Valérien Ismaël spoke to the media following Watford’s impressive 2-1 away win at Hull City, with goals from Edo Kayembe and Wesley Hoedt – as well as a Ben Hamer penalty save – earning an important three points for the Hornets.
Covering a range of topics, including Hoedt’s Goal of the Season contender and his decision to play Hamer instead of Daniel Bachmann, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
On Hoedt’s stunning winner:
A lot of teams take the risk with the positioning of the keeper and we knew every time when the ball goes through the middle we needed to defend aggressively forward, and if we have the possibility [to shoot] we say to our centre-backs to try it.
He [Hoedt] made it perfectly but it’s not a surprise because we work on this one.
On Hamer’s selection in goal:
We’ve got two great goalkeepers and this was our feeling all the time through the process. We need to keep all the players involved, we need everyone to be successful and this was another great team performance.
I have the right as manager to listen to my feelings and see what we need at the minute for the team. Ben had a great performance and it was our feeling to keep the momentum. Daniel is our captain but it doesn’t mean he should play every game. With me the team is above everything and my job is to make the decision for the team.
On his team’s performance:
The first half was really good from us, especially away from home, but the second half we saw the tiredness and the energy we put into the game. We said to the guys at half-time that the bench will make an impact today.
Hull didn’t want to make mistakes so we were more in control, but it was not the start from the first half. The two key moments in the game from the second half [Hamer’s save and Hoedt’s goal] have allowed us to get the three points.
On his team’s progress:
We are pleased with the improvement from our team and the stability we found within the team. We knew that it’s a long process, a journey, we start from the beginning with a lot of work to do and now the results show up, but more than that I’m pleased with the consistency in our performance.
I say to the guys, now we are more ready tactically, physically and technically. We’ve got the quality, we’re able to compete and today was the confirmation from our performance.
If you are able to perform like that and show those values, then it gives you more chance to win the game. If you win games with consistency you can start to close the gap with the top of the league.
On the forthcoming Christmas period:
It’s a great feeling to get the reward from our performance and our mentality. Now we face a tough period of the season for everyone in the league so it’s all about staying stable and continuing to push like we are doing. We will face tough games again but we are ready to compete.
