Tom Cleverley feels a week away from the training ground has aided his recovery from injury, joining the Hornets squad on their training retreat to Algorfa, Spain.
Alongside fellow sidelined players Kortney Hause, Imrân Louza and Samuel Kalu the Watford skipper is rehabilitating from an achilles injury, and is progressing well while enjoying the FIFA World Cup with his teammates.
“It’s been good out here, very good so far in fact,” Cleverley began. “We’re just over halfway through the week and the lads have really bought into the spirit of getting the most out of a week like this.
“Us injured lads - the likes of me, Imrân, Kortney, Samuel - are really grateful to the gaffer for offering us the chance to come out here with the team and feel really included.
“With any kind of rehab, wherever you’re at along that road, I’ve always thought a change of scenery can have a very positive effect on your outlook in terms of getting back - even if you’re generally confident.
“Our group has been working hard at both ends of the day and, like the other boys, we’ve been able to catch plenty of the World Cup.”
Cleverley has had time to catch most of the games in the tournament in Qatar, with a couple of games catching the attention of other members of the group, especially in Group F.
“We had a bit of a laugh when Morocco v Croatia came up the other day because we’ve got Imrân here, who would have started for Morocco, and the manager who of course is a legend of the Croatian national team,” explained the midfielder. “Perhaps it was good that one was a draw!”
The former England international’s head is ruling over his heart when it comes to his predictions for the winter tournament, but he is pleased to have seen the Three Lions start well against Iran.
With international giants Brazil and Argentina the favourites to win it, even after the latter’s shock defeat to Saudi Arabia, Cleverley could also see Portugal going far.
“Brazil have got an impressive squad,” the skipper said. “I think Argentina are far better than what we saw against Saudi Arabia. And elsewhere in Europe, you just can’t rule out Portugal because they do tournament football so well.
“I think one of the South American sides will make the final. My heart tells me England to win it, though, and you can’t feel anything different once you’ve had the privilege of representing your country.
“I was really happy to see us go to four at the back against Iran. In the games building up to the World Cup, we had only three players joining in attacks. Now it means we’ve got four or five players joining in, plus the attacking full-backs. Maybe the manager has identified the real strengths of the squad and is prepared to play to them this time.
“That’s the big question for me; whether he’ll stick with that against tougher opposition. I think 4-3-3 suits us best. The States will be a much bigger test, then Tuesday will be very much like a Premier League game against Wales.”
Due to the date of his achilles surgery Dan Gosling was unable to join the squad in Spain, and is at home recovering with Cleverley regularly in touch. The close friends, both keen to get back in action as soon as possible, will be back together next week at the training ground to rehabilitate together.
“I’ve been video calling with him, not just to talk about the World Cup but to see how he’s doing after his operation,” said Cleverley. “He’s my closest mate in the squad, and with this injury I’ve had a very similar journey to the one he’s got ahead of him now.
“He was too close to his op to get out here with us, as he can’t really get around far right now. But I’m keeping him in the loop and I know he’s in touch with other lads as well.
“When we’re back, I’ll be able to work with him on rehab along with a couple of the other guys, and hopefully that’ll be a bit of a boost for us both.”
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