O’Neill set to make Watford debut
Watford and their new manager,
Martin O’Neill are set to kick of their season with a capital one cup first round fixture versus league 2 side, Northampton Town. On paper this should be an easy victory for The Hornets, who would definitely love a cup run.
The North London side concluded their pre-season a few days ago, with a defeat at Vicarage road to Estudiantes, the score was 4-2. However, the Northern Irish manager would have been fairly delighted with the quality of football his side played throughout the pre-season.
For many managers, especially those who manage in the championship and lower, results are not the main concern when it comes to pre-season fixtures. The main concern is for the managers to be able to assess various players, decide who they like, who they send out on loan and who they get rid of for good.
On the other hand, managers usually use pre-season to test out new tactics and if you’re a new to your squad, just like
Martin O’Neill, to get to know your players a little better. We actually spoke to
Martin O’Neill about what he thought of his sides pre-season and he was all but negative:
“
I’ve enjoyed this pre-season if I’m quite frank with you. We’ve played some excellent football, premier league quality actually but I guess it’s only pre-season. Despite losing twice, on one occasion to a league 2 side I’m very happy and impressed. We’re all raring to go and can’t wait for the game vs Northampton Town. ”
Very positive words from
O’Neill, something the soldiers of the Yellow Army will be pleased about. However, that wasn’t all he had to say about his side. When asked what he thought about the performances of
Yaya Sanogo and
Albrighton during the pre-season he heaped praise onto the two of them:
“
Oh they’ve been brilliant, the two of them. We just call him Yaya here *laughs*. He being the striker has scored more goals, I think he got four in total. Marc has put in some very good performances in the midfield. I’ve known him for a young lad, from the time he was still in the youth academy, a very nice and humble lad that all managers would love to work with.”
Lastly, but certainly not least, we asked if
O’Neill was planning to still strengthen the squad or if he was happy with it already:
“
The squad’s pretty strong already actually, but I still think it needs a bit more depth. We will be looking to bring in a few more players, mainly on loan. Not only do we want to just add more depth but quality to. Once we get a good mix of the two, we’re ready to go alongside with youth and experience. ”
It seems like Watford are ready to go ahead of the upcoming season, will this be the season Watford gain promotion, or will they fall short once again?
Here are the fixtures and results of Watford’s pre-season: