Reaction: TC On Sheffield United & Bachmann

Tom Cleverley admitted he is disappointed that the Hornets did not have anything to show for their performance after his side fell to a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United at Vicarage Road.

Gustavo Hamer’s early strike meant the Golden Boys fell behind for a fifth successive match, before Jeremy Ngakia equalised with his first goal for the club soon after.

However, Andre Brooks’ goal soon after the half-time interval earned the Blades all three points.

“It is one of those games that in the run we are in, you lose, but if you are in the run we were in four weeks ago, we win,” the Head Coach told watfordfc.com. 

“The performance level was strong against the team who have accumulated the most points in the league this year, but they have a core of players who just know how to get the job done - maybe we are missing that.

“This performance is sustainable, but today, give me points over performance any day of the week. That is five games on the trot we have given up the lead, so we are just giving ourselves too much to do on a weekly basis.”

Defeat against Chris Wilder’s side means the Hornets have been beaten in four of their last five matches, with all of these games coming in a two-week period over Christmas and New Year.

When asked on his reflections for the period, and how he will look to bounce back, Cleverley responded: “First of all, it is the environment. Nothing technical crosses my mind right now.

“It is about keeping everyone together - staff, players, supporters. In these periods in the past, we have gone very individual, so we have to try and keep everyone together first, and then we will look technically how we will improve.

“As the leader of the players, I cannot show my disappointment too much. But I think that the amount you sacrifice and how hard we have worked over the last two or three weeks, to get three points from our return of five games is really, really disappointing.

“I am pretty low reflecting on the period as a whole, we have got a day to dust ourselves off and then go again.

“We cannot beat around the bush - it has been a poor return.

“I said to the players at the start of December that it [the festive period] really, really, tests you physically and mentally, and I hope that they remember those messages throughout their career because it has got the better of us a little bit, how relentless it has been, how we have not managed to deal with setbacks as well as we have during the season.

“It has been a disappointing period for us and now our mental strength will really be tested.”

This run of form has seen Watford drop to ninth in the Sky Bet Championship, albeit still only three points off the play-offs with a game in hand.

The Head Coach was quick to dismiss the idea that the Hornets had been overachieving in the first half of 2024/25.

“In a funny old way, I expect overachievement,” he stated. “I think we work as hard as we possibly can as a staff and a group of players, so I see overachieving as par.

“I have set really high standards which I will continue to demand from the players and the staff, so I am disappointed at the moment.

“For me, despite what we did last year and the amount of money we have managed to generate from sales, I still expected what we are doing this year.

“We have got ten days until our next league game now, so it is time to have a little bit of reflection and get ready for the next big push.”

Cleverley also offered the following update on the fitness of Daniel Bachmann after the goalkeeper was stretchered off after the full-time whistle.

“The early indications are positive,” he explained.

“We have managed to rule out a couple of the more serious ones - the dislocation of the ankle and an Achilles tendon rupture, so early indications are a lot more positive than it looked during the incident.

“We will continue to assess and give you more news when we know.”

Finally, the Head Coach was full of praise for goalscorer Jeremy Ngakia given the sustained level of his performances since his return from injury.

“It is sometimes something that goes under the radar, individual performances when you are in a poor run,” Cleverley added.

“Jeremy is one who can really have his head held high. He has been really consistent, and his performances have been very pleasing.

“He is someone I am really happy who is back playing to his best.”