Things were tightly packed in the middle of the Premier League table last season. The Hornets ultimately finished in 11th but were in a pack from 9th (Leicester City) to 12th (Crystal Palace) that could have seen any of the four clubs in that range finish in any of the four spots. After a summer when they’d controversially fallen out with their manager and then seen their best attacker, Richarlison, follow the old manager (and the money) to Goodison Park improving three spots in the table was a better outcome than supporters had any rights to hope for.
The arrival of a stabilizing force in Javi Gracia, yes, anyone who manages to hold the post at Vicarage Road for more than a year qualifies as a stabilizing force, put the club on the right path. His ability to integrate existing players with a few sensible purchases and get better results than the managers who oversaw those purchases is quite a managerial accomplishment. Gracia has started to tap into the vast potential many have seen in Gerard Deulofeu while revitalizing Troy Deeney and even coaxing some solid production from frequently-injured players like Will Hughes and Roberto Pereyra. As has become his habit, Abdoulaye Doucouré is the rock around which the rest of it is possible.
Speaking of stability, the transition from 2018-19 to 2019-20 looks to be the model of squad stability. Watford haven’t gone full Tottenham and signed zero players in this summer’s window but to date they have signed only Craig Dawson and lost exactly zero significant contributors to the first team from last season’s squad. There are rumblings of Marco Silva coming in late for Doucoure but with little cause to sell for anything short of an extortionate price, it appears that the Hornets are content to run it back counting on increased familiarity with one another, improvement from Deulofeu, and better health at the back to lead to a superior final position in the table.
Perhaps they’ll make a medium-sized deadline day splash but the expectation should be that, for once, the Hornets will open the season with the manager and players they closed the previous, relatively successful, campaign with.
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Fantasy Prognosis
Total Points: 1433 (14th); F Points: 242 (10th); M Points: 634 (9th); M+F Points: 876 (10th); D Points: 428 (13th); GK Points: 129 (11th)
The picture painted by the statistics above is one of an average-to-slightly-below-average fantasy team which is about right. What the Hornets lost in Richarlison was a true fantasy standout. Deulofeu and Holebas were very strong points/minute performers but managerial decisions, suspensions, and injuries kept both players from season-long excellence that makes for a fantasy standout. Doucoure ran back another solid-but-not-spectacular fantasy season almost identical from the one before. Good enough to be a worthy 4th starter or great 5th midfielder in draft leagues but not to offer much excitement for salary cap managers. One player who might be worth a look early in the season, especially in Week 1, for salary cap purposes is Daryl Janmaat. Coming in at a bargain price of 4.5 he is healthy (a rarity) and has an attractive fixture. Janmaat is really more of a bargain 5th defender to enable other things but until he inevitably gets hurt he’ll contribute at least some points in the event he’s auto-subbed into your line-up with the potential for the occasional clean sheet and assist.
There aren’t any other Hornets players who are of much interest in salary cap formats unless you’re using Ben Foster as part of a job share to cut costs while matching schedules that feature potential clean sheets on complimentary weeks. Beyond that, the interest in Watford players should be restricted to draft and auction leagues. Deulofeu, Doucoure, Holebas, and Foster are regularly drafted and Pereyra has fans as well but looks unlikely to be ready to start in the opener against Brighton.
Honestly, there isn’t a particularly compelling story for fantasy managers. In the real world, a campaign free of drama and relegation battles is a huge win for those in charge of Watford. For fantasy managers, there isn’t much to get excited about unless something dramatic changes between now and Friday.
