If Saul Niguez's Chelsea future seemed uncertain before taking to the pitch at Vicarage Road on Wednesday night, Thomas Tuchel soon cleared things up.
After another dismal first-half showing, the Atletico Madrid loanee was uncerimoniously hooked at the break by the German head coach, the second time in as many Premier League starts.
It was supposed to be his renaissance, an opportunity to seize with Mateo Kovacic and N'Golo Kante both ruled out with injury. Instead he delivered another alarmingly inept display.
For the second time this season, Saul Niguez (second left) was substituted at half-time
Being hooked by boss Thomas Tuchel is becoming an alarmingly familiar feeling for loan signing Saul
Replacing him with Thiago Silva, Tuchel was asked about the central midfielder after the narrow 2-1 win against Watford.
'I don't know where he goes from this performance,' was the boss's frank response.
'He was on a yellow card so we had two options - take Marcos [Alonso] off, who also had a yellow card, and try Saul as a wing-back.
'I had this in my mind before the game, if something happened to Marcos. I thought maybe it was not the right match to try things with new positions so it was him to change the shape a little bit and have Thiago [Silva] on the pitch with his organising.'
It is the latest setback in what has been a sorry spell in west London for the Spain international, who has made just seven appearances all season despite being fit and available since his move from LaLiga.
For all the excitement surrounding his last-minute deadline-day move, the mood around his Stamford Bridge hopes has fallen severely flat.
His display on Wednesday was worryingly poor, his output likened to that of previous midfield flops for the Blues such as Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Heading back into the changing rooms, Saul had completed just eight passes. Along with his yellow card, he had just 19 touches to show for his 45 minutes of effort - fewer than every other Chelsea player other than the more attacking duo of Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic. Certainly not the numbers required of a midfielder looking to dictate play.
It was no improvement on his first start in the top
