A first home start, two goal assists and a generally outstanding all-round performance: it was a super Sunday for Rocco Vata.
The 19-year-old Republic of Ireland Under-21 international netted his first Watford goal in the 1-1 draw at Hull in midweek, and then made the starting XI for the first time at Vicarage Road against West Brom.
His performance made the £230,000 fee Watford had to pay Celtic for his services in the summer look like an absolute steal.
“He was excellent,” said head coach Tom Cleverley.
“It’s not my job to turn Rocco into a dynamic forward-thinking goalscoring wide player or forward who also tracks his runners.
“What I do think is I can improve Rocco 20% or 30% without the ball, and then we have a really complete player.
“He did that job magnificently today and we know he has the quality to hurt teams in the final third.
“We had that spark today that we were missing on Wednesday.”
The change in shape to a back four meant James Morris and Jeremy Ngakia were playing as full-backs.
Morris was making his first start since the draw away at Plymouth, while Ngakia completed his first full 90 minutes since October 28, 2023.
“James is Mr Reliable and can play two or three different positions for us, and I thought Jeremy was outstanding,” said Cleverley.
“He does give us that defensive responsibility when we play a four.
“He gave a fantastic performance when you consider he’s only been back for two games.
“We know he’s been unlucky in the past with his injuries and now he’s just got to look after his body to ensure we can keep him in the team.
“It was a big step in the right direction for him to play the full game today.
“We knew in the Hull game we could only have him for 60 minutes but today I was really pleased with how he saw the game out, and physically he looked in really good shape.”
As well as having a solid back line, Watford benefitted once again from the skill and threat posed by their flair players.
“Today you could talk positively every about every player, but technically Imran and Giorgi are exceptional players,” Cleverley said.
“We had a really nice balance in the middle of the park today with Imran’s courage to get on the ball and get us playing against a team that is very good out of possession.
“We had Moussa’s power and organisation and then Giorgi’s class and being able to run through the middle of the pitch.
“It was a really strong performance for us in midfield today with a good balance to the team.”
