Watford vs Wolves: How Hornets can channel a little Wolves to beat Man City in the FA Cup final

Has Javi Gracia learnt enough from Sunday's opponents to surprise City with a new plan at Wembley in May?

Watford head coach Javi Gracia celebrates together with Abdoulaye Doucoure (EPA)

Watford’s dramatic 3-2 win over Wolves in Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final was by no means an injustice; yet once the chaos had died down, once the fans had filed out along Wembley Way and the manager’s had said their piece, there remained a nagging feeling that the best team had lost.

Not on the day, necessarily. Not even in the league, where only one point separates them. But for the specific task ahead – trying to beat Pep Guardiola's all-conquering Manchester City in the final – Wolves were undoubtedly the best side for the job.

Wolves have proved spectacularly effective at disrupting the best sides this season. Their record against the top six this season is outstanding, collecting five wins and three draws including the FA Cup scalps of Liverpool and Manchester United. Watford’s is not, recording only one win, against Tottenham back in September, and a few chastening defeats along the way.

Styles make fights, and Wolves’ counter-attacking ploy syncs perfectly with the big six’s desire to dominate possession and territory. Wolves are happy to massage their egos before clobbering them with a sucker-punch. So will Watford adapt? Has Javi Gracia learnt enough from their beatings to surprise City with a new plan at Wembley in May?

His squad are many things: physical, battle-hardened and well organised, and they caused Wolves problems peppering their defence with direct diagonal balls to Deeney. Watford tend to play extremely narrow with a diamond midfield that smothers the centre of the pitch, something Guardiola values highly.

But to really hurt City they will need to do something which comes a little less naturally, absorbing waves of pressure and threatening on the counter-attack. Watford’s weakness is a lack of natural wingers, so Gracia may have to manufacture some using the pace of Andre Gray, or the skill of Roberto Pereyra, or the sheer unpredictability of Sunday’s match-winner, Gerard Deulofeu.

What this match proved was that Watford have spirit in spades. In a recent interview with the Crystal Palace midfielder James McArthur, who played in Wigan Athletic’s famous final victory over City in 2013, he revealed that Wigan’s mentality was the key to pulling off one of the most famous final upsets in FA Cup history.

“We actually played City two weeks before and put in one of the best performances we have against them,” McArthur said. “We played the same tactics in the final where our winger would stay high and our striker would drop back in.

“We had played really well and lost, just, and the question the manager [Roberto Martinez] asked in the final was: ‘Have we got enough to go and win?’ It was a masterstroke because I think he knew we were going to play well. Did we have that winning mentality to go and do it? And on the day we did.”

Now Watford will try to write their own piece of history against an even better City side. Watford have never won the FA Cup, but channelling some of Wolves’ rope-a-dope tactics might give them their best shot at spoiling City’s quadruple plans.