In a rough-and-tumble afternoon of Premier League football, Watford beat Crystal Palace 2-1.
The game had some meaty challenges and was a game of two halves in terms of the tactical battle. Who were the winners and losers?
Winner: 4-2-2-2
Javi Gracia is insistent on his particular system of play. Watford’s 4-2-2-2 isn’t one that you tend to see in the Premier League, but the Hornets are proving that it can be a workable system if it’s done right.
The main advantage of it is that it gives you four (presumably) skilled midfielders in a compact block in the middle of the pitch; this makes Watford a strong defensive outfit when dealing with teams looking to pass through the centre of the park – as many top sides do. And with the ball Watford can then play fast, passing football full of positional interchanges with lots of options for the player with the ball to either pass or carry the ball forward, knowing there is cover behind him.
Against Palace, after a rough first-half (more on that later), Watford’s 4-2-2-2 showed its strength in the second period. Here the Hornets clamped down on possession of the ball, moving it quickly and creating overloads – the major benefit of the system is how easily they can shift personnel over to one side of the pitch to overwhelm opponents, and that’s what they did to Palace.
The formation also gifted them the first goal, as Etienne Capoue ran through midfield (as the system encourages him to do) before finding Pereyra in the half-space, ready to come narrow and make the great finish.
Loser: 4-4-2
The major weakness of 4-2-2-2 comes out wide, so Crystal Palace knew they could create some danger if they could get the ball to their skilful wide players. Defensively, the 4-2-2-2 is a lot like the Death Star. It’s designed to deal with mass numbers attacking through the middle, because it blocks the channel up. However one solitary player making a run whilst the ball is out wide, can sneak past the defences.
That’s what Palace counted on in the first half, where they used their superior numbers out wide to create crossing opportunities. And instead of throwing mass bodies into the middle, they had just one or two targets and trusted in the accuracy of the cross. This led to Andros Townsend creating two golden chances for Christian Benteke and James McArthur that were not taken.
One would have expected Palace to make something happen in the second, but Watford stepped their control up and outnumbered Palace in the central zones, laying bare the weaknesses of the 4-4-2. It was quite telling that Palace got back into the game, scoring their only goal, by abandoning the 4-4-2 and switching to 4-3-3.
Winner: Roberto Pereyra
What a start to the season Roberto Pereyra is having! Three goals in three games to put him joint-top of the golden boot charts is the kind of start he and the Watford fans could have only dreamed of. He’s become incredibly effective in Watford’s 4-2-2-2 system that allows him the freedom to roam and probe, and he showed that today.
Pereyra was Watford’s most vibrant attacker, his movement between the lines was hard to pick up as he was drifting into dangerous positions mostly out of the half-space, eluding Palace’s rudimentary marking. He scored his goal from this spot, coming narrow on a counter-attack, picking the ball up and immediately needing to beat just one man to get his shot off – he did that with ease and guided the ball home.
Loser: Christian Benteke
Benteke is a striker in absolutely pitiful form. It’s strange to see him be so ineffective knowing that he is capable of being incredibly dominant; what exactly has got him playing so poorly?
It’s certainly not his team-mates who are playing in a style that suits him perfectly and moreover even providing him with great chances. Early in the game Andros Townsend sent in a beautiful cross for the big Belgian, a cross that was just begging to be thumped home, but Benteke’s header was soft and too close to Ben Foster to trouble him.
The fact that he was removed with Palace chasing an equaliser in the last 10 minutes says it all.
Winner: Ben Foster
Watford walked away from this game with a 2-1 victory and that was the result their play deserved, but they very nearly didn’t get that. Crystal Palace started the game so brightly and were well on the front foot as they looked to cut the Hornets to ribbons on the counter.
But even as they picked apart the Watford defensive shape, they found an immovable object in their way in the form of Ben Foster. The former Manchester United man (who had a couple of successful loan spells at Vicarage Road early in his career) was an effective roadblock, stopping shots that he had no right to do (especially an effort from James McArthur).
Loser: Wayne Hennessey
Come on, Wayne. How did you let that happen to you? When Jose Holebas had cut the ball back onto his right foot out wide on the left-flank, there was no danger. He was obviously going to launch the ball back into the box, but that’s why you stay on your line and remain vigilant.
Instead Hennessey moved forward, as though preparing himself to save a shot or combat a neat dink into the box as though he was playing against Philippe Coutinho or something. As a result Holebas’ mishit cross sailed over his head and into the back of the net, making it 2-0 and ultimately winning Watford the game.
The post The winners and losers as Watford’s ‘magic square’ pulls another three points out of the hat appeared first on Squawka News.
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