Sky Sports Premier League Podcast
Watford maintain 100% record, Arsenal edge close encounter
02 Sep 2018
Chapter 1: What were the key highlights from Watford's victory over Tottenham?
A telling touch on this.
They have done. It's the main man, Troy of the Hornets.
Players come from far and wide, but they're imbued with the spirit here. Oh! Half-cart. That is the spirit.
Spirit in abundance today. What a comeback from Walford to beat Spurs here. 2-1 from a goal down to make it four wins out of four to start the season. The goal scorers, Deeney and Cathcart. Now with Jeff Shreves.
Craig, Troy, four wins on the spin. Was that easily the best of the lot, though? Yeah, character shown. We were disappointed first half. We defended really well, but going forward we were quite poor. And then, yeah, just to show that resilience and obviously going the goal down, a lot of people would fold. We've said it before, between ourselves, that we can make this a real fortress.
It's a tight pitch and the two goals were great goals. Craig, is it a landmark, first Premier League week over Tottenham?
Yeah, absolutely, since we got promoted I think it's been one of our toughest fixtures. We haven't been able to beat them so far, so that's another big step for us. Four wins in a row has been a great achievement, but we don't want to stop here, we've got a good break now and then we've got a great game against Man Utd next.
And also the win takes away from the fact normally a very, very assured Watford defence, but a moment of uncertainty let them in.
Yeah, it was just a bit of an unlucky goal, you know. Yeah, I think we were just desperate to try to get the ball away and it's one of them things that, I think it's gone in off Dukes in the end, is that right? Yeah, but we showed a great reaction to go 1-0 down to Spurs and come back and win the games. It was absolutely brilliant. Troy, in some ways, perhaps did you show them too much respect?
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Chapter 2: How did Arsenal manage to secure their first away win of the season?
You've mentioned that tackle, both of you. Why did that typify what Watford were about today? Well, see, this is it here. You know, Boyd breaks and he's good between... Two Tottenham players don't fancy it. Takes them both out. And then Ndombele, forearm smashes... Young fella here. And the goal, Troy Deeney gets the goal. There's lots of big men in the Tottenham team. He picks the fight up.
He's actually deep and he comes back towards the ball. If you watch him on a penalty spot near enough, he's deep and then he comes back. And he's brave enough to put his head there where a lot of people would be closing their eyes and hoping we're going to get one across their chops. But Deeney is a leader. He sets the tone for the rest of them. He's a warrior.
They've got several warriors in their group.
Difficulty to play against. Your thoughts on that? That's a real good header. But he's clever because he stands in between Harry Kane and Vertonghen. And he knows the ball comes in that area, he's going to attack it. But you see it here. But it's a real good header.
But it's the Spurs' high line. I believe that. Looking at that, they're high, which is OK. A lot of teams look to do that. But once you're that high, there's only one place you're going to go. You're going to drop. And the ball isn't a great ball. It's not a dangerous ball. But by the Spurs defenders dropping instinctively, even watching a flight of the ball,
Lawson really just dropped into that area and he has a free header. Where if you're just a little yard deeper, at least you're able to come and attack it then. Like I said, the gap we were saying here when we were looking at the gap between the back line and the goalkeeper was so big. They were doing it all game, Tottenham.
I'm asking too many who are currently involved in the game why, and everyone seems to do it. Tottenham were doing it time and time again with their right up. There's a big gap for the kicker to aim for. As you just said, that ball, the free kick for Troy Deeney's goal, wasn't where he wanted to put the ball. He wanted to put it between the last defender and the goalkeeper.
Is that a problem if you are marking tightly anyway? WELL, PERSONALLY, I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED THEY WERE TWO OR THREE There's less space for the goal kicker to hit between the last defender and the goalkeeper. It's still giving the goalkeeper room to come and take the ball.
And there's a better chance that a defender will be on the front foot rather than try to hit the ball going back towards his own goal. But everyone does it today. And I've asked you, Kenton, why they do it today more than... Well, you as a striker in that situation, are you quite happy that teams are playing, defending with a higher line?
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Chapter 3: What impact did Troy Deeney have on Watford's performance?
