(not yet) BFTG: Watford (H)

[Uke]

from 2 nil at half time and then 3 - 1 in the second half, to finnish at 3 - 3 is poor regardless of who we were playing

To err is human, but Finnish is Scandinavian.

Finnish is Uralic

Finland is Scandinavian

[Pseud O'Nym]

from 2 nil at half time and then 3 - 1 in the second half, to finnish at 3 - 3 is poor regardless of who we were playing

To err is human, but Finnish is Scandinavian.

Finnish is Uralic

Finland is Scandinavian

I was referring to the nationality not the language.

[Uke]

The Finnish are Scandinavian

[Jack Celliers]

Adkins denied we are in for Jerome..

Brilliant news. He will be a good signing. Should score a few for us this year.

[Ian Royal]

Lol at critising alf. He's no good as a starter. 2 goals in two starts. He should score more.

Do you not think he should have scored more today given he was one on one with the keeper in the first half and shanked another chance well wide in the 2nd half when he should have at least hit the target?

Good shot well saved first half. Would have been a goal anyway if drenthe had been more alert and run to the centre of goal quicker where alf was looking to put it on a plate for him.

He played very well first half, has 2 goals and an assist in 2 starts and has had at least two shots very well saved. He did his fair share of hassling and chasing back too. Not sure what more you can reasonably expect.

[Barney]

Good game of football.

Guthrie - good player. Will do well for us at this level if we can keep him.
Williams - a right live wire. Just might be the player that we rely on this season.

Watford - sadly, their Italian connections might well see them go up this season.

As for us - we will be top six. Might be play offs. Might be automatic.

Massive call is are we best at 4-4-2 or 4-5-1. Either way, it is going to be a roller-coaster season. For anyone not been to either of the first two home games, get your @rse down to the MadStad because it feels a bit different this season ! It is good stuff, but heart in your mouth sometimes.

[tmesis]

I'm scratching my head as to how we fell apart so much in the last 20 mins.

We made the mistake of sitting back and trying to just play the game out for a 2-0 win.

It gave them the initiative, the momentum, and once they scored, the confidence. It's very hard to step up a gear again against a team who are on the front foot and into their rhythm after that.

Once Drenthe and McAnuff went off we also struggled to get the ball forward, making it harder to relieve the pressure on the defence. They could push more players forward without having to worry too much about being caught on the break.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I'm scratching my head as to how we fell apart so much in the last 20 mins.

We made the mistake of sitting back and trying to just play the game out for a 2-0 win.

It gave them the initiative, the momentum, and once they scored, the confidence. It's very hard to step up a gear again against a team who are on the front foot and into their rhythm after that.

Once Drenthe and McAnuff went off we also struggled to get the ball forward, making it harder to relieve the pressure on the defence. They could push more players forward without having to worry too much about being caught on the break.

Even so the passing got very sloppy & panicky. McAnuff & Drenthe coming off ruined our shape completely I thought & we were all over the place. Gunter annoyed me a little as we had a couple of decent opportunities to run at them on the right flank in the final stages before they got the equaliser yet despite the pass to McCleary being on, he kept looking to pass backwards & was actually quite negative.

Attack is definitely going to be the best form of defence for us this season!

[Royal Ginger]

I'm scratching my head as to how we fell apart so much in the last 20 mins.

We made the mistake of sitting back and trying to just play the game out for a 2-0 win.

It gave them the initiative, the momentum, and once they scored, the confidence. It's very hard to step up a gear again against a team who are on the front foot and into their rhythm after that.

Once Drenthe and McAnuff went off we also struggled to get the ball forward, making it harder to relieve the pressure on the defence. They could push more players forward without having to worry too much about being caught on the break.

Disagree. If we'd sat back and got people behind the ball we probably would of held on. The problem was that we dithered in no man's land between shutting up shop an killing them off. Sitting back can be an effective tactic if used correctly.

