Watford boss worried about Arsenal backlash

Just a few weeks ago, Quique Sanchez Flores’ Watford side came to the Emirates and shocked Arsenal’s players and fans by knocking us out of the FA Cup, which we had come to believe was ours by right after retaining the trophy last season. The Hornets are now set to return to the scene of the crime tomorrow, and with Arsenal continued participation in the title race at stake, the Spaniard is worried about the Gunners players reaction.

“We know now that we can win at this stadium because we did it a few weeks ago, but we should know also that for sure Arsenal will want revenge, they are not happy to have lost a few weeks ago,” Flores said on the official Watford website.

“We are going to find a very difficult team because they will want to win. We need to play with the idea to recuperate good feelings and to try to do a good match.

“Of course we know that it will be tough, because of the team, because of the players. It is not easy but we’ll play with the idea to be competitive and we’ll try to win.”

Both teams will have to assess the fitness of their players after a disrupting international break, and Flores admits it is not the ideal preparation. “I don’t like to lose time so we have trained since the beginning with a small group, but still transmitting the idea of the match.

“Today [Thursday] is the first day we are going to check how the international players are, and tomorrow we will prepare more for the match and explain things to the players.

“It’s not the best scenario for a coach, but we have to accept that this has been the calendar since a long time ago and we know that during the break we are going to lose maybe 10 or 12 players.

“It’s not just for us, it’s for every single team. We need to be ready and in this case we try to have the best training we can because we have to keep the high focus in the next match.”

Despite the FA Cup win over Arsenal, Watford have lost their last three Premier League games and will be lacking confidence and motivation , especially as they are comfortably 11 points clear of the relegation zone, so hopefully Arsenal can their revenge on a grand scale and set a marker for the rest of the campaign….

Tags flores Quique Watford

1 Comment

  1. Focus on this game only. Not in our hands now the title. Just fight one battle at the time. It may sound like we won’t win every game but if this season taught us anything is that everything can happen. We play home against a side which we underestimate last time. Not this time not. Is not about revenge but they have something we need : three points. Leicester and the Spuds may win but we need to focus on ourselves now. One game at the time, nothing more.

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