£8m Watford man agrees with manager as familiar Leeds United Championship point made

Imran Louza admits his Watford side endured a difficult 90 minutes against ‘the best team in the league’ on Tuesday night.

Leeds United ran out 4-0 winners at Vicarage Road to continue their incredible run of form and open up a gap on the Championship chasing pack. Dan James’ quickfire brace gave Watford an almost impossible task inside half an hour, with goals either side of half time from Manor Solomon and Joel Piroe ending the game as a contest long before full-time.

Watford had won just one of their previous nine league games and so a meeting with the Championship’s in-form team was far from ideal, even with an injection of optimism that came from last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Sunderland. And after seeing his side concede four goals for just the second time this season, Louza acknowledged the difficulty in facing Leeds at the moment.

Louza Leeds admission

“It’s a difficult night for us,” the midfielder told Watford’s website following the defeat. “But we have to accept it, we have to take it and we have to work on it. We played the best team in the league, and when you make mistakes in these games you concede. Now we have to stick together, that is the most important thing. The fans, everyone, we have to stick together, and we go again on Saturday.”

Leeds were devastating in attack on Tuesday night but Watford did little to help themselves. The first goal has so often proved crucial in games for both sides this season and Tuesday’s opener was a gift, with Edo Kayembe producing the kind of weighted pass to James someone like Brenden Aaronson would have been proud of.

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The Hornets then got caught over-committing in attack and were left two-v-one for James’ second, having been cut open by two relatively simple passes. Solomon’s goal had a large element of luck to it but the home side were defensively poor again as Piroe skipped through to make it four.

“It’s all about details, even against this team,” Louza added. “We tried to keep the ball. When you have the ball, you have to be ready to lose it. But we were not ready to lose the ball. From tomorrow, we have to turn on and it’s all about training well and showing character.”

Cleverley point echoed

Louza is just the latest opponent to heap praise on Leeds, with the sentiment becoming so common it is starting to unease supporters who have seen the club throw away equally promising chances in the past. The midfielder’s manager even went one further following his side’s defeat, comparing Daniel Farke’s Whites to mid-table Premier League outfit Fulham.

"We were in the presence of a very strong Championship side, one of the best I've seen at this level," he said. "It should give us as staff and players inspiration for the levels we want to get to. I feel all my players have the potential to reach that level but it doesn't just happen.

"We go to Fulham in the cup and you see what a midtable Premier League side looks like and that looks like something close to that level tonight. They punished us heavily and that comes with pace, quality and a very high calibre of player."