Head coach of English Premier League side Watford Claudio Ranieri says there is more to his team than Nigeria international forward Emmanuel Dennis despite his fine form.
24 year old Dennis has scored seven and also provided five assists in fifteen games this season as Watford struggle to maintain their Premier League status following promotion from the English Championship.
The Nigerian is seen by many as the driving force of the team as they battle to remain in the top flight but Ranieri believe his team is not reliant on the Nigerian saying Dennis scoring goals is down to the collective effort of the team.
Tipped to play a prominent role for Nigeria at the Africa Cup of Nations starting in January, his chances became bright following the sacking of coach Gernot Rohr who kept him out of his team.
“Everyone is playing well, not only Dennis,” he said.
“I am happy because we make lots of chances to score goals. Of course, we have to improve our defensive way because when I say the defensive line, I don’t just mean the defence – everyone must be involved to stop the opponent.
“I tell all my players every time that we play to win, but it’s also important that they don’t lose. That is my philosophy. Every match you don’t know what is going to happen so you have to fight to win, but you have to be intelligent that when you can’t win, you don’t lose. We have to be like ice men on the pitch.
“I have to speak with the players and say that there is another battle. We are playing well and we are doing very good to create chances to score goals, but we need to improve our situation defensively.
