Head Coach Valérien Ismaël is excited to begin his new challenge with Watford, having put pen-to-paper on a deal to make Vicarage Road his home earlier this week.
The experienced 47-year-old enjoyed a successful playing career with the likes of Strasbourg and Bayern Munich, before moving into the dugout to take the reins with clubs including LASK and Barnsley.
Turning his attention to the Hornets, Ismaël believes that it’s a “great honour” to take charge of the club ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.
“First of all, I want to say thank you to Gino Pozzo and the board for the last few days and the trust he has given me,” Ismaël began. “I think that it was a great feeling from the first meeting we had and I’m very delighted to be here.
“Watford is a traditional club. There is a Premier League feeling at Watford. The expectations are very high, the standards are high, and you see it at the training ground. It’s like me, I have this ambition as well. I want to make sure that the two ambitions come together to make something great.
“I’m very happy to be back [in England] and I’m looking forward to meeting the players and to starting the work. My batteries are recharged and I’m ready to go again.”
Having enjoyed some of his career highlights in the Sky Bet Championship, including a fifth-place finish with Barnsley, Ismaël is eager to prove himself again in England.
“I’m very excited because I think for me [England] is the country for football,” he said.
“I know the league, the expectation, the passion you feel at every stadium, and now I’m just looking forward to meeting everyone and making sure that everyone is ready to work hard and to put in the effort to be competitive this season.
“We know that the Championship is a tough league and next season will be exactly the same. You need to work hard and have the support from everyone to have a good season.
“I think that it’s a very diverse league. You meet a lot of different styles of play. It’s a fight. You need to adapt in any situation, but you have to be consistent. I think this is the most important thing in this league. Anyone can beat anyone; everything can happen every year.
“It’s always a surprise in this league, but you need to sustain your efforts. You need to sustain your mentality to make sure you can compete at that level.”
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Focusing on how he envisages his squad playing, Ismaël has a clear picture of how he wants his Hornets side to look next season with one key element – an indomitable work ethic.
He continued: “I think you see that Watford, this season as well, is a team who is a possession-based team with the ball. I think we will work on it to stay that way, but you know that in the Championship you need to adapt in certain situations.
“There are 46 games, it’s a long run and sometimes it’s about getting the right idea to get the result you want, but first you need to work on the pitch to create that work ethic. We want to have a work ethic in the team. A hard-working mentality on the pitch and for sure the quality to play football that the fans enjoy.”
Having arrived almost as soon as the 2022/23 campaign had ended, the new Hornets boss believes this will give him an advantage with the fresh season beckoning.
Ismaël added: “It helps you as a manager if you begin earlier, especially in the transfer market, to make sure you can be active and to start to work on the squad. You can learn about the players, have a chat with the players and give them an idea and the direction.
“I think it’s really good that first you quickly get to know the environment and the club. The players who will stay, we will speak to them and give them an indication of what we want to do with them and it’s a big advantage. I think this package was, for me, very attractive.”
