Watford: Tom Cleverley proud of his young stars

By Hugo Varley

They may have appeared to be slipping away from the play-off pack in recent weeks, but Watford boss Tom Cleverley says he is “immensely proud” at the battling mentality of his young squad.

The Hornets have relied heavily on budding talents of late, with captain Moussa Sissoko the only outfield player over the age of 26 lining up in the 1-0 home win over Hull City on Tuesday night.

Teenagers Rocco Vata and Mamadou Doumbia intelligently hassled the Tigers defence at Vicarage Road.

The 20-year-old Caleb Wiley, on loan from Chelsea, and the 21-year-old James Abankwah, borrowed from Udinese, were stand-out performers in defence.

EAGER TO IMPRESS: Hornets forward Rocco Vata has gained valuable experience this term
PICTURE: Alamy

Credit

They helped Cleverley’s side snap out of a worrying spiral of form, which had seen them win just once in six games, in midweek.

Victory over the Yorkshire side left Watford six points adrift of the play-offs going into yesterday’s crunch trip to West Bromwich Albion, and their boss was quick to praise his youthful side’s tenacity.

“I think we all need to take a step back and look at what we are working with here,” said the former Manchester United midfielder.

“Key players like Kwadwo Baah and Giorgi Chakvetadze have had to come out and young lads who haven’t played many minutes are coming in and immediately needing to hit the ground running.

“We are asking some of these boys to play at a level we would normally expect them to be at in two or three years time.

“They deserve immense credit for this.

“Coming up against an extremely physical Hull side this week was always going to be tough, but they battled brilliantly and deserved the win.

“Caleb (Wiley), for example, has come in and performed really impressively in the last two home games, looking really sharp at both ends of the pitch.”

Flag-bearer

Indeed, it was the pacey American international fullback who clipped in a delightful cross for captain Sissoko to skilfully steer home the winner on Tuesday.

The strike was Sissoko’s fourth goal of the campaign, following his summer move to Hertfordshire from French top-flight side Nantes.

In stark contrast to many of his callow Watford teammates, the 35-year-old former France international has high-level experience in abundance.

A Champions League final start in 2019 with Tottenham Hotspur stands alongside an appearance in the final of the 2016 European Championships with France as highlights of a decorated career.

Cleverley knows he is privileged to have a player like Sissoko wearing the armband this season and believes the veteran midfielder is the perfect role model for the wider squad.

“Moussa is an absolute inspiration to these younger players on how to live a life as a professional footballer,” added the 35-year-old Hornets boss.

“He is the flag-bearer for everything that we do here, and his work is an example to us all.

“It’s great to have someone that has been there and done it in the game – especially when we have so many players that are eager to absorb as much as they can.

“I think it helps to create a nice dynamic in the squad, which we can hopefully use to our advantage between now and the end of the campaign and push forward.

“It’s exciting that we are still in the mix – I can certainly promise that we will keep fighting until the very last minute.”

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