Ollie Watkins

[SamTheMouse]

Of course Smirker enjoys Watkins failing to perform. He's committed. If Villa lose, all the better. It is obvious, and tragic.

Humans are complex. Their brains are capable of holding more than one thought at any given time.

So it's entirely possible to feel utterly pissed off with the Villa losing, while simultaneously glowing with a sense of satisfaction at having one's dim view of a player seemingly vindicated.

[Monty]

Some are more complex than others.

[Baldy]

Ollie is more dangerous when he is running towards the goalposts and not the corner flags.

Until we get recognised wingers, poor Ollie is probably under instruction to run the channels and create more space in the middle for others to exploit.

Break the bank in January/summer for a good winger (Semenyo springs to mind) and we will see the best of Ollie again.

[Rigadon]

Zero chance we get Semenyo, but I agree we need another option on the right wing.  Somebody with real pace and a goal threat (doesn't feel likely we will get that from Guessand).

But we do need another option at CF too. 

[brontebilly]

Ollie is more dangerous when he is running towards the goalposts and not the corner flags.

Until we get recognised wingers, poor Ollie is probably under instruction to run the channels and create more space in the middle for others to exploit.

Break the bank in January/summer for a good winger (Semenyo springs to mind) and we will see the best of Ollie again.

We didn't play with wingers really even when Ollie was at his best. Bailey perhaps but that was for a short enough spell when he was firing. Certainly we can create more of those chances around the penalty spot. Like the one Ollie created for Buendia v Fulham. We aren't doing that enough. I said it on another thread but I think that means finding a spot for Maatsen more on the the left.

[FatSam]

He can't control a football.

… and yet he is selected fairly regularly to play for England, who are fourth in the FIFA rankings. Wait til everyone finds out he’s actually shit! 

Geoff Thomas.

Fairly regularly is obviously vague, but I don't think it would cover Geoff Thomas, who played in 2 competitive games in total for England, both in 1991, in an international career that ended when he wasn't selected for the Euro '92.

[Dante Lavelli]

The view from the Guardian. the XG stats being notable.

Watkins risks World Cup snub with poor form
For all the heartwarming talk of Danny Welbeck potentially earning an England recall, little positive has been said about the man the Brighton striker would likely replace. That is partly because Ollie Watkins has not given headline writers much to get excited about this season. One goal in 14 appearances in all competitions is not the form that gets you a place in a World Cup squad, with the caveat that we are still a long way from Thomas Tuchel naming his final submissions to get a plane ticket. Against Liverpool, Watkins was limited to just 18 touches and zero shots in 73 minutes. The forward’s expected goals per 90 minutes is down from 0.53 last season to 0.20 this campaign. Villa are creating chances at a similar level to last season (1.28 xG v 1.32 xG) and after a sticky start had been playing well before the visit to Anfield. If Unai Emery’s system is not working for Watkins but is working for the team generally, then it falls to the player to figure out a solution.

[Somniloquism]

Have we really averaged 1.28xG this season? Which one had a 5xG to bring the average up then?

[RamboandBruno]

Since Emery came in three years ago we've amassed the 4th highest number of points in the league. Watkins has been out centre forward in all of that time.

True, and he has loads of goodwill in the bank as a result.  But he’s been below his best for a while now in lost aspects of his game.  We don’t really have another option at the moment.  If we still had Rashford, I don’t Watkins would be playing very much.

This is fair enough

[brontebilly]

The view from the Guardian. the XG stats being notable.

Watkins risks World Cup snub with poor form
For all the heartwarming talk of Danny Welbeck potentially earning an England recall, little positive has been said about the man the Brighton striker would likely replace. That is partly because Ollie Watkins has not given headline writers much to get excited about this season. One goal in 14 appearances in all competitions is not the form that gets you a place in a World Cup squad, with the caveat that we are still a long way from Thomas Tuchel naming his final submissions to get a plane ticket. Against Liverpool, Watkins was limited to just 18 touches and zero shots in 73 minutes. The forward’s expected goals per 90 minutes is down from 0.53 last season to 0.20 this campaign. Villa are creating chances at a similar level to last season (1.28 xG v 1.32 xG) and after a sticky start had been playing well before the visit to Anfield. If Unai Emery’s system is not working for Watkins but is working for the team generally, then it falls to the player to figure out a solution.

Far too much store put in xG as a statistic, especially over a 10 game stretch. We were playing crap at the start of the season so everybody was struggling including Emery. In the more recent PL games up to Liverpool - Fulham, Burnley, Spurs off bench, Man City - Ollie played well in the main. Feyenoord, very strong first half, drew what should have been a red card.

The worrying thing is his penalty box play hasn't been great really, missed penalty v Bologna, shocker of a performance v the Eagles, couple of chances v Man City. He's never been the most efficient finisher of chances but he's not being unlucky even.

Easier run of fixtures on paper coming up so let's see how he goes. Malen up top by himself isn't really an option.