SARR’S SPECIAL ONE FOR MUNOZ
Hornets winger shines
XISCO Munoz hasn’t been at the Watford helm for long, but he already knows he has a ‘special’ talent on his hands in winger Ismaila Sarr.
The Senegal international, who turned 23 ten days ago, joined from French club Rennes for a club record £30m in August 2019 but couldn’t keep the Hornets in the Premier League in a tumultuous season at Vicarage Road.
It was his two goals and an assist in a stunning 3-0 win against Liverpool, which ended the Reds’ 44game top-flight unbeaten run, a year ago which catapulted Sarr to the wider public’s attention.
Many felt he would be on his way after Watford crashed into the Championship, but he has stayed to play his part in trying to secure an immediate return to the top tier.
Eight league goals and four assists pre-weekend have marked his out as one of the Hertfordshire club’s key men.
Exciting
Against Wycombe in midweek, Sarr showed some of the reasons why he is one of the most exciting players in the Championship. He played an early part in both goals that were ultimately scored by rejuvenated striker Andre Gray.
First, a simple ball to rightback Kiko Femenia led to the Spaniard putting a goal on a plate for Gray from close range. For the second, Femenia pumped the ball up the flank for Sarr, who showed superb control to bring the ball down in an instant and surge forward before passing to Philip
Zinckernagel, who delightfully teed up Gray.
With pace to burn, excellent technique and tricks that can buy him time and space, the rangy wide man can frighten high-class defenders.
Spaniard Munoz, who took the reins in December following the Hornets’ decision to axe Vladimir Ivic, knows the importance of Sarr to his team’s promotion prospects.
“He is a special man, no?” said Munoz. “All the time he does the best for the team. I’m lucky to have a player with this talent in our squad. We need to continue to enjoy him.
“He has everything. With Kiko, he has a very good combination. He is fast, he understands when to close, shoot. He can go inside, outside. “It’s difficult to stop him. Sometimes he goes one sides, sometimes the other. For me, he’s a top player.”
It’s no surprise that top-flight clubs will be looking at what Sarr can bring to the table, so promotion may be the best way for Watford to keep him happy.
But Munoz insists they can’t worry now about interest in their star talent.
Talent
“This is the life, we’re not thinking about this,” he said. “We are thinking about Sarr giving the best for our team. He is a big professional and he does the best for us.
“It’s normal, all the top players have big chances, but we will see what happens in the summer.”
Munoz is also happy to have Gray back in the goal groove after lean times over the last couple of years.
The 29-year-old former Burnley
hitman grabbed his chance with both hands after coming in for the suspended Joao Pedro against Wycombe.
“It was a brilliant performance for him,” he said. “I’m happy because I know how he works every day.
“He is an important player for our team.”
With 32 points from his first 15 games in charge following yesterday’s 1-0 home win against Nottingham Forest, Munoz has settled well into English football. Now he wants his team to be flexible as they hunt promotion.
“Other teams see our style, sometimes we need to change,” he added. “We need to have a better counter-press, understanding of what we want to do with the ball, which diagonals we need.
“There are a lot of things to work on, but we are going in a good direction.”