Football News: Watford Premier League season so far

Image from: wardoon.net

Results so far:

A v Southampton 1-1
H v Chelsea 1-2
H v Arsenal 1-3
A v West Ham United 4-2
H v Manchester United 3-1
A v Burnley 0-2
H v Bournemouth 2-2
A v Middlesbrough 1-0
A v Swansea City 0-0
H v Hull City 1-0

Yet another summer of turmoil and change at Watford has been followed by, at least so far, a season of consolidation. After what was seen by those outside the club as a good season in 2014/15 for the Hornets, Quique Sanchez Flores was, in my opinion, harshly replaced by Walter Mazzarri. Admittedly, tactically Flores was a safety first coach, who would hold for a draw, rather than risk attacking for all three points, but overall he had done well last season.

Clearly the Pozo family expect more from their investment in English football than merely consolidating. They are aiming for European football, but their sights are set far too high to do so, this season anyway, through the league. There will also be worries over the accusations of forged bank letters upsetting their season, even if the accusations turn out to be incorrect. Will the uncertainty affect the players on the pitch?

So far the team seem to be able to concentrate fine and pick up the results needed, at least to put themselves in the fight for European places. Mazzarri has got the Hornets into 7th place, just on the edges of the European fight, above where most would have expected prior to the season kicking off. The question is whether that will be good enough for the owners, who have shown no patience with previous managers, seeming to feel that a change is as good as a rest each summer!

It is early days still, even though a quarter of the season has gone now, but Watford will hope that Idion Ighalo and Troy Deeney return to the form they showed last season. If so, maybe the European places are not beyond them, as they have reached 7th place without the front pair firing on all cylinders. If Mazzarri can get the best out of them, this could be a season to remember for the Hornets' fans.

Written by Tris Burke November 02 2016 11:09:19