Watford to win the Premier League?

Well ok, let's not get carried away, but this Leicester comparison has really taken a hold.

Two weeks of international break, so we may as well enjoy the moment.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/footbal...he-premier-league-2018-19-winners?key=newsnow

http://www.sportbible.com/football/...d-will-win-the-201819-premier-league-20180904

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ier-League-incredible-statistic-revealed.html

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2018/...-do-a-leicester-and-win-premier-league-title/

(hope these links keep GOBE and friends happy.)

On a serious note, this comparison with Leicester's season does have merit. We saw last season Burnley easily held off the challenge from all but the top 6, just because they got their act together for an entire season.

The level of commitment, determination and togetherness, will see Watford finish no lower than 7th.....but there's one caveat. It HAS to be maintained for 38 matches. No dropping below the levels shown already. If we drop below, we'll become mortal once again.

So that's the challenge to the Watford players. You will enjoy success this season, if you continue with the same attitude as already shown.

Now having said all that, will it be enough to win the league, as it was for Leicester?

I would say a Champions league place is possible, but winning the league would be beyond that.

When Leicester won the league they took advantage of a very bad season for ALL of the top six. Now this is not the case. Liverpool and City are on a different level to the rest.

Chelsea and Spurs are the next two and are probably out of our reach, but after that I think the rest of the league is fair game and not beyond any side having a good season, with an outside chance of squeaking the final Champions League spot.

 

Exactly what I was saying to my mate last night.
City and Liverpool are another level, but Chelsea, Arsenal, Man U (new managers / pissed off manager) and Spurs (thinnish squad) are all capable of self destruct.

We now have a fantastic starting 11 and a very strong backup, because every player thought to be a liability has been transformed into top half quality (Prodl and Britos excepted maybe, but there are alternatives). All of the top 6 will be fighting European campaigns which will be the undoing of Spurs, and Arsenal if they take Euros seriously.

 

It's no coincidence that the hottest summer on record coincides with our great start. As soon as the gloves and the snoods are out we'll be dropping points like England drop catches.

 

Now that hornetboy has said there's a chance of it happening, then the answer is most definitely "no".

I look forward to him posting it's still possible in December after we've subsequently lost our next 10 games on the bounce.

 

Already know a few people who have put money on it

Think you can get 250/1 to win outright and 200/1 to win without Man City.

Either way it's a waste of money.

 

that would hold more water if the Palace game hadn't been so bleedin' cold and wet...

 

“Let’s not get carried away” - exactly.

We have played FOUR matches, three at home.

Posters were talking about Europe around this stage last year, and look what happened.

 

I wonder when leicester thought it might actually happen? Probably not after 4 games.

If we keep it going until xmas and are still top 6, we can stay there the entire season because our outlook will change. We will not win the league because of man city and maybe one or two others. Last season man city were p19, w18, d1 l0 at halfway! We cant put a run like that together. But it's possible chelsea, arsenal, spurs, man utd will go 10 games and only win 2 or 3.

 

For me, the next 5 games are telling. If we are still up there after playing United (h), Fulham (a), Arsenal (a), Bournemouth (h) and Wolves (a), then I think we will stay up there all season.

It's a bold prediction, but I've never seen this group of players which such determination. It's like they've all been hypnotised and have this incredible hunger for winning.

They are using all their attributes. Simple things like strength, spirit and organisation. It's not sexy though and many coaches overlook this. These things are just for smaller clubs, so they can at least cause a ripple or two.

Would anyone say Arsenal, Chelsea. Spurs or United have this type of character? They largely rely on their quality, but when it gets a bit tough, they tend to go missing. This is why Liverpool and City are a class above. Not only do they have tremendous quality, they know how to fight it out too.

Sometimes it's just your year, without any apparent rhyme or reason, things just align perfectly. Personalities within the dressing room click, leaders lead and this is attitude spreads though the entire squad.

Having the "holy grail" first choice XI, is very healthy for the squad. No one can knock on the manager's door demanding to play. It would be a very short conversation if they did. "we've won every match so far".

