My Doucoure not up for sale insists Gracia
ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE salvaged another valuable point for his team yesterday, underlining why Watford manager Javi Gracia insists that he will not be selling his midfield general in January.
Doucoure, 25, had played every minute of the Premier League season before starting on the bench yesterday, coming on to head home Gerard Deulofeu’s centre in the 82nd minute to cancel out Salomon Rondon’s first-half goal.
Frenchman Doucoure has been linked with a move back across the Channel, but after seeing his impact in finally breaking down a resolute Newcastle defence, Gracia brushed off any talk of losing one of his key men.
‘It’s the same as last season,’ Gracia said. ‘Doucoure is my player. I think he will stay, until the end of the season.’
Gracia would rather not have been fielding questions about his midfielder at all, having tasked a side without him to take care of Rafa Benitez’s struggling Newcastle side.
He made six changes to the side that lost to Chelsea on Boxing Day, and his side started brightly enough, with Deulofeu wasting two chances early on when springing the offside trap down the right-hand channel of Newcastle’s back three.
But the visitors found their feet and took the lead with their first meaningful attack.
Christian Atsu was at the heart of the goal, with his smart turn outwitting Will Hughes in the middle of the park to create the space required. He laid the ball off to Matt Ritchie on the left, whose inviting cross was met by Rondon rising high above Adam Masina to head home his fifth goal in eight league games.
That lead looked like being enough, as they continued to thwart a blunt Watford attack, with Deoulofeu and Isaac Success spurning chances to bring the hosts level in the second half. Troy Deeney, like Doucoure, had started the game on the bench and was also sorely missed.
All Newcastle’s hard work in defence was undone when Doucoure evaded the attention of Jonjo Shelvey to head home unmarked.
‘They score a goal that we could avoid,’ Benitez moaned. ‘We could be talking about something different.’
It was a body blow to a Newcastle side just eight minutes from their first ever top-flight win at Vicarage Road.
Their manager has recently suggested his side need a miracle to avoid relegation this season — after this result, Newcastle are 15th, and four points clear of the relegation zone — but after seeing his side dig in yesterday, even Benitez feels he has seen enough to suggest the improbable is possible.
‘Today, the way the team is performing is the way we can get the miracle done,’ Benitez said. ‘We have to realise that for us the key has to be team effort. It has to be every player giving 100 per cent.
‘We did it last year. The second part of the year was quite good. I have the belief we can do it this year. But this year, a lot of teams are stronger than last year. So we need to make sure that we keep performing like we did on the pitch and see what happens in January.’
Benitez will have taken lots of encouragement from Rondon’s performance, worthy of earlier, other famous Newcastle No9s, and vindicating his decision to bring the striker in on loan from West Bromwich Albion.
One concern for the Newcastle manager will be the hip injury picked up by Federico Fernandez.
The Argentinean led the backline impeccably in the first-half alongside Jamaal Lascelles and Paul Dummett in a back three, but was forced off following a collision just before half-time.