Watford FC season grades: midfielders
7. Tom Ince (8 starts + 19 sub apps, 2 goals) D
Ah, Tom Ince. The forgotten man.
At a reported £50k, he seemed a snip coming off a season in which he scored nine and assisted four for relegated crisis club Reading. Surely he could provide some value to a better Watford side, went the logic. Without knowing his salary, it’s hard to know whether we really got value from him. What we do know is his contribution was fairly minimal and his season peaked with a nicely taken goal and assist in the chaotic 2–2 home draw with West Bromwich Albion.
That was September 20 and, by all accounts, he was free to move on by January with a move to the Turkish Süper Lig mooted. Talk about a deal that seemed destined to happen. Except it didn’t and was only seen from the bench for the rest of the season, his last start coming in November.
Still young enough at 32 to contribute somewhere but probably commanding a salary that does not befit his squad status here, a move away looks inevitable for Ince this summer.
8. Jake Livermore (25 + 5, 3) A-
At the height of the off-season hysteria, when the days are long and news is sparse, the signing of 33-year-old free agent Jake Livermore really sent Watford Twitter off the rails. How foolish that looks now.
Slaven Bilić had been desperate to sign the former England international the previous January and one wonders what impact he might have had in the second half of a miserable season blighted by a toxic squad of mercenaries. Under Gino Pozzo, we’ve done a nice line in safe, unspectacular British midfielders arriving mid-season. And by nice line, I mean Ben Watson and Dan Gosling, both of whom joined in the January of promotion campaigns. I’m not saying we were a Livermore away from suddenly being contenders, but is it totally inconceivable he’d have been a useful dressing-room lieutenant for Bilić?
To the here and now. His first and only start before October 7 came in a listless 1–0 defeat at Stoke City. Tainted by association, he was back on the bench until a rot-stopping draw at Cardiff City — the fixture which followed that defeat at Sunderland — and did not really drop out again until Tom Cleverley took over. In that time, we saw precisely why Bilić and Valérien Ismaël had been keen to sign him. Solid if unspectacular, unfussy in the extreme and usually in the right place at the right time, Livermore just got on with his business while exerting an aura of calm in everything he did.
Just seven minutes across two substitute outings under Cleverley suggest he is unlikely to be around next season. Unless, of course, the interim boss valued his experience next to him on the bench more than on the field.
10. Imrân Louza (11 + 4, 1) F
Has a Watford career ever been built on so little?
Imrân Louza was an outcast from virtually the word go and spent the majority of 2022/23 injured before being cast aside in January 2024 after falling out with Ismaël. Yet in between, we saw glimpses of the player the Hornets thought they were getting from Nantes in 2021. Fit again, handed the №10 shirt and — somewhat surprisingly — included in Ismaël’s leadership group, everything seemed set for Louza to thrive in 2023/24.
Save for that opening 45-minute salvo against Queens Park Rangers on matchday one which provided the high point of the campaign, he flattered to deceive. At best. Punished for timekeeping transgressions, his ill-discipline was a bad look for one of the squad’s more senior players and the tide soon turned against the Moroccan. Supporters at all clubs have a soft spot for the mavericks. But not when they feel their club is having the piss taken out of it. That is how Watford fans felt about Louza and his social media activity after an inclement result only solidified that belief.
Quite how much of the reported €10million Watford paid three years ago they can expect to recoup anyone’s guess. It will be tough in this economic climate — and that’s before you consider the season he has endured. Could there be a truce? If we give equal weighting to postivity spread by Louza on social media, his endorsement of Cleverley on Instagram may be a way back. But it would be no surprise if all parties were happy to cut their losses.
11. Ismaël Koné (28 + 14, 4) B+
Signed to much fanfare in January 2023 (so-called ‘Canada’s most promising talent since Alphonso Davies’) Koné swiftly looked like exactly what he was: a young midfielder with minimal first-team experience in an inferior league in Major League Soccer. At Watford, that can be enough to see you written off and sent on loan to Udinese. But the Hornets’ hierarchy clearly thought they had one in Koné and the long(er) game has paid off.
The sort of midfielder it’s hard to pigeon-hole into a single explicit role, Koné’s press resistance is arguably his biggest strength. Not only able but comfortable taking the ball in tight spaces, wriggling out through non-existent gaps and releasing the ball at the optimal moment, he has grown in (metaphorical stature) as the season progressed. Throw in a penchant for a stunner (below) and you have the player who has arguably progressed most in an otherwise forgettable 2023/24.
The pay-off is Koné is one of Watford’s most saleable assets. That is why the club forked out a reported €8–10million at a time when such fees had appeared a thing of the past. He was never purchased to be a Hornets lifer. He was signed to be polished up and sold on. Whether he has done enough in this season alone to secure a lucrative move remains to be seen. Another year like this will surely tip the balance, though.
12. Ken Sema (24 + 5, 1) C-
I’m quickly learning I don’t have a particularly good grasp on how involved players have been. I say that because it came as something of a surprise that (King) Ken Sema was involved in as many at 29 games last season. Always likely to miss a few games with a minor niggle, the 2023/24 campaign was Sema’s worst for Watford and he felt absent far more often than he was.
