for me today and I've been a little critical of Bruno of late but he was excellent today.

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

Stockdale 6: Not much to do. One save in the second half but apart from that don’t recall him doing too much. Not much he could have done about the goal.

Bruno 6: Good going forward and gave the Watford defence a bit of a torrid time in the first half. Gave away the freekick that lead to their goal.

Greer 7: Solid and dependable as always. Did a great job keeping Vydra quiet.

Dunk 7: As above with another great goal from a corner.

Bennett 6: Same as Bruno really. Provided good attacking intent on the left.

Ince 5/6: If it wasn’t for the incident in the wall for the freekick I would maybe have given him a 6 or even 7 because I thought he was great in the first half. Broke up their play and although lost the ball on a couple of occasions always worked hard to get it back. Good passing too. Bad mistake in the wall though.

Crofts 6: Good performance from him. Did well at covering when Bruno got forward. Hope his injury isn’t too severe.

Gardner 5: A bit average tbh. A few nice touches and passes here and there but very selfish at times going for long distance shots when he had players around him in space. Can’t say he gives the team anything that JFC doesn’t.

Tex 4: Thought he was poor today. Was often selfish and tried things he just couldn’t do. Seemed to lose the ball more than anything else. One nice flick on to O’Grady in the first half.

Colunga 5: Very average performance. Just about sums him up tbh.

O’Grady 6: Good to have someone hold the ball up and bring others in to play but seems far too timid in front of goal.

Kaz 7: Brought energy and pace into the game and produced a great corner that lead to the goal. Drew in loads of tackles to win freekicks. Standard LuaLua cameo.

McCourt 7: Oozes class and composure. Watching him beat players in slow motion is a joy to watch.

 

[Napier's Knee]

Stockdale. One dodgy clearance but very solid. Blameless for the goal. 7
Bruno. Stronger than recent performances, better all round performance 7
Greer. Commanding 8
Dunk. MOTM 8
Bennett. Fast, good positionally 7
Crofts. Hope injury not bad. Better than before but still doesn't fit this system 5
Ince. Great first half and poor second even before his mistake. Worried about his confidence now 5
Gardner. invisible but ok 6
Colunga. Some good vision but didn't cause any real problems. 6
Tex. flashy or flash in the pan? 6
COG. Faded badly in second half but good first half. 6

Holla. Coming on late made clear how important he is. 7
KLL. Caused real problems but should have let Holla take free kick. 8
McCourt. Shambles around then Messi-esque run. 8

 

[Soulman]

I felt the same as Teddy Maybank, i really enjoyed myself today. Watford was better this year because the new stand is in place and although not all the seats were in place, at least there was not a gaping great hole, and fans were in the seats.
Our fans were great, and after reading Stockdale's tweet, he was obviously impressed, and so i would say it helps the players to get behind the team, draws away to the two top sides might be the proof.
Watford's support was very poor, then again ours is nothing to write home about when we play at home.

Similar marks to the opening poster, however i would take a mark off Gardener 3, and give Tex 6 as although he is lightweight at least he gives 100% unlike the aforementioned who seemed to have no interest in running and dipped out of quite a few tackles.
I think the Ince was only taken off as a precaution because he had been booked and got away with a bit of a dodgy tackle later.
Bruno has played very well the last few games, again today, team good, KLL and Paddy mean't that Watford were on the back foot for the last 10 minutes.
Just need a striker to get in the box to put away the chances....many chances.

 

[DJ NOBO]

Stockdale 6. A few dodgy moments, one good save, their goal was a mess but not his fault

Bruno. 7. Was usually involved when anything decent happened down the right
Greer. 7. Not as prominent as dunk but one or two excellent interventions
Dunk. 8 mom. It's all there with Dunk. If he can keep his concentration there's a prem player in the making
Bennett. 6. Started well but faded. Mistimed tackles and one ridiculous slow motion run in the second half

Texiera. 6. Buzzed around a lot but was targeted by watford and bullied out of it. Not effective
Crofts. 6. Usually just behind the play but worked hard, as usual
Ince. 6. Some good moments but sloppy too
Gardener 5. Very average

Colinga. 4. Might just as well have stayed at home. I can't believe he's played primera liga
O'grady. 5. Looks like a footballer but the similarities end there

Lua lua. 7. Livened it up
McCourt. 7. Absolute joy to see an albion player getting the ball from a standing start and then going at them.

Basically, if ulloa was playing we'd have won, but you probably know that

 

[Mackenzie]

Stockdale 6
Bruno 6
Dunk 9
Greer 8
Bennett 6
Crofts 6
Ince 6
Gardener 5
Teixera 6
Colunga 6
O'Grady 6

Lualua 8
McCourt 7
Holla 6

Strong in central defence. Thought the way we set up was quite good today. Lualua and McCourt are very effective up against tiring defenders. Missing a scorer although O'Grady put in a decent shift for us today without looking a goal threat.

