'We have to admit that, to a man, we weren’t good enough' - Cleverley
It had been 296 days since Watford fans witnessed defeat at Vicarage Road, and when it eventually came the unbeaten run ended with barely a whimper.
Cardiff, who hadn’t won an away league game all season, may have hung on a bit for their 2-1 win and deployed some stellar time-wasting tactics, but they also didn’t need heroics from keeper Ben Alnwick either.
And the visitors were helped on their way by the Watford seas parting ways inside the first minute.
“Look at the way we started the game again,” reflected Tom Cleverley.
“One thing you don’t want to do against a team fighting for their lives is give them hope to cling onto, and allow them to try and break the game up.
“Along with that we made far too many unforced errors, which we didn’t do against Portsmouth.
“It meant we couldn’t accumulate pressure and we let them off the hook too many times with sloppiness and lack of concentration.
“It was a defeat we have to take on the chin and admit that, to a man, we weren’t good enough.”
That first goal, while finished well, was extremely avoidable from a Watford point of view.
“We lost three duals down the side of the pitch nearest us, and if you lose duals back to back to back then you won’t be in a good shape in this division,” Cleverley admitted.
“Then the ball comes in and they find Callum Robinson free, and we all know what he can do at this level.
“It was a really, really disappointing way to start the game.”
After that, Watford gradually took control and the equaliser came after a sustained period of pressure.
“I thought we came back into it and scored the goal after a really positive period for us,” said Cleverley.
“Then we couldn’t have conceded the second goal at a worse moment.
“As a defensive unit, if we’re going to go from a three to a four then we have to become high-urgency defenders.
“Conceding a goal has to be the worst possible thing that can happen to you.
“That requires high focus of the body and mind, and I think we can improve in those areas.
“I will help the players improve in that department.
“We conceded two goals in really disappointing fashion today, as well as some other chances.”
Cleverley opted to go with a back four.
“I said last week it was a real positive that we can go between both systems really easily, and the players understand the key parts of each really well.
“It’s easy for me to say ‘right going to a back four’, but it’s not as simple as that.
“The players have taken on the key details of their roles in each system well, and we usually have executed the change of systems well.”
It was surprising to see Rocco Vata replaced at half-time, and Imran Louza followed him off not long into the second half.
Cleverley explained the reasoning behind those two changes, which certainly had a negative effect on the threat Watford posed.
“Vata and Louza were nursing injuries at half-time, and I was told they were at high risk for the second half,” he said.
“So I had to deal with bringing off two influential players due to them being at high risk.
“As a result, we lost a little bit of momentum.
“Vata was feeling a calf issue at half-time and I was warned about it, and with so many games coming up I couldn’t risk losing a player like him for six to eight weeks.
“So unfortunately I was forced into that change.
“With Imran he was nursing a knee issue as well as walking a tightrope having been booked, so that change was forced upon us as well.”
