Head Coach Valérien Ismaël spoke to the media following Watford’s 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, with Ryan Hedges’ second-half strike separating the two sides in Hertfordshire on Sunday afternoon (August 27).
Covering a range of topics, including the positives and negatives of his team’s display and creating chances in front of goal, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
On a disappointing result, but positive performance:
It’s a tough one today, I think we dominated the game. First-half we didn’t get the press right which was the reason that Blackburn came through. We changed it in the second-half, and we were much better. We won the ball high and we forced them into mistakes.
We kept the pressure on and pinned the opponent in their own half. It's all about keeping that patience against a low block, to come with crosses or through passes. We don’t need to force it and be impatient. It was about learning today for us.
I think today we missed the goal to have the confidence and relief that we needed. We hit the crossbar and the post, and had some dangerous situations around the penalty spot. In my opinion, we should have had a penalty as well so we tried to do the right thing, and my feeling is different to last week [after losing to Stoke City].
On the style of play:
I think that the guys tried to do everything. As long as we’ve got that feeling that we are on the right way then we have to stay calm and keep working hard. It’s the Championship, we know that in two or three months it will look completely different. It’s difficult to take because with their only chance in the second-half the opponent wins the game.
I’m pleased with what I saw and how we play football. We created chances and controlled the game. We need to work hard on our decision-making, not forcing it, and not losing the ball in the wrong areas. We need to get all the players on the same level.
I am pleased with the way we are and the way we play. When we come through and things are right, we look really good. We need to get used to always playing like that and change our momentum.
On creating plenty of chances:
I wouldn’t say we overplayed. We created the same chances we had against QPR, but the difference is that we scored straight away. We scored the goal and got that big relief. When you score the first goal, you are calm and less hectic. If it is 0-0 then you get more tense and decision-making won’t be the same.
I’m pleased that we created chances and played good football. I am not pleased that we have scored only four goals, but I’m pleased that defensively we are strong. We didn’t concede a lot of chances from our opponent, so it means that the opponent has to be ruthless and clinical against us to score goals. I see some positives with the squad, but it’s time to improve.
We are in a transition, and we are reshaping the squad and the mindset. We had a cleanout in the summer and played with a young team on the pitch today.
