As time passes, Ben Foster gets closer to his return from injury. But, in the 37-year-old goalkeeper’s absence, Daniel Bachmann has filled in admirably. The fight for Watford’s number one goalkeeper will very much be on when Foster returns. However, the former Manchester United shot-stopper no longer has the upper hand.
Daniel Bachmann Has Likely Won Watford’s Starting Spot
Ben Foster’s Injury
The veteran goalkeeper picked up a finger injury in the warm-up prior to the match against Rotherham United at the beginning of December. He tried to play through the broken finger but once no healing came, he got a scan and it was determined he could not continue playing if he wanted it to heal.
Before his injury, Foster conceded 17 times in 22 appearances – a rather impressive record. However, he did make a couple of costly mistakes as the New Year approached. Cheaply giving the ball away against Huddersfield Town put Watford on the path for a disappointing defeat. Mis-judgement on a cross against Swansea City saw Watford yield a pivotal three points to their promotion rivals.
On other occasions this season, Foster has been the reason Watford picked up points. So, even though talks of giving Bachmann a chance started to swirl, the starting spot was still Foster’s for the time being. Watford are yet to concede more than twice in a match this season.
The Cycling GK YouTube Channel
Foster stole the spotlight this season through his famous YouTube channel, ‘Ben Foster – The Cycling GK,’ which has over 400,000 subscribers. Unfortunately, for fans of his YouTube channel, there is a chance the ‘Go-Pro in goal’ will not happen much more.
Even during recovery and when he was named to the bench in the FA Cup, Foster continued to post on the YouTube channel.
Daniel Bachmann Usurping Number One Spot
When Foster got injured, Austrian shot-stopper Bachmann came in to fill the void. The 26-year-old, who joined Watford in 2017 and had a successful loan spell with Kilmarnock in 2018/19, has conceded three goals in seven league matches. In only two of his seven league matches has he not kept a clean sheet.
Foster was unfortunate to have gotten his finger injury. He was still worthy of being Watford’s number one at the time. Even though Foster was making the occasional uncharacteristic error, he still had not done enough to lose the starting spot. But, Bachmann has likely won the number one spot for himself. At no fault of Foster’s own, Bachmann has been performing too well and consistently to be dropped.
Watford’s back-line has been performing well and Bachmann has not been the busiest (as his introduction coincided with the rise of Francisco Sierralta). Nonetheless, Bachmann has been more than reliable when called upon. Composed with his feet, elastic with his saves, and slotting in seamlessly, Bachmann deserves to have made the starting spot his.
Foster has not done much wrong – it’s just that Bachmann has done too much right.
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