Watford player makes damning admission following Leeds United defeat | OneFootball

After a midweek draw at home with West Bromwich Albion, a look at Watford's fixture list showed they had a very tough test coming up this past weekend.

That certainly proved to be the case at Elland Road, too, with Leeds United running out 3-0 winners over the Hornets come the full-time whistle.

Leeds looked the far better side from the off, creating chance after chance in the first half. Were it not for some fine saves from Daniel Bachmann, the home side could have been well ahead.

In the second half, after a change of shape improved Watford, Leeds eventually found their breakthrough, though, with Joel Piroe getting on the end of a cross and slotting home in the 67th minute.

Three minutes later and a comeback for Watford looked unlikely, with Sam Byram adding a second from a set piece. Jaidon Anthony would go on to add a third for Leeds in the 89th minute.

Daniel Bachman makes daming Watford admission

Speaking to the media after the match, Watford goalkeeper and club captain shared his thoughts on what went wrong for him and his teammates in the match.

Worryingly, and in a rather damning admission, the Hornets' skipper says that he felt his teammates were beaten mentally, and perhaps even scared of the occasion and opponents.

“Coming here we knew it wasn’t going to be easy with the squad they have, the crowd, the stadium, but apart from technically today, I thought the biggest problem was in our heads,” Bachmann admitted, via the Watford Observer.

"You could see from the first whistle that some of the lads were struggling with the atmosphere and the pressure.

“Fair play to Leeds, they’ve obviously just got relegated so it would be strange if they weren’t as good as they were today. It’s disappointing from our point of view, but I think a lot was lost in the head today.

“Like I said mentally, from my personal opinion, I felt like some people were a bit scared today.

“We are a good team that play good football. We always knew it was going to be difficult today coming to this place with the squad they have and obviously the crowd behind them.

“We had to switch that off and concentrate on us, and we didn’t do that today. That’s something we need to take going forward, that it’s just a game of football.

“Whether 30,000 people watch us or 60,000, it doesn’t matter, it’s a game of football. That’s what we need to learn from today.”

Were Watford players 'scared' by Leeds?

You can certainly see where Bachmann is coming from in his assessment of the match.

Leeds were by far the better team from the very first minute, and, it almost seemed to take Watford by surprise.

It was not just mentally that Watford were beat on Saturday, though, but tactically, too, I thought.

Under Valerien Ismael the Hornets are being asked to play the ball out from the back and be patient, but doing so at Elland Road and leaving big gaps for Leeds to exploit when pressing and winning the ball high up the pitch felt like a recipe for disaster.

Were it not for some fine saves from Daniel Bachmann, Leeds could have had a few more goals quite easily.

This was a stark reminder for any Watford supporters dreaming of promotion or the play-offs this season that at present, the club are in transition and very very far away from achieving such feats.