Valérien Ismaël spoke to the media following Watford’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Norwich City at Vicarage Road, with goals from Ismaël Koné, Mileta Rajović and Yáser Asprilla overturning a two-goal deficit and earning all three points.
Covering a range of topics, including his side’s performance and a string of outstanding individual displays, read what the Head Coach had to say below…
On his players’ reaction to going 2-0 down:
I said thank you to the guys. I’m very proud of them because it’s tough to come back from going 2-0 down after 12 minutes. They [Norwich] hadn’t really had any big chances, and then suddenly they were 2-0 up. The boys stayed calm, and the most important thing was to stick to the game plan as it was still very early in the match. It was about staying calm, scoring the first goal and then the second. After that, straight away we dominated Norwich completely.
At half-time I told the boys that I was really proud of them, but that they had to go back out and finish the job. We dominated the second half completely - maybe at the end it was a little bit hectic, but that’s normal. By the end we completely deserved to win the game. It was a team performance, with great mentality. The more difficult it was, the more the players stuck together, and they focused on the game plan. It’s a great win because of the way we managed the situation.
On the squad’s mentality:
I think that after going 2-0 down we started to play our game. As I said, the players stayed calm and stuck to the game plan. Bit by bit we came back into the game, got that feeling about the game and the way we wanted to play. After we scored the first goal and then equalised quickly with the second, we knew then we were back in the game and we completely dominated and controlled Norwich.
I am really proud of the boys. We have done it before against Middlesbrough, but we were unlucky to lose that one. Tonight, we used it to our advantage, and the performance, attitude and calmness of the players - and the trust in each other to pass the ball and not blame each other - was brilliant.
On Ismaël Koné:
I think this was his most complete performance for us so far. When he came back to us from his national team he was really tired, but after the Leicester match he was well recovered and we got the feeling he was ready.
We have a lot of players that have got good potential. We spoke at the beginning of the season about consistency with the young players. At the minute we are more stable with the performances of the young players, and now we just need to keep pushing.
On Yáser Asprilla:
I think he is starting to get his breakthrough now. We need to manage him between the games. We need to work with him, and give him the love and confidence he needs. We know that he can be a key player for the club and for the future. I’m pleased for him now that he is getting the reward. He shows up and is being decisive in the important games.
He scores a lot of goals in training, like the shot he had in the first half. He has the capability to score when he likes. The Sheffield Wednesday goal was quality, the calmness and composure. I think he has everything to score goals and he is very unpredictable.
On Jake Livermore:
Jake is Jake. He is fully committed and fully engaged for the team. He is ready to sacrifice himself on the pitch for everyone at the club. I think everyone can feel this on the pitch, which is why he’s so important for us. We knew at the beginning of the season that it was all about getting him fit. It was a difficult period for him at the beginning, but it was just a matter of time until he got his fitness back.
On Ben Hamer:
We know that we have two great goalkeepers. It’s great to see that Ben can compete at this level. I think it was important for him to play in the Rotherham game, and during the international break we had a friendly game so he played another 90 minutes then. Now he is in a good rhythm, and he gave us a lot tonight.
