Watford opinion: Late transfers lead to fitness, injury and form issues

Much has been made of how thin Watford's squad has been in the first month of the football season.

The day before the transfer window shut, there had been more outgoings than incomings. Having just two recognised centre-backs for the whole of August was staggering.

That changed after deadline day, but by then the damage had already been done.

The Watford board will argue they were waiting for better, younger targets and weren't going to be forced into making signings for the sake of it. Now the market has shut, and if the squad was fully fit, it would be considered decent enough with the exception of midfield.

The Hornets did make early transfers, of course, and once again some of the recruitment was excellent. Iker Bravo has been a sensation, Federico Ravaglia is a goalkeeper upgrade, Jordan Zemura and Omar Traore are more than solid full-back options and Soumaila Coulibaly and Branimir Mlacic have also looked good.

The problem has been with head coach Alessio Dionisi forced into playing the same players game after game. In recent weeks, often playing twice a week, injuries have mounted and tiredness has set in, affecting their form in August and now September.

To add to his difficulties, the ones coming in late have been nowhere near fully match-fit let alone match-sharp, and yet some have found themselves in a depleted squad at times.

Watford haven't named the maximum eight substitutes in the past two games and, unusually, have had two goalkeepers on the bench for the past five. It's why Dionisi has repeatedly said "it's not easy" before and after games.

For the Italian boss, the international break can't come soon enough - which for a Watford head coach is ironic considering the timings of recent sackings at Vicarage Road.

After the Bristol City game on Friday, the Hornets have three weeks to recover, regroup and prepare for the next stage of the season.

By then Watford will almost certainly be playing catch-up, and while one can understand the board's reluctance to spend in early August, wanting to wait for better, later options, the policy has rather backfired.

The Hornets will eventually have a competitive squad, but by then it could be late October. If the ultimate goal is to challenge for promotion, they've already given themselves a bit of a mountain to climb.

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