Got his shirt. He just ignores it and pushes through it, yeah.
I think he saw it late. He didn't even really jump. Just sort of like...
You know, that's Watford. You know, you might call it scruffy, you might call it a fortunate goal, but they'll get goals like that because they've got people who stand up to the initial pulling the shirts, the initial being pushed off balance, and they'll still be prepared to put their head where they might get an elbow across their chops. And that's the type of team they are.
And as long as they retain that... We've got a chance against anyone. That was the reaction of a goalkeeper. I think he was pretty happy because he might have had a few fingers pointing at him with the way that Spurs got themselves in front. Just sort this out for us, Craig. We talked about maybe the goal coming from a mistake. Was that how it happened?
Well, due to how what for defendants, I thought it was going to take a mistake because they kept him in the game because they weren't really at it, but... Look, it's difficult for us in this studio now because we don't hear... I'd like to have heard a shout. That should be the goalkeepers. Defender, if he hasn't, then instinctively he's going to go and head it.
But that's got to be keepers all day. If we see it again, when Dele Alli is actually putting his foot on the ball to help it forward from another angle, he's actually making his move, Ben Foster. He's actually on his toes and he's off his line. Now, that... The minute he's on the front foot, he's got to be shouting at the same time. So if we see it again, Dembele's volleying it towards Foster.
He's on the front foot, which is great. From the minute... Watch this. The minute he plays this forward Dele Alli, look, he's on his way. Now he must be shouting. He must be shouting. It's not like my ball, it's a scream. I believe he could have got it, but does he really need to? He's on his way immediately. He must be shouting now. Must be Shelton now.
Yeah, I'm still not sure whether he needed to really put himself out there.
No, danger, to be honest. Even when Dele sort of, like, lifted it back in, there was... For me, it doesn't really need to come, as well as... It doesn't really need to come there. And if you do commit, then you have to shout.
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Chapter 4: How did the players react to going a goal down against Spurs?
I think, in the spirit of the day, it was a bit of pinball wizard, wasn't it? Yeah, but Tottenham are Tottenham. You beat me to it. LAUGHTER Come on. Three have gone in. But I think we're talking about Tottenham. Before the game, a team that could win the Premier League. Nothing changes because they lose that game today.
When you think that's the goal they got from all the possession they had, Foster wasn't having to make lots and lots of saves. You'd like to think with a team with that kind of ability in their group that they would have caused Watford a lot more problems today than they did. Undone by two set pieces today, Spurs. Here's Kieran Trippier with Geoff Shreves.
Kieran, after the euphoria of Old Trafford, does that really bring you down to earth through a crash?
Disappointing. We know we can play so much better than what we did today. We knew there was a threat from set pieces and scored two goals. Obviously, the boys are disappointed because we know we can play so much better. We didn't pass it around quick enough. We were too slow with the ball and we had a couple of chances, but we weren't clinical today.
Even more disappointed because you had taken the lead?
Of course, yeah. We know Watford are a tough team to play against. Obviously, they've got Deeney and Gray, who love to battle at the top. We knew it was going to be difficult back there, but to take the lead 1-0 and control the game, but then obviously Watford had loads of momentum in the second half, got the goal and... and their momentum just carried on, you know, on the score of the second.
So, obviously, we're very disappointed the way we played today and we can play so much better than what we did.
No lack of effort on your part, but any idea why it just wasn't there for you today?
No, obviously, we tried. Obviously, we can just do better. Just the way we played today was so much better, you know, the passing, the movement. But, you know, you've got to give a lot of credit to Watford. They won the game today and we've got to move on now.
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Chapter 5: What defensive strategies did Watford employ to win against Tottenham?
It's always nice when you go away when you've won. But I'm trying to go into that game confident and see what happens.
See, if you're going to be one of the contenders, if you're going to be a big team, you fear no-one. No, this is a punch on the nose. It might be a wake-up call for them to go again. I would agree it was at Old Trafford. Just maybe, although I didn't see any signs of it. Some of them in their armchair, maybe not giving it 100%.
