Valérien Ismaël spoke to the media ahead of Watford’s encounter against Middlesbrough at Vicarage Road on Saturday (September 30, 3pm KO), with the Hornets looking to bounce back following a disappointing defeat to Leeds United.
Covering a range of topics, including team news ahead of the Sky Bet Championship fixture, bouncing back from defeat and his thoughts on Boro, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
On the game against Middlesbrough:
We are looking forward to this home game, in front of our supporters and with our fans behind us. It’s been a good week, a hard week for the guys in training. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we worked on a lot of points and as usual the guys absorbed the sessions and it was very high quality. We are ready for the game tomorrow.
We know that we have strength at home, but we are still in the process of building something. We need to replicate the strength that we have at home in our away matches at some point, but at the minute we have this home match to focus on. We have two away games afterwards so there is more focus on this game. We need 100 per cent from everyone tomorrow.
This is the Championship and anyone can beat anyone. We are focused on ourselves and what we have to do. We know the energy we have to put on the pitch and we know what we have to improve on from the last game. We are focused on our principles and our game plan, and as I say, we play at Vicarage Road so we need to make sure our performance is right. We still have three games until the next international break so we are still on track.
On team news ahead of the match:
Ken Sema is still out; it’s his calf. He hasn’t trained with the squad – he is still doing individual sessions. I think it will take another week until he can come back with the squad. I don’t expect him to be back before the international break. Elsewhere, at the minute, everyone is available for the game, which has put us in a good position to pick the squad. There is a high level of competitiveness in the training sessions, which means it has been high quality.
On bouncing back from the Leeds United defeat:
I think it’s all part of the process. Sometimes it’s good to see that an opponent is better than you. We have to recognise it, accept it and make it better. We have to make it harder for them. It’s not only the players, but it’s on the staff and I next time to assess the situation better and maybe be more flexible.
We saw that the opponent found another way to play against us. The first way was to stay deep, stay compact and wait for any mistakes and counter. Now there is another way - when the opponent uses their quality to find a way to force us to defend more. We have to all work on that situation and perform better.
On Mileta Rajović:
We are pleased to have him. It’s clear that he is still a young player and he just changed countries and leagues so this is something different for him. It’s more up and down throughout each game with him, but he has the ability, we believe in his quality and he will score a lot of goals for Watford. At the same time, we will work on what we need to improve to make him a complete player.
On remaining patient:
When you choose a new way, you have to know that it will be bumpy and there will be some issues, but in the end you have that picture. If you imagine building a house, it’s exactly the same. You have some stressful situations, maybe you have to spend more money and deal with any issues, but at the end of the day, you have a nice house to live in. It’s the same idea.
We know where we want to go, but we know throughout the process we will need to take three or four steps. We made the first one with a massive cleanout, we are now on step two in implementing and adapting. Afterwards, we can move to the next one, but at the same time we need to compete on the pitch to get the points. It’s always the case to find the right balance. We need to work on our way and how we can improve with what we have in the squad. The base is there to build something stronger and more sustainable for the future.
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Domestic and overseas supporters can access live coverage of Watford v Middlesbrough, via the Hornets’ Hive Live streaming service.
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