The Opposition View – Watford

In the wake of yesterday’s 1-0 defeat at Watford, here are some views on the game from the Hornets’ manager Gianfranco Zola and a few of their fans.

“Watching how everything happened today has given me and my staff a lot to work on,” said Zola

“We wanted a competitive match and we certainly got that. Wycombe played a good game; they pressed well and made it hard for us to play where we wanted.”

“This game will be good for us in the long run, getting a chance to assess certain situations before we start playing for points. It’s vital we are comfortable moving the ball quicker, because otherwise you allow the opposition to get into the right positions and it becomes harder to play.”


The Watford fans were divided between optimism for the future and concern at their side’s dismal performance.

The following extracts are taken from WFCForum, the Watford Observer and Gloryhorns.


hogweed wrote:
‘Dire. Dross. Couldn’t watch the extra time as unable to stand anymore of it. If this is the Zola era then God help us.’


radlettman wrote:
‘We stayed for 5 mins of extra time before leaving as well. Absolute rubbish… why did I renew my season ticket !!! Everything about the game today suggested that Watford FC were treating it as a warm up match. Pity they couldn’t have played it behind closed doors so we didn’t have to endure the rubbish.’


bushey tales wrote:
‘That was truly painful.’


grahamwfc wrote:
‘For me the 4-3-3 didn’t work especially against WW’s 5 in midfield where Springy ran the show – Joel Grant looked good in the first half too.’


stuegs wrote:
‘All those that complain if we don’t win every game 3 nil, or moan cos the players haven’t gelled yet, or say Zola’s style ‘…isn’t suited to the championship.’, GO AWAY!! You haven’t got a clue. This club is headed in the right direction, on and off the pitch, but it will take time. Today was pretty dull, but Vydra was sharp and lively, and Almunia looks solid.’


mrman2012 wrote:
‘Almunia was hardly tested today and when he was he crumbled by spilling that simple shot – luckily we didn’t concede from it.’


pog88 wrote:
‘We looked like we were treating it as a pre-season game.’


steveyweavy wrote:
‘Today was a mare but it was only our first competitive match – we played badly and came away with a win. How Iwelumo tripped over the ball and it still went into the net beats me!’


leighton buzzard horn wrote:
‘Even by WFC fans standards I’m still amazed there were boos at the end of the 90 minutes today. Incredible. I like the style of play we are trying to implement, and once we get in full flow I think it’ll work well.’


telboy wrote:
‘That was absolutely awful. Really really bad. We had one shot on goal against Wycombe! We are not Spain. We are not Barcelona. I cannot see us succeeding playing this football. Our players aren’t at a standard where they are comfortable enough on the ball to attempt this style. They’re not aware enough of their surroundings and don’t have the vision to plan ahead and pick the right pass . Wycombe should have won. We had almost no genuinely threatening attacks, their goalie didn’t make a save all game. Absolutely ridiculous we are playing like this.’


mjp99 wrote:
‘I felt Wycombe played their socks off whilst we had a stroll and didn’t look up for it. Well done to the away fans and Harry the Hornet for the entertainment.’


Next Game: York City v Wycombe – Sat 18th August – 3.00pm