FOSTER’S SURPRISE HITS
BEN FOSTER reckons the Premier League flops will rock – behind closed doors.
Expect the unexpected is the Watford keeper’s message ahead of the resumption of elite football on these shores following the coronavirus outbreak.
And one major difference in the 92-game run-in, which kicks off on Wednesday, could be that players who normally freeze on the big stage in front of sell-out crowds suddenly start delivering.
The Hornets keeper, 37, said: “I know there are players who feel massive pressure when they have 30, 40, 50 thousand watching. I’ve seen it all my career.
“On a Monday or Tuesday, it’s all free and easy, nice and chatty. But get to later in the week, Thursday, Friday, especially Saturday, you see them close up and the pressure gets into their head and body.
“They don’t want to talk, they go into their own world. The pressure plays on them a lot.
“Not having the crowd will, without doubt, benefit them. You’ll get players coming into form that haven’t been all season, or low in confidence and suddenly thriving.
“On the other side of the coin, some players need the crowd, need the buzz, the adrenalin. They’ll have to find ways to recapture that.
“I don’t want to give away details as everybody might try to copy us, but we’re having team meetings with the gaffer about how we gee ourselves up.”
In Germany, crowd recordings have been used to generate atmosphere inside empty grounds. Foster is no fan of fake fan audio – even if it provided some laughs last week.
The ex-England and Manchester United stopper said: “We had a behind-closed-doors friendly at Vicarage Road between two Watford elevens and trialled playing a bit of noise. One of our coaches was refereeing and was the worst ever.
“The Tannoy started playing, ‘The referee’s a w*nker.’ Nobody knew it was coming. We were laughing. It was good banter.
“You can only play it at certain times, apparently, like when the ball goes out.
“It would just come on and be really annoying. Everybody agreed, we’d just rather not have it.”
The battle to beat the drop is no joke for Nigel Pearson’s men and five other clubs seemingly in danger.
Despite a major improvement since Pearson arrived – including thumping previously-unbeaten Liverpool – the Hornets were only clear of the relegation zone on goal difference when coronavirus forced the campaign to be halted in March.
Foster actually enjoyed parts of lockdown – especially “gin and tonic o’clock”, “competitive, rocket-science team quiz nights” and his son “smashing balls at me from 10 yards”.
But he is now relishing a frantic finale and having agreed a new two-year deal with the club, he is confident of being a Premier League keeper still next season.
Foster – who has been ever-present this season – added: “We haven’t even spoken about relegation.”