Adventure Club Watford: Fill & Download for Free

Ill put my TL;DR at the top for you all:Arsenal - Samuel UmtitiAston Villa - Phil JonesBournemouth - Ulreich / RomeroBrighton - Andre SchurrleBurnley - Matt PhilipsChelsea - Hachim ZiyechCrystal Palace - Cedric SoaresEverton - Mesut OzilLeicester - Adama / VillalbaLiverpool - CalhanogluMan City - Leonardo BonucciMan United - Blaise MatuidiNewcastle - FredNorwich - Adam LallanaSheffield - Daniel SturridgeSouthampton - Matija NastasicTottenham - Leon BaileyWatford - Sofiane BoufalWest Ham - Matia PerinWolves - Ruben VezoArsenal - Samuel Umtiti - Currently out injured but there is a real chance he will not be getting a place back when he returns. Lenglet is the future and nobody will replace Pique unless through injury.Aston Villa - In need of an experienced Centre Back, for me a realistic option for them would be Phil Jones - One of those Man United are desperate to get rid of. This of course hinges on their ability to bring in replacements but he would certainly be a good option for Villa.Bournemouth - The re-emergence of Manuel Neuer has meant Sven Ulreich represents a reasonable, experienced option for the Cherries in goal. Also, I’m sure that Dean Hendersons loan spell at Sheffield will not be made permanent so there is an option for Sergio Romero to come and get some first team footballBrighton and Hove Albion - Andre Schurrle - His Fulham loan spell was hardly a success, but he showed he still has enough to operate at this level. His experience and goal threat will be very handy for a Brighton side who whilst talented, definitely need a little more impetus further up the pitch.Burnley - Matt Phillips - Time for the WBA winger to come back to the Premier League - his work rate and ability would be perfect for a Sean Dyche side with a focus on supplying his front men with quality.Chelsea - Hachim Ziyech - Time for the Ajax star to move on. Chelsea with their new, young outlook are in need of replacing Pedro and Willian on the wings, both on the wrong side of 30 and both lacking in the productivity required at a top club. Ziyech represents a Hazard-esque quality of finding the gaps and unlocking the door which Chelsea are missing.Crystal Palace - Cedric Soares - The Southampton full-back has fallen behind the newly emerged Jan Valery in Southampton hearts, and I’m sure that southampton have another Academy prospect waiting in the wings. But the adventurous fullback would go some way to filling the Wan-Bissaka shaped hole in Roy Hodgsons defence.Everton - Mesut Ozil. Now, hear me out. Ozil is very much out of favour at Arsenal- whilst his talents recognised he just isn’t fitting with the high tempo play and whilst he could probably make a case for being one of the most naturally talented players out there, he just isn’t playing and rightly so. Everton represent a nice move for him - a league he knows, he can be the player to unlock the potential of Calvert-Lewin and Kean, and he can challenge Sigurdsson for the right to start in the 10 role. This is a little left-field but I think once you consider it, it may just work.The major stumbling block is wages.Leicester City - Adama Traore / Hector Villalba - One is semi-established in the Premier League, the other is an MLS star. Both are what Leicester need; lightning quick, direct wingers. Either of these would represent a change from the current crop at Leicester and provide support for the evergreen Jamie Vardy.Liverpool - Hakan Calhanoglu - Liverpool do not need a bonafide star to come in. They need someone with some guile, creativity, and workrate to augment the team. This is where Calhanoglu comes in. The AC Milan winger/midfielder is a creative, dynamic, set piece specialist. He wouldn’t be stepping on any toes and similar to the jobs of the Ox and Shaqiri, would simply serve to supply and stretch the front 3.A viable option for the 3rd midfield member, is realistically available for the right price.Manchester City - I said for a while that N’golo Kante would be perfect for City, but since the arrival of Rodri and Kante going somewhat off his previous, astonishing form, I will leave that one alone. The clear area for improvement is in central defence. The first choice pair would undoubtedly be Laporte and Stones, but for me, to improve would be to bring in a genuinely solid defender who can play. Having already got a relationship with Juventus, the arrival of Leonardo Bonucci would be excellent. Behind Chiellini, De Ligt, and sometimes Rugani in the Juventus pecking order, he represents an outrageous amount of experience, ball playing quality, and I’m sure a willingness to help the increasingly young dressing room.Manchester United - What they need is a destroyer of teams, a Roy Keane, a Gennaro Gattuso, a Vieira, a Kante, a Casemiro. But as it is, they aren’t available for a variety of reasons. Instead, my relatively left-field option is Blaise Matuidi from Juventus. The world cup winning dynamo could be repurposed to use his incredible energy to shuttle and defend the defence, something so needed in the United team. His arrival could galvanise his french teammates form (Pogba and Martial), whilst showing everyone else just what professionalism looks like.Newcastle United - Fred. The United outcast could do well at Newcastle. Sporting an inherently likeable personality, with enough quality to represent an upgrade on the current midfield options in Tyneside. This deal would hinge on just how much of a loss United are willing to take.Norwich City - In need of a Premier League old hand to guide them through this