Ismaël happy with his Watford fightback

Thursday, 7 March 2024, 8:12
2 mins read

Valérien Ismaël was happy with the second half display shown by his side in last night’s 1-1 draw with the Swans but still felt that his players were too afraid to make a mistake and that is something that he wants to continue to work on.

Watford looked like a side destined for another defeat in the first half as the Swans dominated the game totally but the second half painted a different picture, a picture that may have frustrated Luke Williams but clearly pleased the Watford manager.

Watford have not won at home this year and it was showing with empty spaces seen all round Vicarage Road and the frustrations of the home crowd in attendance was not helped by an own goal inside the first twenty minutes which gave the Swans the lead.   The key moment though could  possibly be pinpointed to a pin point save on the stroke of half time where Cabango’s header was kept out.

Whether Watford would have had the mental strength to fight back from a two goal deficit we will never know but it certainly gave them time to regroup during the interval, something which they did to good effect and found themselves level just ten minutes into the second half.

Embed from Getty Images

“It was a difficult game given our situation at the minute”, said Ismaël.  “You can clearly see the mental side plays a big part to the players, and everything came together with the goal we conceded. Last week it was after three minutes, today was an own goal but nonetheless I think in the second half we came with more energy, and the fans responded well and gave the players some energy.

“I think that we wanted to be too sure with an extra touch into the box, so we think too much at the minute, we overthink everything so everything seems to be difficult, and when you take the extra touch then the opponent is there to defend.

“That’s why we got blocked, we had a lot of chances to create but it is like this when you are in a situation like us, when you are not winning games, it goes in the confidence. I was a player so I know how it feels, but we give the confidence to the players, we keep pushing, and the best antidote now is to win a game, and we have the next chance on Saturday.

“I think we work a lot at the moment with the players on this side. It is not technically or tactically, just the confidence when you miss the pass, and when you don’t want to make the decision, and play negative backpasses.

“It is clear that they don’t want to make the mistake, or you come into the box and take an extra touch. We just need now to come back to our strengths, and don’t think too much – “just play and pass the ball, if you make a mistake in front it doesn’t matter. Play positive, play forward,” so this is what we talk about always with the players, but they are too worried at the moment and then it happens the opposite [way than they want].”

You can watch extended highlights of the game here

Embed from Getty Images
Images courtesy of Getty Images, Athena Picture Agency and Swansea City Football Club.

Phil Sumbler

Been watching the Swans since the very late 1970s and running the Planet Swans website (in all its current and previous guises since the summer of 2001 As it stood JackArmy.net was right at the forefront of some of the activity against Tony Petty back in 2001, breaking many of the stories of the day as fans stood against the actions where the local media failed. Was involved with the Swans Supporters Trust from 2005, for the large part as Chairman before standing down in the summer of 2020.

League Table

Next Up

Forum Latest

Threads: 18,889

Messages: 264,307

Members: 4,699

Latest member: Scro

Next Up

League Table

Last 6 Results

Latest from Blog

Swans TV: Žan Vipotnik on Oxford United | Reaction

. . .Žan Vipotnik talks to Swans TV following Swans' Championship clash against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…

Swans TV: Oxford United v Swansea City | Highlights

. . .watch some of the key moments from the Swans' Championship clash against Oxford at the Kassam Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…

Swans TV: Oxford United v Swansea City | Extended Highlights

. . .watch all of the key moments from the Swans' Championship clash against Oxford at the Kassam Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC Follow…

Swans TV: Luke Williams on Oxford United | Reaction

. . .Luke Williams talks to Swans TV following his side's Championship clash against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium. For more information, as well as all the latest Swansea City AFC news, log onto the club's official website at http://www.swanseacity.com Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SWANSPLAYER Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SwanseaCityFC…

Don't Miss

Swans TV: Žan Vipotnik on Oxford United | Reaction

. . .Žan Vipotnik talks to Swans TV following Swans'

Swans TV: Luke Williams on Oxford United | Reaction

. . .Luke Williams talks to Swans TV following his