Watford end-of-season squad review: Keepers and defenders
With the 2020/21 season consigned to the history books, attention immediately turns to the Premier League, how Watford survive and what they need to do it.
For those in the positions of power at Vicarage Road, this process will have begun some time ago. With the majority of the squad which got relegated sticking around in the Championship, there arguably isn’t much work to be done. Equally, that squad was relegated in the first place and their shortcomings were glaringly obvious so reinforcements must be sought.
Goalkeepers:
This is an open-and-shut case: Watford have two excellent keepers, an experienced third-choice, and a talented youngster in Pontus Dahlberg. The only question is who will be №1 next season. Neither Ben Foster nor Dan Bachmann have really done anything wrong and you’d be comfortable with either lining up between the sticks on the opening day.
However, if Watford truly believe in Bachmann and see him as their long-term first-choice keeper, he has to be given the chance to build on an impressive half-season. At 38, Foster has just a couple of years left in him, whereas Bachmann is still young for a goalkeeper at 26.
One thing the Austrian has over Foster is impressive distribution. Bachmann can pick out teammates with a range of passes and is a more aggressive sweeper-keeper. If Xisco Muñoz wants to continue playing front foot — or even counterattacking — football then Bachmann is the man to take the Hornets forward. But given everything we’ve seen of the relationship between the two protagonists in Watford’s goalkeeper’s union, Foster will have no issue with supporting the younger man and pushing him every step of the way.
In terms of the other keepers, re-signing Rob Elliot to a 12-month deal to provide experienced, low-maintenance emergency cover looks like a no-brainer. The aforementioned Dahlberg needs a loan in this country to get used to playing in English football if he’s ever going to make good on his reputed promise.
Full-backs:
Here’s where it starts to get interesting.
On the right, Kiko Femenía was my choice for Player of the Season and should begin next season as the undisputed first-choice, 12 months after it looked like he might depart WD18. That’s a blow for Jeremy Ngakia who shone in the Spaniard’s absence at the start of the campaign. Given the former West Ham graduate’s relative inexperience, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him get a good loan spell under his belt. However, with his defensive nous and Lloyd Doyley-esque one-on-one ability, he is an entirely different profile of full-back to the more gung-ho Femenía and that is a great option to have.
That leaves Marc Navarro as the odd man out — still. One presumes the Spaniard only stuck around because Femenía was expected to depart last summer. At the season’s end, the former Espanyol defender clocked up fewer minutes than the calamitous Achraf Lazaar, which is fairly damning.
On the left, Adam Masina’s stock only grew in his absence and, when he finally got fit, the Algerian excelled. From his goal-saving sliding tackle on Teemu Pukki to back-to-back winners against Cardiff City and Nottingham Forest, this was a coming-of-age season for the left-back who also earned a Moroccan call-up.
On reflection, the Hornets were lucky the former Bologna defender remained fit and available for almost all of the rest of the season. The one notable exception being that defeat at Luton Town when countryman Lazaar gave a less-than-convincing performance as the understudy. The former Newcastle United defender is out of contract this summer and despite a much-improved showing on the final day, it seems unlikely the club will seek to re-engage the 29-year-old.
That leaves a gap at left-back. Masina looks to be a lock for the starting berth so someone to push him and provide an alternative of similar calibre is the order of the day.
Centre-backs:
It feels like there’s simultaneously been a big change and almost none with regards to this area of the side. We know Craig Dawson won’t be back but Craig Cathcart and Christian Kabasele remain from the wretched relegation of 2019/20 and that feels…disconcerting.
However, neither is likely to start regularly. Instead, Francisco Sierralta and William Troost-Ekong should get the nod. The former has been a revelation since Christmas which, when you consider Vladimir Ivić clearly didn’t fancy him one bit, is remarkable. Only announced several weeks after he was first pictured playing in a pre-season friendly, Sierralta felt like ballast; someone who would do in an emergency. Strong in the air, brave in the tackle, fierce and good on the ball, the Chilean is now the Hornets’ undisputed defensive lynchpin, meaning it’s Sierralta plus one.
That looks likely to be Troost-Ekong. The Nigerian has been another excellent pick-up from Udinese having long been linked with Watford and has formed a very good partnership with Sierralta. You can’t mention him without referencing two things. Firstly, those phone calls to galvanise the rest of the squad post-Coventry City. He might not have been here long but he gets it and is clearly a well-respected member of the squad and dressing room leader. Secondly — and we won’t dwell on it — his passing which, yes, can be a bit shonky. But he should still start the season as Sierralta’s plus one.
All of which leaves Ben Wilmot exactly where he’s been since Muñoz took over: purgatory — and one of the very definite losers of the Spaniard’s reign so far. According to The Athletic, Watford could loan or even sell Wilmot who, at 21, is a potential mainstay of this defence for years to come. He’s arguably the best passer among the club’s defensive corps and didn’t do a lot wrong under Ivić who clearly rated the England Under-21 international.
If we’re going to stick with two central defenders next term —and a return to a back three seems unlikely— someone is going to lose out. Five into two doesn’t go. Personally, I’d advocate selling Kabasele. Wonderful character though he is, he isn’t particularly durable — making just 19 starts this season — and is prone to lapses in concentration. His sale would clear the way for Wilmot, by far the better long-term prospect and the player the club should be staking their chips on going forward.
In part two, I’ll take a look at the midfield and forward options.