Ben Watson

Ben Watson
Image from: zimbio.com

Ben Watson



Current Club: Watford.

Previous Clubs: Wigan Athletic, Crystal Palace.

Loan Club: West Bromwich Albion, QPR.



International: England U21.



The veteran midfielder is now in his 30s and found himself on the fringes of Watford's team last season, logging just 51 minutes in the Premier League over the course of the 2016/17 season. With just one more season left on his contract, it is likely he moves on, most likely to the Championship, as there is little Prem interest in him.



Watson is one of those players who offers lots of sweat, graft and running but to very little, if any effect. He is a combative central midfielder, very much in the mould of the likes of Lee Cattermole and Scott Parker, but with less ability. There is little technical skill displayed by Watson, no real pace, no ability to beat a man or whip a good ball into the box.



What he does is chase around a lot, as positionally he is poor, or point vaguely and shout. There is a lot of pointing involved when the team are sat deep and the play is going on him front of him. That would be ok, if there was actually any reason to point or need for him to direct others. Watson's pointing is just, well, pointless. He usually gets so distracted by his pointing and shouting that he fails to concentrate on the play as it goes on.



On the ball he is not much better, his passing is crablike, in the main, sideways and backwards, as he lacks vision to see the forward pass. Despite being a trier, Watson is simply not good enough for the Premier League. There is not one part of his game that can be picked out as a strength, to explain why it is he is playing Premier League football.