Joel Ekstrand enjoyed a good relationship with Beppe Sannino but disagreed with his former head coach’s claim that Watford’s players were reluctant to work on tactics and believes his teammates were patient with the Italian.

Sannino resigned as the Golden Boys boss earlier this month and has subsequently stated it was because the team did not mirror his image and style of play.

The 57-year-old believes there was “little desire to think about tactics” in England. His insistence on prioritising tactical sessions over other work and his managerial style led to a falling out with the club and frustrated some senior players.

Ekstrand acknowledged there were off-field issues during Sannino’s reign but was reluctant to discuss them.

He said: “With every manager, there are always some players who are less happy than others. It could be that you are not playing and other things like that. I can only speak for myself and I had nothing against Sannino. I had a good time playing for him.

“He worked in an old school Italian way and it can be a big contrast with English football now and that is all I have to say.

“He was a great manager for me.”

Watford appeared to opt for polar opposites when replacing Gianfranco Zola with Sannino.

Zola developed an attractive, free-flowing style of play but one of the criticisms was that he didn’t work on tactics enough and found it difficult to set teams up to be effective. Sannino addressed those issues, you could even argue he largely resolved them, however, it seems he went too far the other way. The Golden Boys are hoping Oscar Garcia will be a happy medium.

Ekstrand said: “Zola was very modern, if you could say that, in wanting to play football with pace and flow. Sannino was more tactical.

“Managers are not the same and that is why sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don’t. That was the way Sannino was and if you want to know any more [about why he left] then you need to ask (Gino) Pozzo about that.”

Asked if Sannino’s comments on Watford's players lacking the desire to work on tactics were fair, Ekstrand replied: “That is a difficult question because it is all relative. If he said it then he thinks that but I don’t necessarily agree.

“We did a lot of tactics and I think we (the players) were very patient with many things and we tried to do as he wanted, as you always do for your manager. You try to listen and try to do what they want. Sometimes if you don’t have the squad or the players who can do what you want to do then you can’t do it.

“Sannino wanted to play in one way and we tried to play in his way.”

It is widely accepted that English players are, on the whole, not as tactically astute as those on the continent and Ekstrand believes there are cultural differences between this country and Italy in terms of tactics.

He said: “I played in Italy for a couple of years and have played in England and [the differences] are not negatives or positives.

“In Italy it is slower and more tactical but that is the culture of their game. There is a big difference between English and Italian football but that is the beauty of football – the difference between countries and cultures, very much like life.”

Sannino stated after he left the club that “I did not see my face” on the pitch. Ekstrand admitted he was not sure exactly what his former coach meant and reiterated “the team tried to play his type of game”.

Ekstrand was speaking prior to the Charlton Athletic defeat on Saturday and a week after Oscar had taken charge.

The Sweden international believes the team’s high league position will make Oscar’s job easier and compared it to a young player making their debut.

Ekstrand has endured a mixed campaign so far. He has been a regular for both Sannino and Oscar but was forced to miss three matches after a straight red card at Norwich City, when he made contact with the nose of Nathan Redmond as they chased down a through ball.

The 25-year-old insists he didn’t go anything wrong, describing his movement as “normal”, but accepts the lack of video support made a successful appeal unlikely.

He was replaced temporarily by 20-year-old Tommie Hoban, who Ekstrand describes as a very good player for his age and someone with good potential.

Watford’s excellent squad will be one of their greatest strengths but keeping all of the players happy will be crucial, according to Ekstrand.

He said: “It is difficult to say [whether this year’s squad is stronger]. I thought last year we had a stronger squad than in my first year [under Zola] but it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t put it together. Individually we have a really strong squad and we just have to get everything together.

“We have started well which is good but I know how long the Championship is and you need to stay focused and really have to take each game at a time so you don’t get carried away.”

On how you bring everything together, he added: “It is about momentum and having a good atmosphere. I can only speak for myself, but in my first year here we had a lot of foreigners mixed with the English and we got it together. It was an unbelievable atmosphere and that had us flying, along with a good manager and quality. I think it is very important to have a good atmosphere around the place and keep as many players involved during the season as possible.”

The Hornets defender continued: “It [the atmosphere] begins with the manager of course and then it is down to the players. Those who play and also those who don’t play. It is down to everyone and there are many factors during a season.

“It is hard but we all have to do our best.”