He probably isn't the most creative player in The World but without doubt he moves the ball much quicker than any of our other midfielders and is the only one that is able to play between the lines. I think he is a fans favourite and rightly so and because of that he is overrated by some. I think he deserves more credit for last season he did well especially under Pesrson. Anyway if we lose Will and Capoue we will probably finish around 12th as you can be certain that their replacements wont be half as decent and the rest of the midfield aren't good enough.
Huge wages. Hugely inconsistent. I see his lack of effort as one of the main reasons for our downfall
Quality in the Premier League but an unmotivated Capoue is as useless as they get, he doesn't seem to have any sense of professional pride. Enjoy Spain, will never forget your spell under Javi.
Where’s this narrative come from that Capoue, with his current level of motivation, is useless to us? Pretty sure without Capoue’s interception (which he’s world class at) and forward pass, we draw 0-0 with Norwich last Saturday.
Apologies if this has already been posted but I couldn’t be bothered to scroll through 7 pages. Unai Emery’s side had identified the need to strengthen midfield after Iborra’s injury blow and had picked Capoue as a target for the winter market. The former Arsenal manager has now confirmed Villarreal’s interest in the Watford player. “I’m talking with [Villarreal president Fernando] Roig and from the beginning we have a lot of communication and we are clear about what we want. We have discussed the issue of the midfielder and we have agreed that we need it,”Emery was quoted as saying by AS. “Looking at what was on the market, we see that Capoue was the best option. The team has worked on it and if he arrives shortly, he will be received as a very good reinforcement. We know him from Toulouse and Watford, we know what he can bring us.” So there you go.
Looks like it's a done deal. Villarreal have posted on their official Twitter page those looking eyes.
Yep, done and done. Emery already talking about him as I posted above, then this. Feel sorry for Capoue. Based on the comments from Villarreal fans on their twitter account they don’t want him. Fans going to be on his back before he’s even kicked a ball. Pleased for him though. He deserves it. Been our best player and had we stayed up, he would have finished his career with us.
Someone posted the stats that we’ve done much better PPG wise without him rather than with him. Seems like you’re quickly forgetting his own goal the other day, and the fact he easily could’ve got a red card against Norwich as well. Then the other week (I forget which game) he came on at the end and scythed someone down on the edge of the box giving a way a totally needless free kick. His contribution has been mostly negative.
“Much better” is stretching the point. It was about 1.5 vs 1.8 wasn’t it? Over a small sample size too. And I’m not forgetting his own goal, just making the point the point he clearly can offer us something on the pitch.
That’s what they paid upfront. The other €40m is installments over the next 2 years. Gino’s done it again!
I think really looking into the "with vs without Capoue" thing - which is based on a fairly small sample point - and seeing anything other than a meaningless coincidence is bat s**t crazy. He's not been at his best this season, but he's still immeasurably better than Chalobah and dross like Cleverley. He absolutely will be missed, let's not be ridiculous about it.
This is worse than Estupinan and Suarez. They only posed in the kit - the club even let Capoue play in his! Bloody Gino.
That farewell video is so depressing. How quickly a team can be dismantled. Probably our best ever player in the Premier League and an absolute snip for the £6m odd we paid for him.
Well he didn't get red carded against Norwich, and played a huge part in the goal. 19 points in the 11 games he's featured in this season vs 18 in the 10 he hasn't, so there ain't much in that, but I don't know how much you can look into that because so many of our points this season have been 'ground out' rather than 'won', if you get what I mean
If we’d have got less points without him it would’ve been made far more of. It’s far from conclusive but at the very least it’s suggests we’ve not done any worse without him however good or bad he is. The reality is he didn’t want to be here and it showed, best to get rid, save some cash, bring some cash in and as long as his spot is taken by someone who will give 100% we’ll be no worse off. A no brainer.
So sorry to see him go as overall he has been a great player for us, maybe not on his top form this season so hopefully won't be missed too much. I hope he has a great swansong to his career at Villarreal and I wish him well. Thanks for the memories E C and you will be welcome back at "The Vic" anytime as far as I am concerned.
Great player for us, when he was up for it, which he was for the vast majority of his time as a Watford player. He certainly was not as interested this season and it showed. It is a pity it ended on a low point, but he was excellent for us and we now need new stars to shine. Good luck to Etienne and thanks. The top quality from our Prem squad has all but disappeared. If we can get Sarr motivated (a big if) he is the last of the top notch players left. Still plenty available to be competitive in this league and should we get promoted, we need to complete a significant spending spree to avoid coming straight back down. I don’t blame players for seeking to find new opportunities once relegation is confirmed. It is an obvious consequence.
The Capoue that played against Norwich is almost irreplaceable, the one that's been on the sidelines for half the season, or who played against QPR and Huddersfield can go to Boreham Wood for all I care. Only thing is reading that article I doubt we do go and sign anyone now, and we do need *someone* who can at least put in a shift and do a passable impression of peak Capoue in the middle of the park
It's sad to see a quality player leave, especially in mid-season at a crucial time. If we fail to find the quality to replace him with immediately, then it's a bad piece of business by the club. Great move for Capoue though, but not for the club unless we replace him straight away. Mid-season is not the time for a major rebuild, but the midfield is struggling now for quality. Yes, Cleverley will do his best and Chalobah is not too bad at interceptions, but they are not really good enough anymore. Ok, as part of the overall package, but not if they are your main men. Hopefully we wont be sold a line of "a chance for the others to step up" because that means we've gone cheap again and will that make our promotion push all the more harder. I'm not too upset Capoue has gone, as he was always going to happen at some point. I think we've seen the best of him, but he's still head and shoulders above all the other players we have. If will replace well, then this transfer will be ok, but only if that actually is the case.
Chalobah is growing on me this season, he's excellent as a purely defensive midfielder, but he doesn't have anywhere near the passing range of Capoue. Him and Hughes as a midfield two is passable, but all it would take is for either of them to dip, or get injured, and we're in trouble, very important we get someone in to replace Caps even if it's just a loanee (what's that Busquets geezer up to these days? Is he eligible for a work permit?)
I've always rated Chalobah and held out hope that he will recover his pre-injury form, but alas, I don't think that will happen. He just doesn't have that amazing ability to play in tight areas anymore. His passing is about as good as Gray's, which is very sub-standard. I think he's given the ball away more times than any player in our side this season. If Hughes and Chalobah is the plan, then I think we'll struggle a bit with a 2 man midfield. If either get injured, then we're completely sunk.
Great business. Didn't want to play for us and his contract was up in the summer so any fee is a welcome one. I look forward to the fee being invested in a replacement BUT even if we don't find a cheapo freebie, we still have our Premier League level midfield to fall back on.
We all wanted the old Caps performance this season but he wasn’t focused. It’s such a shame those splendid five years have been wiped from my memory with a truly awful 2020. Good luck to him and I hope he finds more success.