season. Adam Lallana - not really in the Liverpool squad anymore, young enough to do some good work for Norwich, and relatively available and experienced.Sheffield United - Could probably do with a few additions in all honesty, but I think for Sheffield a decent striker would save them. Daniel Sturridge - depending entirely on how he is getting on at Trabzonspor. If as I suspect he doesn’t quite fit in, then Sheffield could be a good homecoming for him.Southampton - Matija Nastasic - He would cost a lot, and he would represent a departure from the usual Southampton method of transfers, but ultimately he is a huge upgrade on the current CB options and could be the man to preserve Southampton’s premier league statusTottenham Hotspur - Leon Bailey - Leverkusens exciting young Jamaican has been catching eyes across Europe and he fits exactly what Spurs seem to need. A dynamic winger with an eye for goal, he has also been touted as a future centre forward - a position Spurs are particularly short on. Not the most available on the list, but certainly for the right price.Watford - See, Watford are so mid-table its hard to see where they can improve. What I have identified though is that although they are a perfectly talented team - the trickery in the squad comes from Deulofeu and Peyreyra, the latter of whom is a bit of a stretch. So for me, some nice cheap trickery is whats needed. That little bit of magic to get them out of a slump or create something from nowhere - so I would buy Sofiane Boufal. The wingers’ spell at Southampton has been less than fruitful but he has still shown exactly what he is capable of, remember his goal of the season contender?West Ham - Now, no disrespect to Mr Fabianski - he has shown time and time again why Arsenal were fools to let him go, and he really is a good goalkeeper. But I think its time. I was torn between a new defender and a new goalkeeper for the Hammers, but this is all about January and availability. Any defender would have next to no impact whilst they acclimate and there aren’t necessarily any in West Hams price range that would come and actually improve the side. So, goalkeepers. Mattia Perin.His Benfica move fell apart and if West Ham were canny they could easily hijack the re-ignition of this deal come January. A supremely talented keeper and unfortunately for our friend Lukasz, first choice for the next season.Wolves - Ruben Vezo. The Levante man is destined for more than La Liga obscurity, so why not come and join the Portuguese revolution in the Premier League. A step up from Ryan Bennett who currently operates in Vezo’s preferred position on the right hand side of the back 3. Levante also represent a club whose players are ultimately purchasable for the right price. This move would be sensible, realistic, and genuinely good for all parties.

The primary reason, other than aesthetic things like sound effects, camera angles and replays, is technical.Every team ‘has a go in England’ it is a notoriously physical league and the primary thing to think about is that contrary to expectation it is the team without the ball that sets the tempo due to where, when, how and why they try and win the ball back. Relentless physical pressure in tight to the park stadiums can create an impression of chaos or at least, intermittent lack of structure.Remember people said (including me) that Guardiola might struggle to adapt to this relentless physicality of opponents in England? That no-one can win a league with no easy games without a physically robust approach to tackling? In Spain and Germany the schedule is not so relentless in terms of fan expectation or competition (especially when big sides play away from home).My partner at How To Watch Football and fellow Quoran Srinivas Potluri has covered lots of the issues here, below: Pep Guardiola finds a winning formula in a game of tweaksPep Guardiola finds a winning formula in a game of tweaksBy Srinivas PotluriOn 2017-12-23Pep seems to have found a formula and much of it can be attributed to his work on the training ground. © Manchester City FCIn the world of England’s Premier League fans and pundits are consistent in their claims that their competition is the most competitive, the toughest and most physical challenge there is in football.The Premier League is a fantastically run league. It is a commercial powerhouse. But at least until the most recent past, it has endured the reputation as a competition where the product on the park has notably lagged behind the stellar outputs of the marketing men.So keep that important context in mind. We will return to it later.To understand how Pep improved Man City, and with it the quality of England’s Premier League, then we need to go back to the day his side were defeated 4-2 at Leicester’s King Power Stadium in December 2016.After the defeat to Leicester, a side who were flirting with relegation at the time, Pep appeared to be at a crossroads. The honeymoon period with the nation’s media was declared officially over and for the first time Guardiola was forced to ‘show his working’.The pundits said City’s sides were soft and the defenders simply not streetwise enough. Their coach was criticised for his squad not trying to impose themselves physically which, for many, is the baseline for winning in England.For his part, Pep fronted it up to the critics and declared that he would both stick to his style and also not allow English Football’s received wisdom to intimidate him.His answer was: “I’m not a coach for tackles. So, I don’t train for tackles. What I want is to try to play well and score goals and