Getting the nod on match day now is something special rather than an easy thing to get. This fact alone inspires performances.

Outsiders can look at our squad and sneer, it's not that good. Apart from a couple of top players in Vardy and Mahrez, neither was Leicester's. I would stand Watford's current squad up against anything Leicester had that season, all bar a couple of players.

We lack a couple of key players, I will admit that. If we somehow address that in the January window, then anything could be achieved.

 

Kante? Schmeichel?

 

Doucoure is every bit as good as Kante….IMO. I rate Foster highly also, so those two stack up against your two examples, again....IMO.

 

Sorry, but you are getting a bit too ahead of yourself here, almost to the point of arrogance. Keep it in perspective.

 

It would be great if that turns out to be correct over the course of this season, but personally I don’t see them as having the same sort of quality at present.

You also forget that we are saddled with our miracle medical team...

 

If we win our next 12 then I think we'll have a clearer picture.

 

To put things in perspective the spread firms think mediocre Arsenal will finish 20 points above us. That’s before we get to the genuine power houses. This is a fantastic start to be enjoyed, nothing more at this stage.

 

Did anyone bet on the season handicap? What handicap did you get?

 

Being realistic, I fully expect that injuries will stack up and we will finish anywhere between 7th and 15th. Did we replace the whole fitness and physio team over the summer?

 

You're serious aren't you ?!
We will lose more than we will win and we'll finish somewhere between 7th and 16th. Champions League place - you are having a laugh. We have won 4 games but could feasibly have lost 3 of them if luck had been against us. Great start, great to have the points in the bank but we aren't top 6 material.

 

I don't think any Watford fans seriously, realistically, believe that we are going to win the whole thing. What I don't like is the naysayers insisting that we won't win the whole thing for reasons unrelated to our performances. I feel like this is something that is almost 'dictated' to us by bigger clubs: it's not so much that we can't win because we're not good enough; we can't win because it's not our place to do so.

 

We've got a chance of winning absolutely every game we play, but even with my glass half full outlook, we havn't got a chance of winning the league.

 

We're 5 games in and not a single player has gone off with a muscle injury afaik. I'm sure that it won't last long, but maybe we're finally seeing the benefits of that new head of medical we brought in?

Crazy to suggest anything more than a top half finish (7th-10th) at this stage, but we are on the right track.

 

Personally would rather Europa qualification as Thursdays are far more conducive to long weekends away in Georgia.

 

Got a tenner each way with William Hill, +40.

 

Well the good news is only 2 of the starting 11 are on international duty - Janmaat and Cathcart.

Out of the squad - Prodl, Sema & Mapps

The younglings - Dahlberg & Quina

So the rest of the squad get to rest up, which I think is a massive positive.

https://www.football.london/watford-fc/news/watford-news-international-call-up-15110666

 

When we're 14th in mid April, this thread and any other threads where winning the league was even mentioned in passing, will look totally daft.

 

I did the last two years, but thought we would struggle this season so didn't put it on. Howler.

 

Brexit!

 

It was generally considered a laughable idea until they beat Spurs A.

Late Jan?

 

Even with Kelso's glass, we don't.

 

Apart from the fact that Leicester's squad was far better than ours is now, (how many did they score that season?), Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal & Chelsea imploded and Tottenham bottled it. It will not even be close.

 

I don't think winning the PL is likely, but as they say football is a funny old game

However, I don't think a european spot is out of the question after all Burnley got there this season, so why not us?

 

I disagree.

 

Leicester's squad was a bit better than ours now, but not by much.

However two other things, (1) they didn't have any major injuries that season, time will tell with ours and (2) as previously said the other top 6 side that season collectively had a bad year.

Even if our squad is perceived to be better than theirs was and we stay injury free the second point holds, I think that Man City and Liverpool will not choke getting the top 2 spots.

 

I don't think their squad was better, their depth was actually quite poor. The difference is that they didn't need a team beyond 13-14 players because of injuries, and their starting eleven happened to include the world's best defensive midfielder, Mahrez who bordered on world-class that season, and Vardy in the form of his life.