That's what the manager was trying to avoid, wasn't it, with those comments in the week? Yeah, possibly. Or he just maybe felt they gave the ball away too easily in parts of the game. But if you're a big team, if you're a big player, this is when you turn up. You know... Everyone can be a big personality. Everyone can be a winner and address me when you win a game after game.
It's when you have the punch on the nose like this. That's what finds you out, you know, if you're proper or not. If you can, you know, brush that criticism they'll get, brush the disappointment obviously they will feel, and deal with the next game. If it's the biggest game of your season or if it's one of the less fancied, you deal with it. You do what you have to do to get back on track.
And to concede two from a set piece, I don't know if it's one of football's clichés or not, that we all say it's worse because you've conceded and lost because of set pieces, but to do it with two, does that make a difference? Yeah, they'd be very disappointed with that. Because, like a lot of teams now, a lot of teams have gone possession in a certain way of playing or a certain talent, but...
One thing that has to be clear is set pieces are key. We've seen in the World Cup, they can determine a game, they can determine a result, and they've lost today. Okay, Watford were great second half, but if they defended a set piece as well, they can win this game 1-0. So that would be bitterly disappointing for them.
Great for Watford, because they've just won a game off the back of two set pieces. But going back to this Spurs team and the players they have, they've got Champions League, they've got Liverpool, they've got Inter Milan, they've got Barcelona, and they deserve the right to be playing the likes of them. They've been doing it for the last three or four years. So, yeah, this is a blow.
But we'll see what type of team you are, because you're going to go and play Liverpool now, who started the season on fire. I expect a response off this Spurs team. If we don't, then it's going to be difficult for them to maintain or challenge anywhere in this league. This is a madness to football. Obviously, football's never had a higher profile.
After the Man Utd game, Tottenham had done everything right in the summer by not buying anyone. Now you can bet somebody somewhere this week will say, well, you know, the score's maybe not quite strong enough to deal with up-and-coming games. Well, what options did he have when it was... So you'd be an advocate. You're saying they should go out and buy, or they should have bought people.
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Chapter 6: How did the international break affect player morale and team dynamics?
Look, today, again, a team that only defends and, of course, try to play long balls and you need to show That strength, showing that personality and character and hierarchy to say, OK, playing football and defending in the moment that you need. I think it was so clear, the analysis. We cannot find, I think, to go to talk too much.
It's so clear and so easy to explain what happened on the pitch during 95 minutes.
Tottenham's first ever Premier League defeat against Watford. Is the only positive from today that it's happened very early in the season and you and your team can learn some big lessons from today?
I think it's a lot of topic in football. Of course, when you lose, you must learn and improve. But my disappointment is when you win and maybe you didn't deserve to win, why not learn? And that is why I am so disappointed that... During the week I was so trying to explain to the players that we weren't great, like the perception told us, and the reality was completely different.
And I think today, the first 45 minutes, and of course it disappointed me after we scored 1-0, but the first 45 minutes we played football and you need to compete. And it's not the same to play football than compete. If we... Rather to play football today in the first 45 minutes, we compete in the way that we need to compete in the Premier League to win and to win and be a contender.
I think the result in the first half should be different, of course.
Mauricio, thank you for your time. You're welcome. Thank you very much. I can't remember seeing him that angry. Is he saying we're not contenders? He's saying we won't be contenders unless we can defend set pieces better. I think he was centre-half, wasn't he? Yes. I think he's really angry that he conceded goals like that. But of all the teams... You're more likely to concede.
I think the rest may be Cardiff, but they carry the same amount of threat from set pieces as Watford do. But Watford have said it at half-time. Watford have got people that will put their heads where a lot of people won't put their feet. They'll take a blow for the cause. And I think it's...
disguising the fact that for a large part of the second half, Watford were better in Tottenham and lots of departments. The fact they got the goals from two set pieces isn't good for Spurs. But I would be more worried about some of them not competing in the second half when the going got really tough and some of them got rolled over, some of the Spurs players.
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Chapter 7: What lessons can Tottenham learn from their defeat to Watford?
All over the pitch, especially second half, they were first to the knockdowns. They were the first to the second ball, first to the third ball. They were hunting in packs. And that's what you have to do. You have to be able to ride storms as well as playing nice football. You've got to be able to shut down the opposition as well. See, they've been in the space of four or five days.