[kwik-silva]

Mccarthy 7- Did alright, not much he could do for any of the goals.
Gunter 8- Thought he looked really good today, more of that in the future please
Bridge 8- He calmed down some of the play when Watford were looking dangerous and knows when and where to clear the ball
Pearce 6- Did well for the goal even if he put the ball too close to Almunia but other than that didn't really have an impact
Morro 7- Thought he did alright
Guthrie 9- My motm, made some terrific passes and just always knew where to place the ball
Jem 9- Very good today, thought he looked like he had the potential to a couple of seasons ago. Every time he starts limping my heart skips a beat though!
Drenthe 8- A firecracker in the first half but faded in the second, maybe down to fitness
Mcanuff 6- Didn't really have much of a say in the game
Blackman 5- Seemed to miscontrol the ball every time it came to him, made a couple of decent runs but other than that forgetable
Alf 7 - good finish but needed to score on a couple of occasions to kill the game
Subs

Williams 8- Has such a good eye for things, was unlucky when he got the ball stuck under his feet but thought he should probably have found a better ball. Was instrumental in the third goal though and credit to adkins for the sub
HRK N/A- Did nothing
Mcleary N/A - Same as HRK

[One Beer is never enough.]

from 2 nil at half time and then 3 - 1 in the second half, to finnish at 3 - 3 is poor regardless of who we were playing

To err is human, but Finnish is Scandinavian.

Came to this thread late, but this made me

[Royal Dee]

McCarthy - 8 some great saves.
Gunter - 6 defensively lacking.
Bridge - 8 Solid
Morrison - 8 I think he made a clinical clearance off the line?
Pearce - 7 lost the guy he was marking on a few occasions.
Guthrie - 7 Good passing as usual, kept the midfield ticking over but was surprised he didn't get a second yellow by the amount of fouls he was giving away.
Karacan - 10 MOTM all i could ask for really, Brilliant passing, went in for 50/50s and scored 2 goals.
McAnuff - 6 was alright in patches but gave away loads of silly fouls was expecting better against his old club.
Drenthe - 8 class touches, brilliant vision and in the first half Watford couldn't deal with him which got us a lot of free kicks.
Blackman - 5 I have nothing against blackman, hes a hard worker and the sort of striker that will get a half a dozen goals through hard work and determination (or penalties in this case) but sometimes I think why did we let Hunt go and keep blackman?.
Alf - 7 Took his goal well but missed a sitter.

Williams - 7 I like williams he an all-rounder

Adkins- I think he picked the right formation but I can not understand bringing on two wingers when defending a game. I was expecting once we went 3-1 up, to go back to 451 and play the game out through possession and passing football. I would rather see ugwu or samual be given a chance over Blackman as I just dont see the potential in him, I hope we sign a proven striker and get Mariappa back in the team.

[NewCorkSeth]

McCarthy - 8 some great saves.
I think why did we let Hunt go and keep blackman?

Because we didn't give Blackman a 6 month contract?

[Pepe the Horseman]

The homophobic abuse directed at Gunter is getting pretty tiresome. If Kelly played the game that Gunter did he'd get a solid 8/10, but just because people are 'uncomfortable' with Gunter, I've seen 6/10s. Pretty fcuking pathetic tbf.

[tmesis]

I'm scratching my head as to how we fell apart so much in the last 20 mins.

We made the mistake of sitting back and trying to just play the game out for a 2-0 win.

It gave them the initiative, the momentum, and once they scored, the confidence. It's very hard to step up a gear again against a team who are on the front foot and into their rhythm after that.

Once Drenthe and McAnuff went off we also struggled to get the ball forward, making it harder to relieve the pressure on the defence. They could push more players forward without having to worry too much about being caught on the break.

Disagree. If we'd sat back and got people behind the ball we probably would of held on. The problem was that we dithered in no man's land between shutting up shop an killing them off. Sitting back can be an effective tactic if used correctly.

Indeed it can, but we were playing Watford, not Man Utd. We shouldn't be parking the bus, at home, against a team we'd made look very ordinary for 45 minutes.

