Watford 0–2 Millwall: Sarr-y, Ismaïla, it’s time to go
Full of the joys of the new season, I’d promised myself I’d write something after every Watford game I watched or attended this season. Whether it’s correlation or causation, I’ve lapsed on that front in recent weeks — and not just because of the World Cup.
The Boxing Day debacle against Millwall (I missed the tedious stalemate against Hull City) was hardly a fixture that warranted much reflection, in so far as it was absolutely pathetic. But there was one point I wanted to explore slightly: Ismaïla Sarr’s future.
Since returning from the World Cup late, the Senegalese winger has scarcely been out of the headlines for in WD18. His situation dominated pre-tournament, too, as Slaven Bilić insisted he would pick the forward before reneging on that promise for the tedious stalemate (spot the theme) against Bristol City.
What followed was another unholy mess (there’s a theme here, too) in which Bilić was hung out to dry by the club. The Croatian revealed in his post-match press conference he’d expected the Hornets star to return in time to play some part in taming the Tigers. But he did not. Adam Leventhal then reported on The Athletic that the club had granted Sarr additional time off following Senegal’s last-16 exit against England.
So one of three things happened here:
- Bilić was telling the truth all along and Sarr elected not to report back to London Colney when agreed.
- Watford granted Sarr an extended break but didn’t bother to inform their head coach.
- Watford never granted Sarr an extended break and then tried to cover their arses while dropping Bilić in the brown stuff without a second thought.
Each scenario is plausible. None of them reflect on Watford or Sarr in a positive light. Clearly, the player wants to leave Vicarage Road. Who can blame him? When he signed for a club-record fee in 2018, he would have been sold the dream of a couple of good seasons followed by a big-money move to a far bigger club. Just like Richarlison.
What has followed has been two relegations and eight permanent managers. So for those reasons, one cannot lay all the blame at Sarr’s door. This was never going to be a long and devoted marriage. It was a fleeting affair — more than a one-night stand, but only long enough that both parties benefitted.
By the summer, Sarr will be into the final 12 months of his contract. If Watford are still in the Championship, he will surely have no interest in re-signing, thus ending the possibility of the club recouping their outlay of five years prior. Making any kind of profit on that £35million fee is now long gone.
Even if promotion is somehow secured, why would Sarr commit any more his career to Watford? If he leaves on a Bosman in 2024, he will be able to control his destiny and command far more money in doing so. Watford will hope desperately to sell him before then to avoid failing to book anything for their club-record signing.
They almost got a decent fee from Aston Villa in the summer before the deal — for reasons which remain unclear — fell through at the death. About the same time, João Pedro’s anticipated switch to Newcastle United, thankfully, collapsed.
The pair are intrinsically linked.
They are the two genuinely Premier League-quality players in this mish-mash of a squad. They are the only ones who have the ability to consistently rise above mediocrity and win games virtually single-handedly. Pedro has done exactly that this season. Sarr — save for a few highlight reel moments — has not. The last time the Hornets were relegated, he was the main man, hitting 13 goals en route to promotion. Pedro was the young buck breaking through. Now it’s the Brazilian who has carried Watford on his back and been its emotional leader. This is his team and he has the swagger to show it.
The trade-off for having two players so clearly a cut above in the second tier was the rest of the squad, which is horribly imbalanced. Either in quality, quantity or both. If all went to plan, Pedro and Sarr alone would provide the sprinkling of stardust needed to win the points needed for an instant return to the Premier League.
Except all has not gone to plan.
The squad is coughing and spluttering to January, even after the World Cup-enforced winter break. Pedro has now joined the ever-growing list of injured players which includes long-term absentees Imrân Louza, Hamza Choudhury, Tom Cleverley and Dan Gosling. As well as Rey Manaj, Edo Kayembe and international man of mystery, Kortney Hause.
Watford need Sarr now, more than ever. But whether by choice or circumstance, he is failing to stamp his will on games. Monday’s humbling at the hands of Gary Rowett’s Millwall was not a fair yardstick for anyone. But Sarr was utterly ineffectual. His languid style comes with the unfortunate caveat that it looks like he isn’t trying a leg. Which he might not be. But in a feckless display, it was he who copped a lot of fans’ ire.
Plenty wanted to cash in before now. But with January representing the last chance to get anything resembling a ‘decent’ fee for the club’s most-recognisable player, Watford would be wise to hawk the former Rennes forward out to potential suitors. He is neither use nor ornament at the moment. The pay-off for mortgaging a balanced squad off for the combined talents of Sarr and Pedro was they’d do the heavy lifting. But Sarr is not holding up his end of the bargain.
Say, for argument’s sake, Watford manage to extract £15m-£20m from someone (which feels optimistic), even if £5m was invested in some key areas, it would be worthwhile.
We are without a left-back for four games after Hassane Kamara naïvely got suckered into Danny McNamara’s shithousery to collect his second red card of the season. Our only senior central midfielders are new freebie Leandro Bacuna and the only recently fit-again Tom Dele-Bashiru.
Millwall proved Jeremy Ngakia still isn’t a first-choice option at right-back where Mario Gaspar has somehow become the attractive choice by default — despite looking desperately uncomfortable all season. Up front, there’s a fragile reliance on Keinan Davis with the hapless Manaj injured again and £5m (five million GBP) Vakoun Bayo doing very little to back up his astonishing transfer fee.
So that’s a left-back, right-back, central midfielder and striker — for starters.
Of course, I’m not naïve enough to think we’ll sell Sarr easily. Or even pocket what we might have 12 months ago. Or give a decent chunk of change to new Sporting Director Ben Manga to carry out this much-needed squad surgery.
If our worst fears regarding Pedro’s condition are confirmed in the coming days — and Bilić was not optimistic when asked post match — the coach arguably has neither of his talisman at his disposal. January will make or break this season and selling Sarr might be the only way to revitalise a dysfunctional, disillusioned and distinctly average squad.