Slaven Bilic didn’t mince words this morning when he spoke about the need to be ready to play at the pace he requires, saying: “If you’re not fit, you’re basically useless.”
The Watford manager has spoken of the need to improve fitness levels within the squad since joining the club, and has always had an eye on the World Cup break as an opportunity to have some fun working on it.
However, in the interim, he and his staff have tried to get more out of the players despite a match-packed run.
“Football is not just about tempo, but if you lack tempo, you don’t stand a chance,” he said.
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“If you are not fit, you have little chance, even in a league slower than the Championship.
“Each game goes through phases. There will be a period of calm and then it’s five or 10 minutes of great racing, making the field big, one on one. For that you need to be fit, and only when you are can you make proper use of your quality on the ball, your sharpness, your craft.
“If you’re not in shape, you’re basically useless.
“We are improving in terms of fitness, both visibly and statistically. And that’s a good thing.”
Bilic gave the example of Dan Gosling, who entered midfield at Cardiff on Wednesday night after a string of games at full-back, and gave a performance that specialized in being able to cover the pitch for 90 minutes.
“Dan ran the most and his numbers are top of the list,” Bilic said.
“Maybe sometimes people don’t notice him because he’s not as focused as Kayembe.
“It was beautiful for us on Wednesday night. It may not technically do spectacular things, but it was always where we needed it.
“His numbers in terms of career were exceptional. I think he covered more than 11km, and that’s the best, the best.”
The performance in Cardiff was brave and determined, but lacked the fluidity and style of Luton’s game. However, both Wednesday and Saturday at Wigan showed that the Hornets know how to ‘win ugly’.
“Sometimes you don’t play very well and still get the points,” Bilic said.
“But in Cardiff, apart from the first 20 minutes, I was satisfied with how we played. If you talk about the 60 or 70 minutes between the bad start and when they were throwing bodies forward at the end, I think we did well.
“We passed the ball well, our passes were sharp, we showed a willingness to play forward. We had 16 goal attempts. The only thing I didn’t like was our quality in the last third. To be fair, the hardest thing in football is to have quality on that part of the pitch.”
The Watford head coach admitted his side still need to defend from set pieces better after conceding an early corner at Cardiff, but there has been a marked improvement since the Millwall debacle.
“We have to improve in the defense of our small area because in every game you are going to face opponents who have the ability to threaten you from set pieces.
“You cannot cancel the number and variety of set pieces that a team will have: throw-ins, corners, free kicks. That means there will be 10, 15, maybe more situations where you need to defend your box each game.
“Of course, if your opponents have good delivery and great players and combine the two, then give them credit. But you’re never happy when you concede on set plays.
“The goal the other night was a free header. If your opponent jumps you, timing is great, delivery is great, then that’s fine. But the goal we conceded against Cardiff your player was absolutely alone.
“It is a question of determination and will to defend. We’re not bad at it, but you want to be 100%.”
