Watford Coach Cleverley Stresses Need for Away Form Improvement

Tom Cleverley, Watford’s head coach, informed BBC Three Counties Radio that his team needs to enhance their away performance to contend for promotion. This statement followed the Hornets’ seventh away loss of the season against Burnley, which stands in sharp contrast to their undefeated record at home. Cleverley stated, “I think the scoreline flatters us – I’ve told that to the players. That could have been a lot more convincing (for Burnley) and was nowhere near an acceptable performance from us today.” He added that the opposition “showed more personality to play on the ball, they showed better problem-solving but, most worryingly, they ran more and tackled harder.” He continued, “In fairness to the players they always have responded well to a performance like that, but if we’re serious about our ambitions this season we have to have a better mindset in these away games where you are going to suffer setbacks.” Cleverley further noted the disparity between home and away responses: “At home we’ve suffered setbacks and responded to them, but away from home we just don’t show the same character or mindset to come back from any deficits.” Cleverley emphasized his concern, saying, “I would never criticise my players for a technical mistake but when I see players shying away from wanting to receive the ball, then we’ve got a real issue.” He concluded this point by stating, “To get to the level we want to get to we can’t just do it in the home games – we have to do it in the toughest environments.” He concluded with a strong assessment of the team’s current performance level: “At the minute we’re playing like a team who want to flip a coin and finish between fifth and 10th rather than really grab our own destiny by the scruff of the neck.”