Sunday 3 March 2019 12:35, UK
Earlier this year Adrian Mariappa became the 25th player in Watford's history to make 300 appearances for the club. Ahead of Watford's clash with Leicester on Sunday, live on Sky Sports, James Walker-Roberts talks to him about adapting to managerial changes, his self-belief, and Javi Gracia's impact...
Watford has been a club of change over the last decade. Changing managers - 12 different names in the last 10 years - changing players - few clubs have had as much transfer market turnover - and changing fortunes - from the Championship play-offs (twice), to narrowly avoiding relegation to League One, and then winning promotion back into the Premier League.
The largely short-term approach to managers meant that when Javi Gracia signed a new contract in November he became the first person to do so under the Pozzo family, who have run the club since 2012. All three of Gracia's predecessors lasted a season or less.
Defender Adrian Mariappa is one of the few to see the changes unfold firsthand; although, fittingly, even he left his boyhood club between 2012 and 2016 to play for Reading and then Crystal Palace.
Asked whether it has been difficult to cope with changing philosophies, tactics and styles from season to season, Mariappa comes at it from a different angle.
"I find it quite interesting," the 32-year-old tells Sky Sports. "It's a good challenge when managers come in with their own ideas.
"I think that's how football is now, there's change so often and you have to be able to adapt to new ideas and new philosophies. There's no right or wrong way to play football but everyone has their own ideas. You then have to try and implement them yourself as a player.
"I am always trying to learn from every manager. The gaffer now I love his ideas and the way he sees football. I am just trying to learn from him. He has shown great faith in me and I am just trying to repay that."
Remarkably, last year saw Gracia become the first manager to survive a summer at Watford since 2014. So far it looks like a good move to stick with the Spaniard.
Watford made the best start to a top-flight campaign in their history and are on course for their best-ever Premier League finish, points tally, win tally and number of goals scored.
There is also a sense of more stability too, not only with the manager but also the squad. Aside from Richarlison, every player in the starting XI for the final game of last season remains at the club. Six of the players that started that game against Manchester United also started Wednesday's 5-0 defeat at Liverpool. Mariappa also featured in both games; as a substitute against United and then as a starter at Anfield.
I am always trying to learn from every manager. The gaffer now I love his ideas and the way he sees football. I am just trying to learn from him. He has shown great faith in me and I am just trying to repay that
"He has got the whole team working together as one," says Mariappa about Gracia. "When you keep a clean sheet it's a collective effort from everyone, that's what he demands day in, day out in training, so that carries onto the pitch.
"He is different from Marco Silva [Gracia's predecessor], but then every manager I have had has been different. Their ideas are very different. You can see all the lads have brought into the gaffer's ideas and are really pulling in the same direction.
"He has been spot-on since he came in. He had a very difficult job when he came here with so many injuries and he steadied the ship. We had a good pre-season so he could get his own ideas across and how he wants us to train and play. That is one of the big reasons why we have done so well this year."
As the club is enjoying a strong season, so too is Mariappa. Having seen his starts dwindle during his three years at Crystal Palace, the defender was also used sparingly in his first season back at Vicarage Road under Walter Mazzarri. However, in 2017/18 he played more Premier League minutes than all but four other Watford players. This season he ranks ninth among outfield players and has started the last nine league matches in a row.
Still wearing the number six shirt which he left upon his departure in 2012, Mariappa, who came up through Watford's youth system, is relishing his run in the side.
"When you are fit and you want to be playing you don't want to be sitting on the bench or in the stands. I have just had to keep my head down and work hard and believe in my own ability.
"I have never doubted my ability but I know it's not as simple as just that. You need the chance to play and you need your managers to believe in you. At the moment the manager is showing great faith in me and I am just trying to repay that faith."
Mariappa signed a new two-year deal with Watford last summer and says his intention since returning to the club has always been to push for a regular role.
"When I came back to Watford I have never contemplated going anywhere else. My sole focus has been on trying to get back into the team when I have been out, and when I have been in the team it's been trying to stay in there.
"It's hard to get in the side here, that says everything about the squad. I am glad to be playing and I try to do my best for the team. It's going well for the team and I am happy."
Watford's clash with Leicester on Sunday means Mariappa comes up against one of his former managers. The defender worked under newly-appointed Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers when he was in charge of Watford from November 2008 to the summer of 2009.
"I enjoyed my time under him," says Mariappa. "I enjoyed the philosophies that he had and the way he wanted to play football and his style of football. I got on really well with him and it will be good to see him on Sunday but it will be a tough game; you expect a reaction with a new manager."
A win for Watford would keep them well positioned in the battle for seventh spot with nine games left to play. They also have an FA Cup quarter-final to look forward to against Crystal Palace, who Mariappa reached the final with in 2015/16.
"The season has gone well so far," he says. "There's still a lot of points to play for but we are in a good position in the league and we are set up quite well for the rest of the season. Hopefully we can get as many points as possible and finish as high as we can.
"To finish in the top half would be great progress, if we can push to finish that high then it would be a great achievement."
