Javi Gracia says Watford were too 'soft' in defeat by West Ham
Saturday 10 February 2018 18:44, UK
Javi Gracia said Watford were "soft" and not aggressive enough as they were beaten 2-0 by West Ham on Saturday.
The Hornets were looking to build on their impressive 4-1 victory over Chelsea on Monday.
However, they were unable to produce a repeat performance as goals in either half from Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic secured victory for the hosts.
"We were very soft during all the match," Hornets boss Gracia told Sky Sports. "The first half we didn't compete in the best way and they were more aggressive and dominated areas and we didn't create clear chances to score. We will try to do better next time.
"Arnautovic played very well, he's a very good player, but he's not the most important for us at this moment, our performance is the most important thing and we need to improve and I hope we will do better next time."
The result sees West Ham move level on 30 points with Watford, with both sides five points above the relegation zone in the Premier League.
"We try to look for consistency and to be more compact," said Gracia. "We were able to do it in our last match and we try to do in the next one.
"Every match is important, today it was very important and the next one too, now I only focus on the next match, that is the best way to improve our level."
Watford now have a fortnight off before their next match against Everton on February 24.
Gracia added: "In the next couple of weeks we have the chance to recover players who are out injured and work and rest, because we need both work and rest."
