CLAUDIO Ranieri did not have too much to complain about on Saturday night even after a negative result.
The Watford manager watched his side dominated at home and beaten 3-1 by champions Manchester City in Saturday’s late Premier League kick-off.
It was the third straight league encounter for Watford against heavyweight teams, after clashes with Manchester United and Chelsea.
Ranieri was happy with his side’s performances in the three games, especially as they defeated Manchester United 4-1 and outplayed Chelsea while losing 2-1.
Ranieri was content with the effort and desire shown by his players against City, explaining how a change in system during the half-time break produced an improved performance.
“I’m satisfied because we played three matches against big teams – Manchester United, City and Chelsea — and we got three points,” the 70-year-old Italian told journalists.
“If somebody told me at the beginning we will have three points, I’m happy. Of course, against Manchester City, it is difficult because they move the ball very quickly.
They have a lot of skills, they make triangles and move a lot. At the beginning, we pressed higher because we wanted to reproduce the same match against Chelsea.
“When I saw my players spending a lot of energy to press higher, I said to them to stay together and we will go on the counterattack. They have players who one versus one have the key to open any defensive line. The second half was much better. We were losing 2-0 and I wanted to try to create something more. For this reason, I changed the system and we did better but of course, we left a lot of chances to them.
“I saw very good spirit, togetherness and commitment. We know we are playing against the team that won the Premier League and they are in the battle to win it again. For this reason, I am very satisfied, but now we have to start a new Premier League for us. These months will tell us what we can do in the future.”
Ranieri brought on Cucho Hernández and Juraj Kucka at half-time, and he explained the changes.
“I wanted to give more opportunities to (Joshua) King so I put Joāo Pedro behind him to cover Rodri,” he said.
“With the two wingers, I wanted them to try to do something more. I didn’t like to wait to continue to lose without having a chance to do something more. I prefer that we continue to play our football and maybe today we are a little bit tired. We didn’t make very good combinations as we did against Chelsea.”
Nigeria forward Emmanuel Dennis, who scored against both Manchester United and Chelsea, was once again impressive on Saturday, while Super Eagles centre-back William Troost-Ekong put in a decent shift after a shaky start.
Watford are just three points ahead of the relegation spots, while City rode to the top of the table with the victory.
