Walter Mazzarri was appointed last summer, having made his name with a hugely-impressive stint at Napoli, before a less successful period at Inter. A studious coach and a keen tactician, he made a promising start and recorded a noteworthy victory over Manchester United, but Watford’s recent form has been poor.
Mazzarri has generally deployed a three-man defence this season. That system has been repopularised in the Premier League recently, partly thanks to Antonio Conte’s success with Chelsea. But Conte’s switch to a back three with Juventus was partly because of Mazzarri’s achievements with a 3-4-3 system with Napoli – he was using that formation when few others across Europe were.