Riza reflects on Watford Under-21's season of 'two halves'

They lost 11 of their first 12 games in the Premier League Professional Development League South and suffered some heavy defeats – a 6-0 and three 5-0 losses among those opening dozen fixtures.

But from spring onwards things have improved and they won four of their last seven, turning things round against sides who had beaten them only a few months earlier – they lost 6-0 at home to Colchester in November but then went away to the Essex side in March and beat them 2-1.

The slow start was always likely given that the Under-21 squad was largely made up of Under-18s, and they were facing opponents who were able to field players that had first-team experience.

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And although yesterday’s last game of the season ended in a narrow 3-2 defeat to Burnley, it was a performance that showed the squad had learned from the painful experiences earlier in the campaign and have emerged stronger and better players for it.

“We had 17 and 18-year-olds in the team back in August and we didn’t have many older players, may be one or two 19-year-olds if that,” said Riza, the former Arsenal, West Ham and Cambridge United striker now in his fifth season at Vicarage Road.

“We were aware that teams, in the first half of the season, are very strong and predominantly full of players getting ready to go out on loan in January.

“We knew it was going to be difficult and we might find ourselves up against it. I was hoping we might have done a little bit better but it was a bit too difficult for the boys.

“The older players in opposing teams had that little bit of know-how, and we were quickly having to come to terms with extra power and pace.

“When the opposition has boys with first-team experience who are two or three years older it makes a massive difference. Any mistakes we made were punished heavily.

“But the boys definitely learned from it, and then we took it back to the drawing board and discussed how we could work on it. We wanted to make our possession of the ball strong and solid, and we wanted to be disciplined in order to make ourselves hard to beat. And from that the scores started coming down.

“You could see the rewards from the work that was being put in as we went from conceding five or six to maybe losing games 1-0 or 2-1, or picking up draws.”

Michael Adu-Poku made his first-team debut in the FA Cup tie at Reading (Image: Alan Cozzi/Watford FC)

Riza admitted that while the additional experience and power of older players made a difference, his own squad were probably guilty of making life unnecessarily tricky for themselves in the pursuit of doing better.

“There were things happening in games where the boys were making it more difficult for themselves,” he said.

“If you try too hard, sometimes you end up making more simple mistakes, and I think that maybe played a part and they learned from that.”

As the season progressed, the Under-21s found their numbers bolstered by first-team players returning to fitness or needing to get game time. Did that help?

“That always depends on what personality of player you get, and where they’re at in the season,” explained Riza.

“If you get boys who are doing it for minutes and fitness, and are playing for the right reason, then you get a good positive effect for the other players.

“George Abbot played a couple of games next to Francisco Sierralta recently and you could see his performance elevate.

“But sometimes as a senior pro you find yourself in a reserve or Under-21 game and you don’t quite put in what you should do.

“Predominantly though, the boys who have come in to play with the Under-21s this season have been good.”

As much as being on the wrong end of large scorelines isn’t ideal, Riza has ended the season with a group that is more streetwise, and has gained both physical and mental strength.

“Definitely the experiences the players have had over the course of the season are things they have learned from,” he said.

“We’ve exposed them to playing different systems and tried to break the game up for them in terms of what we do out of possession and what we do in possession. What our press should look like when the opposition is playing a certain system, or not.

“Educationally the boys have come on. The players have questions asked of them now, and they can come up with the answers.

“The next step is being able to do that under pressure, and I think we’ve got better at that in the back end of the season.

“Having the first-team players in and being able to let our younger players learn and develop alongside them has made a difference too.

“The additions we made halfway through the season, like James Collins, Jordan Fankwe, Ezio Touray and Max Delyfer, helped bolster our squad because it was a little bit light.

James Collins in action against Ipswich (Image: Alan Cozzi/Watford FC)

“There are a lot of factors that have helped the players and we’ve seen the benefits in the second half of the season.”

There were a couple of particular highlights – a fine 3-0 away win by a particularly young team in January at Cardiff (who finished fourth in the Southern Division), and a 7-0 romp against Peterborough at Vicarage Road in March.

“I can’t remember going to Cardiff too many times and getting a result. They are usually very resilient and tough to beat, and the pitch they play on isn’t the best,” said Riza.

“We got the tactics right that day and played a way that suited the boys, and we punished every mistake Cardiff made.

“That was a really good game and one that I found very enjoyable. The tactical element and strategy, and then the way the players delivered it in their performance, was great.

“It was really pleasing to have a game plan, watch the players execute it and then get a very good win.

“Peterborough at home, scoring seven goals and to play the way we did, using the first teamers we had and with some of our young prospects elevating their performance, was a very good day.

“We’ve suffered some heavy defeats earlier in the season. I know how it feels and it’s not nice. But when you have a game like that yourself it’s great for the players and really pleasing as a coach.”

Academy football is obviously not just about results in matches. There are other ways the Academy can be winners, and this season it’s been first-team appearances for Ryan Andrews, James Morris, Tobi Adeyemo, Adrian Blake, Jack Grieves and Michael Adu-Poku.

“It’s so pleasing to see those boys get their chances. It’s what we’re here for,” Riza smiled.

“No matter how frustrated you get as a coach, our job within the Academy is to produce players who are able to make the step up and perform under pressure.

“To see them get their debuts, and to watch Ryan start the last six games is fantastic. James has had an excellent season.

“Tobi scoring his goal, Grievesy, Blakey and Michael all got their chance – plus Shaq Forde has gone out on loan and scored nine goals in the National League for York City.

“It’s really pleasing to see it and it’s an extension of the work we do in the Academy, and it’s important that we continue to do that.”

The moment of the season? Tobi Adeyemo celebrates his goal against Blackpool (Image: PA)

So what does next season hold for the Under-21s and will results on the pitch be different to this season?

“Losing is something that is tough to take, and as an ex-professional I wouldn’t be alone in saying I hate losing. I want to win,” said Riza.

“But an element of winning this year has been seeing those young players progress and make appearances at a senior level.

“We don’t want to be bottom of the league, we didn’t like it, and it’s harder for boys to grow in confidence when you’re in that position and losing.

“We don’t want to accept losing at all, but we do also try to make sure that we take some benefit from every game we play.

“Next season, what’s important is we don’t consider 17, 18, 19-year-olds as being old. I see them as young players. They need time. Players at the top level aren’t getting regularly into the first team until they are 22/23.

“If you have a very top player they might break through a bit earlier, but it’s less often you seen teenagers in first teams.

“In order for us to progress we need to try and do all we can to keep our players who have potential, but that doesn’t mean we keep recycling 17 and 18-year-olds because then you’re just going through the same process every year.

“We’ve now got a core of younger players who have that senior experience, and I hope we can keep them so we have them in and around the first team but also playing in the Under-21s predominantly.

“Then we can add in our younger prospects, and they can then learn from the older Under-21 players who have that greater experience.”