Chris Wilder: What Watford fans can expect under their new manager
With only 4 wins since the return of Championship football from the World Cup, Watford have relieved Slaven Bilic of his duties and sacked their 10th manager in as little as 5 years. The role now turns to Chris Wilder, a former Championship runner up with Sheffield United, to steady the already sinking Hornets ship until the end of the season.
Having already had Championship experience already this season with a brief small stint as Middlesborough manager until October 2022, Wilder now returns to duty as Watford’s head coach until the end of the season. The former two time EFL Manager of the Season and three time Championship Manager of the Month brings with him to London Colney an incredibly aggressive and inventive playstyle, and also hope to the Hornets faithful. Watford sit 9th and 4 points outside of the play-off places, having looked uncoached as a footballing side under the Croatian, but with Wilder now at the helm, here’s what Watford fans can look forward to.
Essentially, Wilder runs a 3–5–2 formation and looks to create common overloads in the wide areas, where he utilises both the wide players and centre backs especially. In this set up, the centre backs look to overlap the wingers by providing a second option and swinging in crosses into the box. This is something which before this was introduced, was never seen before in English football.
The diagram above explores what sort of system we expect, with typically the right centre back taking on the duty of the overlapping one, with a 6-roled midfielder covering, and the other two defenders holding position. At Watford, we expect either Mario Gaspar or Joao Ferreira to be taking up this role. This sort of role means that player does his defensive duties as usual, however in transition they have the freedom to make runs down the flank to support the winger. This leaves the side vulnerable to a counter down the same flank, however it’s very effective in creating a numbers up advantage and putting crosses into the box.
Playing out from the back isn’t expected for every pattern of play from teams Wilder has managed, with some focus on winning knock-ons and second balls from long goal kicks. However, on the odd occasion they do, the right centre back will draw wide as a right back, with the two central splitting and allowing the goalkeeper in between. This creates a three man first line of pressure, which allows them to draw men in, but also look for quick switches of play. The left wingback will then come inside and look to drop deep to facilitate the centre back who drew wide, with the right wing back becoming a temporary right winger whilst they transition out of the block. This gives the side great width and numerical advantages when playing out, tending to not lose possession whilst transitioning through this phase.
Progressing the ball up means creating patters with the nearest centre back, a midfielder and a wide player. The ball interchanges between the centre back and most typically a wide midfielder before playing into a number 8s feet, who can look into the number 10 early or spray it out to the other flank. They look to slow the tempo then speed it up quickly to catch teams out, or instead play a fast tempo through the whole sequence. This will depend on the opposition shape, whether they slow down or play quicker. It seems simple, but incredibly effective, as most goals from sides he’s previously managed e.g. Sheffield United have come from these transitions. They frequently draw men in, leaving people elsewhere with acres of space when they look to play inside.
Wilder doesn’t resist to long balls either however, he looks to drop the two centre forwards deeper into channels to win balls forward and look to lay the ball off to a wide player and wait for overlaps to look for balls in the box. Around 18% of passes played under Wilder were over 40 yards, so they’re uncommon, but can be used if his side are under the kosh.
One of the greatest features that a back three provides to a team defensively in comparison to a back four is that centre-backs can be more aggressive between the lines and when closing down players in general. This is what Wilder brings to the table when defending with this sort of formation, and it allows a centre back to leave the line and press up and win the ball. This is fantastic as it can force teams to be caught unawares if the ball is won, and teams can spring into a short counter. If one centre back leaves the trio then the two left can simply close up, it’s a very simple philosophy which can be done so well when effective. This also limits options for opposing teams going forward, as it limits them from turning with the ball, forcing them back deeper.
Here’s an example of how aggressive this kind of system can be. A midfielder is completely free to press and can do so, as he has trust in his centre back to press up and cut any danger. However, this does leave the system vulnerable if played around, but due to how aggressive the system is this doesn’t happen often.
Wilder’s time at Watford will initially only last until the end of the season, but this comes as an appointment with mixed fortunes. A short term deal 100% makes sense to turn fortunes around, and if done successfully it will put Watford into the mix again for promotion. Wilder won 7 of his first 11 games at Middlesborough, if he can recreate that sort of form again, Watford may well and truely stand an outside chance in the promotion race.
