What Can the Premier League Expect from Watford Next Season?

The recent headlines from the Championship promotion race have all focused on the fairytale story of Bournemouth, so much so that Watford’s promotion from the second automatic spot has largely slipped under the radar. But what can the Premier League expect from the Hornets?

Unlike their fellow promotees, Watford won’t be sailing into uncharted waters when they commence the Premier League season in August. The club enjoyed six seasons in the top flight in the 1980s and since the inception of the Premier League have been promoted into it twice more.

Neither of their solitary seasons in the division have proved particularly happy ones—they achieved 24 points in 1999/2000 and 28 in 2006/07, finishing both seasons dead last.

Next season they’re unlikely to be such pushovers. While Bournemouth’s story of overcoming adversity has been brewing for several years, Watford’s has been encapsulated within one season. The team were on their fourth permanent manager by October, with Giuseppe Sannino, Oscar Garcia and Billy McKinlay all leaving the Vicarage Road dugout before Slavisa Jokanovic took over.

It speaks volumes about the quality of the team’s squad—something that has been conspicuously lacking in their previous two visits to the Premier League—that they even kept within touching distance of the leading pack during a period of such instability.

Under Jokanovic, they not only kept up, but also remained consistent while others—including Bournemouth—wobbled and—in cases such as Derby County—lost their way.

The Hornets’ defence ranked as the fourth best in the division, but it was their attack—which netted 90 times, second only to the Cherries—that was the major reason for their success. The goalscoring of Troy Deeney, Odion Igalo and Matej Vydra—who scored 21, 20 and 16 goals respectively—were their most vital sources, with one of the latter two players typically partnering Deeney in a front two with the other fitting in behind the strikers as part of a five-man midfield.

Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Watford's goalscoring abilities were displayed nowhere better than in what proved to be one of the pivotal points of their season: 2-0 down at half-time to lowly Blackpool, the Hornets ran rampant in the second period, scoring an unanswered eight and quashing any suggestion they didn't have the bottle to see the job through.

Jokanovic’s use of a back three in a 3-5-2 formation is a forward-thinking approach, which will stand them in good stead in the top flight. Further encouragement can be taken from the fact they haven’t relied on their three strikers—both Heurelho Gomes in goal and Gabriele Angella at the heart of defence have provided solidity that will be crucial next term.

Finally, in Adlene Guedioura, they have a genuinely match-changing presence in the centre of the field and will be desperate to secure his services permanently from Crystal Palace.

Perhaps the biggest worry for Watford is the lack of Premier League experience in their squad. Vydra served one undistinguished season in the league with West Bromwich Albion, and his inability to step up to the level will be a worry for Jokanovic, as will the fact that of the 10 players with the most minutes this season, only Gomes, Vydra and Craig Cathcart have any Premier League experience whatsoever.

Crucially, the club have broken from their recent cycle of relying on players loaned from another of the Pozzo family’s clubs, with only Vydra loaned from Udinese this season. With Giampaolo Pozzo bankrolling the team, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see several new faces arrive, however, and Jokanovic will have to ensure that any new recruits bed in quickly.

Watford’s Premier League fate will likely hinge on how their promising but relatively untested squad can adapt to the rigours of the top flight.