We chat to Cameron from The Voices of The Vic Podcast to get all the lowdown on Watford FC ahead of the Black Cats’ trip to Vicarage Road on Saturday…
F1879: Watford are underway with Tom Cleverly’s first full season in charge and have three wins, one draw and two defeats so far. What are the early expectations for the club this season?
TVoTV: The earliest expectations were to be in a bit of a struggle, to be bored out of our minds and to completely lose interest in Watford once again. It’s a testament to Tom Cleverley that it didn’t take long at all for those expectations to flip. It’s exciting football that’s getting some good results so far and with that in mind a top half finish isn’t out of the question. The mumbling from the club are that we ‘expect’ playoffs (as they say every year) and with the real lack of quality in this league I don’t think you can count us out, but my personal prediction is mid table, anywhere from 11th-14th. Which would be an achievement in itself.
F1879: Since September 2019, Watford have employed 13 different managers which equates to an average of around one every four months. Given he steered the club to a strong finish last season with only two losses from his nine games in charge, do supporters have confidence that Cleverly will buck that trend and last the distance?
TVoTV: I don’t think anyone has confidence that Cleverley will stay. After a great opening three or four games we are seeing some cracks in his approach, but every Watford fan knows and understands he’s a young coach with a lot of talent. But it doesn’t matter what the supporters think and the question will be do the board share that understanding? I’m willing to stick my neck out and say they’ve learned their lesson, and Tom will see out the season no matter what. God help us if he doesn’t.
F1879: What can you tell us about Watford’s style of play this season? Has there been any noticeable changes introduced by Cleverly?
TVoTV: It’s very different from what we’ve been subjected to over the last four or five years. Tom knows we can’t pass teams to death, it doesn’t work and it’s not what anyone wants to see. We line up with a 3421 formation and the whole system seems geared towards facilitating those two number 10s. It’s not possession based football by any means, and we get a lot of joy from counter attacks, in which we thrive on the space left in transition, but we do also like to build from defence, moving it quickly to create space to break the lines for the 10s to turn and drive forwards. The wing backs are then almost always our biggest outlet when it comes to creativity, chance creation and getting shots away. It’s a nice dynamic to have and complements Chakvetadze very nicely.
F1879: Edo Kayembe has started the season well with three goals from midfield in five games. Two of his goals came at home in the same match, as the Hornets cruised to a 3-0 win over Stoke City. Should the Black Cats be worried?
TVoTV: I wouldn’t say so no. Edo is probably the one player who, despite scoring three goals, looks consistently out of place in this team. He’s a weird one, because there’s maybe one or two traits he has that are fantastic, but everything else about his game is more or less nonexistent. In simple terms, he has a foot like a traction engine. If you can get him in goalscoring positions, great, he’ll be good for 3 seconds every game. If not, all you have is a slow, physically inept and technically weak passenger, who can’t keep up with the play, is a liability off the ball and needs seven or eight touches before releasing the ball, by which point all he can do is go backwards. From a Sunderland perspective you should be buzzing if you see him on the team sheet.
F1879: An interesting stat shows that Watford’s xG is 9.02 (with 10 goals scored), while Sunderland’s is 9.1 (with 13 goals scored). Do you think Watford have been as clinical as they could be in front of goal?
TVoTV: I think we’ve been moderately clinical. There haven’t been too many sitters missed, Dan Jebbison’s howler at Norwich aside, but the lack of cutting edge is more in what comes before the chance. Final ball in crucial situations has been really poor at times. It’s probably the one part of Chakvetadze’s game that isn’t quite there, and the wing backs have really struggled to be quite as potent as they can be. I don’t think it helps that we don’t have an intelligent striker (judgement is reserved on Jebbison for now) to make the right runs and create the space to make the final ball easier, or to make a nuisance of himself in the box. But in front of goal I don’t think we’ve done too badly just yet. Most of our goals have been worldies.
F1879: Where do you see Watford’s strengths and weaknesses as a team?
TVoTV: There is a lot to like about this Watford team at the moment. We have a counter-attacking setup that can hurt the more dominant teams and we have a tactically flexible coach who has at times shown the intuition required to change the game at crucial moments. Depending on who plays there, both of our number 10s could be one’s to watch against Sunderland. Chakvetadze in particular is just unbelievable, I’ll say it quietly but I think he’s one of the very best players in the Championship and he’s not gonna be at Watford for very long. His ball carrying ability is just a joy to watch and he’s such a problem – even as Norwich were tearing us to pieces he was a real livewire. Rocco Vata, who could potentially play alongside Giorgi, is a bit of a secret weapon – he finally made his first league start against Norwich and put on a promising display, so if those two start together they’ll cause Sunderland no end of trouble.
Where we really suffer is off the ball. The 3-4-2-1, and particularly that midfield 2, just isn’t conducive to a good pressing structure. It’s far too easy for opposition teams to play through us and we really do lack any seasoned defensive players outside of our back three. Moussa Sissoko and Tom Dele-Bashiru have their qualities on the ball but off it they might as well not be there at times. Our wing backs are a bit of a weakness defensively too. If Yasser Larouci starts on the left, you’re in for a field day, and Ryan Andrews on the right is too often half asleep. The combination of issues leaves our back three far too exposed and they struggle to deal with tricky wide players driving at them. Our goalkeeping department is a big worry too. If Dan Bachmann plays I imagine your players will be told to shoot on sight or put crosses on his head, and to be honest if Jonathan Bond plays it’d be futile for us to put out ten other players. Not to mention our set piece defending is calamitous, and we start every game 1-0 down.
F1879: What formation/tactics do you think Cleverly will use against Sunderland this weekend?
