Can Town Exploit the Watford Gaps? Written by Pessimistic on Tuesday, 19th Feb 2013 13:56 I don't wish to sound like the harbinger of doom and gloom but I didn't get the tag The Pessimist for nothing! Tonight's game at Portman Road could make or break our season for a number of very good reasons. A narrow victory would catapult us up the table and out of immediate danger. A narrow defeat and we are firmly back in the relegation mire. On the other hand a draw - in whatever shape or form it takes - would not damage our fragile confidence and depending on other results, could see us rising further up the table, whilst ensuring that we had gleaned a very respectable four points from a possible six in our last two home fixtures and against quality sides! The worst case scenario however would be a heavy defeat and versus the free-flowing Hornets this too is very possible and would be a disaster for the Blues. The defence would be in tatters once more and the most important word in football, namely 'confidence' would be shot to pieces! We cannot allow this to happen and that is why it is vital we make some noise from the off tonight and not just wait until we look a bit threatening! It is in fact quite remarkable the sheer volume of noise generated by 1,000 away supporters and if we could replicate this at home and multiply it 16 or so times over, it really would sound like the Portman Road of old! Players can FEEL the atmosphere and this is where we come in! A lack of atmosphere is always helpful to the away side and it is no coincidence that teams that have fanatical vocal backing generally have good home records too. It is often not so much about how many people are out there so much as how much noise those people make! The more intimidating the atmosphere the more challenging it is for the opposition and this is where we can be the much talked about 12th man! Much has been written about Watford's amazing away record. They have plundered 36 goals on their travels in just 16 games, which is astonishing and real cause for concern. What makes matters even worse is that they are our bogey team and although we went some way to redress this with a 1-0 victory at Vicarage Road earlier in the season under Paul Jewell, the fact remains we have not beaten them here on our home turf since March 2004, when Dean Bowditch grabbed a sensational hat-trick. Tonight then is a very big ask, exacerbated further by the sad loss of Anthony Wordsworth in our last encounter. Watford have an abundance of goalscorers too - Troy Deeney, Czech-born Matej Vydra and midfield maestro Almen Abdi remain the major threats. Frighteningly the terrible trio have found the net 42 times so far - which is eight goals more than the entire Ipswich squad! We should not get too despondent though. Since Mick McCarthy took the reins we have sorted out our nervy defence and these days Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith are a force to be reckoned with and have really bonded well of late. Aaron Cresswell has rekindled his first season form and Richard Stearman has been a revelation at right-back! Even in the goalkeeping department we are looking more assured so from a defensive perspective we are looking good. Our biggest worry continues to be our midfield, however. Quite frankly, Carlos Edwards has lost some pace and his distribution is appalling at times. I cannot fathom out why McCarthy lets him retain the armband because surely he does not lead by example. The midfield in general lacks any sort of serious goal threat and although Guirane N'Daw and Luke Hyam contribute in no small way with their football vision, they suffer from severe bouts of vertigo in front of goal. Ironically, the defence has scored more than twice as many goals as the midfield this season and that tells you all you really need to know I guess. In attack, it is good to see Chops back on the score sheet and I feel sure Davd McGoldrick has lots of goals in him as the season progresses. Frank Frank Nouble, Aaron McLean and Daryl Murphy will also get goals but not on a frequent basis, I fear, so there is lots of work to be done here. So then what of tonight? We all know a lot about the Watford strike force but what about their defensive weaknesses? Let us make no mistake they have them and this is where Town have to exploit the Watford gaps! In 16 away games they have leaked 24 goals and this is where there is room for optimism. Interestingly, in all games that number 42 crops up again but this time in the negative column so they are conceding more than one a game - so there is hope! And remember that wonderful quote by James J Walker to help stir us on to better things this evening: "The blues of mental and physical wear and tear are not as devastating as the yellows of the quitter." It should be part of Mick McCarthy's team talk! Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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