Simply not good enough in either penalty area
Being poorer than QPR in both boxes was the main factor behind Watford's 3-1 defeat at Loftus Road.
That was the opinion of Hornets head coach Tom Cleverley after watching his side display some buffet defending at one end, and some profligate finishing at the other.
“What I want to address after that game is what happened in both boxes," said Cleverley.
“We can get ourselves in any type of mindset we want and make ourselves feel like we’re going to war, but if you’re not better than the opposition in the two boxes then you’re going to struggle.
“Today I thought the general performance was quite good and we created chances, and we limited them to counter attacks and set pieces.
“But we still came unstuck."
The head coach warned his players will be going through some basics in training sessions ahead.
“When we have time to work with the players after the Sheffield United game then work in both boxes will be high up on the agenda," he said.
“It’ll be repetitive, it’ll be boring, but it’s something that we have to address because we’re not doing it well enough."
Each of the three goals conceded were extremely avoidable, and the scorer of each was certainly not under any threat from a yellow-shirted opponent.
“They were poor goals to concede and, same as the other day, they came at bad times in the game," Cleverley admitted.
“We conceded at the start and that means we have no foundations in the game, and then we concede again just after we score.
“It was us just shooting ourselves in the foot again.
“It was a really disappointing game because I felt it was there to be won.
“Like I said, we created enough: there was Bayo’s chance in the first half and a lot of chances in the second half.
“They didn’t create so many, but it felt like they were much more clinical and that they had more desire in both boxes."
