At Arsenal but not quite: Kerala Blasters' Sanchez Watt on the struggles of a highly-rated youngster

Sanchez Watt loves the sun. Ask him if he would have come to the Indian Super League if it was a full-fledged eight-month season, and he says yes without blinking. The 5'10" Kerala Blasters winger was taking a nap after lunch on a lounge chair near the pool at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Kochi when Firstpost caught up with him — basking not only in the warmth, but the adulation of fans after scoring on his debut. He could very well have been in London with Arsenal right now, enjoying the international break as the autumn chill sets in in England. But, he’s in the Indian Super League, hoping to do what not many international youngsters expect to — use the fledgling tournament as a springboard for bigger move. [caption id=“attachment_2463492” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sanchez Watt of Kerala Blasters FC celebrates after scoring against NorthEast United FC. ISL[/caption] “People are watching there (in England). In fact, I had offers from League One and Championship clubs but being here with a English manager who knows other English managers is also an advantage. This is a bold decision yes, but no matter what, I can always go back to England. I’m pretty sure if I had said no to ISL now, I don’t think I would ever have come,” Watt said. The 24-year-old is a straight talker. He didn’t reveal his private conversation with Arsene Wenger at the time of his departure from Arsenal, but apart from that, spoke in detail about the struggles of being an English player with potential — and his high expectations from himself. “The eventual aim is to be in the Premiership, so I’m not going to sit here and lie to you about it. One day, I’m going to be there,” he says. With age on his side, he could very well do it. There’s also pedigree — this is someone who has been at a top club since the age of seven till 22 and grew up with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Francis Coquelin and Kieron Gibbs, all Arsenal first-team players today. But just like a lot of ‘highly-rated’ English players, Watt’s career graph did not rise like it was expected to. There are hundreds of such examples out there — Michael Johnson, Ravel Morrison and Francis Jeffers to name a few. The pressure in England, where the press has a habit of playing up a talent, manages to highlight failures as quickly as it builds up reputations. But with experience and maturity comes pragmatism: “When you get older, the press comes and writes about you but you are still doing what you’ve been doing for a very long time. And whatever the press is doing, it’s part of their job just like I do mine,” says Watt. “Some players may feel the pressure where they are forcing themselves to do well instead of relaxing and making it happen, but with a lot of people like myself, there are injuries and things off the pitch — something happened at home, maybe you lost someone in the family — it’s not always about football. It could be money too, with a youngster not having enough and then suddenly so much of it,” Watt explains. It must be hard for Watt to see so many of his academy mates make it big at Arsenal. He calls his career ‘stop-start-stop-start’, and there’s no doubt it has been hampered by injuries. However, he also clarifies that he left London Colney because of one simple reason: “It was a case of wanting to play regular football, to just to be seen. It’s easy to be at Arsenal, but not at Arsenal — you are not playing every week at The Emirates. And someone somewhere else is on the TV more than you and you’re not seen. So players at other clubs are everywhere and you are not, despite being at a big club. Basically, you just want to keep playing, get noticed and get back into the limelight.” Part of the FA Youth Cup winning team, Watt spent two loan stints at Leeds and also got permission to play against his parent club. These moments, he says, are vital in building a career: “It’s about timing and opportunity, and when you get those 20 minutes, do you take those 20? You have to play well to put your name in people’s minds. There was big pressure playing against Arsenal. Arsenal fans saying don’t do too well… Leeds wanting you to do well. And there are players you know there (at Arsenal), so it’s kind of embarrassing when you go back if you didn’t do well.” It’s a fascinating insight into the mind of a player who has gone through so much in such a short time — from Arsenal to Leeds to Sheffield Wednesday to Colchester United and then Kerala Blasters. “Sometimes there’s too much competition for a spot — who are you going to drop for that youngster?” he asks. “There were times when I was injured and that’s the worst. You are forgotten when you’re injured.” Watt also has an issue with the way departures from clubs are reported. Every year in England, there is a list of released players which comes out. Technically, being ‘released’ may also mean ‘free transfer’ — but it’s the negative tone of the former that devalues a player. “I was never released. One thing about football is the way the media reports on it (club releases). They see  the word ‘released’ — but it’s rarely a case of a conversation which goes ‘oh you are released’. Meetings happen months before and players know before the media that they’re going. Most of the times, players want to leave on a free. Maybe a contract is running out and the club will say, ‘sign this or obviously you’re leaving on free’. At the end of the year then, they put the word ‘released’ in front of our names and I never quite understood that — because, you really left because you wanted to go to another club.” Popular football statistics website Transfermarkt says that Watt has scored 32 goals and created 23 in 144 appearances in all competitions with all his clubs. Those are not great numbers for a forward, but the Englishman, who has Jamaican roots, says that he still has time to make it big: “Injuries pulled me down but there’s time. As for the ISL, I wanted to do something different — people told me it would be good to get out, get exposure — there’s lots of media coverage and it’s a new league trying to make it big and every year it is going to get better and better. The best thing is it’s short with so many games that you are so focused on the next game all the time, again and again, and you learn quick.” Watt is a direct, tricky and fast modern day forward who is determined to get back to his best. With so much experience, emotionally and football-wise, expect him to do well in India, especially if he keeps scoring through the legs of goalkeepers — like he did in Kerala Blasters’ opening win over NorthEast United. The writer tweets @TheFalseNo9