Ollie Watkins

[darren woolley]

He should be putting those chances away he missed today.

[tomd2103]

He should be putting those chances away he missed today.

It was not just today, it's been quite a number of games this season.  He's not even getting a shot away in one on one situations because he is being let down by a poor touch.  If we are to move forward, we need better and it might mean Watkins being used as an impact sub to add a bit of energy. 

I'm still a bit torn on Ings, as I think he would possibly be a better option to link up with Coutinho and Buendia.  Guess the question with him is whether we give him a pre season and assess from there or move him on and use the money to partly fund bringing in another striker. 

[sid1964]

Should of scored 2 yesterday, needs to improve if he wants to be considered a top class striker in the premier league

[Clive W]

In that first instance, when he was clear of the defender, there was a split second when he should have hit it first time with his left foot. Unfortunately he has no faith in his left foot and the chance was gone.

I’m not sure, at the age of 26, whether that can be remedied

[simboy]

He's not perfect, nobody's perfect, should have taken one of those chances yesterday. He was flagged off-side [after the event] for the one in the second-half after he missed, and could have gone down as was clearly being pulled back. Did he get credit for the fantastic flick on for the assist in Coutinho's goal?

However, if we consign him to the "yet another Villa failed striker" pile  who do we get that will give us 10-15 goals a season? 11 this season, behind Vardy, Zaha, Bowen, Maddison and Toney who do not play for the Sky six. Anyone likely to get 15 - 20 goals a season will most likely be on their way to one of those teams, or Newcastle. Good strikers, or potentially good strikers, are identified from a very young age.  Occasionally one will get overlooked - Vardy is the prime example - but it happens so rarely nowadays, and if it does happen there's a bid on the table in a season or two which the player will usually want.

We are not in the luxurious position of being able to offer Champions league, or any type of European football at all, we haven't since 2005. We cannot offer the mega-bucks of Newcastle, although an upper wage limit of £125k per week is pretty good money by most people's standards, it pales by the £300k that the House of Saud can offer.

We may get the odd player who is on the bench and wants game-time. That can be very "hit and miss" [usually miss] and most players would rather medals and splinters than midtable mediocrity, Grealish exemplifying this. The one i think we may have missed was Abraham before he went to Roma. Clearly a very good striker at this level. Used "sparingly" at Chelsea despite being their top scorer, and with an affinity with the club as it was then.

So we have to develop our own. But we cannot develop that at the pace we want to. It has to be done at the pace the player can adjust, and let's be fair when was the last "homegrown" striking talent produced by Aston Villa to grace the top league? Gary Shaw? We potentially have one now, in Archer. But i suspect he needs another half season in the Championship to develop.   

Watkins, even more than most of this squad has had a disrupted season, this season. Gerrard clearly likes him and sees him as part of the future. Let's see if, with the full pre-season, and the prospect of a World Cup in November he starts to take those chances.   

 

[Footy-Vill]

FIFA has approved a 26-man squad for the World Cup, giving Ollie Watkins even more reason to score 20 plus goals and play well this season.

[Smirker]

FIFA has approved a 26-man squad for the World Cup, giving Ollie Watkins even more reason to score 20 plus goals and play well this season.

I wish.

[WassallVillain]

FIFA has approved a 26-man squad for the World Cup, giving Ollie Watkins even more reason to score 20 plus goals and play well this season.

If he scores 6 or 7 in the pre WC season I’ll be happy and if he does so whilst maintains his usual work rate he’ll be in anyway.

[Smithy]

FIFA has approved a 26-man squad for the World Cup, giving Ollie Watkins even more reason to score 20 plus goals and play well this season.

If he scores 6 or 7 in the pre WC season I’ll be happy and if he does so whilst maintains his usual work rate he’ll be in anyway.

Just had a look and the squad gets announced on 20th Oct - that's after 12 games.  He's going to have to start the season pretty hot to force his way in, because even 5 or 6 goals by then would be perfectly acceptable, but unlikely be enough to draw too much attention his way.

[ChicagoLion]

Look at the competition to play second fiddle to Kane.

[Smithy]

Look at the competition to play second fiddle to Kane.

I would say Abraham and Calvert-Lewin are definitely ahead of him as Kane's backup. Ollie is probably next in line, assuming Rashford doesn't have a renaissance under a new manager.  Ollie does offer something different though, so it's possible it'll be one of Abraham/Calvert-Lewin as the like-for-like Kane back up, and Ollie to play up front and run himself ragged when you're trying to defend higher up the pitch?  He's probably the best pressing centre-forward in the league.

The bigger squad helps his chances, but I imagine Southgate will want to take four right-backs rather than gamble on an extra forward...

[Drummond]

There's Kane, Abraham, Rashford, Bowen, Saka, Sterling, Foden, Ratboy, Calvert-Lewin, Bamford, Toney, Wilson all as strikers who will hope with a fair wind and a strong start that they may have a chance, some more likely than others. To be in with a shout Watkins needs to be playing, causing problems and, most importantly, scoring to have a chance.

[Risso]

There's Kane, Abraham, Rashford, Bowen, Saka, Sterling, Foden, Ratboy, Calvert-Lewin, Bamford, Toney, Wilson all as strikers who will hope with a fair wind and a strong start that they may have a chance, some more likely than others. To be in with a shout Watkins needs to be playing, causing problems and, most importantly, scoring to have a chance.

Yep, there's going to be a fairly short window to impress as well.

[john e]

It’s not his goalscoring that is the biggest problem for me I could live with that if it’s hold-up play was better
Like others have said there’s not many forwards getting a bag full of those anymore
I know he puts a shift in and isn’t lazy which is fine but he hasn’t got much of a touch And too much of his play comes to nothing and his link up play isn’t good enough

But he’s probably our best option like others have said again We’re not in a position to replace him for a Champions League type forward hopefully we’ve got others coming through so let’s hope Gerrard can get the best out of him but if the basics aren’t there then I’m afraid it will be difficult

[ChicagoLion]

It’s not his goalscoring that is the biggest problem for me I could live with that if it’s hold-up play was better
Like others have said there’s not many forwards getting a bag full of those anymore
I know he puts a shift in and isn’t lazy which is fine but he hasn’t got much of a touch And too much of his play comes to nothing and his link up play isn’t good enough

But he’s probably our best option like others have said again We’re not in a position to replace him for a Champions League type forward hopefully we’ve got others coming through so let’s hope Gerrard can get the best out of him but if the basics aren’t there then I’m afraid it will be difficult

Completely agree. Somehow Gerrard has got to get goals out of him Ings and the midfield. Please no Watkins and Ings together