Chris Wilder shared in supporters’ frustrations after witnessing a disappointing 2-0 defeat in the local derby with Luton Town.
Gabriel Osho and Allan Campbell goals condemned Watford to defeat at Kenilworth Road and the Hornets’ Head Coach had no complaints with the result.
“It’s incredibly disappointing for myself and most importantly the supporters,” said Wilder. “They’ve travelled here for the first time in 17 years and their reaction at the end showed what they thought of it.
“I thought Luton completely deserved the result. I’m quite an experienced manger in terms of playing in local derbies and you have to show so many more qualities than we did today.
“I thought the team that was a team won the game, and maybe for us there might be bigger issues to get the team playing as a team.
“When I came to the club I looked at the players we had at our disposal and I was really excited, but they have to play as a team. There are fundamental aspects of the game that you need to show, and we haven’t.
“The biggest thing is quality in possession and good players kept turning the ball over so easily to a team that wanted to go and hurt us, and they got the result they wanted.”
Despite having 55 per cent possession, Watford managed just one shot on target compared with Luton’s six, and Wilder conceded his team were second best in all areas of the pitch.
“The game was definitely what I thought it was going to be; front-foot and a high press from Luton, a quick game and we had to be smart,” he said. “Our start was okay but we kept turning the ball over and allowing them to come back at us.
“We didn’t secure it at the top of the pitch, we didn’t pass it well enough in the middle three. They won more duels and races than us, they passed it better, they were more progressive and they had something at the end of it, which we didn’t.
“There are no excuses and I have empathy for the supporters because you really look forward to the highlight of a derby and we’ve not done enough as a group.”
With seven games remaining, Wilder is demanding real improvements from his players between now and the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
“My message to the players was a very strong one,” said the 55-year-old. “I’m an extremely honest manager to the media and the supporters, there’s no spin, and that was the same to the players.
“It wasn’t good enough. It’s not about tactics or shape when you keep passing the ball out of play or you don’t win a race or you get outmuscled.
“There’s a lot of so-called good players here but they have to show so much more if they want to be top players. I hope they reflect on their performance because it wasn’t good enough to get any sort of result in a local derby.”
