Watford 2017/18 Premier League season preview: Can the Hornets keep up performances for full season?

How will Marco Silva get on in his first season at Vicarage Road?

Watford will hope to improve on last season's 17th-place finish (Getty)

What’s changed?

The man in the dugout, for starters. Although that was always something of a given, considering that Watford have employed no fewer than eight permanent managers in the last six years.

But if any man has a chance of staying at Vicarage Road for longer than a solitary season, it is surely Marco Silva. The 40-year-old was wanted by a number of clubs when he decided to jump ship after Hull’s relegation, before eventually settling on Watford.

Silva is a fine appointment (Getty)

He inherits a talented, if rather disjointed squad. Watford possess a number of talented midfield players but look thin in the full-back positions and up-top. The club have been busy in the transfer market although perhaps not busy enough: Silva promised “five or six” further signings earlier this summer. Since he said that, they haven’t signed anybody.

Silva is a charismatic manager and his arrival will surely see the club receiving some additional attention this season. That would be a welcome development, as Watford have rather flown under the radar since winning promotion to the top-flight three seasons ago.

Who’s in?

Until this summer, Watford’s recruitment policy has generally been as erratic as a typical M'Baye Niang display. The club signed a number of flops with little to no Premier League experience, resulting in both Quique Sánchez Flores and Mazzari struggling to manage bloated, lopsided squads.

Chalobah returns to Vicarage Road (Getty)

This summer, there has been more method than madness. Making Tom Cleverley’s loan move permanent was a sensible move. Alavés right-back Kiko Femenía is a solid addition, while Will Hughes and Nathaniel Chalobah are two of the more exciting talents in English football. They have both moved to Watford hoping to develop under Silva, although they will be expected to deliver the goods immediately.

A mention to for Roberto Pereyra, who joined Watford from Juventus last season and started strongly before his season was curtailed by injury. He remains an utter gem of a signing.

Who’s out?

Certainly not anybody who is going to be greatly missed. Dutch winger Steven Berghuis looked an exciting signing when he arrived from AZ in 2015, but made just nine Premier League appearances in a desperately disappointing spell. He moves to Holland with Feyenoord, where he played on loan last year.

This was probably as good as it got for Berghuis at Watford (Getty)

Mario Suarez — who has won three full caps for Spain, don’t you know — was another exciting arrival who unfortunately went on to flop at Vicarage Road. He was anonymous on his debut, a 1-0 defeat to Spurs, and never truly got to grips with the Premier League. He departs for Chinese Super League titans Guizhou Zhicheng, no doubt motivated more by the challenge than the £££.

And Juan Carlos Paredes — who was solid for Watford during their promotion campaign three seasons ago but a lot less so in the Premier League — joins Ecuadorian outfit Emelec.

How are they going to line up?

Their best XI on paper would look something like this:

4-2-3-1: Gomes; Janmaat, Prodl, Britos, Holebas; Capoue, Chalobah; Amrabat, Cleverley, Pereyra; Deeney.

Gomes is one of Watford's most experienced players (Getty)

What’s the one big question that must be answered?

Can they finish on a high?

Watford have limped over the finish line for the past two seasons now. But having been handed an a breath-takingly tough start to the 2017/18 season — with Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea all up before the end of October — Watford can ill-afford a third end of season collapse.

The club can ill-afford another late collapse (Getty)

Either they nick some points from the big boys early doors, or they rally together for a strong finish.

What’s the best that could happen?

A top-half finish. Why not? With just five games remaining last season Watford were sitting as high as tenth, before they completely ran out of steam and motivation with the end of the campaign in sight.

And a cup run wouldn’t go amiss. Watford almost made it to the FA Cup final under Quique Flores but paid the price for Mazzarri’s squad rotation last year, as they crashed out to Millwall. Will Silva pay the cup competitions a little more respect?

Is a top-ten finish beyond Watford? (Getty)

What’s the worst that could happen?

Relegation, obvs. Watford finished 17th last season, losing seven of their last eight games in an end of season capitulation that would have made even Tony Pulis blush.

There is every chance that Silva’s tika-taka-on-a-budget philosophy could take a while to bed in, and Watford might not be able to survive a slow start. The club do not have anyone to consistently provide goals in the absence of Deeney and although both Chalobah and Hughes are encouraging signings, neither has proper Premier League experience.

But then again, Watford have been among the favourites to go down for the last two seasons now.