Third goal at QPR made Cleverley most angry
All three goals conceded at Queens Park Rangers had their own negative aspects for being the worst of a bad bunch.
There was the slow start goal, the three players queueing up for a header, and then the unmarked midfielder a couple of minutes after Watford had pulled one back.
And it was that third goal which angered Tom Cleverley the most.
“Yeah, the one just after we scored, for sure,” he said.
“I felt like we would 100% get a result after our goal went in.
“We did not have enough leadership out there to say ‘we’ve got a foothold, let’s be tight’.
“Instead a midfielder comes in between two centre halves and scores what is such a disappointing goal to concede.
“It really took the sting out of our comeback.”
For the 11th time this season, the Hornets were a goal behind inside 10 minutes.
“The early goal was a bad goal, a disappointing one to concede,” Cleverley reflected.
“We’d done a lot of work in the build-up because they play this ball down the sides, between Incey and Baah – but we didn’t close that gap.
“And then when the second ball comes in we need to move our feet quicker to clear the danger.
“It was a really soft goal to concede.”
As for the second goal, there were three blue and white hooped shirts forming an orderly queue to head the ball into the net.
“Yeah, there were, at the back post,” admitted Cleverley.
“Second phase at set pieces is somewhere that you need leaders and strong voices.
“When a set piece is cleared and recycled teams generally try and load the back post, and you have to try and organise using your voice.
“That is something we need to improve upon.”
Away performances and conceding early goals have dogged Watford all season long, and Cleverley said he will be changing approach for future road trips.
“Both those things are both really concerning because there isn’t a special, go-to fix,” he explained.
“When we get time to work with the players we will certainly be working on defensive unit work.
“And by that, I mean the defensive work of the whole team.
“But the approach to away games now will be 'how do we not get beat?’
“I can use language like that around the training ground and instead of saying we’re going to win this game, I’ll say we are going to not get beat.
“So that’s how I can help, and that may be the solution.
“With the early goals, even with games where we’ve started well we have still conceded.
“For me, that is a really difficult one to find the solution for.”
