United 1 Watford 0 - report/ratings

[Frank the tank]

What standing on a box? 5.8 according to Wiki

He's easily six foot

 

[Barry Butlin]

Good news if he is. He certainly doesn't look it on the pitch, but I guess he's often surrounded by giants.

Don’t know how tall Mcguiness is, but he was stood next to him yesterday and was at least as tall..

 

[bakeblade]

Don’t know how tall Mcguiness is, but he was stood next to him yesterday and was at least as tall..

6.4, Sydies getting taller by the minute

 

[Barry Butlin]

6.4, Sydies getting taller by the minute

I was surprised myself but only had 3 pints so wasn’t pissed

 

[IdLiketoRogerMoore]

Brooks made the goal and was good. He worked back and looked a threat the other way. Thought it was the best he has looked and I have been critical of him this season.

O Hare was poor first half. He was not in tje game at all. He was much better after the break as I acknowledged.

Campbell was not very good but contributed to the goal at least. I think Ings has done well in other cameos but Im struggling to recall anything Ings did yesterday? We needed to keep the ball but it kept coming back as he did not win any duels or keep it.

He was so far off the pace and blowing after 5 minutes. His conditioning is nowhere near the level required at this level. Maybe he improves this but he can't start or play more than 15-20 mins in yesterday. Me and my Uncle could not believe how slow/unfit he looked.

We absolutely need a centre forward in January. None look close to up to it in terms of leading the line in this system.

My mat who's a Liverpool fan and has a soft spot for Ings came with me to watch yesterday. Even he said Ings had only been on 5 minutes and looked the most tired player on the pitch!!!

 

[Bergen Blade]

Cant disagree too much with the report or scoring DB. It was a win achieved by a 35 minute good period in the second half. Thats the difference we play in patches. It may be down to conditioning but more likely to be to do with tactics and shape. Thought Soumare added balance with his left foot and physicality. Much better in second half than first as were the majority of the team.

Agree can't fathom what formation we are playing at times. CW said is was 4-2-4 post match with 2 deep lying midfield players whilst acknowledging the front two were a 9 and 10. Thats where the problem lies for me. Watford had control of the midfield and looked dangerous on the break but did little with their superior possession. Still feel we will be much better with 3-4-1-2. Problem is who plays up front with Campbell as Ings is no where near fit.

The stark statistic is we have only scored 4 goals in 10 games. Unless we improve on that then we are destined to languish near the bottom.

I can not understand why Seriki was not on the bench. His pace would have made a difference late on yesterday. A lightweight injury prone Shackelton is not the answer. Our test now is to manage 3 games in 6 days with our poor conditioning. We have to hope we don't incur any more injuries.

Posted elsewhere, but the way I saw it:

 

[cooperblade]

My mat who's a Liverpool fan and has a soft spot for Ings came with me to watch yesterday. Even he said Ings had only been on 5 minutes and looked the most tired player on the pitch!!!

Unless he regains some fitness (which I think will be difficult given he's 33 and hasn't played regularly for a long time), I think he can only be an option in a 2 when we're chasing games late on. I know his experience was occasionally useful yesterday but I'd rather have seen One on the pitch for the last 20 minutes.

 

[cooperblade]

Posted elsewhere, but the way I saw it:

View attachment 223909

At the game, I thought it was a 4-2-3-1 but hard to tell other than it definitely being a back 4. I thought Ogbene was too deep at times, almost like he was still in a wing-back rather than winger mindset. Whatever the formation, it looked much more balanced and effective than the 3 at the back and I hope we stick with it for the next two games even though they're away.

McGuinness stayed down a while at the final whistle holding his hamstring, hopefully it was just a bit of tightness.

 

[Bergen Blade]

At the game, I thought it was a 4-2-3-1 but hard to tell other than it definitely being a back 4. I thought Ogbene was too deep at times, almost like he was still in a wing-back rather than winger mindset. Whatever the formation, it looked much more balanced and effective than the 3 at the back and I hope we stick with it for the next two games even though they're away.

