Ollie Watkins

[Paul.S]

Are there any clubs outside the sky 6 who have a 20 goal a season forward?
I don’t see why Watkins can’t hit 15 this season and that’s where we are at the moment unless we spend £100m plus on one. Then they’d have to agree to come and forfeit a season or 2 without European football. I like Watkins, yes he had an off season last season but he’s capable of much more.
With Ings, Coutinho, Buendia and the emergence of Archer I don’t see why goals should be an issue.

[Risso]

I don't think Watkins was any better or worse last season really, it's just the season before he was playing with Grealish who was brilliant and created loads of space and chances. He is what he is, a 1 in 3 striker, with a ropey first touch.

[Paul.S]

I thought he looked nowhere near as alert as he did during his first season. I’d agree, Grealish leaving may have had an impact as it did with a few and this is a defining season for him.
I think there’s more to come from him, I don’t expect a goal glut but as I’ve said 15 is surely within his reach. I suppose it all depends on the system Gerrard plays. He’s by no means a lost cause and he’s still the best we’ve got. Let’s hope Archer carries on his development and Ings can provide some help.

[cdbearsfan]

I don't think Watkins was any better or worse last season really, it's just the season before he was playing with Grealish who was brilliant and created loads of space and chances. He is what he is, a 1 in 3 striker, with a ropey first touch.

He was much busier, more aggressive and generally better the season before last. His goals vs expected goals tally (I know, I know) were basically identical in each season so the "it was all down to Grealish making more chances" argument doesn't really stand up. I recall virtually no criticism of him on here the season before last, including from yourself. Happy to be corrected but otherwise that sounds like you've decided to dislike a player and are using revisionism to justify your position.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

I'm looking forward to seeing what Ollie can do next season.
He should be the main striker as he's shown over the last 2 seasons that he can score well in the pl (especially in last season's struggling team) and with a little luck may even have had 4 or 5 more added to his tally.
Today was all about trying Cam up front with Ollie on the wing, so consequently he was less involved.
I think Ings has more to fear from the emergence of Archer than Watkins.

[paul_e]

Are there any clubs outside the sky 6 who have a 20 goal a season forward?
I don’t see why Watkins can’t hit 15 this season and that’s where we are at the moment unless we spend £100m plus on one. Then they’d have to agree to come and forfeit a season or 2 without European football. I like Watkins, yes he had an off season last season but he’s capable of much more.
With Ings, Coutinho, Buendia and the emergence of Archer I don’t see why goals should be an issue.

There literally wasn't a single 20 goal a season striker in the premier league last season. Only Son and Salah got over 20 and both play as wide forwards off a central striker. Next season I predict Haaland and Kane are the only strikers who will get around 20 (maybe Darwin Nunez as well but he looks a bit raw).

[Paul.S]

Watkins’ 11 for us doesn’t look so bad then, especially in a side that finished where we did. A slight improvement would take him closer to the 15 mark.

[Beard82]

Are there any clubs outside the sky 6 who have a 20 goal a season forward?
I don’t see why Watkins can’t hit 15 this season and that’s where we are at the moment unless we spend £100m plus on one. Then they’d have to agree to come and forfeit a season or 2 without European football. I like Watkins, yes he had an off season last season but he’s capable of much more.
With Ings, Coutinho, Buendia and the emergence of Archer I don’t see why goals should be an issue.

There literally wasn't a single 20 goal a season striker in the premier league last season. Only Son and Salah got over 20 and both play as wide forwards off a central striker. Next season I predict Haaland and Kane are the only strikers who will get around 20 (maybe Darwin Nunez as well but he looks a bit raw).

I thin to some extent thats what worries me - do we have any other players other than ings/watkins that can make double figures realsitically?

[paul_e]

Are there any clubs outside the sky 6 who have a 20 goal a season forward?
I don’t see why Watkins can’t hit 15 this season and that’s where we are at the moment unless we spend £100m plus on one. Then they’d have to agree to come and forfeit a season or 2 without European football. I like Watkins, yes he had an off season last season but he’s capable of much more.
With Ings, Coutinho, Buendia and the emergence of Archer I don’t see why goals should be an issue.

There literally wasn't a single 20 goal a season striker in the premier league last season. Only Son and Salah got over 20 and both play as wide forwards off a central striker. Next season I predict Haaland and Kane are the only strikers who will get around 20 (maybe Darwin Nunez as well but he looks a bit raw).

I thin to some extent thats what worries me - do we have any other players other than ings/watkins that can make double figures realsitically?

I think Bailey, Coutinho and Ramsey all could and if they stay fit I think they'll get 20 between them. As I've said before my aim for any season is at least 50 goals and preferably 60. If you get around that and have a functioning defence you'll be in the mix for Europe. 25 from Watkins, Ings and Archer, 20 from those 3 and then 15 from the rest of the squad (which includes Buendia and Cash who got 4 each last year), I don't think that's a massive stretch for this squad.

[Risso]

I don't think Watkins was any better or worse last season really, it's just the season before he was playing with Grealish who was brilliant and created loads of space and chances. He is what he is, a 1 in 3 striker, with a ropey first touch.

He was much busier, more aggressive and generally better the season before last. His goals vs expected goals tally (I know, I know) were basically identical in each season so the "it was all down to Grealish making more chances" argument doesn't really stand up. I recall virtually no criticism of him on here the season before last, including from yourself. Happy to be corrected but otherwise that sounds like you've decided to dislike a player and are using revisionism to justify your position.

Yeah, that'll be it. *rolling eyes*

I don't dislike him, I just don't think he's good enough if we want to be top 6 any time soon. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong this season, he's got the right mindset to do better, at least.

[cdbearsfan]

There's loads of players in the top six worse than him. Liverpool and Man City put out close to world XIs every week but there's a fair amount of dross in the rest of them. And even Man City have John Stones.

[London Villan]

I think Watkins had his confidence dented by the signing of Ings, as well as being injured at the start of the season. Alongside that, he missed the time and space, as well as the chances, Ratboy created for him.

Is he a top 4 player - probably not, but he is a decent PL-level striker.

[Risso]

There's loads of players in the top six worse than him. Liverpool and Man City put out close to world XIs every week but there's a fair amount of dross in the rest of them. And even Man City have John Stones.

That's a mostly irrelevant though. You can get away with a player being average if the rest of your team makes up for it. With the case of Stones, Man City are so good at keeping the ball, his defensive weaknesses aren't often exposed there, and Guardiola likes him for his distribution. Watkins is our main striker, and the rest of the team on the whole doesn't make up for the things he's not that great at.

[JD]

Agree Risso, I love Watkins but he is not an out and out goal scorer and that's what we need to move up a level.

[cdbearsfan]

He was brilliant at holding the ball up and bringing people into the game in 2020/21. When we played Palace and were down to ten men, Smith said there was no striker he would rather have in those circumstances, and there were no dissenting voices on here. His goals:chances rate has stayed pretty much the same but that part of his game suffered massively last season.

I am hopeful that it comes back this season. If it does, combined with hopefully getting more chances if we stop with the two up front bollocks and play Buendia and Coutinho like 90% of Villa fans want to, I think he can still be great for us.

If we sign someone like Mbappe, fair enough. Failing that, there aren't many players we can sign who would likely be better than Watkins can be.

I really don't see how anyone can say he played the same in 2020/21 as he did last season. Feel free to point me in the direction of posts that were criticising him at the time. He was one of the best all round strikers in the league and we were worrying that someone like Arsenal might try to sign him last summer, as I recall.