TVoTV: I think he’ll stick with his 3-4-2-1. The Norwich hammering probably showed us that we need to be a little bit more conservative, get another midfielder in there and stop committing so many bodies forward. However, I think Tom is set in his ways, he wants to stick to his brand and he won’t want to sacrifice our attacking threat, especially at home. And that’s fine, but we need to be prepared for more days like last Saturday, and I don’t think it’s wise to try and out score this free-scoring Sunderland side.
F1879: From that fan’s perspective, do you feel like Watford have built up good squad depth. Or, do you think Cleverly would have liked to see more reinforcements in certain areas during the summer transfer window?
TVoTV: I appreciate that you can’t get everything done in one window, but it is starting to look like the summer window was a bit messy again. It’s bizarre that we keep neglecting our goalkeeper situation when it’s been a prominent issue for so many years. Our midfield is pretty dire at the moment, I couldn’t understand why so many were content with these options at the time, and now it’s really showing that we lack a more defensive-minded option in there. Left centre-back is a position Cleverley spoke so highly of and yet we completely ignored it in the window. Meanwhile some of the players we have signed in Larouci (a defender who is happy to walk around the wrong end of the pitch when our centre backs are outnumbered) and Bond (a huge downgrade from last season’s backup keeper and now looks set for significant minutes) just aren’t up to the task. Lots have written off Jebbison – early signs aren’t great but I’m happy to give him more than 100 minutes before I pass judgement. But there is some young talent in there, particularly in Vata and Pierre Dwomoh as well as valuable experience in Sissoko and Angelo Ogbonna. I’ll say the window was a step in the right direction but far from complete.
F1879: Who do you think will be in the Hornet’s starting XI?
TVoTV: It’s hard to tell at the moment with so many players drifting in and out of form and fitness but I’d expect us to start with Bond in goal due to the lack of another option. Back 3 is always a toss up – Francisco Sierralta’s injury hopefully means Angelo Ogbonna gets a league debut in the centre, Mattie Pollock picks himself (hopefully to the right) and I would hope to see Ryan Porteous over James Morris on the left despite neither filling me with confidence. Midfield two will most likely be Tom Dele-Bashiru and Moussa Sissoko. I think Ken Sema will stay in as left wing back which is a pretty damning indictment on Larouci, and in the right I do expect it to be Andrews but I l’d like to see Festy Ebosele start there instead. Chakvetadze will undoubtedly start as a number 10 but it’s unclear who will partner him; Vata impressed against Norwich, Kwadwo Baah is really pushing for a start and Kayembe has played there frequently. I’d like to see the former there but I do think Kayembe will come back in unfortunately. Lastly up front it simply has to be Jebbison despite the angry Watford mob deciding he needs to leave.
F1879: Who have been the standout players so far and other than Kayembe which ones should Sunderland be most concerned about? Have any of the new signings made a strong impression?
TVoTV: The obvious answer is Chakvetadze. He’s been incredible all season and managed to make Man City’s midfield look average. Such a good ball carrying attacking threat, but the worry is can we do it without him? The answer for me is yes, because I think Rocco Vata could be just as good. Those are certainly the ones to worry about but I’d like to shout out Baah who may not start but always has his day off the bench. Man City just couldn’t handle his pace and power on Tuesday. Of the new signings I’d give Ebosele a shoutout – looks a very positive wing back going forwards and defensively managed to lock down Jack Grealish, so I’m eager to see more of him.
F1879: Which Sunderland player do you think Watford fans will be most concerned about going into the weekend?
TVoTV: The great thing about Sunderland this season is I don’t look at them and say one player is going to hurt us. It’s more of a team rather than relying on a Jack Clarke or Amad Diablo this time round. I won’t claim to be too clued up but Romaine Mundle and Elizer Mayenda seem to be in good goalscoring form and I am intrigued to see just how good Chris Rigg is. Le Bris seems to have found a good balance with defensive stability and fluid football, all while having young players performing, so it looks like a great time to be a Sunderland fan and we’re in for a tough game.
F1879: Which Watford player do you think Sunderland should be most worried about?
TVoTV: Undoubtedly Chakvetadze. I think I’ve said all there is to say about him but he is just way too good for this league. Ball-carrying ability and strength on the ball are just out of his league. Even in a 4-1 defeat to Norwich he was the best player on the pitch.
F1879: Where do you predict Sunderland and Watford will finish in the league?
TVoTV: I’ll admit I didn’t see much in Sunderland this season, especially after the whole manager debacle throughout preseason, but what a start it’s been. Le Bris looks to be a very talented manager, and that Sunderland squad is a lot of fun. I don’t think you’ll keep up such a fantastic start but I struggle to see some other teams beating you to the playoffs. I’ll go 5th. As for Watford, it’s a similar scenario: not too much hope, lots of uncertainty in preseason, yet here we are, performing better than we ever imagined. I see more flaws in us than Sunderland though, and I think there’s a lot of inconsistency in this squad, as well as a lack of balance, but I think we have enough for a top half finish. Let’s say 12th.
F1879: What is your score prediction for Saturday?
TVoTV: Confidence has been low at Watford of late and we haven’t won since August. Sunderland are a very tough side to face when you’re looking for a win and I struggle to see us finding one on Saturday. However, that performance in midweek should reinstate a lot of confidence, and Tom Cleverley has learned some valuable lessons over the past few weeks. Couple that with our fantastic home record under him, I think we can get a valuable point. I’ll say 1-1, which I know is me sitting on the fence a bit, but I can’t back us to beat this Sunderland side, and I have a lot of faith in us at home
Thanks to Cameron and Voices of The Vic. Follow on X.
