Balance not quite right, says Vialli

5:03pm Monday 3rd December 2001

LUCU VIALLI stressed that while pleased with a point, the display at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, December 1, demonstrated that Watford still have not got the balance right.

Said the Watford manager after the 0-0 draw: "I think we should have won it because of the way we played in the second half.

I think we should have threatened their goalkeeper more. We had a few half chances when, with a bit more composure and a bit more decisiveness in playing the last ball, we would have created a bit more".

"I was pleased with the way we played up to the last 20 yards for most of the game. I thought we were the better side but we didn't make the right decision at times. We have played Nottingham twice and only got one point, which is quite hard to take.

"We did not have enough conviction or we had no conviction at times. Perhaps, because of the number of games we have played during the week, there wasn't enough freshness and also coolness. When you play away from home, the chances are not being tackled as decisively as you do when you play in front of your own supporters.

"We don't want to be a defensive side but we don't want to do, as we have in the past, give away goals very cheaply. Yet we have still got to maintain that desire to go forward and make problems for the opposition. It is just about finding the right balance between being defensive-minded and offensive-minded."

For more post-match opinion and analysis, see The Watford Observer on Friday, December 7.

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