A year ago Michael Adu-Poku had just signed as an Academy scholar and was hoping to impress in the Under-18s with potentially some experience in the Under-21s.
He was only 16 at the time, and his 17th birthday wasn’t until September 22.
Fast forward to the end of the 2022 and the forward was training with the first-team squad, and a senior debut was just around the corner.
“It was a good experience just to be training with the lads in the first team squad. You learn so much off them,” he said.
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“It was a physical test, and I felt like I coped with it pretty well.
“I just wanted to go in there and enjoy myself and try and learn from the senior players. They’re playing at that level for a reason and you can pick up a lot from just working with them.
“I found it a great experience and it also helped my build my confidence.”
Then, early in the new year, with injuries biting the first team and an away game at Reading in the Third Round of the FA Cup coming up, Adu-Poku found out he was going to be making his first-team debut.
However, he didn’t see a team-sheet or get taken to one side.
“The day before the game, they put the starting XI in bibs in training that morning, and I realised I was in the team wearing bibs.
“I was a little bit shocked when I worked it out, but the coach (Slaven Bilic) came and talked to me and gave me a few words of encouragement.
“He said it would be alright, just stay calm and play my game.”
Adu-Poku had only turned 17 a little over three months before that cup tie and was immediately catapulted into the top 20 youngest Watford first-team players of all time. Yet he said he felt he dealt with the occasion well.
“I didn’t get too nervous. Maybe a bit before, but as soon as you get into the game you feel calm.
“It was the biggest crowd I’d played in front of, and the noise from that many people is very different.
“To be fair though, once you’re playing you don’t notice it too much. When we walked out I got the noise and realised how many people were watching, but you stop thinking about it when the game starts.”
That day, Adu-Poku made his debut against a Reading defence including Scott Dann, aged 36 and with more than 500 professional games in the bank, and 29-year-old Mahamadou Sarr (more than 200 senior appearances),
“Those defenders were a lot smarter than me!” he laughed.
“I was thinking I could maybe use my physical ability against them, maybe outpace them or out-strength them.
“But they were just so clever. I learned a lot from that, because it taught me you need to play with your brain as much as anything else at that level.
“They didn’t really rough me up, they were fair. To be honest, they were dominating me enough with their football knowledge they didn’t need to do anything dirty!
“I took a lot away from that game. The main thing was how to play off two centre backs when you’re the lone striker.
“The runs to make, when you need to press. Just so much really. They were just so clever and experienced.
“The way they dealt with runs, the way they knew when to drop in and get the ball. It was so, so different to what I’d experienced before.
“A year before I was playing Under-16s football. That Reading game was a massive, massive difference.”
The next Saturday, one of Adu-Poku’s Academy teammates, Tobi Adeyemo, was the centre of attention when he scored four minutes into his debut against Blackpool.
“I was actually playing for the Under-18s away at Cardiff that day. We heard about it on the coach on the way back home,” he said.
“I was so shocked. I couldn’t believe it and I was buzzing for him.
“Tobi is an amazing guy. He’s a great striker, and I wasn’t surprised that he took the chance when it came to him. It was more that Tobi had scored in a professional game and I was just so happy for him.
“The week after at the training ground he was smiling the whole week. And Tobi is a happy guy anyway!”
Adu-Poku then got his own Championship debut as a 79th-minute substitute in the 1-1 draw with Rotherham at Vicarage Road.
“Reading was the main highlight, but coming on in a Championship game at Vicarage Road in front of all the Watford fans was something special,” he said.
“It went by very quickly; I was just trying to get on the ball as much as I could while I was on the pitch.”
Like many of the Under-21’s this season, being younger than most of the opposition players meant Adu-Poku came in for a baptism of fire as some of the early games ended in heavy defeats.
However, by the end of the campaign, they were winning games and scoring goals.
“I think we adapted well to the type of games you get in Under-21s football and you could see the improvement over the season,” he said.
“At the start of the season the losing scorelines were big and there were major differences between us and the other teams.
“But by the end of the season we were competing and winning games, and we weren’t easy to beat because we had improved our game.
“It’ll make us strong for next season too. We’ve got mentally and physically stronger.
“Omer Riza teaches me a lot. He’ll talk about how he loved to play against defenders, and how you should enjoy being a nuisance to defenders.
“He helps me a lot with loads of little pieces of advice.”
One of the Academy highlights was the run in the FA Youth Cup, though the 4-2 loss to Arsenal at Vicarage Road in the fifth round has painful memories for those involved as the young Hornets saw an early 2-0 lead slip away.
“We all said after the game we started so fast and we wanted to win so bad, but it was really hard to maintain that momentum” said Adu-Poku.
“We were electric at the kick-off. We had a few chances, we scored two goals in the first 15 minutes, and it was very hard to keep the same momentum for the whole game.”
The first strike in that early two-goal salvo came from Adu-Poku – although even after looking at the video several times from different angles, it’s hard to be sure if his shot was deflected in or the defender deflected the ball onto him.
“I still can’t tell!” the forward admitted.
“All I know is that when the ball came across the box I needed to anticipate it well, and get across my defender.
“It went in the net, but I still can’t tell whether the ball touched me and then him, or whether it came off him and then I touched it.
“All I know is it went in the net, and I was happy.”
Another memorable game last season was when the Under-18’s drew with the then league leaders Millwall. It ended 5-5, but Watford led 4-1 and 5-3 plus Adu-Poku scored a hat-trick.
“Oh my days, that game!” he laughed.
“It was so weird. There’s never been a game for me where I wanted to smile but I just couldn’t.
“I scored a hat-trick and I knew I should be happy, but with the result I just couldn’t bring myself to smile. I felt down.
“We were leading 4-1 and 5-3, and we had good control of the game. It was just purely our fault, particularly the way they scored their goals. That was the worst thing.”
Heading into the second year of his scholarship, what are Adu-Poku’s ambitions?
“I was to try and play as much Under-21s football as I can and get experience in that,” he said.
“I want to improve my game a lot and see where it goes from there.
“Honestly, as long as I’m playing, I’m happy. Striker, on the wing, I just want to play.
“The coach has always told me I could play anywhere along the top line, which is very helpful for me. I honestly don’t mind where I play. I just want to be playing football.”
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