Cleverley acknowledges Sissoko's dip in form but recognises his leadership
Up until his retrospective red card suspension in November, Moussa Sissoko had started every Championship game.
And that was no real surprise, given he was a signing that Tom Cleverley very much wanted and gave the captain’s armband to.
However, since missing those three games the Frenchman hasn’t been an automatic starter, being benched three times in nine matches.
At a time when Cleverley, by his own admission, feels his team lacks nous and leaders in the engine room, can the 35-year-old provide what Watford need?
“Moussa is a fantastic professional who leads by example,” said Cleverley.
“There are different types of leader and Moussa isn’t one I would class as a vocal leader.
“Any young player wants to watch Moussa, who has played in a Champions League Final and has 70-odd caps for France.
“Just watch him with your eyes and maybe not listen to him with your ears.
“That is Moussa’s style of leadership, but he has had better games than he had today.
“He is maybe going through a little dip in form, but as a whole he’s been fantastic for us this season.
“The impact he has on our young players I will never under-estimate.”
It appears that whatever Cleverley and his coaching staff do with the players in preparing for each game, they forget a lot of it once the whistle blows as evidenced by the series of slow starts and some criminally bad marking that leads to conceding goals.
“I don’t think they forget but they do seem to need the odd reminder, which I suppose is forgetfulness,” the head coach admitted.
“It is frustrating that we are probably an on-field coach or two short.
“People under-estimate players like Cullen and Brownhill at Burnley, and I was one of those myself as a player.
“I know people used to say ‘why is he in the team?’ and ‘why does Cleverley keep getting picked?’
“But many people don’t see what goes on within that pitch, and if you can have a midfield coach or two then that is a big string to a player’s bow.
“I think we are one or two short at the minute.”
