382: The deterrent power of Watford’s front line
Today’s starting lineups for both teams are as follows:
Home team Watford, head coach Flores, formation 442
Goalkeeper Xurelio Gomez
Back four from left to right: Ekochi Aniya, Craig Cathcart, Prodl and Aaron Nyom
Midfield four from left to right: Jurado, Ben Watson, Capoue and Ayman Abdi
Forwards Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney
Visiting team Crystal Palace, head coach Tong Yi, formation 4213
Alisson
The back four from left to right Robertson, Laporte, Van Dijk and Carvajal
Double defensive midfielder Casemiro and Kante
Single attacking midfielder De Bruyne
The front three from left to right Salah, Ignacio and Mane
beep!
The referee blew his whistle to start the game.
Sure enough, after the game started, it was exactly as Tong Yi expected. Watford directly set up a bus, solidly defending first, and then waiting for opportunities to counterattack.
Seriously, in order to mark Crystal Palace center Ignacio, Watford put three tall men on the back line.
Right back Niyom is 190, center back Cathcart is 188 and center back Preddle is 194!
Obviously, these three people rotate to defend Ignacio.
Flores had already predicted that Crystal Palace would definitely use Ignacio's high point to attack.
Therefore, these three people will take turns to defend Ignacio Le today.
Not long after the game started, Crystal Palace created a good opportunity.
Carvajal and Mane on the wing played a beautiful interplay, and then De Bruyne in the midfield made a diagonal pass and directly transferred the football to the other wing, which was unexpected.
Robertson, who moved forward from the left, passed the ball directly to Watford's penalty area without stopping the ball.
Watford fans were stunned.
Danger!
The landing point of this ball is very good, it will fly directly to Ignacio's head!
"Danger! Watford is in danger. Crystal Palace's offensive capabilities are really too strong!" Mortensen roared excitedly.
But Ignacio didn't hit the ball. Cathcart and Pledel guarded Ignacio and didn't let Ignacio jump up. The football flew over the heads of the three people, and then drew the bottom line on the other side.
call!
It is really very dangerous!
The Watford fans at the scene finally breathed a sigh of relief. It was really too dangerous just now.
Bang bang bang!
The Watford fans immediately applauded Watford's two central defenders. This defense is really good!
These two people actually defended Ignacio, amazing!
Seeing this, Tong Yi nodded slightly. These two guys were indeed quite good.
Tong Yi also knows these two people very well. Cathcart is from Northern Ireland and came from Manchester United's youth training. He was once the captain of Manchester United's U18 youth team and was once rated as the most potential player in Europe by UEFA's technical department. One of the young central defenders, he was once favored by Ferguson and qualified for the Manchester United first team at a young age.
Unfortunately, frequent injuries did not allow him to reach the heights expected by Ferguson and others. To be honest, it was a bit of a twist of fate.
Last year he joined Watford, became the main force here, and helped the team to upgrade to the Premier League. His performance was very good and he was deeply loved by Watford fans.
Just before the start of this season, Watford and Cathcart completed a contract extension for four years. It can be seen that Watford's senior management also attaches great importance to Cathcart.
The Northern Ireland fringe international looked in excellent form today.
His partner is the captain of the Austrian national team. He performed very well in the 2008 European Cup and even won the German Cup and the Europa League runner-up with Werder Bremen.
He transferred to Watford this summer and became the main player when he came here. His performance in the first few games was also very good. He is also in good condition today. The combination of him and Cathcart seems to be causing some trouble for Ignacio!
And there is also a backup Cameroon international Niyom next to him. Ignacio is really going to be in trouble today.
"I don't think Ignacio will perform very well today. Obviously, Flores is well prepared. In this game, it seems that Crystal Palace wants to crack Watford's tortoise shell. It's quite difficult." Mortensen also felt that Watford had a great chance today.
Ignacio shouldn't have a very good performance today.
"To be honest, I'm still a little worried about Crystal Palace's defense. Watford's counterattack is not weak!" Shearer was also a little worried.
At this time, Watford immediately launched a quick counterattack.
The football came directly to the feet of Ighalo in front, and Ighalo was very fast.
Seeing that he was about to break through with the ball, full-back Carvajal rushed forward quickly and slowed down Ighalo with a sliding tackle. Then Kante rushed forward quickly and destroyed the football.
Bang bang bang!
Tong Yi on the sidelines immediately applauded and gave the applause to the Crystal Palace defensive players.
Before the game, Tong Yi reminded the Crystal Palace defensive players to pay attention to Watford's counterattack.
The Watford people's counterattack is very sharp and very distinctive.
The opponent's two forward players are not weak.
Nigeria international Ighalo
In the British Championship last season, he scored 18 goals in 35 appearances, and his efficiency was still very good. And in Tong Yi's memory, this guy is the absolute main force of Watford this season and will score 16 goals. His effectiveness is very good.