They've been confronted with two different challenges. Man United, as you said in the first half, were really good. They tried to take you on in the game of football. They ended up winning that one 3-0. And I think the manager has tried to put a marker down, tried to light a fire under them and say, look, this is a tough game we've got. I didn't think we played very well against Man United.
Because this coming here was a very different challenge to Man United's challenge. There's no surprises. Coming to Vicarage Road, you know what type of game you're going to get. This was going to be roll your sleeves up. And that's what you'll be disappointed at.
He will see that he's done his job, because he's tried to light a fire by saying we didn't deserve to win at United, to try to get them bang at it, knowing coming here was going to be a very difficult game for them. Give us an insight then into the modern player in the dressing room, listening to the manager's interview perhaps. You're not aggressive enough, you've been too sloppy.
How do players amongst themselves react to that? They know.
The players know. After a game, you know. If you've not been aggressive, you concede set pieces. The basics, not getting close to people, being bullied, basically, you know as players. The manager comes and says, but deep down, you know. And all you want to do, in a situation like that, you just look forward to the next game. And unfortunately, it's international break, so...
You'd be annoyed because he's warned them. He's tried to tell them in his way. And some of them have not. He did a warning. So you'd be annoyed. I can't remember him being that upset. He had a sweat on. He looked agitated. It's one day out there. He looked really annoyed. Don't forget what type of player he was as well. He was an Argentinian centre-back, defender, organised, first to the balls.
So he'll know exactly what they were lacking there and what they've been lacking over the last few weeks and he'll want to correct that. He's been tough with them as well and we'll see their reaction when they take on Liverpool live on Sky Sports in a fortnight when they return from the international break. Watford go away with smiles all over their faces. Javi Garcia now with Jeff Shreves.
Javi, and then there were three. Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford. Four wins from four. How good does that sound?
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of this match for the Premier League standings?
Fulham and Arsenal just short trips. Then Bournemouth here and Wolves and Huddersfield. So I suppose the question is how long can this run go on? I have to be honest, I thought it was going to end today. But great credit to them. If they keep fighting and staying in the game, because like I said, first half, it wasn't going as well as they would have liked.
But defensively, I thought they were organised. I thought the fans kept them in the game. And credit to them, second half. So Manchester United next year at home, they'll be in for a tough game. We've talked a lot about approach as well, Jermaine. Is there something, I suppose in relation to Newcastle in the last couple of weeks, we saw it from Cardiff and again today from Watford.
Is there something in this aggression? That's a word that's been used a lot, I think, today.
Yeah, I think they're an aggressive team, especially at home. You look at their record. But I have to say, it comes from the captain, to be honest. You see him even before they scored the goal. He's like this to the crowd, and he's done that in a few weeks. And the crowd were fantastic here today.
And we spoke about leaders before, and he's definitely a lead in the changing rooms, and he gets everyone going. I can't remember what game it was. One of the games he came off and someone was coming on. And a lot of time players, you know, you're not happy coming off. I used to hate coming off.
And, you know, he's encouraging, come on, come on, you know, make sure you work hard and stuff like that. Once you've got that at a football club, it's so important.
Do you think Man City don't play with aggression? I'm not here to answer questions, Graham. You do not win a Premier League game unless you play with lots of aggression from the start to the finish. You know, their aggression is different types of aggression. Maybe it's one you can see, but believe me, Man City play with real aggression. Liverpool play with real aggression.
You know, they're first to the ball. James Milner, I hope I'm not putting a red flag up, gets away with murder. He goes around leaving a bit on people. He plays with real aggression. And does that then get the stadium behind you as well? Everyone, everyone. But within the 11 that are on the pitch, you'll have two or three that enjoy that part of the game.
And then the ones who are maybe a little bit shy will start to come out of their shell and they want to take part in it. It spreads. If you've got one out-and-out leader in your team, as a manager, you've got a chance. If you've got two, you might be winning things. You've got three, guaranteed, but near enough guaranteed. They're so hard to find. I'm sure you've played with them.
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