Doucoure gets golden touch with Silva as Watford find right blend
These are exciting times at Watford. With a new manager, new players and a buoyant new spirit, they find themselves in fourth place in the Premier League after the first month of the season.
As they took to the field at St Mary’s on Saturday, Marco Silva’s side had an identical record to Southampton but there was a gulf between the teams as Watford cruised to victory.
“We are happy with the manager, he is a good guy,” said Abdoulaye Doucoure, scorer of the first goal. “He pushes everyone to be on the top. He is very honest, very just.”
Doucoure is something of an unlikely star of Silva’s side as the exrennes and Granada midfielder’s future at the club looked bleak last season under Walter Mazzarri.
“Last year, it was very strange. I almost went to Lorient but the transfer was cancelled so I am happy to stay here. I am very happy to play. The past was the past.”
Doucoure, who has struck twice in the opening four games, is forging an impressive midfield partnership with Tom Cleverley and Nathaniel Chalobah, a combination which Southampton were unable to cope with on Saturday.
“We won the battle of the midfield. You win every challenge, you fight for the second ball, you are everywhere and the game starts in the middle,” said the Frenchman. “We have very good commitment between us. It is good and we have to keep going like that.” Listening to Doucoure, it is easy to see the mentality and confidence instilled by Silva rubbing off on his players and ambitions are high among the Watford squad. “I say before this season, I want to be one of the best midfielders in the league, in the team, to be a leader. I have to work and we will see at the end of the season where I am,” he added. The turnover of players and managers at Watford has been prohibitive to development over recent seasons so perhaps most impressive about Silva’s achievements so far is the way the Portuguese has integrated his new players and a new philosophy in such a short space of time.
“It’s a very good sign to me as it is not easy,” said Silva. “You don’t have time to gel everything like you want and for them to understand each other. It is what you want to do. We need our time but I’m happy with what we’ve done now.
“It is clear to me – it is a matter of mentality. You try to do everything well during the week.
“Football is about mentality and wanting to win,” added the former Hull manager.