 

[Gazwag]

as usual Watford's were pathetic.....

Normally when a home team scores there is a really loud noise, even if the fans have been quite the whole game, but today if I had not watched the ball go into the net I wouldn't have known they have scored. The fact that they need somebody dressed up as a bee bang a drum to get the 17 fans in the corner making a noise sums them up.

 

[Luke93]

Stockdale 6 didn't have much to do. One great save towards the end, some passing was wayward though

Bruno 7 defended well and always offered himself when going forward.
Dunk 8 back on form, and another goal for our local lad
Greer 8 a true captains performance
Bennett 6 same as Bruno, but faded

Crofts 5 tried hard, but didn't intact the game much
Gardner 5 wasteful at times and looked disinterested
Ince 6 some great defensive play, but was clumsy at times

Tex 6 lost possession countless times, but was the only player which created chances untill the substitutions
Colunga 5 didn't look like scoring or creating a chance
O'Grady 6 some brilliant hold-up play, but when he won the ball, he had limited options around him. Wasted a great chance though and didn't look like scoring... Like most of our players

Subs
Holla 6 why didn't he start instead of Gardner or Crofts?
LuaLua 7 some great moments once on
McCourt 7 some great runs, brilliant control and sublime passes. Give him a full game.

 

[BensGrandad]

Stockdale 7 give him the benefit of the doubt over the goal did he line the wall up wrong, did the wall move or did Watford move the ball but sat where we were we saw the hole that the scorer aimed at before he took it.
Bruno 7 Good display
Greer 8 Another captains performance leading by example.
Dunk 7 Good all round display capped by the goal.
Bennett 7 Got forward well and also back to defend.
Ince 7 Rathy clumsy but effective didnt understand why he was taken off.
Croft 6 The game seems to pass him by using this sytem.
Gardner 7 Very effective and contributed a lot
Corlunga 5 Was he playing.
Teixeira 6 Very frustrating to see hi get knocked off of the ball so ogften to stop a move but he get up and continues.
COG 6 Held the ball up well and laid the ball to others but doesnt look like he is going to score a goal. He looks as if he is scatred tio get in amongst the flying boots in the area, in case he gets hurt.

Subs:
Lua Lua 7 changed the gamne when he came on and would have scored more points had he continued taking on either of the back four who had been booked for hacking him down.
Holla 6 Did the job but dont understand why he didnt start.
McCourt 6 Another good cameo which could have produced a goal.

 

[Skaville]

Too pished to make full contribution but I would give the back five and Ince (why did he start ahead of Holla but equally why take him off) a 7. The rest were poor. We have zero goal threat. Gomes made not a single save today, despite several great balls being pinged in and around the box. Ulloa would have had a field day. Crofts and Collunga particularly unimpressive.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Stockdale 7 give him the benefit of the doubt over the goal did he line the wall up wrong, did the wall move or did Watford move the ball but sat where we were we saw the hole that the scorer aimed at before he took it.

You seem on a mission to embarrass yourself right now.

You'll give Stockdale 'the benefit of the doubt over the goal'? Give me strength FFS.

Yes, he lined the wall up correctly, and no the wall didn't move, and no they didn't move the ball, and no you didn't 'see the hole in the wall' before he took it - there was no hole until Ince turned his back, as Toszer struck it.

 

[Hyperion]

You seem on a mission to embarrass yourself right now.

You'll give Stockdale 'the benefit of the doubt over the goal'? Give me strength FFS.

Yes, he lined the wall up correctly, and no the wall didn't move, and no they didn't move the ball, and no you didn't 'see the hole in the wall' before he took it - there was no hole until Ince turned his back, as Toszer struck it.

View attachment 59162

View attachment 59163

View attachment 59164

Embarrassing upside down

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Embarrassing upside down

Not on my ipad screen they're not.

 

[Hyperion]

My iPad it is

 

[hans kraay fan club]

My iPad it is

Oh well. Point stands - there's still no hole, even in the upside down wall!

 

[Hyperion]

Oh well. Point stands - there's still no hole, even in the upside down wall!

Agreed. The commentator on the FLS said he exploited the hole in the wall. There was no hole until the ball was struck so it was not the case. TV drivel.

 

[mreprice]

When the wall was lining up Ince was day dreaming and Bruno had to grab him to try to close the gap. Interestingly he was on Brunos left then. But the time the kick was taken he had got to Brunos right so he could get away! I have never seen anybody get out of the way of a ball so fast.