arrive more. What’s tackles?”This was on December 10th, 2016.Pep Guardiola says he doesn’t train Man City players tackling after defeat by LeicesterOf course, Pep Guardiola would likely have started to analyse the reasons behind Leicester taking a 2-0 first half lead as soon as he got onto the team coach after the game. He will have known that it takes time to come to terms with the league in England but equally he is not someone who is necessarily going to compromise his style to adapt.This Leicester game though, will probably have challenged Guardiola to change the way he analyses the flow of an average game in England. Because on December 16th 2017, he returned to the fray with some key observations.For the first time, the coach gave us his definition of the English question, the complexities he or any coach needs to resolve for success in the Premier League.This is a competition notable for its unpredictability of outcomes. But while most ascribe this inherent game to game unpredictability to the rigours of hard, relentless, physical competition, Guardiola suggested that it is the extended period that the ball is in the air that gives English football its unique character.He said: “I understood English football the day I saw one game – I was at home – Swansea Crystal Palace – nine goals, eight set-pieces, we’ve to control that. So the ball is stopped, controlled. Corners, throw-ins, falls in, goals. That’s English Football. I’ve to adapt to that. Because, never before I’ve to live that. Of course, there are corners, there are many things but not with that kind of influence in the game.”So, why does the ball being in the air add such profound uncertainty to England’s football?Guardiola explained this indirectly when asked about what he expected Watford to do? He answered that, they are good with aerial balls and would play very much like Leicester, West Brom, Stoke. He says that when the ball is in the air whoever wins it is stronger and better in that moment. So, if a Watford striker wins it against his defender, then that striker has snatched the initiative and his side have momentum. But even if we accept that fact as significant, there is the issue of how you resolve the problem in order to proceed.For example, a high press won’t obviously work against a composed back four or a decent footballer-keeper that kicks it well from backpasses. So why press high?If you accept you won’t pinch possession high up the park then the next best outcome from a press is to win second balls.But not all the sides play the same way. Liverpool presses high and are already in a counter attacking formation by the time they win the ball. Spurs, Chelsea compress and expand the space around the ball as they wish. United sit deep and wait to pounce on your mistakes with notable quality. Arsenal being Arsenal will try to balance everything out but typically find themselves answering a question that no-one has posed. The rest mostly play the same way with little variations. Leicester has pace and efficiency, West Ham had a little guile but currently limited ambition. Watford are robust. West Brom work for set-pieces and set-pieces alone.And so it is that Man City have different methods to tackle different systems in the League and these are bound by some common themes that give Pep Guardiola’s current side its identity.The most striking thing is that City’s full backs no longer automatically go on an adventure. They are excellent at timing their moments to attack, being unpredictable in the initiation of their build up.With most of the lower half sides which sit deep and clear their lines as early and long as possible, City maintain a low block with full backs tucked in. Their fullbacks hardly progress at all when compared to Pep’s former sides.At Bayern, Guardiola’s fullbacks did various jobs. They moved into spaces usually reserved for central midfielders, sometimes they split wide from their centre backs and always carried an attacking intent, hugging the touchline. But at City this season, you see them largely sticking close to the nearest central defender. Keeping them close (along with Fernandinho’s cover) usually helps City to win second balls quicker and if they fail, at least this can halt the fall-out of a physical tusssle lost in open play or following a restart.City’s greatest addition this season is an added unpredictability to the way they initiate their build up play. And this is working primarily due to how good Ederson is with his feet and also due to a marked improvement in other players’ tactical abilty.The game 4-1 win against Spurs on December 16th 2017 showed us exactly what City can do.The keeper Ederson hit a pinpoint pass about 35–40 yards straight towards a backtracking Aguero with the weight of the ball so perfect, it helped Aguero receive, turn and start running at Spurs in an instant.A few minutes later, Ederson chose to pass it to Delph. A combination of Delph, Fernando, Mangala and Gundogan took about six Spurs players out off the game with passes and movement all within about 10 square yards of space. That was incredible.The key here is that there is no Kevin De Bruyne or Sane involved in either passage of play and it is a fact that emphasises that City’s most dynamic players are out there, free in space, where they can roam and do damage in the final third.And there are notable improvements, seemingly in every player within their supporting cast.Mangala was offered to West Brom in exchange for Jonny Evans in August 2017. Mangala was also of interest to Crystal Palace until Palace struck a deal with Liverpool