So tonight I finally got a chance to watch the game from Saturday (had an event I couldn't get out of, and given the way we usually start I wasn't too bothered). My God people on this forum are negative, I was expecting an absolute horror show, out of which we someone squeaked two goals by, based on the comments I've read here. Couple meandering thoughts:
McCarthy was very poor, same as he was a couple times last season. We know that he's not a bad player, I think it was just a bit of sluggishness as the season gets underway, and Watford did a very good job closing down space. Barry was fine as well, both in midfield and at left back, and given the other options we have there, I'm not too worried about it.
Watford defended very well. Not necessarily as a unit but they individually did very well to cut out nearly every cross we sent in (and we sent in quite a few). They were well and truly up for this, and if they can maintain the workrate they showed, I think they have a very good shot at staying up.
We played fairly
direct at times. We flung a few long balls up to Lukaku and to Kone once he came on, Coleman swung in at least 6 crosses and Cleverly / Mirallas added a few. We also did the typical Martinez fluid passing, but its not as if we really looked out of ideas (though I may have a warped perception of this, since I knew the equalizer was coming the whole time). I saw so many people on here moaning that Martinez' system isn't right for us, but his system constantly changes whether or not you want to admit it. We send balls over the middle, we cross, we play through-balls on the ground, sometimes our players turn and shoot and sometimes they hold off to create chances for midfielders... basically every team in the world does all of these things but Sky seems to have us all convinced that every team can only do one or two of these.
Barkley had an excellent game. I remember he started strongly last season as well, I hope he can maintain it this time. He was given a lot of license to roam, and he's a very exciting player when he has that freedom. His passing was also very good today, which is normally a fault of his. Toward the end of the game, a very tired Watford defense was resorting to fouling him rather than defending him, hope to see a lot more of that this season.
Stones was incredible for the 10-15 minutes before his mistake for the goal. You can tell he wanted to win the ball back quickly so we could push on for the win. Assuming we hold onto him, 2 points is a very cheap price to pay to teach a young centre back who's full confidence and is rarely hesitant to dive in a valuable lesson about composure and taking risks. I think being put on his arse by a feint knocked a lot of the inflated ego out of his head that's been building up since Mourinho started his mindgamez.
I don't think either goal exposed
defensive frailties in Martinez' system, both were individual errors that took a massive dose of luck. I don't think we'll keep as many clean sheets as a Moyes side this season, but I'm not very worried about the condition of our defense.
Galloway did fine in the back. He's a bit raw but I didn't think he looked as clueless as people have been saying. He's not going to provide the same offensive service as Baines, but defensively I'm happy with either him or Oviedo as a deputy, our offense can come from elsewhere. Barry also did fine back there, so it's nice to know we have options.
The second half of that game (and for periods, the first half as well) was
genuinely exciting. It reminds me of midway through our first season with Martinez, everyone getting involved, crosses swung in from both sides, even Jags tried to take on some players and I've missed Coleman's lunatic runs. Barkley and Mirallas both had shots outside the box that could have crept in. I'm not happy about the result, but it really looked like they were enjoying their football out there, and that was the mentality that helped us finish where we did in Martinez' first season here. We had great hold-up from Kone and Lukaku, incisive passing on the ground that nearly put a few players through on goal. Shame about the goal but I don't think both Jags and Stones will individually lose their heads defensively very often this season, so as long as we keep seeing this level of intensity and ingenuity against teams that defend as resolutely as Watford did, this should be a fun season.
Even before his goal,
Kone looked good. The layoff to Ross was great, he headed just over from a Coleman cross at a tough angle, looked strong dribbling at defenders, passed well and made good decisions. With his injuries I'm still hesitant to put all my faith in him, but I think he contributes just fine this season.
Howard didn't have much to do, but we should schedule a training session for him with Gomes, one of the few times Howard had to punch clear he hit it straight down the middle. Didn't do much else wrong though.
Nyom is some sort of monster. I expect we'll be hearing his name a decent bit this season / in the next window.
Long story short, I'm disappointed with the result but we've always started poorly for as long as I can remember. We had an attacking mindset in the first half but lacked sharpness. We were sharper in the 2nd half and upped the tempo. Martinez' substitutions worked well, and he didn't wait obscenely long to make them. Overall I think we can still realistically target a Europa league position with the squad we have (assuming we get Lennon +1-2 more in).
I'm sure I seem like a delusional optimist to many of you, to which I say that all you miserable cynics can shove it.
