Elliot Watt

How would Elliot Watt fit in at Rangers?

It was another predictable season end for Rangers in this campaign, watching the team fail to show its quality when it really matters. We now get a small respite from Rangers as we all get prepared to see Scotland in a World Cup for the first time this century.

Andrew Cavenagh and his team will get no such respite, they now have to figure out how to rebuild the worst Rangers squad in years. Rumours have already began surrounding potential moves in and out of the club, with expectations that the ownership will have to spend significantly again.

Among those rumours once again is Motherwell midfielder Elliot Watt. The 26 year old is one of many Steelmen attracting interest after Jens Berthel Askou’s possession revolution, which led them to 4th place.

On paper, Watt may seem like one of those can’t miss transfers that I wrote about in my development article a few weeks back. It is very rare that you find a midfielder that genuinely excels playing a possession system in the SPFL. His performances against Rangers in particular have left many in the support excited at the prospect of Watt at Ibrox.

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Strengths

Let’s talk about what he does really well. Elliot Watt was the best passing number 6 in the league this season. He was the benchmark for his peers this season in terms of progressive passing averaging over 12 per 90 minutes. This is clear of his old firm counterparts Nicolas Raskin and Callum McGregor, who averaged 9.2 and 5.6 respectively.

If you look at forward passing then you find the same story, Watt averaged over 24 forward passes per 90 minutes. The question then becomes how much of this is because of the system he was playing in.

Watt averaged the most passes per game of any number 6 in the premiership this season. With Motherwell’s passing heavy style it’s definitely possible that his huge numbers are a by-product of this.

Last season at Burton Albion he averaged just over 10 progressive passes per 90 (96th percentile among number 6’s) and just over 18 forward passes per 90 (also 96th percentile among his peers).

This isn’t conclusive but it does at least show his ability to keep up passing volume over multiple seasons.

If you’ve watched Elliot Watt this season then passes like this will be very familiar. He will play 2 or 3 of these striking out to in passes that carve through the centre of the pitch. He can play these on either foot, the weight and accuracy are consistently good.

This is definitely aided by the system which is built to create these spaces and Motherwell’s forwards have become great at exploiting them. Watt’s ability to consistently find them and execute the pass in a way that gives the receiver the best chance to progress is all him.

Another thing Watt does really well is using his passing and positioning to control tempo and get Motherwell out of pressure. In the clip above he receives from the goalkeeper, finds the free man with a one touch pass and then vacates the space straight away. This creates room for Fadinger to make himself an option and Motherwell get out relatively easily.

This clip is just after Motherwell made it 1-0, the game got very chaotic and stretched. Motherwell win the ball back but are still under pressure, Watt receives the ball from his centre back and then plays straight out of the pressure.

He takes the ball again now that Rangers have settled back into shape, slowing down the tempo so Motherwell can regain control.

There’s no denying that Watt has been the best number 6 on the ball in Scotland this season. His performances in games against Rangers have been particularly impressive. It’s clear why fans are want to see him join the club, given the lack of on ball quality in the Rangers midfield.

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Weaknesses

If you just watched those games then you may see Rangers signing Watt as a no-brainer. If you look at his performances across the season though, there are definitely some concerns.

The biggest one is the system. Motherwell play a possession style with a lot of positional elements that are designed to get players free to receive the ball. The short distances in the setup give Watt lots of ways to progress the ball, even under pressure.

Under Danny Rohl, Rangers play a very direct and more individual style of play. Watt would have to create his own options much more which requires a very different skillset.

Watt would be even less of a system fit if Rohl continues with the 2 man midfield. It requires a high level of athleticism and physicality to be successful. Watt wins a high percentage of duels but takes very few, which would have to change if he was going to fit Rangers’ counter pressing style.

Watt isn’t particularly fast or agile and this causes him to struggle off the ball in midfield. He is often late to duels and bypassed too easily. He struggles to turn back and recover quickly leaving the defence exposed.

These struggles with athleticism are a serious concern when stepping up a level on the ball as well. Watt is excellent at breaking pressure with these set passes and movements in the Motherwell system but when those options aren’t there he struggles.

He doesn’t have the speed or control to carry the ball out of pressure consistently, his touches are heavy and lead him into danger. When the level of athlete he’s facing steps up, these moments can turn into dangerous turnovers.

The below clip against Rangers is one of these dangerous moments where I think he is lucky to escape with a free kick. His speed of decision making is slowed significantly in these unfamiliar situations and playing in Europe against better athletes would only intensify this struggle.

My final concern with watt is his execution in the final third. The windows get smaller and the execution more difficult in these tight areas and Watt just doesn’t look comfortable. This will only get more difficult the way Rangers are defended domestically.

He looks rushed when trying to play through the last line and often lacks conviction in his decisions.

A Rangers number 6 needs to be able to provide consistent quality in the final third. The number 6 is often the one left on the ball when Rangers have teams penned in and he needs to be ready to play that killer pass into a tight space which unlocks things. It is hard to see Watt improving this area in more difficult circumstances, especially given the way Rangers play.

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Conclusion

Rangers need serious quality in the midfield this summer, years of midfielders who struggle on the ball and in attack has been a problem. The number 6 specifically needs to have a lot of ability if they’re going to make the impact required.

Elliot Watt is a good player, he’s been excellent for Motherwell this season, what he brings in the build up and progressive passing is the sort of thing Rangers could really benefit from.

The issue is that the team needs a lot more from that position. To beat modern defending you need midfielders who can carry out of pressure and create passing lanes for themselves. Watt just isn’t mobile enough for that.

They also need to be able to physically handle the step up to European football. Athletes get better, pressing gets more complicated and intense. Watt won’t have the same systemic passing options that he relies on so heavily and that could hamper him a lot, unless Rohl makes major style changes in the summer.

If Rangers were to sign Watt as the main starter going forward, I think they will regret it. The level of quality just isn’t there and I don’t think his athleticism and decision making skills will scale to Rangers level.

That’s not to say he couldn’t make an impact, if he were to come in for 2 million and be a rotational player then I think he’d be great. Watt has infinitely more quality than Connor Barron and has shown his talent playing possession football before.

He would be a pretty perfect backup, coming in to control games at the end or start games where there isn’t a lot of defending to do.

This summer though, Rangers need to be prioritising serious all round quality in their number 6 starter and Watt is very unlikely to be that in my opinion.