over Sakho. Delph looked set to feature only in the Carabao Cup. But those two players are key with their recent performances. Milner when played at Left Back did his job better than the natural left backs starting at about 13 rival clubs. I have no idea what to say about Delph. He will commit mistakes but at heart he is a box-box centre mid who is brave in possession and is accustomed to taking chances. A lot of what is required of the left back is the product of instant risk analysis and also hard-wired instinct. It is a hard role to learn as a mature player. So, this points up the tremendous job done on the training ground at City.And it is not all about movement, positioning and passing. There is also the mental aspect too.In Jan of 2017, Everton beat City by four goals. Pep, in his post-game conference, spoke about being strong.“In so many games we create enough chances but when they arrive they score and the second time they arrive they score. That for the mind of the players is tough, mentally tough and that is why we must keep going be strong and work harder.”Everton 4-0 Manchester CityIn the recent game against West Ham, the underdogs created once, scored once. City made sure that West Ham wouldn’t sucker punch them again before a lead was established in their favour. West Ham managed to create a second opportunity in the dying minutes. But City managed to do enough to close out the game and take the points with a combination of solid organisation and dynamic attacking play.Late winning goals against Bournemouth and Southampton also indicate that these are City players that are confident and trust in their abilities. These abilities are not individualistic in expression, but are correlated and collective. They remain patient, they stick to their plan until they create the openings they need to score. City are a team. First and foremost.I believe Pep has been most successful in making City greater than the sum of their parts – a squad that feels stronger and better than they are as individuals.The most impressive part is that City are dominating without committing themselves in challenges, overly much. Should this continue, Guardiola will have ripped up the book of accepted wisdom that dictates how, when and where teams win the title in England.He is on record as saying: “Give me time. If you analyse last month, yes, I am failing but give me some time. Sir Alex Ferguson, my idol took 11 years to win EPL, Liverpool is 25 years since they last won the league and I said from the very beginning of me being here – I need time. Four home games and we scored four goals. I am responsible and have no defence against that. Does it mean I need to change what I believe in. No, I need to improve what I believe in. That is my perception. We’ve to be strong and accept all your opinions. But I wish, I hope they will give me a little bit more time.”A year and a week after this statement was made by Pep Guardiola in December 2106, where are we now?The Scoreboard Journalism of fans, and too many ex-players, can only take you so far in the short term – and that is despite the fact that, of course, results inevitably define every manager’s tenure. What occurs in between is always far more interesting than a roll-call of fixtures and results. And that is no more so than in the case of Pep Guardiola’s reign at Man City so far.

Sorry for late reply. Had to think of exactly how to answer this.Short answer is a firm “No”But let's be clear about this. I was born fifteen minutes walk up the road from my house. I moved back to Watford after 17 years living in NW London because I couldn't pay my rent.So I did not choose to be back here. I was forced back here because of basic economics.So… For 21 years we fought for the Croxley Rail link which would have put a station nearer my house and joined the Metropolitan line to the Northampton Line in the town centre. The London Mayor bailed out on promises of another fifty million after we already spent two hundred million so far. Sadiq Khan fucked us because Watford is not a London Borough. So hundreds of cars a day drive in to London that could have been taken off the road if we had better rail connections.Then we have the shopping.Massive redevelopments still in progress that have been going for years.The town centre has been a construction site for over two years.So, many people go to Uxbridge or Brent Cross or even Harrow or Rickmansworth rather than Watford because no one likes the noise of a construction site all day.But it will look amazing when completed.I remember when I first went to Katowice in Poland. It was very much a massive construction site. I went back there recently. The town centre is a shopper's paradise. Watford could be almost as amazing as that but I am not convinced because our bus and train links are shit. At least the Polish understand transport infrastructure. The English don't.What else?Good facilities for kids, but I am not a parent. I am just happy they are at the local adventure playground or local community club rather than vandalising stuff on the streets.Cleaner energy. Ultra energy efficient street lamps and lots of street furniture is solar powered.Politically Watford has shifted to being a Liberal Democrat stronghold. In the 1997 General election the Lib Dems got 800 votes, the Tories around 18000 and Labour around 23000… Compare that to today - we have a Tory MP and a Lib Dem Council and Mayor. Of course it annoys me that Labour made so many whopping mistakes that the town got sick of their BS but I am happy the Liberal Democrats have served our Town well.