Javi Gracia, manager of Watford F.C., is tightening up his squad as the club prepares to face off against Manchester United this coming Saturday afternoon when the two clubs meet at Old Trafford.
Characterized by his consistency in selecting players for the lineup, fans can expect to see the same players starting in this match, particularly after the squad’s recent 2-1 victory and stellar performance against Crystal Palace during the FA Cup quarterfinals on March 16th.
Currently holding their spot in 8th Place at the Premier League table, a Watford win at Old Trafford this weekend could mean a rise in ranking at the table for the Hornets, although pundits doubt the probability of that, given the return of eight injured players to the Manchester United club in preparation for this match.
If prior meetings between these two Premier League clubs are any indication of what may happen on Saturday , Watford must rise above past negativity to prepare for a daunting match against Manchester United, a rival they have managed to beat only once over the course of 11 meetings.
At their last meeting in September of 2018, Manchester United beat the Hornets 2-1 after two goals scored in the first half. Still, the Watford club played an impeccable defense against United and fought back powerfully in the second half, preventing any further advances.
Nevertheless, and even after the club’s recent losses to Table-toppers Liverpool and Manchester City, an optimistic Gracia continues to place his faith in his players, noting that they performed excellently and deserve recognition for playing extremely well against those two formidable opponents.
A call made by referee Paul Tierney during Watford’s recent match against Man City that led to the first goal of the game might have momentarily discouraged the Hornets as Watford’s ranking dropped from 8th to 11th Place at the Premier League Table after that 3-1 Man City victory.
Still, Gracia praised his squad for the powerful defense they exhibited in that meeting, during which they managed to thwart any Man City advances for the first 45 minutes of the match. Many observers noted that the controversial call gave Man City an advantage that led to the Watford defeat.
Fortunately, Watford came back strong against Crystal Palace on the 16th of this month, reclaiming their spot in 8th Place at the Table and fueling the squad’s optimism for its face-off against Manchester United this weekend.
Given the club’s track record this season, and thanks to the impressive defense that the squad has exhibited in all of their recent matches, Watford is looking forward to their best-ever Premiere League placing since the club’s glory days in the mid-1980s under Graham Taylor, back when Sir Elton John owned the Hornets.
Javi Gracia, a soft-spoken Catalan with a focus on learning from past mistakes and playing a consistently strong defense, has been steadfast in building a squad that can hold its own in the Premier League. Gracia’s history as a former midfielder for Spanish clubs Real Sociedad and Villarreal with over 430 matches played in the Primera Liga made his name a household word in Spain, particularly after leading the Malaga club to two impressive 10-0 victories back-to-back at the 2013 Uefa Champions League quarterfinals.
As a manager, Gracia has coached football clubs in Spain, Greece, and Russia prior to being selected as Head Coach and Manager at Watford in January 2018 by Hornets owner, Gino Pozzo, son of Giampaolo Pozzo, a renowned Italian businessman who currently owns the Udinese Calcio club in Italy.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Gino Pozzo has taken the family’s passion for football club ownership to a new level, with an extraordinary commitment to his investment in Watford. Gino currently resides in Watford, and works out of his office at Vicarage Road, where he is profoundly engaged in the club’s day-to-day operations, and is particularly involved in the transfer and exchange of players between the Hornets and his father’s Udinese club.
The Pozzo family has caused a sensation and is making a powerful impact on the international football scene thanks to its model of club ownership that focuses on scouting new players and trading players among clubs that the family owns in different countries. This unique approach to building their football clubs has demonstrated its success at Udinese, which the family acquired in 1986, and which rose to glory in 1993, after Gino took over the club’s governance.
In 2009, while living in Barcelona with his Catalan wife, Gino led the family’s acquisition of the Granada F.C. in Spain, at a moment when the club was saddled with a €12m debt and floundering in the third division. Following the same approach that the family used to elevate Udinese, the Pozzos managed to elevate Granada from Segunda B to the Primera Liga in two years, after the club had suffered a 35-year absence from the country’s top football league.
The Pozzos’ scouting and trading model of club ownership intensified during this period, while the family owned these three international football clubs, creating a winning formula that the Pozzos still apply today to keep their clubs healthy and fresh, while also fortifying the skills and careers of their players.
In 2016, Gino Pozzo sold a majority of his shares in the Granada club to the owner of Link International Sports for a sum of €37m, after purchasing the Watford club in 2012, stating that he wanted to devote more of his time and energy to Watford. This has been a lucky move for the Hornets, who have managed to make their way back to the Premier League table under his ownership for the first time since the club’s heyday in the 1980s.
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