The Hornets have had a poor start to the new Championship campaign
Watford head coach Paulo Pezzolano remains confident things will click into gear in the not too distant future after he watched his side beaten 1-0 at Millwall on Monday night.
Watford dominated possession at The Den but were undone by a Camiel Neghl free-kick after just 10 minutes to give the Lions a first home win, and inflict a third defeat in the opening six games on the Hornets, who are only outside the drop zone on goal difference above Derby County.
To make matters worse for the Uruguayan boss, goalkeeper Egil Selvik had to be replaced at half-time by former Hull City loanee Nathan Baxter and is now a doubt for Saturday’s clash against the Tigers at Vicarage Road.
Pezzolano, though, believes things will turn in his side’s favour, having suffered a similarly slow start during his spell in Spain with Valladolid.
“We deserved something from the game,” the 42-year-old said. “The team made a great effort physically; they’re growing and are in a process, but we must keep going. The finishing will come. It is a part of the process the team is going through. These players deserve more. It’s hard to give a timeframe for a situation like this. Today (Monday), the team showed a different face to that in the previous match.
“They did well against a difficult opponent and the game was defined by a very small margin. All we have to do is keep working and keep on the same track and keep it going every day. We had more chances and more control than in the previous game.
“We like having options and it is good for us to have attacking players and players for control. We are comfortable with what the players showed today and the path they are on.”
Despite some supporters’ concerns about the start to the season, which has seen only one win and just five goals scored, Pezzolano is not worried, having experienced something similar before.
“At Valladolid, when we won promotion, after our first five games, we were in the relegation zone,” the former Cruzeiro chief said. “The first 10 games it wasn’t great, and then we started being in the promotion fight midway through. In our last 10 games, we won nine and won promotion.
“Historically, everywhere we have been, the beginning has not been easy in terms of results because it takes players a while to realise the training culture, the working culture and how we show up for work every day. We all want to win, and when we don’t, we go home and we’re miserable.
“But the thing is we need to get over that and see if things are improving every day, if our work is good and if we’re improving our training culture. If I wasn’t seeing an improvement, an evolution, then I would be worried. But that’s not the case.”
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