Defense the New Priority for Watford

 Troy Deeney suffered in the Watford formation employed by Nigel Pearson but reports of his demise are premature. Photograph: Julian Finney/PA
Troy Deeney suffered in the Watford formation employed by Nigel Pearson but reports of his demise are premature. Photograph: Julian Finney/PA
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Defense the New Priority for Watford

 Troy Deeney suffered in the Watford formation employed by Nigel Pearson but reports of his demise are premature. Photograph: Julian Finney/PA
Troy Deeney suffered in the Watford formation employed by Nigel Pearson but reports of his demise are premature. Photograph: Julian Finney/PA

As the season progressed and their team failed to drag themselves clear of the relegation battle Watford were forced to draw up detailed contingency plans in case the worst was to happen, but until Sunday they continued to believe they would find a way out of danger. Those who had assembled the squad were convinced of the quality of its leading lights – players such as Ismaïla Sarr, Abdoulaye Doucouré, Gerard Deulofeu, Troy Deeney and Étienne Capoue – and whatever the mounting evidence presented by the league table they found it inconceivable they would fail.

On Monday they gathered at the training ground at London Colney, separated by a hedge from the Arsenal team whose victory over them, and the defeat to Aston Villa, during the final week had sealed their fate, and confronted the fact that the worst-case scenario was indeed the one they had to deal with.

In a joint statement Gino Pozzo, the club’s owner, and their chairman, Scott Duxbury, admitted to “mistakes that were made surrounding the team this season” and pledged “to do everything in our power” to return them to the top-flight. “We have to be honest with ourselves and admit our efforts surrounding the team were not good enough,” they said. “There will be lessons learned and changes made but, from today, we move forward.”

There are fewer than seven weeks until the new season starts, but the club will not panic. Or more correctly, they will not panic again, yet. Having sacked Nigel Pearson with two games remaining the process of recruiting another permanent head coach, their fourth inside a calendar year, was put on hold. It now begins in earnest and is unlikely to conclude this week, with no appetite for a repeat of this season’s coaching carousel. The process of shedding highly paid players disinclined to spend a season or more in the Championship will be lengthy and is likely to run until the international transfer deadline on 5 October and beyond.

Regret and recrimination start immediately. That the performance in defeat at Arsenal, even with defending for which mere haplessness was a distant aspiration, was the best since the restart by a significant margin will add to their disappointment. Many will consider a squad of players who have often looked disinterested responsible for this, but that the attacking unit suddenly seemed cohesive and productive on Sunday was not just down to last-day desperation. It was the first time all season Watford have played two specialist forwards plus specialist midfielders on the right and left – in other words, their best formation.

Javi Gracia never had the chance to pick Sarr; Quique Sánchez Flores only had Deeney for his final three matches (though did not seem inclined to use him; Pearson, given more time and a fit squad, insisted on playing Deeney as a sole striker, with only occasionally encouraging results. For all the outrage and the embarrassment that followed his dismissal, Sunday demonstrated Pearson’s departure might not have come too soon, but too late.

One thing that had been delivered prematurely was Deeney’s footballing obituary, with the club captain, again playing after painkilling injections and with a heavily strapped knee – the operation he has long needed will happen in the next week – back to somewhere near his best when finally being allowed to combine given the right players in the right positions. There was also an encouraging cameo off the bench from João Pedro, an 18-year-old Brazilian who is one of several young players on the fringes of the first team – also including Domingos Quina, Ben Wilmot and Tom Dele-Bashiru – who are likely to have many more opportunities if they stick around for another season.

Changes will not be limited to personnel. Under Pozzo, Watford have pursued a deliberate policy of underspending on defenders, saving their money for younger forwards with potentially greater resale values. They have sanctioned eight-figure gambles on strikers while assembling a backline on a relative pittance – the seven most-used defenders this season, with 172 league starts between them, collectively cost slightly less than Andre Gray, their occasionally used reserve striker, who started seven games. How Craig Dawson gifted Arsenal a first-minute penalty or the ease with which Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang collected Kieran Tierney’s long throw to score the third appears to have finally convinced them to change tack.

Inevitably, Watford’s worries are not confined to the pitch and the double disaster of coronavirus and relegation will severely test their financial security. They have posted pre-tax profits in three of the past four years but have been extremely reliant on broadcast income that is about to dry up, are still fully staffed despite plunging revenues even in the Premier League and instead of banking season ticket sales they have spent recent weeks issuing refunds. Never will the parachute payments be more gratefully received.

“In sport,” Pozzo and Duxbury concluded, “you will always face moments of great disappointment but it’s how you react that defines you.” After a season featuring an unusually high number of managers and an unusually low number of victories a moment of great disappointment has certainly been reached. Their decisions this summer will decide how many more are still to come.

The Guardian Sport



Manchester United Defenders Yoro, Maguire Fit to Return

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo
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Manchester United Defenders Yoro, Maguire Fit to Return

Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo
Soccer Football - FA Cup - Third Round - Arsenal v Manchester United - Emirates Stadium, London, Britain - January 12, 2025 Manchester United's Leny Yoro comes on as a substitute to replace Harry Maguire REUTERS/David Klein/File Photo

Manchester United defenders Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro will be back in the squad when the club's Premier League campaign resumes at high-flying Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.

England's Maguire missed United's last two league matches with a calf problem ahead of the international break and French teenager Yoro had a foot injury.

"Maguire is ready to go to the game and Yoro," manager Ruben Amorim told reporters on Monday.

The Portuguese also delivered good news on defender Ayden Heaven, who joined United from Arsenal in January but was carried off during his first start two weeks ago, according to Reuters.

"It is not so serious. (Heaven) is recovering. He is not yet ready to play but he will return this season, for sure," Amorim said.

Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo have returned to training but are not fit enough to play.

"(Shaw is) starting to do some drills with the team but we are building Luke," the coach said. "Kobbie is almost ready, Jonny (Evans) is recovering."

STIFF TEST

United, 13th in the table, are unbeaten in their last four league games, but face a stiff test against third-placed Forest who are within sight of a Champions League spot with a return to Europe's top club competition for the first time in 45 years.

Forest played 120 minutes in an FA Cup quarter-final win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday while United are coming off a 15-day break.

"Of course, Nuno (Espirito Santo, Forest's manager) will say that it was better to have more time to prepare the game, and I can say that that's a long, long time in the good moment without games," Amorim said.

"But they played that cup stage, they won, and that is really important to recover players. So the environment will be really nice, they are doing amazing."

Amorim had little to say about Marcus Rashford's performance since joining Aston Villa on loan from United, and scoring his first two goals for his new team in a 3-0 win over second-tier Preston North End to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

"We have a lot of games to play and I am focused on my team and my players and Rashford is not my player at the moment," Amorim said.

"But every player that performs well on loan is good news for my club so we are happy with that."

FERNANDES STAYING

The Portuguese coach also United captain Bruno Fernandes will not be allowed to leave the club at the end of the season.

The 30-year-old Fernandes, who last year signed a contract extension until 2027, has recently been linked with a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

"No, it's not going to happen. He's not going anywhere because I've already told him," Amorim said of the midfielder.

"We want the best players to continue with us. He's (30) ... but he's still so young because he plays 50, 55 games every season.

"Between assists and goals, he's there for 30 (of them), at least. So he's the type of player that we want here, he's not going anywhere."

Fernandes has scored 16 goals and registered 15 assists in 44 appearances across all competitions for United this season.