Rating Watford's players and season so far
Another season, another roller-coaster of an opening start to the Championship season under Gino Pozzo. We expected different with the appointment of Rob Edwards, but we were blinded by hopeful optimism as if it was the scene from This is the end where a beam of light shoots down and saves us, but instead we end up like Channing Tatum being put on a leash by Danny McBride. Anyway, we know the sacking of Edwards was in theory ‘wrong’ so I won’t bore you to tears with my high and mighty standing because A) It’s pointless and B) Bilic is doing a good job so far, and is obviously an upgrade, and one that should have been made instead of Edwards if this was the route that was planned by Gino and not Scott. I’m going to rank each player’s season out of ten so far, one’s that have started more than five games anyway. Obviously, we’ve already had two Head Coaches, so I will keep that in mind when giving a rating.
Daniel Bachmann (GK):
Bachmann has had a weird season for me, in a sense that he was so clearly our best player in the opening four or five games but has since been very inconsistent and looked nervous in quite a few situations. We know what he’s capable of and what he is, well at least in my mind he’s an inconsistent shot stopper whose performances fluctuate over the course of a season, but his weakness of not being able to claim crosses or command his area is so blatantly obvious that other teams have figured that out — Wigan being one, Cardiff being another, even Derby under Munoz had Nathan Byrne trying to score from corners and he just about dealt with it. For me personally, if the option of a better keeper came around in January, I’d take it, as I think (I’ll get into it more later) he’s a negative impact on what Bilic is trying to do, and isn’t a good enough shot stopper to cover up his deficiencies, but that doesn’t take away from the idea that I think he’s just about good enough to get you into the playoffs with this current squad, but I wouldn’t have him in the top six GKs in the division. 6.5/10.
Dan Gosling (RB/CM):
In a weird turn of events, it turns out this fine wine is actually our best right-back at the grand old age of 32, despite him last playing in this position at Newcastle, coming on as a sub with seven minutes remaining against Benfica in the quarter finals of the Europa League in 2013. I’ll be honest, when he played in the middle of the park, he’s really struggled to keep up with the pace of the game at times, especially given the way we play, it can leave the two midfielders exposed at times in transition. Which is why at right-back with the game in front of him and having Choudhury and Sema helping him in those wide areas, he’s much more effective and comfortable, at least I think anyway. He’s played seven times this season as the right-back and I don’t think he’s been bad in any of them, in fact his ability to progress the ball and do it accurately have been a big help for us in possession. I don’t want to go overboard and give him a crazy rating as he’s not what we should be starting, but he’s stepped up and deserves huge credit for that, and it’s a big shame he’s likely picked up a season ending injury, because around the squad he leads by example when it comes to match day, and what you hear of the players in interviews, he’s also the best trainer. Mr consistent so 6.5/10.
Mario Gaspar (RB):
Mario has only started seven league games for us, so I don’t want to be too harsh on him, as clearly the effort levels are there. However, at this moment in time, he doesn’t look like he has the legs for it anymore. I thought he had his best game against Cardiff and had a decent-ish 10/15 minutes against Stoke, but apart from that he’s been poor, and through no fault of his own, he shouldn’t have been brought in in the first place as I don’t think this league suits his skillset particularly well. To his credit, I don’t think you’ll find many better defenders in 1v1 situations, but he’s got no dribbling or carrying ability, and his ball retention and passing ability is erratic most of the time. I hope he can improve, but a right back in January is a must for me. 5.5/10.
William Troost-Ekong (CB):
In my opinion, should be the captain of the club over Cleverley, but they’re both incredible people that It’s neither here nor there. It’s kind of a comeback season in a way for Troost. He’s gone from possibly not wanted, to arguably our second-best central defender behind Craig Cathcart. His passing in possession, especially line breaking passes, have improved a lot. He’s much more precise with that and it helps in build-up play; for example, he’s 8th in The Championship for accurate progressive passes for centre-backs, 9th is Cathcart. This helps especially as we know the current midfielders we have aren’t capable of doing it consistently. There’s still some shaky moments defensively when he tries to engage, but on the whole we look better as a unit when he’s in there as he is a leader. I also can’t forget his goal and waving off of the sent off Luton player in the emphatic demolition of them lot, so for that reason he can do no wrong anymore. 6.5/10.
Craig Cathcart (CB):
Craig has been our best centre-back this season. He’s the most well rounded of the bunch we have, in a sense he’s a solid enough defender, good enough on the ball, and has the ability to break the lines with his passing — there’s no glaring weakness in his game, whereas I think there is in the others we have in this position. Sometimes he can be prone to an error, but who isn’t out of our lot. He’s started eleven times for us this season, and we’ve only lost once with him in there, which was a 2-0 away defeat to Blackburn, in which was the game Gino Pozzo made his mind up on Rob Edwards. I think for us to have a chance this season of getting promoted, one of Cathcart or Troost has to be a starter, preferably both together if Hause can’t get fit, and even then the sample size of him actually being as good as we think he is, is pretty limited given he’s not played more than 20 league games since the 16/17 season. 7/10.
