Sánchez: “I Enjoyed Helping The Team”

By: Watford FC Staff

Carlos Sánchez feels he didn’t do himself justice at Aston Villa and West Ham United and has a point to prove that he can hack it in English football with Watford.

The holding midfielder arrived as a free agent in March, having left the Hammers last summer, and has since made half a dozen appearances off the bench for the Hornets.

“I always pushed myself to do better,” said the Colombian. “I felt when I finished my contract with West Ham that I could do better. Football is football, West Ham have some really good players and in my position Declan Rice is one of the best midfielders in England. I waited for my opportunity, but he played well so the opportunity didn’t come. I kept working and now I want to show what I can do, and that I can do better than what I did.”

Sánchez has been making the right impressions so far at Vicarage Road, seemingly improving every week, and a particularly assured second-half performance on Friday night helped see out victory against fellow promotion chasers Reading.

“I really enjoyed it, because it’s been a long time since I played for 45 minutes,” said the 35-year-old, whose career has taken him from the Uruguayan leagues to France, Spain and Italy as well as England. “It was a very good opportunity for me to show what I can do. I enjoyed the moment and I enjoyed helping the team.”

The 88-cap international has certainly bought into the team spirit instilled by Xisco Muñoz around the place and the Head Coach was delighted with his attitude and performance.

“Carlos was in an excellent level,” said Muñoz. “He understands. We know about Carlos, his experience, the level of this player. He gave the balance the team needed in this moment.”

Sánchez was needed as, despite taking a two-goal lead, Watford struggled to contain Reading in the first half – the visitors bossed possession and had 11 shots at goal. This changed after the break though, and Sánchez had more possession (6.3 per cent) and made more accurate passes (24) than anyone during the second period as the hosts regained control.

“The message was to control the game,” explained the midfielder. “I tried to keep the ball and play with more intelligence to keep control of the game. We scored two goals and we continued to play at the same speed. When you score two goals you have to slow down the pace of the game, and that was the message from the manager.”

Muñoz regularly reiterates he will need all his players during this final push for promotion and Sánchez will undoubtedly clock up more minutes in the coming weeks. He’s happy to be here and is prepared to chip in whenever needed as the Hornets look to finish strongly.

“My target is to help the team. If they need me, I’m ready to help,” said Sánchez.

“It was a little bit difficult not having a club when I was feeling fit, as I wanted to continue playing. But I had a lot of patience, I kept training and one day Watford called me. That call was very warm. I said yes, of course I’ll come and do my best for the team. Now I’m here and I’m enjoying the moment.

“It’s a fantastic group, very cosmopolitan. There are many Spanish speakers, English, French, Italian. I talk with everybody because I speak a little French, Spanish, Italian and English. It’s really nice.”

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