The ACN Match Review – Watford (a)

The atmosphere

Strong numbers away from home again with this one sold out well in advance despite engineering works on the trains and an unfamiliar Saturday night kick-off time. The “Since I Was Young” song got another outing, and while I’ve been singing the second line as “I followed them”, I was intrigued to hear some around me singing it as “I followed thee”. Maybe I can be converted to this use of language in a football chant. Shakespeare would definitely approve (William, not Craig).

The line-up

Benching Krul was a big call but Gunn has presumably done enough to keep his place for Tuesday. Asking Liam Gibbs to marshal Watford’s experienced midfield was a big ask and he was exposed badly for the penalty, but he’ll get plenty more opportunities this season.

Hurrah moment

Having got back into it just before the break it was good to see changes immediately made anyway. Sara’s movement in the box and delivery from set pieces were an improvement, and while Hayden presumably wasn’t due to play a full half he looked disciplined and with a useful turn of pace, though the creeping sense of dread while he was down receiving treatment wasn’t too enjoyable.

Boooo moment

The penalty save sent the atmosphere in the away end up another notch but we failed to capitalise, within five minutes letting Watford off the hook with negligent defending for their opener. The last quarter of this game was equally frustrating – with ten minutes to go and despite having brought on Onel to offer a different dimension we were still playing at walking pace, knocking it around languidly at the back then hoofing it towards Pukki who was unsurprisingly beaten in the air every time.

Hero of the match

The two Josh Sargents. The one on the pitch who scored an excellent goal, demonstrating the composure and confidence he’s added to his game in the last few months, and the one in the away end – a small boy wearing a red curly wig with a USA flag wrapped around his shoulders. Josh seems to enjoy playing at Vicarage Road so much Watford will probably try and sign him.

Our post-match takeaway

The league position may still look healthy but the top three-quarters of the Championship is incredibly congested – Luton in seventh will jump above us with a win on Tuesday, which is well within the realms of possibility given their good recent form and the Along Come Norwich coefficient boost from the multiple ex-Canaries in their team. It doesn’t get any easier after that with trips to Sheffield United and Burnley, the two teams currently above us – if we play this poorly again then it’s very realistic that no wins in three will turn into no wins in six and that league position will slide. We do have the players to be winning these games, but at times it still feels like they’ve never played together before. If Hayden’s fitness allows him to start that will certainly help, but if he is the final piece of the jigsaw then we need to be putting the rest of it together quickly.