Every season, a new phrase enters the Watford lexicon.
In 2022/23, it was ‘Hell or high water’ - in reference to the supposed backing Scott Duxbury would give new head coach Rob Edwards. Under the increasingly desperate Tom Cleverley in January 2025, it became ‘Oven-ready players’. Now, in 2026, the early frontrunner is ‘Squad depth’. Not particularly original or unique to the Hornets but the phrase being thrown around by fans in debate more than any other.
Judging by Alessio Dionsi’s damning post-match verdict following Saturday’s listless 2-1 defeat to Stoke City, he is not thrilled with the lack of options available to him. Just in case naming two keepers on the bench for the fifth straight game did not make it clear, he did not mince his words after, either.
Speaking to the Watford Observer, he said: “My players have been tired since the start, because a lot of them played every three days for seven Championship matches and two Carabao Cup games.
“It is difficult. We have reached this moment but when you arrive without the players, it is difficult. On the bench today there weren’t midfielders and defenders. It is the first time in my life as a coach without a midfielder on the bench. It is an opportunity to grow, but the result is right.”
The Italian’s words are in stark contrast with those of Chairman and CEO Duxbury in his latest podcast appearance following the conclusion of the transfer window. “We’ve got to be careful there because it’s not Football Manager, it’s real life,” Duxbury said.
“We have a matchday squad of 20 and the maths are challenging. When everyone’s fit, which touch wood will be soon, we have a squad unlike last year where everybody is what I would call a first-team player.
“That means there’s going to be at least three players in the stands as it is, quality players, and we can’t just have six forwards on the bench.”
The injuries have been unforgiving. Jeremy Ngakia has not been seen since last season. Marc Bola suffered a bad injury on the opening weekend. Edoardo Bove went down with a potentially nasty looking knee issue at West Bromwich Albion and the club has not communicated an expected recovery timeline.
On Saturday, it was the turn of Jordan Zemura once again and, judging by his since-deleted Instagram post, he too is set for a spell on the sidelines. Not for the first time, Omar Traoré looked to be in some discomfort after being pressed into action from the bench following Zemura’s withdrawal.
Per the Watford Observer, Dionisi also hinted at an issue for Soumaïla Coulibaly, while Mattie Pollock and Hector Kyprianou are both ‘tired’ according to the Italian, having scarcely been afforded a break so far this season.
While injuries are unavoidable, it’s hard to escape the feeling that more could have been done to avoid this situation. The Hornets started pre-season with little more than a starting XI of fit, senior, first-team pros. The first signing, Traoré, did not arrive until July 16. By which time, two first-team friendlies had taken place. The Hornets’ pre-season schedule concluded on August 1 – by that point, there were still seven new faces yet to arrive in WD18.
The reason for this is clear. Watford can no longer compete financially with the division’s bigger spenders. That places a necessity on being patient, shopping in the reduced section and taking gambles on items found in the ‘Like new’ section. All of which meant it was unreasonable to expect a fully-formed squad to be awaiting Dionisi by the time he finally arrived in the UK. But waiting until the final hours of the summer transfer window - while the Hornets were being put to the sword by Swansea City no less - to put the finishing touches to the group was far from ideal.
How ready are Coulibaly, Branimir Mlačić and Stephy Mavididi, having pitched up just hours before the window closed? How much of a pre season did they get at their parent clubs? How far behind are they in terms of match sharpness?
Mavididi played 61 minutes for Leicester City on the opening day of the EFL season. His next outing came in that defeat at the Hawthorns on September 5. Prior to the midweek win over Preston North End, Coulibaly last got 90 minutes on April 24 against Ligue 1 Lens. Mlačić’s last 90? For Hajduk Split against HNK Gorica on January 31. He spent the second half of last term at Udinese but never clocked more than 54 minutes.
With players dropping like flies, they will be thrown into the action sooner than is ideal – only heightening the risk of injury. Mlačić is already sidelined and could be joined by Coulibaly if the Hornets’ luck is so far is anything to go by. Against Stoke, Dionisi was left with little choice but to start the out-of-sorts Kévin Keben out of position at right-back. When Zemura was withdrawn, Traoré was called upon once more despite clearly carrying a knock.
A* Nabizada gets top grades in opening-day Watford win
On the week teenagers across the country received their A-Level results, A*min Nabizada became the latest graduate of Watford’s Academy with a bright future ahead of him.
If the Zimbabwean has joined his fellow full-backs in the treatment room, it could end up being Albert Eames and Keben on the outside of the Hornets’ defence at Bristol City on Friday night. Two players who both need time out of the firing line in an ideal world. By dint of nothing more than his left foot, Edo Kayembe might have been a candidate to start at left-back. But with Martín Payero and Edoardo Bove both sidelined, he has to start in midfield despite another hapless display on Saturday.
All of these things are connected. Because the club left their business to the last minute and because they shopped in the yellow sticker section, they ended up with players not fit, not ready and harbouring potential issues. Coulibaly has never managed more than 1,364 league minutes in a season – the equivalent of 15.5 90 minutes. Payero, who has been playing longer, has still never cracked 2,000 league minutes in a single campaign.
Myron Boadu - yet to be seen in the matchday squad - has ended up at Vicarage Road after being earmarked as something of a wonderkid earlier in his career. He managed fewer than 500 minutes in the Eredivisie with PSV Eindhoven last term. It does not take Sherlock Holmes to work out how he’s gone from €17million Monaco prospect to trying to kickstart his career in England’s second tier.
It would have been no different had the reported targets ended up here. Jamaal Lascelles has been more cheerleader than centre-back in recent years, Teden Mengi’s injury problems have blighted an otherwise popular spell at the Kennel, while Riccardo Sottil has suffered from a chronic back issue that limited him to 1,072 Serie A minutes last term.
On paper, Watford only have room for two more over-21s in their 25-man squad registered with the EFL, the reliability and durability of the 23 who are signed up for the season calls into question the wisdom of running two men short.
All that said, the decision to give 36-year-old Michail Antonio a contract is yet another example of bizarre decision making. Why have one forward whose fitness is not guaranteed when you can have two? One presumes Antonio will have significantly reduced his salary from his time at West Ham United. Both he and his agency hinted at a move into coaching as part of the role but it’s midfielders and full-backs the Hornets need right now – not a fourth striker in a one-striker system.
Sure, he meets Duxbury’s brief of experienced British players and we’ve all cried out for a more grizzled striker to help Luca Kjerrumgaard and Mamadou Doumbia realise their potential – but was this really the best use of the limited funds available? This is a player who has not played at any kind of level since December 2024 and revealed he was ‘close to dying’ after the horrific car accident that curtailed his Premier League career. Is he up to the demands of the Championship? We can’t possibly know. Dionisi has already said he is some way short of being ready and he did not appear to warm up on Saturday despite being named as a substitute.
The international break should provide some welcome relief – but it will not be the panacea to all the Hornets’ problems. Before then, there’s Friday night’s game trip to Bristol City to get through. The medical team will doubtless be working overtime to give Dionisi a back four worthy of the name.
Owing to the lack of alternatives, the starting XI reveal has not garnered too much interest this season. That might change on Friday night, for all the wrong reasons.