Match Review – Watford 0-0 Brighton
One point gained or two points dropped? That was the big question when leaving Vicarage Road on Saturday after the Albion had picked up their first Premier League points of the campaign.
If you offered us a point before the game against Watford we’d have maybe not bitten your hand of but at least had a chew on a couple of fingers. But playing against 10 men for over an hour in a game we dominated did make this feel very much like an opportunity missed.
This will no doubt come as a surprise to everyone reading, but what we lacked was a striker who could put the ball in the back of the net. We created so many chances and we hit the woodwork twice yet still couldn’t manage to score.
With Tomer Hemed the only fit senior striker and plenty of questions over whether he is up to the standard or indeed even has a future at the club, getting a new striker in before the window shuts is now a matter of urgency. Chris Hughton was rumoured to have taken a phone call on Saturday from Stevie Wonder telling him we need a centre forward and fast. Without one, it’s hard to see us staying up.
Right, that’s the depressing facts of the matter out of the way. There were plenty of positives. Anthony Knockaert looked back to his unplayable best, to the point where Miguel Britos was sent off for not being able to cope with him inside the first 25 minutes.
It was a horrible challenge; yes, Britos had to make the foul as otherwise Knockaert was away but he didn’t need to try and snap his leg into several pieces. We’d love to know how much ketamine the Watford fans describing it as harsh afterwards and booing Knockaert’s every touch had taken to have such a warped view of reality.
Both Knockaert and Tomer Hemed hit the post in the first half while the Albion were getting real joy out wide, Solly March in particular looking very good. Nathaniel Chalobah had a header cleared off the line by Lewis Dunk in Watford’s only real chance.
The second half was a similar story, despite the half time substitution of Bruno who endured a chastening afternoon in which he received a deserved booking early on and as a result, looked like a red card waiting to happen before the break. Liam Rosenior replaced him and slotted in seamlessly at the back. It’s good to have him back after last season’s injury woes.
Knockaert was denied by Huerilhio Gomes and Hemed put another chance wide. Hughton eventually summoned record signing Jose Izquierdo from the bench with nine minutes remaining.
While Hughton obviously wanted to ensure we didn’t lose the game, it seemed like a negative move to wait so long to introduce a player whose pace could’ve stretched a tiring defence and opened up more spaces and opportunities.
Plenty was made of his negative style of management in the Premier League with Norwich City and giving Izquierdo a good half hour here would’ve been bold move which might have won us the game.
It was hard to tell in such a short space of time how good the Colombian will be. He looks quicker than Troy Deeney to an all you can eat buffet, let one powerful shot go after cutting inside and sprinted back to put in an excellent last ditch tackle. More time is needed though before we can properly judge despite some of the more special elements of the Albion support declaring him a rip roaring success already.
You’ve got to think he will be unleashed from the start in our next game in two weeks time against West Bromwich Albion. And hopefully that will be along with a new striker, whether that be Shane Long, Deeney or somebody from Europe none of us have ever heard of but can get excited about because he looks good on YouTube.
Without one, it could be a long season.
