#4 Niang has talent but his career is approaching crossroads
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Niang’s pace, skill and direct running was always likely to be important to Watford here, but Mazzarri’s men were unable to get the best out of him. Deeney often dropped back out of possession to provide another layer to the Hornets’ defensive shape, but that also meant that the on-loan Milan man was isolated at the top of the pitch far too often.
There were flashes of quality from Niang, including a terrific turn to win a free-kick in the opening stages, but his overall influence on proceedings was minimal: the 22-year-old had just one shot on goal, made only 18 passes and touched the ball 31 times – fewer than any other player who completed the 90 minutes.
It would, of course, be extremely harsh to blame Niang for failing to shine in a system which afforded him little support, but his stint at Vicarage Road has not really provided a definitive answer to the question of whether the Frenchman is good enough to play for a club with ambitions of challenging for silverware on a regular basis.
Niang’s time at Milan has been a mix of fantastic highs and underwhelming lows, and it will be interesting to see what his next step is in the summer.
