Ten games without a win currently consign Watford to the foot of the Premier League table. They also bowed out of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, waving goodbye to the competition which had been the shining light in a fairly despondent season so far.
However, it's not yet all doom and gloom for the Hornets. The vast majority of the campaign still remains to be contested, and the belief within the squad is that time and their own capabilities are sufficient for the predicament to be amended before long.
One such player that espouses that confidence is Roberto Pereyra. The Argentine has enjoyed a rich vein of individual form recently and, though he was frustrated to squander the chance to win a trophy in midweek, he told Premier League Productions that it will give the team the chance to focus on bringing much-needed improvement to their league exertions.
“Obviously to go out of a competition is not so good," he said. "I am angry as I like to play in all the competitions. But it’s time to focus on the Premier League now, the next game where we need the points. It’s not the mood we expected to have at the start of the season but it’s not time to joke around, it’s time to get out of this situation.”
New management, new strengths, new weaknesses
Since Quique Sánchez Flores was reinstated as head coach at Vicarage Road in September, there has been nothing short of a tactical renovation in an attempt to remedy the flaws which glared during the reign of his predecessor Javi Gracia.
The most notable change has been in defence — Sánchez Flores appears to have settled on a five-at-the-back formation, and a solitary goal conceded in the last three games indicates it has been beneficial for what was doubtlessly Watford's Achilles' Heel earlier in the campaign.
But that progression has come at a price for players at the other end of the pitch. Despite creating the ninth-most big chances in the league (63), the Hornets are bottom of the scoring charts with just five goals in 10 matches. As an attack-minded player, it's a record Pereyra is keen to shake.
“We have improved a lot defensively but now it's time to improve the attacking phase as we need to score goals. It’s a bit frustrating as we are creating some great chances but we don’t score. We are working every day on this phase, training hard in the sessions, trying to improve the attacking phase. We are not perfect yet but we are trying our best. Sooner or later it’s going to come.”
Watford's success in their returning top flight campaign in 2015/16 was due largely to a collection of narrow, hard-earned results orchestrated by the pragmatic approach of Sánchez Flores. Pereyra — who freely admits that the Spaniard adopts ideologies and methods which are rather unfamiliar to him — has faith the strategy will pay off again this time around.
“I didn’t know him too much before," he admitted. "Others have worked with him four years ago. He is a normal coach and I have a normal relationship with him. He has changed a lot of things at the training ground and now the session are more intense. Tactically, he’s changed a lot. Step by step I think we are going to change the results.”
Challenging opposition
Regardless of how long remains in the campaign, Watford's rut is already verging on desperate. The Hornets are now four points adrift of safety from the relegation zone, and the majority of their concerns stem from the uncertainty surrounding where, and in which games, they will be able to make up that deficit.
As such, the visit of Chelsea will be somewhat unwelcome in Hertfordshire this weekend. The Blues are on a rampant winning run of four and were buoyed further by the timely emergence of summer signing Christian Pulisic in the 4-2 defeat of Burnley a week ago, as the American forward notched a hat-trick at Turf Moor.
However, the Argentine insists he and his teammates will not be fazed by the calibre of their opposition here and are determined to earn the win that eludes them thus far, in similar fashion to when they humiliated Chelsea 4-1 at Vicarage Road in February 2018.
“They are very strong and have good players, but we need to focus on our work," Pereyra asserted. "We know what we can do and hopefully it can be a great occasion for us. We really need to get these three points, we deserved them in previous games. They didn’t come but I think we are very close to them.”
Alongside a lack of goals, results against the Premier League's elite sides have been detrimental to Watford's progression in recent times: in 2018/19 they picked up just three points against the top six, losing 11 of their 12 encounters; this season, they have been subjected to an eight-goal trouncing by champions Manchester City, while draws against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur look in hindsight like points squandered rather than gained.
But Pereyra takes encouragement from their showings so far, confident that those three points aren't too far away, and knows just how valuable victory against Chelsea could be in their bid to climb the table as quickly and smoothly as possible.
“It always helps to get results against the ‘Big Six’. We have played well against them all, apart from Manchester City — they are unstoppable. This gives us confidence and we’ll try to get the three points. It is a big game and we need them. They do as well but, as I said before, we are very close to them.”