Javi Gracia's £113m Premier League savvy revealed amid turbulence caution - YEP 24/2/23

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Leeds United fans must be braced for highs and lows under new head coach Javi Gracia based on his time as Watford manager during 2018 and 2019

Joe Donnohue

The 52-year-old was announced as Jesse Marsch’s successor earlier this week and could take charge of his first match against Southampton on Saturday, pending receipt of a work permit. Gracia’s record in English football is limited to his time with Watford – a spell in which he stewarded the Hornets to a respectable 11th place finish in 2018/19.

Gracia took over in January 2018, guiding Watford away from the relegation zone eventually finishing eight points clear of the drop in 14th place. However, his task with Leeds is more difficult threefold: Gracia has been appointed later in the season, has fewer games to pick up results and Leeds already second bottom of the Premier League table.

This weekend’s fixture at home to Southampton takes on immense importance considering the only team stationed below the Whites are the Saints. The south coast club parted company with Nathan Jones earlier this month and were close to appointing Marsch but disagreements over contract length means interim man Ruben Selles remains in charge.

Saturday’s match could still pit caretaker against caretaker if Gracia is not granted a work permit in time to take his position in the dugout, leaving Michael Skubala in proxy control for a fourth successive Premier League game.

Gracia’s time at Vicarage Road came to an end after an eight-match winless run, which included seven Premier League matches and an FA Cup Final encounter with Manchester City, which Watford lost 6-0. However, the Spaniard did also enjoy some particularly fruitful spells on the pitch and handsome victories over relegation rivals.

Watford lost just one of their first five league matches under Gracia, which featured a 4-1 win over Chelsea at Vicarage Road in an especially memorable fixture. Although, after that run, the team went seven without a win, picking up just two points in the process.

Gracia began his first and only full season in charge of Watford with four straight Premier League victories in 2018/19, as well as registering 5-1 and 4-1 wins over Cardiff City and Fulham, respectively, as the team flirted with a top-half finish before a late-season slump.

Throughout his time in England there was a great deal of variance in terms of Watford’s results, performances and even formations. During his opening seven games as Hornets manager, Gracia used five different formations, before eventually settling on a 4-4-2 which featured two defensive midfielders in Abdoulaye Doucoure and Etienne Capoue, Troy Deeney as a conventional No. 9 and the more technical and diminutive Gerard Deulofeu as a supporting forward.

Time is of the essence for Leeds and Gracia; results are a necessity from the word go. There can be little room for error but Leeds fans may be forced to put up with some turbulence, something they are likely to stomach if it means the Whites begin to take points off their relegation rivals.

To that end, Gracia’s Watford were particularly effective at dispatching of teams around them in the table, but left exposed – often to the tune of several goals – against the Premier League’s wealthier sides.

During 2018/19, Watford lost just two of their 18 matches against fellow teams who finished in the bottom half, winning nine and drawing seven – a crucial factor in the £113 million the Hornets subsequently received in Premier League prize money for their 11th place finish.

Leeds face Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Crystal Palace at Elland Road and will visit West Ham and Bournemouth before the season’s conclusion at the end of May. Those six matches in particular will have the greatest bearing on whether Leeds remain a Premier League club in 2023/24.

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