Next weekend Watford will play in the FA Cup final, their first since 1984 when Everton beat them and Everton’s fans sang out to Watford owner at the time Elton John ‘I guess that’s why they call us the Blues’ a reference to one of John’s famous lyrics.
Nobody saw it coming for The Hornets who have had a fantastic season in the Premier League culminated by this superb cup run. Even at the semi-final stage it seemed that Watford were down and out when they were trailing Wolves 2-0. But they came back in one of the great cup ties and won the game 3-2. They will play Manchester City where they will clearly be the underdogs but at the same time they have nothing to lose and might just pull off one of the great surprise results.
But how did it all come down to this? It was only last summer that the club lost Marco Silva as manager to Everton in a deal that brought alongside it a lot of animosity between the clubs. But Silva did not achieve the heights with Everton that in coming manager Javi Gracia has. a 40.7% win rate with the club which is his personal highest in years and there has been a determination within the club to do well this year, led by outspoken but ultra confident captain Troy Deeney.
Last summer it was time for the club to do business and they started off with brining Gerard Deulofeu into the team. The Spanish player had played some time in the Premier League before switching back to Barcelona so he already had experience and pace of the game in England. It was a great deal for the club who paid just over £11m for the playmaker who has had a solid season for them.
Domingos Quina also made an impact and was bought for just £1m from West Ham, it is unfortunate that the player picked up an injury in the second half of the season. The club have played more with wingers so that meant that they didn’t really miss the sale of Richarlison to Everton and got £40m for the player. By being patient and not making rash decisions they have been able to release over 10 players to make room in the squad but also bought new players but made a profit too. For now Watford are the perfect business model.
The season may have started off with the team feeling robbed of a manager and their star striker but in return that anger has turned to hope, passion and hunger, and now they have a genuine chance through hard work behind the scenes and on the football pitch to win their first trophy in a generation.
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