This season, Watford supporters have had plenty to smile about, especially of late with the club managing to book their place in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Hornets, of course, defeated Crystal Palace to set up a tie against Wolves at Wembley, and ex-Celtic forward Chris Sutton has since come out to praise manager Javi Gracia for his success in this year’s competition.
“Congratulations to Javi Gracia and his players. Watford are having a brilliant campaign and are 90 minutes from an FA Cup final,” Sutton wrote in his Daily Mail column.
“Earlier in the season, I accused them of disrespecting the competition when Gracia made 11 changes for his side’s fourth-round tie against Newcastle. His gamble paid off with Watford winning 2-0 — but for many Premier League teams, it is a mistake.
“Gracia, to his credit, has taken a different approach since then. He rested seven players at Manchester City last week to ensure they were fresh for the quarter-final,” the retired striker later added.
Like Sutton alludes to, a lot of Premier League teams often disrespect the FA Cup by fielding weaker teams, which they are later punished for. And while it is an approach Gracia took earlier on in the competition, he has since gone with much stronger starting XIs to help get Watford where they are now.
That deserves praise, which Sutton has given after questioning the Spaniard in previous rounds, yet Watford’s FA Cup run is still arguably not the most impressive thing about their season.
Rather, their league performances are what have really stood out with the club sitting just one point behind seventh-placed Wolves.
In a campaign where many had expected Everton to easily claim that spot just outside of the top six under former Watford boss Marco Silva, it has been the Hornets who have looked like favourites to finish as the best of the rest.
With Gracia at the helm, Watford have struck such a great balance between defence and attack with the likes of Abdoulaye Doucoure, Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu all playing huge parts.
FA Cup or no FA Cup, this season has to go down as a success for Watford with Gracia largely to thank.
