The first goal has been so important this season
The first goal in any game is important, but in Watford fixtures this season it has been largely indicative of how the match is going to pan out.
The Hornets have opened the scoring in 10 of their 31 Championship fixtures, and gone on to win nine of them, drawing the other.
Conversely, they have conceded first in 20 league games and ended up losing 13 of them.
Watford are one of only a handful of sides in the top four English divisions that have not lost this season when scoring first.
“The players shouldn’t need any more incentive than hearing stats like that,” said Tom Cleverley.
“I think it’s 14 times we’ve scored first in league and cup, and 12 times we’ve gone on to win the game.
“That is a real incentive to go above and beyond in the first 20 or 30 minutes, and trust that your second wind will come.
“It always did when I was a player. Your second wind tends to come about 30 minutes in and if you can’t go any further then we have young and hungry players to come off the bench.”
Clearly, what goes on in the dressing room in the moments before the game can have a major bearing on those key opening minutes.
Are the Hornets players the type to be screaming, shouting and slapping the walls of the tunnel?
“We are more conserved as a group but that doesn’t worry me,” Cleverley admitted.
“On the pitch, in the first half an hour, is what worries me.
“You have to understand the modern-player: he’s not necessarily someone that will be banging the walls or shaking each other like a British Lions dressing room going out to face the All Blacks.
“It is more internalised. Some lads watch their own clips, some lads listen to their own music.
“On the balance we are a quieter group than some I’ve played in but you can’t expect someone to be someone they’re not.
“I let the players prepare for the start of the game and I do my bit in the hotel and just before they go out.
“Slow starts have been something of a long-standing problem, way before I came in.
“I’ve not fixed it yet but I’m determined to do so.”
It wasn’t an ailment Cleverley encountered while he was on the pitch himself.
“It’s not something I can remember in my own playing career, no,” he said.
“It’s one of those issues where we seemed to eradicate the problem doing the exact same things.
“I think if there was one thing you could aim at us it’s we seem to be scared of gassing out too quick, or we try and pace ourselves through the fight.
“If you let the opponent land the first punch you could be knocked out.
“That’s something we really need to address.”
Is slow starts one of those short-term issues that Cleverley wants to focus on, rather than being distracted by long-term aims?
“There is a priority list and a balance as a coach, and that is high up there,” he said.
“Then there’s our form against the teams in the bottom half which also needs addressing.
“I’m really looking forward to the game against Leeds though, because we’ve had consistency recently and I think that’s shown in the performances.
“It seems that we are finding that has been the story of the last two or three years for the club.
“We really seem to solve one problem, then another one arises.
“I think the away form has been, in general, very much improved from the start of the season and now the home form is nowhere near as good.
“We need to be resilient mentally so we don’t get stuck in a rut at home like we were last season.
“I have no doubts that tomorrow you’ll see a high-energy quality performance that will get the supporters on board.”