Fransisco Sierralta (CB):
Sierralta is a funny one, because some games he’ll look unstoppable, but other games he’ll look very error prone. And I think this season he’s been more error prone than usual. His strengths are that he’s so aerially dominant, and his ball retention and pass selection is really good, as he knows his limitations in possession. However, in a possession-based team that defends in a mid-block, you need to be better in 1v1 situations and have a burst of pace once you get turned. I think he’d get away with it if he had Louza in front of him who can take that responsibility off him, so to a point he’s a victim of circumstance. But we know what Sierralta is capable of, and I’d have no issue with him starting if I saw his name on the team sheet, he just needs to improve parts of his game for me. 6/10.
Christian Kabasele (CB):
I’m sure he’s a lovely guy, in fact we know he’s a lovely guy; but blimey, what a poor season he’s had. At least two big errors happening per game, not understanding the situation around him most of the time, at fault for a number of goals this season. I think it’s time to move on from Kabasele. Not much else I can add really. 4/10.
Hassane Kamara (LB):
I’m not sure if this is controversial or not, but I’ve been disappointed with Kamara this season. He’s had some very good games, most notably Luton and Stoke, but a lot of the time his defensive positioning and decision making is erratic at the best of times. Caveat to that is that’s his playstyle, he’s all action, but I think he just needs to calm down a bit, especially in the final third, because a consisistent Kamara is one of the best, if not the best left-back in the league. 6/10.
Edo Kayembe (DM/CM):
Edo will have 89 minutes where he’s poor, and then one minute where he dribbles past the opposition’s midfield and it’s like????? — but for me he’s the biggest weak-link in the XI. I just don’t know what he’s good at besides dribbling and the occasional carry. Off the ball he’s slow in defensive duels, doesn’t notice or anticipate off ball runners in our defensive third, just too passive more often than not. In possession he often hides when a player is looking to pass him the ball, his pass selection is too slow and is extremely left footed, so everything takes longer and allows the opponent to eventually settle into shape, and his progressive passing is a huge weak link, he’s just too safe with it. The game against Coventry exposed most of this, he had 116 passes, but only 5 of those were progressive. 5/10.
Hamza Choudhury: (DM/CM):
I’ve been impressed with Hamza, we’ve got exactly what the tin says, or whatever that expression is. He leads the Championship for tackles and interceptions per 90 (5.35) and that’s with a team that has 54% of the ball under Bilic. We know he’s not going to carry or dribble up the field, or open a team up with his passing, albeit we did see that against Reading. I don’t want to do overkill on Kayembe, but if Choudhury had Louza next to him, I think some of the discourse around his performances would be different. 7/10.
Ken Sema (RW/LW):
King Ken! probably been our second-best player this season? he’s played left back, left wing back, left wing and right wing, and no matter what, he’ll give you 110%. Needs to score more goals I think, but he provides defensive solidity to whoever is behind him, good crosser of the ball, and will create a decent chance at least once a game. Just to make sure he gets the second highest rating, I’ll give him a 7.2/10.
Ismaila Sarr (LW/RW):
Depending on what side of the debate you fall, Sarr is either overrated or underrated, and I tend to fall on the side of underrated, mainly because whilst I understand he could do more at times, I don’t think the environment around him has been the best for him to thrive, especially as a winger of his skillset, it’s much more difficult to be effective than say someone like JP10. I also think he’s been mis-profiled slightly, and the price tag doesn’t help the expectation around him, but that’s not his fault. I think some expect him to be a similar player to ASM, when to me he’s more like Bowen; someone who’ll finish the chances with his pace and decent finishing, but who can occasionally create a big chance. Sarr gets into good scoring positions regularly, rarely loses the ball when in possession and can cross the ball to a very high level. 10 goal involvements in 16 starts. 7/10.
Yaser Asprilla (10):
I looooooove Yaser. He’s skinny and looks small, but he’s actually 6ft with an insane leap on him. I don’t actually think he’ll be a 10 in future, mainly because his passing ability from deep can be unbelievable at times. The trademark receives on the centre circle, look up for the run of one of the wingbacks/forwards, and drop a dime on them. As he’s Colombian, you instantly get the work rate, and you get the dribbling ability in tight spaces. Needs to bulk up and improve his decision making, but already so much to like at 19 years old. 6.5/10.
Joao Pedro (10):
Best player at the club, best player in the league, should not be in the second tier of English football as he’s already a top 8 PL level footballer. Creates high quality chances every game, good dribbler, really good ball carrier, and what people don’t realise is how good his passing is. It doesn’t always come off in the moment, but he’ll do something once a game and you’re like wow. Matheus Martins and JP in the same team? Joga Bonitoooo baby. 8.5/10.