Tong Yi is still very impressed by this guy. In the future, he will return to play for the Chinese Super League, and will also be loaned to Manchester United, and he will also perform well.
This guy has strength!
Deeney is not weak either. He played 41 times in the English Championship last season and scored 19 goals. He was a major contributor to Watford's promotion to the Premier League. Moreover, this guy has scored double-digit goals in Watford since the 2011-2012 season. He also scored 24 goals last season, which is very strong.
In Tong Yi's memory, he will score 15 goals and provide 10 assists in Watford this season. He even scored 13 goals and provided 8 assists in 38 appearances in the Premier League. This is simply the top core of Watford's front line and the captain of Watford.
It is really inspiring that this former mason with a weekly salary of 140 pounds can achieve his current achievements.
Therefore, these two are really powerful forwards. With these two in front to seize the opportunity to counterattack, Watford is really not weak.
Tong Yi repeatedly reminded the Crystal Palace players before the game to pay attention to the defense of these two people and not give them opportunities.
Fortunately, both Carvajal and Kante clearly felt that Tong Yi's defense did not relax at all, and they were very active, which disintegrated the Watford people's counterattack. . .??.
To be honest, this counterattack is very sharp.
If Carvajal lets Ighalo pass, the consequences will be disastrous.
Tong Yi also reminded the Crystal Palace defensive players to pay attention to the defense of the opponent's midfielder Jurado. This guy is also a very important part of Wolford's counterattack.
The Spanish midfielder has good ball-holding skills and must have excellent foot skills. He can hold the ball and pass the ball. He can deliver cannonballs to the two forwards in front. He must be guarded, otherwise Crystal Palace will be very dangerous.
This guy once played for Schalke 04 and was Hao Junming's former teammate. He will also play in the Chinese Super League in the future.
So Tong Yi knows this guy's playing style very well.
To be honest, the Crystal Palace players played very relaxedly on the court!
This is not to say that Watford was too weak and did not put too much pressure on them. But the information Tong Yi gave him was very accurate, allowing them to more easily control the opponent's players, thereby limiting the opponent's offense.
During this time, the Walford people wanted to counterattack, but it was difficult to do so.
Because the Crystal Palace people's defense makes them very uncomfortable, the Crystal Palace people are always able to block their line of sending the football forward at critical moments, and it is difficult for them to comfortably send the football to the feet of the two forwards in front.
This made the Watford people very uncomfortable.
Flores on the sidelines naturally saw it, but he was not anxious at all!
He signaled to Watford's players to put more energy into defense and forget there was no chance in the counterattack. A draw with Watford is acceptable, and he does not believe that the Crystal Palace players can maintain such defensive intensity and concentration for 90 minutes. The Crystal Palace players will always make mistakes.
As long as Watford seizes the opportunity when the Crystal Palace people make mistakes, they will win this game!
The only thing to do now is to keep their Watford goal clean.
Therefore, at this time, Flores reminded the Watford people to defend with all their strength and not to give the Crystal Palace people a chance to threaten the goal.
But at this moment, Crystal Palace played a beautiful match!
De Bruyne's breakthrough with the ball in the midfield somewhat disrupted Watford's defensive arrangement. At the moment when the two midfielders pounced on him, De Bruyne actually knocked the football to the ball with his heel. Casemiro follows.
Casemiro did not stop the ball, but called a pass and quickly passed the football diagonally to Carvajal who was advancing from the wing!
Carvajal, with the help of Mane, rushed forward and caught up with the football!
The defensive players were blocked by Mane's body.
Opportunity, this is an excellent opportunity for Crystal Palace. The fans of Crystal Palace are in high spirits and are staring at the stadium with expectation.
At this moment, Carvajal caught up with the football and immediately turned his head to glance at Ignacio in the penalty area!
"Danger, Crystal Palace is about to cross again! Ignacio in the center is already ready, Watford's defense..." To be honest, Mortensen was a little worried about Watford's defense. This offensive opportunity is still very good. No one interfered with Carvajal's cross. This is full of threats!
Flores on the sidelines was shocked, his pupils dilated, dangerous!
In the penalty area, Watford's central defenders Pludle and Cathcart immediately retracted quickly. The two immediately went to guard Ignacio in the penalty area, and Ignacio easily took off and headed the goal. Opportunity.
Flores on the sidelines shouted loudly to remind his players to pay attention to Ignacio's defense.
At this moment, Carvajal on the wing immediately swung his legs and pretended to cross, but instead kicked the inverted triangle to sweep the football directly into the penalty area.
De Bruyne, who rushed up, threw away Watson, rushed towards the football, swung his leg and fired a blast!
"Long shot, De Bruyne long shot!" Mortensen roared excitedly.
With a bang, the football flew out like lightning and flew straight to the lower right corner of the goal.
The ball was very fast, and Gomez reacted quickly, but still did not touch the football. The football flew straight into Watford's goal.
