Valérien Ismaël spoke to the media ahead of Watford’s away clash against Blackburn Rovers in the Sky Bet Championship on Saturday (December 23, 3pm KO), with the Hornets looking to sign off for Christmas with a second win in a row.
Covering a range of topics, including coping with a hectic schedule, his thoughts on Blackburn and the form of Ismaël Koné, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
On preparations ahead of four games in just over a week:
We’ve had a good week again, but we know the tough festive period starts tomorrow and we’ve just had to make sure that the players are refreshed and ready to go. We have had great confidence and focus in the training sessions, and everyone’s got a great desire to keep pushing forward in the right direction.
I think the rotation last week was necessary, and it was good for different players to recover, to play and to perform. We’ve managed the week to make sure we came out of it with the maximum availability, and other than Jeremy Ngakia, all the players are able to be selected.
The availability of players is one of the most important things in football, especially in a busy period like this. It’s up to us to stay in a strong position now, and manage the players in between games. The games themselves will dictate when and how we rotate, but at least we know that we can perform with almost a full squad. We work very closely with the medical staff, and always communication is key.
We can’t look any further than each game one by one. We’ll keep pushing and stay focused, and then after that – like I said before – we’ll have a clearer picture of where we can aim for this season. At this moment there are still too many games to be able to see. We just need to keep our rhythm and keep closing the gap, which is what we’re trying to do.
On what he is expecting from his team:
I think we made a good statement last week with such a strong result against Preston, and I think we showed a lot of belief. I said a few weeks ago about needing to be able to score in any minute of the match, and last week we saw confirmation of that. We know we can create chances - it’s all about being ruthless now. The second half at Preston was excellent in that regard, so now we’ll be looking to go again tomorrow and achieve that outcome throughout the 90 minutes.
On the threats posed by Blackburn:
The home game against Blackburn towards the start of the season was one we should never have lost. We dominated, and especially in the second half we missed a lot of chances and eventually were punished. We have learnt a lot since then, we are another team now, and tomorrow is about the next step for us. We have to focus on ourselves, continue our own values and continue improving aspects like being ruthless when we get chances. There’s no doubt that Blackburn are a very good team with a good manager, though. It’s another tough game, we have to be ready and we will be ready.
On Koné:
I think we’re starting to see stability and consistency in his performances now. At the beginning of the season we spoke to him, and told him that he is a great player. He’s got everything, but it was about showing that every week and not just every now and again. That’s what top players do. At the beginning I think he needed time to understand and find his rhythm, but he’s done that now and he’s playing at a very high level at the moment. He’s enjoying his football, and he’s become very important for the team.
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