Vakoun Bayo (CF):
To get it out the way early, he’s not worth what we paid him, made even worse when you notice it was a Mogi Bayat special. He’s just not a lone striker, and doesn’t have the attributes to play there, which is why Bilic more than likely brings him on in those narrow forward positions. He’s a poacher in a two man striker partnership, or someone you bring on when you’re going long and want to create chaos in the penalty box; because one thing he is good at is getting into really good scoring opportunities, his anticipation and ability to understand and exploit space is really good, he just can’t do much else, and the modern forward you need to be able to do a bit of everything. He’s still got 3 goals in limited minutes which I’m not mad at. 5.5/10.
Keinan Davis (CF):
Adore Keinan. The question around him has been his injury record and can he start scoring goals at a good rate, because the rest of his game is very good. He can hold the ball and link play, dribble and carry and a big physical presence. He’s not had a pre season, so you can see at times he’s knackered, but in the last game against Bristol City, he sprinted nearly the full length of the pitch in the 84th minute, he was cooked after that mind you. He’s also starting to stay injury free now as well, so the World Cup break to have effectively his pre season should do him the world of good. 0.4 npxG per 90 which ranks him 6th best striker in the league for getting good chances, so he’s improving his scoring rate and chance to score goals quite quickly; 4 goals in 9 starts shows that, and I think is someone I’d look to make a permanent deal. 7/10.
Slavan Bilic (Head Coach):
As I said at the start, I think Bilic has done a good job so far. I personally didn’t think we’d be anywhere near the playoffs with the lack of depth, injuries in key areas and overall quality in the side. Now the standard of the league could play a part in where we sit (4th) but we’ve still got to get points and win games, something we weren’t doing consistently under Edwards. But using Gosling as a right back, making a few tactical switches by making us narrow in possession, still yet to see a definitive style of play, but hopefully that comes as the season goes on. 7/10.
Tactics under Bilic:
Out of possession, Watford operate in a mid-block 442, with Joao and Davis leading it, and the two wide players tucking inside to be compact in a box shape. The idea of this, well my interpretation of this is so the opposition can’t play through you, you force them wide into either crossing situations or limit them to low quality chances from outside the box, which Watford have been excellent at doing all season.
Where you can come undone in this setup defensively, is if you force the ball wide, the space is there behind the centre-backs to be exploited if they’re either not switched on, quick enough, or there’s a systemic issue throughout the play, you can give up quality chances as we saw vs Coventry. I said earlier this is a problem with a stylistic GK like Bachmann, given the space being given up, you need him to be proactive and commanding in those situations, something which he isn’t.
In possession, Watford operate with a 4231, but Sarr and Sema coming very narrow and close to the striker which is usually Keinan Davis. Bilic said himself that you can’t create patterns in the final third, he can only create patterns to get to that part of the field, something Pep Guardiola also agrees with. There’s two Watford versions of this, there’s a team with Louza on the field where chances are created more fluidly, as it allows the team to sustain pressure in the final third and push for a goal, and a 4231 with Kayembe and Choudhury, where Joao Pedro keeps having to drop deep to collect the ball, and him being the main source of progression, which leads to there being a gaping hole in the middle of the field, which at times does work for Joao as he has the skill, dribbling and carrying ability to drive into that space, as we saw vs Luton. Watford play out from the back, but it’s not as centre back influenced, it’s distributed first to the full backs, and then moved centrally, as that’s where all the players are. The idea behind this is to create space for the fullbacks to get high and wide, which stretches the pitch and allows the players who are in the narrow forward positions to have more space to do something excellent. Our chances are usually created by either cut backs or low crosses into the box.
January transfer window:
I think it’s clear what Watford need next month, and that’s a right back that has pace and can get up and down, a central midfielder that can progress the ball and a forward that can offer 1v1 threat on the other side, as well as a goal scoring threat. So far, we’ve been linked to those players, notably Matheus Martins who will give you a bit of everything in the forward line. He gets into scoring positions, he can dribble and carry, which he can be inconsistent at, and has a great burst of pace over five yards to create separation. His shot might end up on mars, but it’s still fun regardless. If you believe reports in Italy, Watford are also close to signing Ismael Kone from CF Montreal. From what I’ve seen of him, he’s not really what we need, but the potential is there to be something excellent. He’s a good off ball mover in the final third with his pressing but can be oblivious defensively. He lets runners off him and isn’t the best in 1v1 duels. But what he does offer is the ball carrying, dribbling and physical presence whilst running with it. He’s also comfortable in possession in that he won’t lose it, he prefers to keep it simple. I think he’s someone you play alongside Louza rather than relying on him to be the main passer, albeit his technique is clean enough he could grow into that role. Finally, it seems like Gino Pozzo has woken up for what this club needs, and the appointment of Ben Manga as the Sporting Director, replacing the useless Cristiano Giaretta; is definitely a step in the right direction. Whether the reports are accurate regarding how much control he has remains to be seen, but I’m feeling encouraged about the goings on at the club for the first time since Javi was here.