You could point to his first year here back in the Premier League. Back then he looked so woefully out of his depth it seems unfair to judge him on that campaign. Arriving from Sweden, he clearly was not ready. Even after winning promotion back to the Premier League in 2020, he scarcely featured as top-flight relegation was confirmed. He is a staunchly Championship player. Not particularly quick, skilful or blessed with an abundance in any one attribute. But he is solid, dependable and hard working. A real 7/10 most weeks kind of player. A low ceiling but a high floor.
This season though… he just wasn’t. He struggled to make an impact when he played and we did not even see the barrelling dart to the byline and cutback that he has made his trademark. His only goal was, admittedly, an absolute rocket to win three unexpected points at Swansea City. That alone ensures a pass mark but this was a season of regression. His versatility and attitude almost guarantee he will be back next year but it is a big one for him as he heads into the final 12 months of his contract.
16. Giorgi Chakvetadze (14 + 20, 1) B+
Talk about a season of two halves. All but two of Giorgi Chakvetadze’s 14 Championship starts came after Christmas and, thanks to injury, only four came after February 13. That is a lot of football — including two FA Cup games — to squeeze into two months and it is those two months his season will be judged upon.
Whispers began to emerge ahead of the January transfer window that Chakvetadze was unhappy with his lack of involvement. Yet on February 1, Watford turned his loan move into a £2.5million permanent switch. It was a decision made in part (if not entirely) thanks to a run of displays in the New Year which saw the Hornets go unbeaten in seven in all competitions.
After an explosive debut from the bench against Queens Park Rangers, we saw the best of the Georgian international as an eight-and-a-half, given licence to roam from midfield and carry the ball while linking midfield and attack. He played in numerous positions and roles over the duration of the season and that versatility will doubtless ensure he plays a lot more next season. But he ought to be starting in midfield where his energy, press resistence and guile set him apart.
18. Yáser Asprilla (28 + 16, 6) B+
No Watford player made more goal contributions (goals + assists) last season than Yáser Asprilla with 13. Yet questions remain over his readiness to take the next step. He was undoubtedly one of our better players. He will undoubtedly leave for bigger and bigger things at some point. He undoubtedly improved his end product (three goal contributions in 2022/23). But doubts remain.
Perhaps there is too much expectation. Being a South American teen prodigy, he has been bracketed with João Pedro from the word go. Although their timelines were not dramatically different, the now-Brighton & Hove Albion attacker did not have to be the main man until his final season at Vicarage Road. Asprilla was put up on a pedestal this season — just just his second in England.
Durability has been another issue. Yet only Wesley Hodet, Ryan Porteous and Jamal Lewis made more starts and, per FBRef, he was only behind those three for total minutes too. He has a tendency still to drift in and out of games. However, among all the Hornets’ attack-minded players, nobody recovered the ball in the opposition half more often (91 times) or recorded more successful defensive actions (191).
Andrew French reports for The Watford Observer that the club plan to keep the Colombian this summer. That would contradict the expectations of most — myself included. I had anticipated a cash-heavy sale pre-June 30 so any profit could be booked in the latest set of accounts. If we pass that deadline, I will be more confident about Asprilla staying for the Pedro-esque encore he probably needs to realise his full value to Watford.
24. Tom Dele-Bashiru (28 + 7, 2) B
There is a trend emerging with these midfield rankings. Players of whom little was expected enjoyed impressive campaigns while those slated for more have flattered to deceive. That is probably human nature but, heading into 2023/24, it really was now or never for Tom Dele-Bashiru at the Vic’.
The first box ticked was fitness. With 2,257 minutes and 28 starts, this was the best season of his Watford career for getting on the pitch. He managed 27 starts and 2,442 minutes on loan at Reading two seasons ago but has otherwise been blighted by a couple of unfortunate injuries.
Most impressively, we really got to see what he was about. He brought energy and intensity in midfield, moved the ball quickly and effectively and was a Swiss Army knife in terms of his role — so much so he endured an uncomfortable month at right-back. Under Cleverley in the final weeks of the season, he thrived in yet another role at the base of midfield. In comparison with the club’s other central midfielders, only Koné (74) managed more progressive runs than Dele-Bashiru (37) while also recording a higher pass completition rate (90.22%) than anyone else in his position group.
He now enters the final 12 months of his contract with a strong bargaining position after a good season and with an enhanced status. It would be incredibly Watford-y to lose him…
39. Edo Kayembe (28 + 7, 5) B+
Nobody better illustrates my point about midfielders who far exceeded expectations than Edo Kayembe. Labelled a crab by some smart-arse know-it-all on Twitter a couple of years ago, deploying him in a more advanced midfield role — i.e. what turns out to be his actual position — rather than as a №6 proved his making.
Ponderous at the base of midfield, Kayembe was quick, incisive and dangerous as a №8. He linked the play, got us up the field and showed a penchant for a wicked effort from outside the box. None of which seemed remotely possible in the first season-and-a-half after his arrival from Eupen. It says everything you need to know about his importance to the side that the momentum built through the winter came to a grinding halt when he went off to the African Cup of Nations, only to be ruled out with injury.
If there was a ‘Most Improved Player’ award at Watford, Kayembe would take this year’s gong, such has been his transformation. Coupled with the turnaround in Dele-Bashiru’s game, the emergence of Chakvetadze and confirmation of Koné's quality, central midfield has gone from being arguably our greatest area o fconcern to our biggest strength.