Watfords goalkeeper situation: Okoye expected to be first choice but Bachmann could leave

May 07, 2024

Maduka Okoye is set to become the youngest number one Watford have had during the Pozzo era. You have to go back to the years immediately preceding the Italian takeover when Scott Loach was in goal to see another 22-year-old as first choice. Loach cost £50,000 from Lincoln City, Okoye closer to £5 million from Sparta Rotterdam. These are different times, with a different approach — albeit in the same division.

Gino Pozzo’s preference was experience: first Manuel Almunia, then Heurelho Gomes and, more recently, Ben Foster — all 30-somethings — in between the sticks.

Having invested heavily in the imposing 6ft 5in Nigeria international, who helped Rotterdam battle successfully to stay in the Eredivisie last season, the expectation is that he will start the opening game of the season on July 30. If that happens, there will naturally be a ripple effect in the goalkeeper department.

That will most notably impact the thought process of Daniel Bachmann. When Okoye’s transfer was announced in January — prior to him spending the second half of the season back in the Netherlands — it was a clear signal to the Austrian that he was unlikely to be given the chance to succeed Foster, whose contract was coming to an end. Behind the scenes, recruiting a new number one was high on the recruitment department’s priority list from last summer.

In the short-term, Bachmann will start pre-season with Watford but he and his representatives are keeping a close eye on how things develop, with an exit a distinct possibility. The Athletic has had it confirmed from sources at Manchester United that Bachmann is one of a number of names they are currently considering for a supporting role behind David de Gea. Dean Henderson — who Watford did look at as an option themselves — is expected to depart Old Trafford, leaving Tom Heaton (whose contract expires in 2023) as the only other goalkeeper after Lee Grant’s retirement.

If it becomes abundantly clear that Bachmann is going to be number two at Watford once again, the option of a supporting role in the Premier League and Europe would be an attractive proposition. Taking a wage cut — most of the squad will see their salaries drop by up to 50 per cent — following relegation to the Championship, also comes into the thinking.

It’s likely that Bachmann, who has a contract until 2024, would cost in the region of £2 million to £4 million. Despite the link with Manchester United first surfacing while Ralf Rangnick was still in charge, the interim manager’s departure from all involvement at Old Trafford hasn’t removed Bachmann’s name from being in the mix. Rangnick, now Austria manager, will still be taking a keen interest in the goalkeeper.

Having worked his way into the number one position at Euro 2020, he didn’t make the most recent squad, with Heinz Lindner (Basel), Martin Fraisl (Schalke) and Patrick Pentz (Austria Vienna) selected ahead of him.

After playing the majority of the games in the second half of the last promotion season, Bachmann started in Watford’s first four games of 2021-22 but failed to cement himself as number one throughout the campaign.

Aside from the potential Manchester United option, The Athletic has been told that currently there are no other clubs that have made formal or informal approaches, but it’s also been acknowledged from all sides of the equation that much can change in the coming months.

Maduka Okoye in action for Sparta Rotterdam. He’s only 22 & signed to a Premier League club – even the best goalkeepers make mistakes. He needs encouragement! 🇳🇬#TeamNigeria pic.twitter.com/AecyymuSoH

— E (@iamOkon) January 24, 2022

Bachmann will clearly aim to impress new head coach Rob Edwards, assistant Richie Kyle and goalkeeper coach Alex Brunner who recently arrived from sister club Udinese. The chief task of the 48-year-old, who spent the majority of his playing days in the Italian lower leagues, is to ensure Okoye’s development continues to gather pace. But he will also feed back to the new management duo his thoughts on those set to support the new keeper. At one stage it looked as if academy goalkeeping coach Graham Stack may be promoted to that role, but he has departed and agreed terms with another Championship side.

The Watford hierarchy will be mindful that, ahead of a 46-game season, they need to ensure that they have a posse of goalkeepers that can step up if needed — even though the hope is that one plays the vast majority of leagues games and the number two potentially slots in for the cups. Okoye visited the club’s training ground prior to the end of the season to do some initial assessments and have some treatment on a minor injury.

Another key element to what happens is the demands that will be put on the goalkeepers in terms of playing style. Edwards’ team will aim to play from the back but are unlikely to be naive if that’s not possible. Players will need to make the right decision at the right time.

At Forest Green, Luke McGee was ever-present in League Two, but it appears there was a pragmatic approach taken to his requirements in starting moves. Lewis Thomas was his back-up and may have been more suited to playing out from the back, but McGee started.

Often, McGee would go long from a goal kick with striker Jamille Matt pushing onto the last defender, or Jordan Moore-Taylor (who played as the middle central defender) would come and collect the ball short (often inside the box if at a goal kick) and would make the first pass. The latter approach was favoured for the majority of the time, with the aim often being to free wing-backs to get into purposeful positions higher up the field to aid attacks.

If there is to be wriggle room and the number one position is to be fought over rather than being Okoye’s outright, then pre-season will be an opportunity for Bachmann. In terms of what he and Okoye did with their feet last season, both hit longer passes more often than not (Bachmann 69.8 per cent, Okoye 82.6 per cent of the time) with not too dissimilar completion rates (Bachmann 35.9 per cent to Okoye’s 38.9 per cent) according to data supplied by Opta.

When they went short, they were both sound (Bachmann 97 per cent to Okoye’s 99 per cent), although the high percentages suggest the passes were on the safe side. From goal kicks, Okoye shaded the completion rate by three per cent (58.5 to 55.2).

Both were playing in struggling teams last season so were under pressure for a lot of the time. Watford’s new signing’s xG differential was conclusively better than Bachmann’s, conceding 40 goals from an xG shot on target value of 42.9 (therefore preventing just shy of three goals) while Bachmann conceded 26 goals from an xG of 24.2, meaning he let in, statistically, more than he should have.

In terms of aerial dominance, there wasn’t a great deal to choose between them. Okoye ranked 10th in Eredivise for catches per 90 at 0.62, compared to Bachmann’s 0.58 (ranked 16th in the Premier League). While punches per 90 were similar too (Bachmann 0.25, ranked 19th in the Premier League — ahead of Foster at 0.23 in 21st; Okoye, with 0.31, ranked 15th in the Eredivisie).

If Bachmann were to leave, it’s likely that Rob Elliot would simply be promoted to the number two position. He was on the bench nine times last season, playing once in the 3-1 EFL Cup defeat to Stoke. At least in the short term, it appears that the Watford hierarchy would be satisfied for Elliot to fill that position for the final year of his contract. The 36-year-old is considered to be a popular member of the playing staff and was on board for the last promotion in 2020-21. With Elliot you get the positivity without the GoPro.

What happens below that rank is yet to be decided. Pontus Dahlberg, who signed an extension to his contract to 2025 prior to leaving on loan to Doncaster and Gillingham last season, is expected to move temporarily once again. That would mean 18-year-old Vincent Angelini, who was on the bench as number two against Brentford, West Ham and Tottenham last season, would fulfil the dual role of under-23s and number three.

(Top photos: Getty Images)

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