And the very fact that we didn't go ultra defensive was also a reason why they got into the game so much. We were trying to close the game far too early, and in effect just stopped playing. You pretty much have to shut up shop, or carry on taking the game to the opposition. We did neither, so our sitting back became more about riding our luck than actual defending.

[Royal Ginger]

We made the mistake of sitting back and trying to just play the game out for a 2-0 win.

It gave them the initiative, the momentum, and once they scored, the confidence. It's very hard to step up a gear again against a team who are on the front foot and into their rhythm after that.

Once Drenthe and McAnuff went off we also struggled to get the ball forward, making it harder to relieve the pressure on the defence. They could push more players forward without having to worry too much about being caught on the break.

Disagree. If we'd sat back and got people behind the ball we probably would of held on. The problem was that we dithered in no man's land between shutting up shop an killing them off. Sitting back can be an effective tactic if used correctly.

Indeed it can, but we were playing Watford, not Man Utd. We shouldn't be parking the bus, at home, against a team we'd made look very ordinary for 45 minutes.

And the very fact that we didn't go ultra defensive was also a reason why they got into the game so much. We were trying to close the game far too early, and in effect just stopped playing. You pretty much have to shut up shop, or carry on taking the game to the opposition. We did neither, so our sitting back became more about riding our luck than actual defending.

If you look i think you'll find we're mostly arguing the same point. Where i disagree is that i think we should have "parked the bus" right after we got it back to 3-1. Being expected to be at the top of the league doesn't mean that we should rest on our laurels against any team even when we're up. 20 minutes to go with a two goal lead, doesn't matter if you're playing Barcelona or Aldershot, don't get cocky.

[melonhead]

McCarthy - 8 some great saves.
Gunter - 6 defensively lacking.
Bridge - 8 Solid
Morrison - 8 I think he made a clinical clearance off the line?
Pearce - 7 lost the guy he was marking on a few occasions.
Guthrie - 7 Good passing as usual, kept the midfield ticking over but was surprised he didn't get a second yellow by the amount of fouls he was giving away.
Karacan - 10 MOTM all i could ask for really, Brilliant passing, went in for 50/50s and scored 2 goals.
McAnuff - 6 was alright in patches but gave away loads of silly fouls was expecting better against his old club.
Drenthe - 8 class touches, brilliant vision and in the first half Watford couldn't deal with him which got us a lot of free kicks.
Blackman - 5 I have nothing against blackman, hes a hard worker and the sort of striker that will get a half a dozen goals through hard work and determination (or penalties in this case) but sometimes I think why did we let Hunt go and keep blackman?.
Alf - 7 Took his goal well but missed a sitter.

Williams - 7 I like williams he an all-rounder

Adkins- I think he picked the right formation but I can not understand bringing on two wingers when defending a game. I was expecting once we went 3-1 up, to go back to 451 and play the game out through possession and passing football. I would rather see ugwu or samual be given a chance over Blackman as I just dont see the potential in him, I hope we sign a proven striker and get Mariappa back in the team.

think it was Gunter who cleared off t'line

[Wimb]

Gunter and Morrison both hacked them off the line didn't they? One in each half?

Gunter's got plenty of potential but at times he just seems fragile, where one mistake can cause him to have a dodgy 10-15 minutes. I've been happy with his performances in general but I don't think he's added any more than Kelly or Cummings and purely based on what we've seen as opposed to potential I don't think he's been an upgrade so far on either of those other options.

[sandman]

The homophobic abuse directed at Gunter is getting pretty tiresome. If Kelly played the game that Gunter did he'd get a solid 8/10, but just because people are 'uncomfortable' with Gunter, I've seen 6/10s. Pretty fcuking pathetic tbf.

Is he gay?

I just thought he was shit.

[No Fixed Abode]

Watford had more possession, more attempts on target, more attempts off target and more corners. Suggests to me Reading were lucky with a draw.