Early goal was bad, but conceding so soon after equalising was criminal
While conceding a goal inside a minute draws more headlines, to ship a second so soon after equalising against Cardiff was arguably the more criminal of the two acts.
Having worked hard and earned their leveller, Watford once against switched off and made it all too easy for the visitors to not just regain their lead, but to do so just before half-time.
“It was a really bad time to concede the second goal,” admitted Tom Cleverley.
“We would have certainly kicked on at 1-1 but again it was a lack of high urgency in the mind more than the body.
“As a full-back Yasser needs to know that he could get hurt on his inside, so he has to be constantly checking.
“These players have the potential to make it to the top, but these things are the fine details.
“What I have to say about a lot of our players is it’s not a technical thing that is going to stop them from getting to the top, it is just having that mindset.
“As a defender, I am not going to let you score. If it’s an attacker, I am going to do everything I can do to score.”
Notwithstanding the ‘after you, sir’ approach to defending that played a part in the concession of both goals, Watford didn’t help themselves at the other end of the pitch as nine attempts at goal is simply not enough.
“For us, as a staff, we have to look at if we’re getting enough numbers in the box. Can we help the players that way?” said Cleverley.
“Then the players have to understand that when you’re playing against a real low block you are going to have times where you need to shoot from range or try and cross it from deeper to pick up a second ball.
“We need to have answers for all the different challenges we’re facing.
“But what I would say is we have scored a lot of goals this season, and today it was the defensive work that we need to improve.”
Only six of Watford’s 26 attempted crosses were successful, and any forward line will struggle with such a paucity of service.
That, said Cleverley, was a message to one player conspicuous by his self-inflicted absence.
“I hope that’s a lesson to Kwadwo, because we missed him today,” reflected the Watford boss.
“He was suspended today for a stupid reason.
“I’m hoping that this has been a learning curve for him.
“We were a little bit sloppy in wide areas or just hitting that first man a few more times than usual.
“I’ve no doubt we have a really good attacking unit and we’ve got creative players at wing-back, at No.10, at No8, in our strikers – today it just didn’t click.”
Cleverley is still not a year into his career as a head coach, and the last few days have seen him experience more firsts.
“I feel like a proper manager because in this past week I’ve had my first refusal of a handshake at full-time, and now a first home defeat,” he said.
“There have been new firsts for me and not the right ones.
“But the home run is something the whole club should be proud of: 17 games having come in at a really difficult period in March when we’d not won at home for God knows how long.
“We’re all so determined to galvanise everyone together again to go on just as good a run at home, but also to turn our fortunes around away from home.
“As one really positive run at home ends, our away form has to start improving.
“We couldn’t rely on our home form today which means we have to react and respond away from home.
“We’ve got 37 points at the halfway mark, and if you can double that in the second half of the season it will put you there or thereabouts.
“But we have to be humbled by today’s performance and figure out quickly how we can improve.”
