Following a productive week of training in the wake of a 2-0 away win against Huddersfield Town, Watford boss Slaven Bilić was frustrated to see a drop in quality from his side as Millwall ran out comfortable 2-0 winners at Vicarage Road.
A frustrating first half saw João Pedro be withdrawn through injury, Hassane Kamara sent off and Andreas Voglsammer score for the Lions, with Millwall top goalscorer Zian Flemming adding to his tally in the second half from a free-kick.
Suffering defeat for the first time in five matches, the Hornets Head Coach felt the whole performance was below par.
“I’m very disappointed,” Bilić began. “It’s hard to explain this performance from us because everything was good after Huddersfield, a great week of training and everything a coach can ask for. We prepared for Millwall and their strength, long balls and second balls but we were poor from the start. We didn’t have the ball and our passing was poor.
“Then when you lose João Pedro and a goal [is scored], and we thought it was a penalty on Keinan [Davis] before that, that wasn’t given. Then a red card, and after that we tried to be solid and use the chances we have.”
Bilić made no excuses following Kamara’s dismissal, and spoke to the defender about his conduct afterwards.
“The sending off is fair, it was reckless,” admitted the 54-year-old. “You can’t react like that.
“Yes, he tripped him, but instead of going down, he does the worst thing you can do. He was provoked, but you get provoked all the time in football.
“I told him at half-time that it’s unacceptable. It’s then difficult to play against 11 with 10 men.”
Frustrated by his team’s display primarily, the Head Coach also felt that Davis was fouled inside the box in the first half, and believed a Watford penalty could have changed the complexion of the encounter.
“I’m not objective of course, but it looked like a penalty,” added Bilić. “He put his leg between Keinan’s legs and it’s a penalty for me in a key moment. You don’t always have to start great, but it’s 0-0 and that can change anything. Key decisions went against us, that’s true, but we have to hold our hands up and say we weren’t anywhere near where we want to be.
“There are many teams in the Championship that play like that, and we have to cope with those basics. You have to anticipate and be focused on the second ball. I am the first to admit we were poor. We can’t be this poor.”