McGuinness stayed down a while at the final whistle holding his hamstring, hopefully it was just a bit of tightness.

Wilder said they had been working on getting more men forward and into the box during the international break, which was also discussed on here. I think the back four allowed for that to happen and we looked more dangerous as a result, even without Hamer.

 

[William Large]

True, I forgot about him, he didn't really stand out yesterday, for me, at least.

 

[Northyorksblade]

Their number 66 was a right tool. The hopping about on one foot, then sprinting two minutes later. And then falling over twice more. I'm sure the ref had a word with him.

 

[Pintor75]

A decent assessment of the performance although we aren't playing as imo, we could be, there is no system whatsoever,just picking players like last year, some out of position and hoping they click, half the players don't look fit and this has been thecsame in recent years, so that's got to be down to the coaching staff nomatter what anyone says. As for the ratings McCallum and O'Hare were the best imo, Tanganga and Mcguinness did well too, downside - Campbell has looked disinterested in every home game for me and Ings despite looking unfit showed more movement and awareness than Campbell did in 68 minutes, Barry looks a league one player at best and is too weak imo. Blackburn and Preston give us a chance to get some points this week so let's hope this win can spark a run, utb

 

[JD88]

At the game, I thought it was a 4-2-3-1 but hard to tell other than it definitely being a back 4. I thought Ogbene was too deep at times, almost like he was still in a wing-back rather than winger mindset. Whatever the formation, it looked much more balanced and effective than the 3 at the back and I hope we stick with it for the next two games even though they're away.

McGuinness stayed down a while at the final whistle holding his hamstring, hopefully it was just a bit of tightness.

Was defo 4-2-3-1. Glad we have ditched 3 at the back also, said repeatedly on here we don't have the players for it. especially at wing back.

 

[bedfordblade]

We do not control the midfield at all though. Granted as Wilder said they are inexperienced but we need to keep it far better. We seem to be chasing too much in this area of the field.

I sit in the South Stand btw

greetings my friend. tx for reply. I thought maybe you missed some of O'Hare's contribution because of your position in the ground. I joined this site to read your reports. I used to follow them on a now defunct site and only recently heard you were on here. I don't know how you do it, week after week but well done. The first game I saw was Utd v Spurs in 1950 (do not look at the result of the away fixture) so I have seen some right mediocre performances from time to time. However nothing much compares to our last venture in the Premiership. Trying now to get off the bottom is going to be a struggle; particularly with an unbalanced squad.
O'Hare did well in both halves; he led the press to stop them playing out from the back; sometimes he had to look round for support as it was not always there. He harried their midfield which often led to Peck and his partner getting the loose ball. Both on and off the ball he really tried.
I do not like the way we play in midfield. One of the best groups in mid field were the Everton trio of Ball, Harvey and, a name from the past, Howard Kendall. They knew how to make a triangle give you depth and width. Souza did well in midfield and then Choudhury but I much prefer 3. Watford had 4. England in 1966 had 4: Ball, Stiles, Charlton and Peters ( ten years before his time). United in the TC days were very good.
Somehow Wilder has to work out where we want to be in Feb 26. I have heard some loan players are being lined up. Perhaps we can get to mid-table soon and start to feel more comfortable.
Peck is very good, lord knows how we managed to get him; we must keep him.
I am probably opposite you in TC stand.

 

[RammyBlade]

Agree with most of that especially the fact that despite our marginal improvements overall we do not look at all likely to score a goal from open play.
We lack any creativity that is likely to create chances and although Campbell gets stick ... where are his chances ?

No real support that gives him a chance to score.

Many are looking at the next 2 matches with optimism thinking we might get 4-6 points but I watched the Rovers match against Cov and they were by far the better side with a higher XG , higher shots and almost twice as many touches in the opposition box !! Cov scored 2 wonder goals a bit like Southampton did to us and NO other team has done that to Cov all season !

 

[Tommy_P]

Deadbat where's the curry report/ratings? Stopped going in Heeley as the last few have been disappointing in both spots!